Book News Vol. 10 No. 16

BOOK NEWS

Special Event

Louise Penny in conversation with Hal Wake

Tickets are going fast for our special event with Louise Penny, August 24th. Louise is kicking off her multi-city book tour for her new book with our event in Vancouver, so you'll be among the very first to hear her read from
The Nature of the Beast!

Kirkus Reviews calls The Nature of the Beast "a mystery with global scope and consequences... What makes this story most magical... is the perfect reminder of the dark side of human nature, but that side does not always win out. Penny is an expert at pulling away the surface of her characters to expose their deeper-and often ugly-layers, always doing so with a direct but compassionate hand."

Monday, August 24 at 7:30pm
Vancouver Playhouse
600 Hamilton Street
Details and to purchase tickets, https://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/louise-penny.

Poetry and Short Story Contest
The 17th Vancouver Writers Fest Poetry and Short Story Contest is now open! Entries will be accepted until October 25th, so get writing or start polishing up your best work. The contest is open to all writers, so this could be the perfect opportunity for you to get published for the first time, kick start your writing career or add to your already impressive resume. First place winners will receive $500 and be published in subTERRAIN Magazine.

Details and to enter: http://writersfest.bc.ca/writingcontest

AWARDS & LISTS

The Man Booker International Prize and the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize have merged. The new £50,000 award will be given to a work of literary fiction translated into English.
http://www.thebookseller.com/news/man-booker-306625

Lawrence Hill has been appointed to the Order of Canada for "his writing representing black history in Canada and for his charitable efforts to help girls and women in Africa through the Aminata Fund, named for The Book of Negroes protagonist." His newest novel, The Illegal, is due in September.
http://www.quillandquire.com/authors/2015/07/02/lawrence-hill-among-writers-honoured-with-order-of-canada/

The winners of the 2015 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction & Nonfiction have been announced. Anthony Doerr and Bryan Stevenson won for All the Light We Cannot See, and Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption.
http://www.ala.org/awardsgrants/carnegieadult

YOUNG READERS

What are the best autobiographies for children and teenagers? Here's a great list.
http://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2015/jul/06/malala-bear-grylls-autobiographies-for-children-and-teenagers

NEWS & FEATURES

Jamie Reid, a Vancouver poet and community activist, has died. Reid was a co-founder of the TISH poetry movement at UBC, along with future Poets Laureate George Bowering and Fred Wah.
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Vancouver+writer+activist+fought+justice+decency/11183686/story.html#ixzz3fFZZKTOS

Attention Harper Lee fans! The Wall Street Journal will be previewing the first chapter of Lee's Go Set A Watchman on July 10th.
http://www.ew.com/article/2015/07/06/go-set-a-watchman-first-chapter-online

Speaking of which, Go Set a Watchman may have been discovered years earlier than reported. A new account of its "discovery" has appeared, raising questions about "whether the book was lost and accidentally recovered, and about why Ms. Lee would not have sought to publish it earlier."
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/03/books/harper-lee-go-set-a-watchman-may-have-been-found-earlier-than-thought.html

British novelist Louise Doughty is calling out publishers for "short-termism" that overlooks excellent authors. If things continue as they are, the next Hilary Mantel could "slip through our fingers."
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/louise-doughty-novelist-warns-uk-publishers-that-their-shorttermism-could-see-the-next-hilary-mantel-slip-through-our-fingers-10359068.html

Is classic literature inherently "boring?" It shouldn't have to be, claims Leila Roy in this piece for Book Riot. Here's a great list of page-turner classics.
http://bookriot.com/2015/06/29/just-old-doesnt-mean-boring-experiencing-literary-classics-pageturners/

J.K. Rowling has announced a new chapter in the Harry Potter saga: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child—a play detailing the "'untold part' of the wizard's young life." The play will be performed next summer.
http://flavorwire.com/524997/j-k-rowling-announces-harry-potter-and-the-cursed-child-a-play-detailing-the-untold-part-of-the-story

Do moralists make bad novelists? In this week's New York Times' Bookends, Alice Gregory and Pankaj Mishra discuss "whether moral preoccupations have a place in good fiction."
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/12/books/review/do-moralists-make-bad-novelists.html

Poetic justice is being served. "The owner of the humble garden tool that inspired William Carlos Williams's classic poem 'The Red Wheelbarrow' is finally getting his due!"
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/07/books/the-secret-of-william-carlos-williamss-the-red-wheelbarrow.html

The Vancouver Public Library and CWILL BC have announced the books selected for the first installation of the Reading Lights, an initiative to feature books on lamp posts around Vancouver.
https://cwillbc.wordpress.com/2015/07/03/announcing-reading-lights-2015-selected-books/

Nominations are still open for the 2015 City of Vancouver Mayor's Arts Awards. Deadline has been extended to Friday, July 17.
http://www.allianceforarts.com/blog/2015/5/29/nominations-open-for-the-2015-city-of-vancouver-mayors-arts-awards

BOOKS & WRITERS

A Year of Marvellous Ways, by Sarah Winman, is a strong effort that shows "a poetic attention to image and metaphor." Set in 1947, its protagonist (named Marvellous Ways) is a 90-year-old woman who lives alone in a trailer in rural Cornwall.
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/2015/06/20/a-year-of-marvellous-ways-by-sarah-winman-review.html

The Invaders, by Karolina Waclawiak, is a "sad ballad of suburbia." Described as "Connecticut noir," it "revises Cheever and Updike by making women the avatars of the delights and terrors of upper middle class life."
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jul/07/the-invaders-karolina-waclawiak-review-sad-ballad-suburbia

Multitudinous Heart is a newly translated book of poetry by Carlos Drummond de Andrade. Translated by Richard Zenith, the book includes "samples from every phase of the revered Brazilian poet's career."
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/03/books/review-multitudinous-heart-newly-translated-poetry-by-carlos-drummond-de-andrade.html

Tom Sperlinger's Romeo and Juliet in Palestine is an "illuminating look at the wider role of education." The book describes the author's time teaching English literature to students in the West Bank.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jul/05/romeo-and-juliet-in-palestine-review-tom-sperlinger

Popular in Britain and "difficult to categorize", David Constantine has now made his North American debut with "style and conviction." His short story collection is called In Another Country.
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/2015/06/17/in-another-country-by-david-constantine-review.html

COMMUNITY EVENTS

MICHAEL KUSUGAK
Celebrate Nunavut Day with an inspiring, interactive storytelling session and discussion with Inuit storyteller and author Michael Kusugak. Thursday, July 9 at 5:30pm. Vancouver Maritime Museum. More information and to reserve tickets, http://vancouvermaritimemuseum.com/event/nunavut-day-perfect-story.

THE EVER AFTER
Indian Summer Festival and The Banff Centre present Padma Viswanathan and Jaspreet Singh, two of Canada’s most brilliant literary stars, venture into territory people most often wander alone. Friday, July 10 at 6:00pm. Tickets: $15/$20. SFU's Goldcorp Centre for the Arts, 149 West Hastings Street, Vancouver. More information at indiansummerfest.ca.

IN THE DRIVER'S SEAT
Part of the Indian Summer Festival, a panel featuring a group of writers linked by the fact that they once drove (or still drive) taxis. Friday, July 10 at 8:00pm. Tickets: $15. More information at indiansummerfest.ca.

DEAD POETS READING SERIES
On Sunday July 12th from 3 to 5 p.m. in the Alice MacKay room of the VPL Central Branch, the Dead Poets Reading Series will present the following program: ee cumming read by DN Simmers, Lauris Edmond, read by Christine Hayvice, John Keats, read by Matthew Henley, Robert Lowell, read by Christopher Levenson and P.K. Page read by Ruth Daniell.
Admission is free and readings start on time. For further information visit www.deadpoetslive.com.

VAN SLAM
Vancouver poetry house presents feature poet, Cynthia French. Monday, July 13 at 7:00pm. Cost: $6-$10 sliding scale. Cafe Deux Soleils, 2096 Commercial Drive, Vancouver. More information at vancouverpoetryhouse.com.

KATHERINE FAWCETT
Author reads from Little Washer of Sorrows. Thursday, July 23 at 5:00pm. Salt Spring Island Public Library, 129 Mc Phillips Ave., Salt Spring Island.

TWISTED POETS LITERARY SALON
Features Steve Noyes, Bren Simmers and Carmelo Militano plus open mic. Thursday, July 23 at 7:00pm. The Cottage Bistro, 4468 Main Street, Vancouver. Suggested donation at the door: $5. Sign up for open mic at 7pm. More information at www.pandorascollective.com.

MASHED POETICS
A night of spoken word and music mash-up where we pick a music album, form a cover band, and get poets to write new poems based on the music. Friday, July 24 at 9:00pm. Tickets: $10. 7 Dining Lounge, 53 West Broadway, Vancouver. More information at talonbooks.com.

intergen(d)erational call & response
Spoken word performances that challenge and inspire. A collaborative project of Quirk-e (Queer Imaging and Riting Kollective for Elders) and Youth 4 A Change. Monday, July 27 at 7:00pm. Central Branch, 350 W. Georgia St., Vancouver. More information at vpl.ca.

KARA STANLEY
Author reads from her acclaimed new memoir, "Fallen: A Trauma, A Marriage, and the Transformative Power of Music." Followed by live music by her husband, Simon Paradis, performing with Joe Stanton as roots duo Stanton Paradis. Tuesday, July 28 at 7:00pm. Central Branch, Greater Victoria Public Library. More information at gvpl.ca.

SUNSHINE COAST FESTIVAL OF THE WRITTEN ARTS
Join Canada's longest running summer gathering of Canadian writers and readers, featuring established literary stars and exciting, new voices... with opportunities for writers and readers to mingle amidst Rockwood's heritage gardens. August 13-16, 2015. Sechelt, BC. Information at writersfestival.ca.