Launching the Festival this year: a special appearance by the brilliant and talented British author, Howard Jacobson. Known for his literary humour, this esteemed writer will delight the audience with a reading from his most recent publication, Kalooki Nights. CBC personality and writer, Eleanor Wachtel interviews Jacobson live onstage for future broadcast on CBC Radio One's Writers and Company.

Howard Jacobson's Kalooki Nights is a hilariously tragic novel about the ‘dimensions of Jewishness’. The story revolves around cartoonist, Max Glickman, who grew up in North Manchester with his mother, a woman incessantly preoccupied with her card games of Kalooki, and his father, a self-proclaimed atheist and communist. Through reconnecting with Manny, his childhood friend who commits a crime of nightmarish proportions, Max begins to understand the Jewish condition and his own ambivalence. Jacobson lives in London, England.

Eleanor Wachtel is the host of Writers & Company, heard Sundays at 5pm on CBC Radio One. Wachtel's many accomplishments include receiving the Order of Canada in 2005, receiving four honourary degrees, and being named winner of the Jack Award for the promotion of Canadian books and authors. Wachtel is also the editor of four acclaimed literary collections and lives in Toronto.

PENGUIN BOOKS WESTCOAST LAUNCH

Tickets: $25 in advance; $30 at the door

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Please buy tickets at the door.

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This event is presented with support from the Cherie Smith Memorial Lecture Evening Endowment Fund.