With over 100 authors scheduled, Harbourfront’s International Festival of Authors is not only huge and daunting but also occasionally helter-skelter in its execution — you can always count on a lone Scandinavian author to stand out awkwardly on a bill (possibly stuck in there as a nostalgic reminder of Canada’s previous life as a Nordic socialist state).

Given that, great talents can get lost in the shuffle and blend into the wall at the hostility, er, hospitality suite. Incidentally, there’s no horror quite like being a lowly plus-one abandoned by his date in a room where the only other person is Michael Ondaatje. What do you small-talk about? The beard?

EYE has no advice for that situation but here is a guide to the hidden gems of IFOA 2008.

Best reading location: Parry Sound
IFOA expands its programming with a field trip to cottage country featuring Andrew Pyper. Despite the bucolic setting — very appropriate, as inveterate cottaging is fast replacing boozing as a writer’s vice of choice — Pyper will be bringing his touch of evil. A literary writer not afraid of also weaving a plot, Pyper deserves both the readership numbers of Richard Price­ and the accolades that generally go to the broccoli (i.e. supposedly good-for-you) fiction titles.

Andrew Pyper reads with Paul Quarrington and Denmark’s (natch) Karen Fastrup Nov 2. 4pm. $12-$15. Charles W. Stockey Centre for the Performing Arts, 2 Bay, Parry Sound. 877-746-4466. www.stockeycentre.com.

                                  Chip Kidd                                                        Bat Manga! by Chip Kidd

Best obscure discussion: book design
Maybe excitement like this is unique to my “type”­ — someone who can’t eat in a restaurant if the menu is set in lowly Curlz MT — but watching Chip Kidd discourse with Toronto’s Bill Douglas on book covers should be the match of the festival. The general public may not know Douglas’ name, but do know his work. While CanLit cover design continues to be bludgeoned into submission with bad Photoshopping, Douglas has kept alive the clean lines of classic book layout. Kidd is much more a scavenging magpie in his taste while Douglas stays the course with several signature looks: big-Productivist type, classy negative space, or the occasional “medicine show poster” riff. With scrappy cartoonist Lynda Barry also on hand, will a battle ensue? Will the issue of “drop shadow” ever be settled? Oh yes, and there will be blood.

Bill Douglas talks with Chip Kidd and Lynda Barry Oct 26. 1pm. Brigantine Room, York Quay Centre. Chip Kidd also appears Oct 25. 5pm. Studio Theatre.

             A Week of This by Nathan Whitlock

Best new local reader: Nathan Whitlock
One of the few critics at Quill and Quire who actually bothered to review books (instead of just starting goofy sectarian wars), Whitlock translates his intelligence to fiction in the dry and acerbic A Week of This. Edgy earnestness is a tough act to pull off — most writers who try for “Springsteen” overshoot and crash out near “Billy Joel.” However, Whitlock’s no-nonsense debut focuses on the small details of a family driving itself nuts. Not an original conceit by any stretch but it’s well written for, you know, a critic.

Nathan Whitlock reads with Herménégilde Chiasson, Rohinton Mistry, Richard Russo and Owen Sheers Oct 24. 8pm. Brigantine Room, York Quay Centre.

Best book award given out by my ISP: The Rogers Writer’s Trust Fiction Prize
The big-lit awards may tend towards yawn-inducing lists but lesser known contests like the Writer’s Trust produce actual diversity and genuine surprises. This year’s list is out-and-out anyone’s game, therefore interesting. It includes a sage old guy, the one who can the write the living hell out of anything (Patrick Lane). There’s the young wiseass who should win, but probably won’t (Lee Henderson). Even the smart money pick (Rawi Hage) is more than deserving of a few extra bones.

2008 Rogers Writer’s Trust shortlist reads Oct 29. 1pm. Brigantine Room, York Quay Centre.