Author John Vaillant at his home in Vancouver January 7, 2015.John Lehmann/The Globe and Mail
The Jaguar's Children, John Vaillant's debut novel, features one of the most captivating set-ups of any book this year: A group of migrants find themselves abandoned in the belly of a tanker truck after paying smugglers to ferry them across the Mexican-American border.
It's a fictional story, but one rooted in the realities of modern-day Mexico and its accompanying drug war – according to Amnesty International, 22,000 people "have disappeared or gone missing in Mexico since 2006," in addition to tens of thousands killed.
On Tuesday, Luminato, as part of their slate of literary programming, presents "The Drug War in Film, Fact and Fiction." In addition to the B.C.-based Vaillant, the panel features Canadian documentary photographer Louie Palu, who has spent several years chronicling the effects of the drug war along the border; Angela Kocherga, the border bureau chief for Gannett Broadcasting; and journalist Alfredo Corchado, the Mexico City bureau chief of The Dallas Morning News and author of Midnight in Mexico, A Reporter's Journey Through a Country's Descent into Darkness.
"The Drug War in Film Fact and Fiction" is on June 23, 7-8 p.m., at the Shed, Festival Hub, David Pecaut Square, Toronto, $10