The 10th annual Ryga Arts Festival will offer a medley of words, theatre and music to celebrate internationally known Canadian writer George Ryga.
The event will be held in Summerland from Sept. 17 to 21.
Ryga was born in Deep Creek, Alta., on July 27, 1932, two years after his parents left Ukraine.
He began writing after winning a scholarship to Banff School of the Arts. His early novels deal with the harsh life of Ukrainian immigrants.
When he was 30, he moved with his family to Summerland, where he lived until his death in 1987.
His plays, novels and stories, written on his manual typewriter in the family home surrounded by Summerland orchards, reflect his commitment to social justice, original Canadian content and artistic innovation.
Organizers of the festival say Ryga used his writing to raise public awareness of the light of marginalized people.
Unlike many performing arts festivals that specialize in a single art form, the Ryga Arts Festival has a mix of words, theatre and music.
This reflects Rgya鈥檚 writing which included novels and short stories, poetry and song lyrics and plays for the stage, radio and screen. One of the highlights of this year鈥檚 festival is a performance of Deafy, by Chris Dodd.
This tragicomedy combines spoken word, American Sign Language and captions.
The main character, Nathan, recounts the tales of his life, navigating relationships with friends and the everyday challenges of deafness and leads the audience on an unexpected journey of discovering what it really means to belong.
The play will be performed Sept. 20 at 7 p.m. at Centre Stage Theatre, 9518 Main St., Summerland.
Numerous other events are scheduled for the festival
Friday, Sept. 19
1 p.m. Brian Thomas Isaac 鈥� Author Reading and Conversation
Isaac will read from his new book, Bones of a Giant, followed by a question and answer period. Isaac is a Syilx author whose debut novel, All the Quiet Places, won the 2022 Indigenous Voices Award and was a finalist for several major literary prizes. A former bricklayer turned award-winning writer, he lives in West 91大黄鸭 and is working on his third book.
3 p.m. CE Gatchalian Reading
Toronto author and performer Chris Gatchalian shares excerpts from his memoir, Double Melancholy, an exploration of race, desire and artistic identity.
4 p.m. Workshop "Writing the Unraveling Self"
Chris Gatchalian encourages participants to challenge the idea that good writing must be polished or coherent.
7 p.m. Music, Art, and Spoken Words inspired by George Ryga with Claire Coupland and Ollie Rankin
Claire Coupland is a folk-roots singer-songwriter. She toured across Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, appearing at festivals including CityFolk Ottawa and Arisaig Americana and Roots and Blues, among others.
Ollie Rankin, (a.k.a. The Poet Heckler) is an activist poet and spoken-word performer who addresses themes like wealth inequality, patriarchy, racism, surveillance and climate change. He is co-founder and director of United Humans Foundation.
Saturday, Sept. 20
1 p.m. Theatre Trail
This popular annual event featuring a trail of original short plays in surprising locations throughout Summerland.
7 p.m. Deafy, with Chris Dodd
In this tragicomedy, the main character, Nathan, recounts the tales of his life, navigating relationships with friends and the everyday challenges of deafness, and ultimately leads the audience on an unexpected journey of discovering what it really means to belong.
Sunday, Sept. 21
7 p.m. Soundtrack: A Poetry Karaoke Night featuring Michael V. Smith
This is a wind-up party at Detonate Brewing. Smith is a multi-talented author, poet, rapper, and much more. Working with Inspired Word Cafe, he organizes PONY, an annual queer cabaret and community fundraiser in 91大黄鸭.
Soundtrack is a karaoke-meets-poetry party, where Smith shares stories about growing up queer in a small town, all inspired by the music albums he listened to growing up. Guests at this event are invited to sing karaoke from a handful of the 19 albums in Smith's book. The event features songs from the late 20th century and Smith's dynamic stories inspired by them.
Details will be released later for the Sunday morning and afternoon Theatre Workshop Series for Youth events.
鈥�
