How to gritLIT
Your Festival Experience
Want to make the most of the gritLIT experience? Here’s how:
FORGET EVERYTHING YOU KNOW, OR THINK YOU KNOW, ABOUT LITERARY FESTIVALS
Don’t like stuffy, academic discussions about boring books? Excellent! Neither do we. What we do like is wine, music, games, laughter – and sometimes tears – great stories, and discussions about fascinating topics and ideas with some of Canada’s best living writers.
TAKE A CHANCE
Don’t worry if you haven’t read the books or even heard of the authors. The great thing about the festival is you never really know what to expect. The book that sounds sort of interesting or the author whom you don’t yet know might turn out to be a new favourite.
KNOW THAT GRITLIT HAS SOMETHING TO OFFER YOU
If you like smart conversation about provocative ideas, gritLIT is for you. Think books are for nerds? Come to the festival and let us show you how reading makes you a better, smarter, funnier, sexier, more interesting and more informed person. Reading will also give you whiter teeth and shinier hair and will clear up your complexion.*
PLAN AHEAD AND ARRIVE EARLY
Some events sell out, so buy your tickets in advance.
HANG AROUND AND ENJOY THE BOOKISH ATMOSPHERE
Browse all the amazing titles in the festival bookstore. Take a selfie and post it on social media with the hashtag #gritlit2023 to make your friends jealous. Or just grab a coffee and relax. This is your festival experience. Enjoy it!
STAY INFORMED
Join our mail list and let us do all the work of keeping you up-to-date. You can also follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook @gritlitfestival.
*We might have made up that last line – but the rest is definitely true.
Festival Checklist
Have your writing utensils ready!
You don’t want to be scrabbling for a pen when inspiration strikes.
Make sure your internet connection is strong and secure.
There’s nothing like a frozen screen to take you out of the moment.
Make sure you’re using the most recent version of Zoom.
Read more about how below!
Pre-charge anything that needs it.
Especially if you’re accessing the event through a mobile device like your phone or tablet!
Don’t be afraid to talk in the chats and/or ask questions!
We love hearing from you and so do the authors!
Make sure to review our Safer Spaces policy.
We’re working hard behind the scenes to keep our online events as safe as possible to foster a warm and inviting environment. Learn what that means at gritlit.ca/about.
How to Zoom
It’s a brave new world of online virtual events. We would hate for anyone to feel like they couldn’t participate because they were unsure how to use the technology so we created this video to show you just how simple and easy using Zoom can be!
Want to practice what you learned in this video? Visit zoom.us/test to try it for yourself!
How to Check if You’re Using the Newest Version of Zoom
Sometimes a gritLIT event might take advantage of some of the newest features available in Zoom. But don’t worry! If you’re launching Zoom from your web browser, you will always have the latest version. If you’ve downloaded the Zoom Client, follow the instructions in this video to make sure your version is up-to-date.
Now That You’re a Zoom Pro…
Why not spice up your Zoom profile with one of our gritLIT virtual backgrounds?
