The 22nd Vancouver International Writers and Readers Festival, one of North America’s premier literary events, takes place Oct 18 – 25 in Vancouver, BC. The Vancouver Sun just published a great article on the festival, Big Names and a Six-Day Smorgasbord for Local Books Worms, that gives a glimpse of the treasures in store for literary fans attending. The article highlights one event that I would love to attend but is unfortunately sold out: Mariatu Kamara, author of The Bite of the Mango, in conversation with Kathryn Gretsinger.

On Thursday I will be chaperoning students in my son’s class to Event #29 – Hide and Seek with acclaimed young adult authors Gordon Korman and Matthew Skelton. My son Evan is most excited to see Gordon Korman in person! Last year Evan “discovered” Korman and was instantly hooked on his books, especially the Dive, Everest and Island series. This promises to be a great experience for the students (as well as us chaperones!). Here’s the preview for the event:

Adventures around the world and through time join together these two skilled authors. A phoenix-like bird in a nest guarded by crows, a daring hot-air balloon ride, a skillful heist of animals from a floating zoo, a speedboat chase through the canals of Venice, modern Europe and 18th century Antarctica and 16th century England—all find their way into the books of Gordon Korman and Matthew Skelton. Novels can take you to places you’ve never been and times that you’ll never see. Come and play hide and seek with two of the best children’s authors writing today.

To read and watch the events unfold at this year’s festival, visit the Festival Blog. 7 bloggers will be contributing text, audio clip interviews and photos on a daily basis.

(Click on event name for more information)

Canadian Library Month~ Canada

Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read~ ongoing until Oct 3, USA

Hispanic Heritage Month~ ongoing until Oct 15, USA

Entries Accepted for the 2010 PBBY-Salanga Prize~ ongoing until Oct 23, Philippines

22nd Biennial of Illustrations Bratislava~ ongoing until Oct 26, Bratislava, Slovakia

The Art of Allen Say: A Sense of Place~ ongoing until Oct 28, Exeter, NH, USA

Picture Perfect: Art from Caldecott Award Books, 2006-2009~ ongoing until Nov 8, Chicago, IL, USA

National Young Writers’ Festival~ Oct 1 – 5, Newcastle, Australia

4th Annual Cybils (Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers’ Literary Awards) Nominations Open~ Oct 1 – 15

The Children’s Book Festival~ Oct 1 – 31, Ireland

Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards for Excellence in Children’s Literature Awards Ceremony~ Oct 2, Boston, MA, USA

8th IBBY Regional Conference “Children´s Books: Where Worlds Meet”~ Oct 2 – 4, St. Charles, IL, USA

2009 Bologna Illustrators Exhibition of Children’s Books~ Oct 3 – Nov 1, Takahama City, Japan

Orange County Children’s Book Festival~ Oct 4, Costa Mesa, CA, USA

13th Poetry Africa~ Oct 5 – 10, Durban, South Africa

Children’s Book Week: Words and Pictures~ Oct 5 – 11, United Kingdom

TaleBlazers Festival~ Oct 5 – 30, Province of Alberta, Canada

6th International Literacy Conference~ Oct 7 – 9, Penang, Malaysia

Ubud Writers and Readers Festival~ Oct 7 – 11, Ubud, Bali, Indonesia

Inky Awards Shortlist Announced, On-line Voting Begins~ Oct 9, Australia

Latino Book and Book Festival~ Oct 10 – 11, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Monterrey International Book Fair~ Oct 10 – 18, Monterrey, Mexico

Frankfurt Book Fair~ Oct 14 – 18, Frankfurt, Germany

OGAMAS Aboriginal Literary Festival: What We Gather For Each Other~ Oct 15 – 17, Brandon, MB, Canada

56th Jane Addams Children’s Book Awards Ceremony~ Oct 16, New York, NY, USA

International Conference on the Book~ Oct 16 – 18, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Américas Book Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature Winners Ceremony~ Oct 17, Washington, D.C., USA

SCBWI Tokyo Presents Writing for Children: The Picture Book with Author Holly Thompson~ Oct 17, Kyoto, Japan

CHARACTER COUNTS! Week~ Oct 18 – 24, USA

YALSA’s Teen Read Week: Read Beyond Reality~ Oct 18 – 24, USA

Vancouver International Writers and Readers Festival~ Oct 18 – 25, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Library Exhibition~ Oct 18 – 25, Jakarta, Indonesia

Utan Kayu International Literary Biennale~ Oct 20 – 24, Bogor and Jakarta, Indonesia

14th Annual New England Conference on Multicultural Education~ Oct 21, Hartford, CT, USA

Rabbit Hill Festival of Literature: Creative Approaches to Biography and Historical Fiction~ Oct 22 – 24, Westport, CT, USA

Finnish Reading Association Conference: New Literacies-Reading and Writing with New Technologies~ Oct 23 – 24, Jyväskylä, Finland

Children’s Literature Council Fall Gala~ Oct 24, Los Angeles, CA, USA

IBBY Congreso Internacional Lectura~ Oct 26 – 31, Havana, Cuba

Book Week~ Oct 27 – Nov 9, Japan

National Association for Multicultural Education (NAME) 19th International Conference~Oct 28 – Nov 1, Denver, CO, USA

Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Awards Ceremony~ Oct 30, San Marcos, TX, USA

Children’s Literature Festival~ Oct 31, Keene, NH, USA

(Click on event name for more information)

Canadian Library Month~ Canada

National Reading Group Month~ USA

Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read~ ongoing until Oct 4, USA

International Children’s and Youth Literature Festival~ ongoing until Oct 4, Berlin, Germany

3rd Annual Cybils (Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers’ Literary Awards) Nominations Open~ Oct 1 – 15

National Young Writers’ Festival~ Oct 2-6, Newcastle, Australia

Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards Ceremony~ Oct 3, Boston, MA, USA

21st Yukon International Storytelling Festival~ Oct 3-5, Whitehorse, YK, Canada

2008 Ceremony of Best Books~ Oct 4, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Américas Book Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature Winners Ceremony~ Oct 4, Washington, D.C., USA

Orange County Children’s Book Festival~ Oct 5, Costa Mesa, CA, USA

Children’s Book Week~ Oct 6-12, United Kingdom

13th Annual New England Conference on Multicultural Education~ Oct 8, Hartford, CT, USA

School Library Journal Webcast: Capturing Struggling Readers and Reluctant Readers~ Oct 8

Book It! Cheltenham’s Children’s Literature Festival~ Oct 10-19, Cheltenham, United Kingdom

18th Monterrey International Book Fair~ Oct 11-19, Monterrey, Mexico

YALSA’s Teen Read Week: Books With Bite @ Your Library~ Oct 12-18, USA

“Multicultural Bites” with authors Mitali Perkins, Coe Booth and An Na (part of ReaderGirlz’s celebration of Teen Read Week)~ Oct 13

Ubud Writers and Readers Festival~ Oct 14-19, Ubud, Bali, Indonesia

Frankfurt Book Fair~ Oct 15-19, Frankfurt, Germany

55th Jane Addams Children’s Book Awards Ceremony~ Oct 17, New York, NY, USA

IBBY Ireland Conference: Green Gables to Globalization: Crossover, Canada and Children’s Books~ Oct 18, Dublin, Ireland

SCBWI Tokyo Writers’ Day~ Oct 18, Tokyo, Japan

Children’s Literature Council Fall Gala~ Oct 18, Santa Ana, CA, USA

Vancouver International Writers Festival~ Oct 21-26, Vancouver, BC, Canada

The Big Picture Party: Celebrate the Power of Picture Books~ Oct 27, London, United Kingdom

Book Week~ Oct 27-Nov 9, Japan

Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Awards Ceremony~ Oct 30, San Marcos, TX, USA

28th Santiago International Book Fair~ Oct 31-Nov 16, Santiago, Chile