Book News Vol. 8 No. 48

BOOK NEWS

INCITE

Three-time Olympic medalist Silken Laumann will talk to Hal Wake about her new memoir Unsinkable, a revealing look at her troubled childhood and her moving journey to uncovering inner happiness through personal struggle. Details on this and other upcoming Incite events here, http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/incite.

SPECIAL EVENTS

Olivia Chow
MP Olivia Chow lays bare her life's most painful moments and talks about life after Jack Layton in her candid new memoir, My Journey. Join us for an evening with one of Canada's most compelling political forces. Ms. Chow will be interviewed by Kathryn Gretsinger. Click here for event details and to find out more about our special offer for bookclubs: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/oliviachow.

Just announced! - Miriam Toews and Steven Galloway
An evening with two acclaimed Canadian authors. Steven Galloway, the bestselling author of The Cellist of Sarajevo, is back with his brilliant new novel, The Confabulist. And Miriam Toews, the award-winning author of A Complicated Kindness, brings her irresistible voice and heart wrenching poignancy to her new novel All My Puny Sorrows. Click here for event details and to find out more about our special offer for bookclubs: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/gallowaytoews.

Roddy Doyle
CBC and the Vancouver Writers Fest are excited to present Roddy Doyle on Wednesday, February 12 at 6:30pm. The Booker Prize winner's latest novel revisits the characters from his contemporary classic The Commitments, with the same raunchy humour and provocative social commentary. Come join in the conversation with North by Northwest's Sheryl MacKay. Doors open at 5:30pm, taping starts promptly at 6:30, at the CBC Broadcast Centre, 700 Hamilton Street, Vancouver. No reserved seating-first come, first seated. Information at http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/roddydoyle.

FEATURED EVENT

Chor Leoni Men's Choir has graced the stage at the Vancouver Writers Fest on two occasions, most recently with author Jack Hodgins. Hodgins and Chor Leoni team up once again to present Cadillac Cathedral, featuring a rollicking original story read by Jack, accompanied by new and favourite works by the renowned pride of singing lions. Jan 31 (Vancouver), Feb 1 (Victoria), Feb 2(Nanaimo). Info at http://chorleoni.org/concerts-events/events/cadillac-cathedral/.

AWARDS & LISTS

The 2014 Edgar Awards nominees have been announced. Named for Edgar Allan Poe, the Edgars are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America to honour the best mystery fiction, non-fiction, tv, film and theatre published or produced in the past year.
http://www.theedgars.com/nominees.html#PBO

A new award has been launched: the Daphne, a prize that celebrates the best book published 50 years ago! As strange as that may sound, there's some sound thinking behind the decision.
http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-bookslut-launches-daphne-award-best-book-1963-20140127,0,6822901.story

The Newbery Medal for Children's Literature has been announced. Kate DiCamillo, recently named the US national ambassador for young people's literature, won for her book Flora and Ulysses.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/28/business/media/dicamillo-wins-newberry-medal-and-brian-flocas-locomotive-wins-caldecott.html

YOUNG READERS

The British Library has launched the largest exhibition of comics in the United Kingdom. For what purpose? To inspire children to be "naughtier and more rebellious"!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/10589645/Comic-exhibition-to-inspire-generation-of-naughtiness.html

Can you make kids love books? The cultural critic Natasha Vargas-Cooper recently provoked the righteous anger of many a reader by arguing that it was a bad idea to assign novels to high school students.
http://www.salon.com/2014/01/23/can_you_make_kids_love_books/

NEWS & FEATURES

Mexican writer Jose Emilio Pacheco has died. An avid chronicler of his country, he was also, arguably, Mexico's most famous living poet.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-25901570

The Kenyan writer Binyavanga Wainaina has become one of the most prominent Africans to come out publicly. He did so online, by unveiling a "lost chapter" of his three year-old memoir, called "I am a homosexual, mum." According to Wainaina, "There's no point for me in being a writer and having all these blocked places where I feel I can't think freely and imagine freely."
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/25/world/africa/as-africa-debates-gay-rights-writer-comes-out.html

"Author and journalist Jennifer Percy was a committed physics major until a Lawrence Sargent Hall story showed her a more satisfying way to approach life's complexities." Here's her justification as to why stories, not science, explain the world.
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/01/life-keeps-changing-why-stories-not-science-explain-the-world/283219/

Do you hate your job? Would you prefer to be a "Professional Faster," like Kafka's narrator in A Hunger Artist? Publishers Weekly has composed a list of the 10 Worst Job in Books. Took a look and see how yours compares.
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/tip-sheet/article/60754-the-10-worst-jobs-in-books.html

Speaking of countdowns, the Huffington Post has published it own (slightly more lascivious) list this week: the 15 Hottest Affairs in Literature. Alice Munro made the list!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kyle-minor/15-hottest-affairs-in-lit_b_4653731.html

Do you think you know your classical literature? Can you pick out novels from their first sentences? Test your mettle here:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/mackenziekruvant/can-you-guess-the-classic-novel-from-its-first-sentence

If first sentences aren't your thing, then maybe you'll enjoy this article about titles instead. "What if books were whorishly titled, optimizing our search engines rather than our imaginations, rather than leaving us to discover who Oliver Twist was or who was proud and who was prejudiced?"
http://www.themillions.com/2014/01/read-me-please-book-titles-rewritten-to-get-more-clicks.html

Was Emily Dickinson a radical or a poet of restraint? "It is a conflict reaching back to what has come to be called "The War Between the Houses," when Dickinson's manuscripts were divided into two main collections," those sent to her sister-in-law, and those discovered in a drawer after Dickinson's death in 1886. Now, with the resources of the Internet, scholars are hoping that the two collections might finally be united.
http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2014/jan/25/dickinson-raw-or-cooked/

BOOKS & WRITERS

On January 22, Alice Munro and Margaret Atwood got together in a Google Hangout to talk about writing, reading, and why some characters just can't be likeable. If you missed the live chat, or want to watch it again, click here:
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/books/Alice+Munro+live+chat/9418579/story.html

Is it possible to write like someone else? For Alistair MacLeod, the answer is no. "I don't think you can write like anybody else. Nobody has your literary fingerprints."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/author-alistair-macleod-on-influence-i-dont-think-you-can-write-like-anybody-else-nobody-has-your-literary-fingerprints/article16491894/

The new book And Every Single One Was Someone repeats the same word six million times in order to commemorate every single person killed during the Holocaust. "When you look at this at a distance, you can't tell whether it's upside down or right side up, you can't tell what's here; it looks like a pattern," said Phil Chernofsky, the author..."That's how the Nazis viewed their victims: These are not individuals."
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/26/world/middleeast/holocaust-told-in-one-word-6-million-times.html

This month's New Yorker poetry podcast features Tracy K. Smith, who won the Pulitzer Prize in 2012 for her collection "Life on Mars. She reads "Crowning," by Kevin Young, as well as her own poem "Alternate Take: Levon Helm."
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2014/01/poetry-podcast-tracy-k-smith-reads-kevin-young.html

According to Matthew Salesses, a Mary Miller story will get him to pick up any literary journal she's featured in. Her debut novel, The Last Days of California, is about a family driving to California to meet the rapture. She's interviewed in the Rumpus, here:
http://therumpus.net/2014/01/the-rumpus-interview-with-mary-miller-2

They've also interviewed Daniel Alarcón, whose new novel, At Night We Walk in Circles, tells the story of a touring revival of The Idiot President, a protest play written by Henry Nuñez when his unnamed Latin American country enters into a state of civil war.
http://therumpus.net/2014/01/the-rumpus-interview-with-daniel-alarcon/

Vancouver's own Evelyn Lau has pondered on family struggles, murder and beauty in a new set of poems published in Geist. You can read them here:
http://www.geist.com/fact/poetry/how-it-began/

Olivia Chow will soon be in Vancouver as a part of a Writers Fest special event. If you haven't already got a chance to read My Journey, take the time to check out the Toronto Star's review of her "gutsy book."
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/2014/01/17/my_journey_by_olivia_chow_review.html

COMMUNITY EVENTS

THE ON EDGE READINGS SERIES
Features Gillian Jerome & Daniela Elza, 7pm, Thursday, January 30th, South Building Room 406, Emily Carr University, 1399 Johnston St., Granville Island. Free and open to the public.

SFU NOONHOUR READING SERIES
Poet Jeff Derksen reads from his new book The Vestiges. Thursday January 30th at 12:30pm, free. Bennett Library Special Collections/Rare Books (Room 7100), Bennett Library, SFU Burnaby. For more info, phone 778-782-6676.

BOOK LAUNCH
Marilynn Tebbit reads from her first novel, Pool Party. Friday, January 31 at 7:00pm. 6888 Royal Oak, Burnaby. More information at http://marilynntebbit.wordpress.com/2014/01/14/book-launch/.

POETIC JUSTICE
Features Kyle Hawke, Eileen Kernaghan, and Calvin Wharton, with host Candice James. Sunday, February 2 at 3:00pm. The Heritage Grill, 447 Columbia Street, New Westminster. More information at poeticjustice.ca.

GRAFFITI HACK BOOK LAUNCH PARTY
Launch of Elen Ghulam's new book, Graffiti Hack: A Novel. Saturday, February 8 at 7:00pm. The Landing, 375 Water Street, Vancouver. More information at ihath.com.

LUNCH POEMS AT SFU
Ray Hsu and Joanne Arnott featured at Feb 19 Lunch Poems at SFU. Presented by SFU Public Square, 12-1pm in SFU Harbour Centre's Teck Gallery (515 W Hastings St.). Free admission, no registration required. For more information visit www.sfu.ca/publicsquare/lunchpoems.

WORDSTHAW
Second annual symposium featuring 38 poets, novelists, short story writers and journalists. Landsdowne Lecture will feature Vancouver poet, novelist and librettist Daphne Marlatt. February 20-22, 2014. University of Victoria, Victoria, BC. More information at malahatreview.ca.

AUTHORS UNBOUND
An evening of readings of both brand new and established local authors in a variety of genres from poetry to short stories to novels. Monday, February 17 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street. More information at vpl.ca.

Upcoming

ALMOST CRIMINAL
Vancouver writer E.R. Brown reads from his first novel, Almost Criminal, a BC-based crime thriller. Wednesday, February 26 at 7:00pm. Welsh Hall West, West Vancouver Memorial Library, 1950 Marine Drive, West Vancouver. For more information, phone 604-925-7403.

REWILDING VANCOUVER
Author J.B. MacKinnon discusses his latest book The Once and Future World. Thursday, February 27 at 6:30pm. Cecil Green Park House, 6251 Cecil Green Park Road, UBC. More information at greencollege.ubc.ca.

RED GIRL RAT BOY
Vancouver author Cynthia Flood reads from her latest book. Thursday, February 27 at 7:00pm, free. McGill branch, Burnaby Public Library, 4595 Albert Street, Burnaby. More information and registration at 604-299-8955 or bpl.bc.ca.

VEENA GOKHALE
Reading by Montreal-based author. Special guest poet and writer Rahat Kurd. Friday, February 28 at 12:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.

SERENDIPITY: CHILDREN'S LITERATURE IN A DIGITAL AGE
From practical advice on using literature-based apps with children to learning how authors and illustrators are using social media and electronic publishing, Serendipity 2014 is for educators, librarians, researchers and literature lovers looking to the future of books for young people. Our presenters include Paul Zelinsky, Arthur Slade, John Schumacher, Travis Jonker, Tim Federle, and Hadley Dyer. Saturday, March 8, 2014. For registration and information, go to www.vclr.ca.

F.G. BRESSANI LITERARY PRIZE
IL CENTRO Italian Cultural Centre is thrilled to announce the publication of the Rules & Regulations for the 2014 Edition of the F.G. Bressani Literary Prize. The literary prize honours and promotes the work of Canadian writers of Italian origin or Italian descent. Deadline: April 2, 2014. Complete details can be found here: http://italianculturalcentre.ca/blog/bressani-literary-prize/.

ICELAND WRITERS RETREAT
The Iceland Writers Retreat invites published and aspiring book writers (fiction and non-fiction) to participate in a series of workshops and panels led by a team of international writers from April 9-13, 2014 including Joseph Boyden. Between intimate workshops and lectures tour the spectacular Golden Circle, sit in the cozy cafés of Reykjavik, soak in hot geothermal pools, listen to new Icelandic music, and learn about the country's rich literary tradition. More information at www.IcelandWritersRetreat.com.

SKAGIT RIVER POETRY FESTIVAL
A celebration of poetry featuring readings, workshops, and storytelling. Access to internationally famous poets through intimate venues and workshop sessions. May 15-18, 2014. Various venues throughout La Conner, WA. Tickets on sale in January. More information at www.skagitriverpoetry.org.