I spent today at Word on the Street. I’ve attended  WOTS for the last 3 or 4 years and always enjoy it. It’s a good mix of commercial literary display, author readings, poetry, and art – not things I’ve had much exposure to, until just recently.

 

Spend $18 to get a hemp treasure hunt bag and you can collect a pile of sample magazines, books, and other goodies from the vendors. It’s a good way to explore the different niche products out there. My favorite keepsake is a metal book mark from Canadian Geographic magazine. It’s a small square with a cut-out loop in it that fits over your marked page. Unlike others of its kind, this one is smooth and discretely marks the page without ripping. I picked one up last year and use it in my notebook every day.

 

I got there about lunch time, bought my bag, and did a quick reconnaisance around and through the Vancouver Public Library. Once that was done and I’d collected my loot, it was time to eat. I avoided the regular chips vendor on Homer St. and opted for a very large smokie from a vendor down on Georgia. There’s something about outdoor parties and hot dogs…. Good thing they don’t happen too often.

 

I ate the smokie while watching and listening to authors read selections of their current work. Nice. While I was there, a couple of friends showed up and we traded summer stories. After that, each us began our own tour around the rest of the site.

 

CBC Unplugged put on a good show on Hamilton St. Various personalities like Todd Mafin and Sheryl MacKay entertained us with their usual flair. I signed the petition to help them get back to work and then made a serious tour of the vendor area on Homer Street.

 

There were so many different talents on show: book making, cover design, comic books, poetry, fiction and non-fiction books, writers, magazines, musicians, storytellers, and seminars. It’s a good thing WOTS has a program for the event, or you would be sure to miss something interesting.

 

I highly recommend a visit to WOTS. It’s a great show and illustrates the variety of literary talent we have in Vancouver.