Yellowknife (Aug 14/06) - It's true: the best stories always leave you wanting more.

In that case, the legislative assembly in Yellowknife hosted one of the best and worst events imaginable: a series of fantastic - and very short - stories from eight renowned Northern authors.

It was the marquee event for the first NorthWords Writer's Festival, which drew authors from around the North for a series of workshops and open mic nights in the NWT capital.

Rankin Inlet's Michael Kusugak was one of the featured artists throughout the festival, where he debuted his new novel "The Curse of the Shaman."

"It's amazing, there were so many people here," Kusugak said after the event. "I thought it flowed very well."

Kusugak read a pair of chapters from the novel, which he said was the start of a trilogy, set on Marble Island near Rankin Inlet over three distinct time periods.

"It has this incredible history," he said of the location, which he has written about in the past.

Seven other Northern authors took the stage that night, including author-in-residence Richard Van Camp from Fort Smith, Lutsel K'e's Rene Fumoleau and Yellowknife's Jamie Bastedo, whose closing presentation of his experiences paddling the TransCanada Trail had to be cut short.

"There's a certain timeless quality to a good story," he said, before joking about his need to hurry before the large audience was sent out the doors.

The event's closing also marked Fumoleau's 80th birthday, complete with a cake and a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday" in French.

"It was a complete success," said Van Camp, who also had a hand in organizing the festival.

He said the territories were on the verge of an "explosion" of new writing.

"What is holding people back is access to agents and publishers. It is evident that the NWT needs its own publishing house."

That said, Van Camp was certain the festival would do its part to promote Northern Writers for years to come.

"We want this to be an annual event. We want Yellowknife to have an international writer's festival," he said.

"We want this to be just as big as Folk on the Rocks."