Book News Vol. 5 No. 15

BOOK NEWS

Join us!Our membership drive continues with exciting new incentives to join, as well as the benefits of membership:...discounts, earlybird tickets, we could go on... Click for more information, http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/supportus/joinus.

Every two weeks we will draw the name of a new member to win an exciting prize. The prize for April 1: two tickets to see Peter Carey in conversation with Hal Wake on May 7.

Special Events

Ian McEwan
In this YouTube clip Ian McEwan talks about where he stands on climate change. He insists that in his novel Solar he's merely investigating the problem, not trying to persuade anyone of anything. He hopes to take the reader on a journey that shows how uniquely difficult this problem is for humankind, and "how our cleverness might win through."http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXPaKf6u4xI

Ian McEwan will be interviewed by Jerry Wasserman. Details at http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/community/specialevents. VIWF members: Receive a $2 member discount for Ian McEwan event tickets! Join us: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/supportus/joinus.

Peter Carey
The Vancouver International Writers Festival and Random House of Canada present the Man Booker Prize for Fiction winner and the author of Oscar and Lucinda and True History of the Kelly Gang in conversation with Hal Wake. Details at http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/community/specialevents.

AWARDS & LISTS

Margaret Atwood and Amitav Ghosh have been awarded the Dan David Prize and will share the $1 million US award.
http://www.cbc.ca/arts/books/story/2010/03/23/atwood-telaviv-prize.html

Sherman Alexie has won the PEN/Faulkner award for War Dances, a collection of stories and poems.
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/23/alexie-wins-penfaulkner-fiction-prize/?ref=books

NEWS & FEATURES

To celebrate its 75th birthday, Penguin Books is offering a contest where each month one lucky winner will receive an anniversary library featuring 75 all-time bestselling Penguin books.
http://www.penguin.ca/static/pages/penguin75th/contest.html

Herta Müller, the 2009 winner of the Nobel prize for literature, tells audiences of how she and her proofreader would meet in the forest to avoid the Romanian secret police.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/mar/22/herta-muller-proofread-in-forest

Unfortunately for fans, a new compilation of interviews with Roberto Bolaño isn't likely to offer any insight into the elusive cult figure.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/mar/21/roberto-bolano-the-last-interview

Indigo's Kobo eReader, available in May for $149, takes direct aim at rival Amazon and its Kindle, currently priced at $259.
http://www.cbc.ca/arts/books/story/2010/03/24/kobo-ebook-reader-indigo.html

The NY Times talks with Niels Arden Oplev, the Danish director of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, adapted from Steig Larsson's bestselling novel. The film will appear on Vancouver screens soon.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/14/movies/14dragon.html?scp=8&sq=The%20Girl%20with%20the%20Dragon%20Tattoo&st=cse

BOOKS & WRITERS

The Guardian has great things to say about Linden MacIntyre's Giller prize winning novel, The Bishop's Man, calling it "a page-turner which renders existential questions about personal responsibility into fodder fit for a thriller."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/mar/21/linden-macintyre-bishops-man

M.A.C. Farrant calls Susan Juby's addiction and recovery memoir, Nice Recovery "an inspiration."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/books/review-nice-recovery-by-susan-juby/article1506402/

Zachariah Wells commends Steven Heighton's "tremendous range" in his fifth collection of poetry, Patient Frame.
http://www.quillandquire.com/reviews/review.cfm?review_id=6802

John Steffler's first collection in ten years, Lookout, is evidence of poet who knows his craft. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/books/review-lookout-by-john-steffler/article1510422/

Tracy Chevalier, author of the bestselling Girl with a Pearl Earring, has written a new novel, Remarkable Creatures, at the centre of which are real-life 19th-century amateur scientists Mary Anning and Elizabeth Philpot, fossil hunters whose collections are still on display in the Natural History Museum in London and at Oxford University.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/books/review-remarkable-creatures-by-tracy-chevalier/article1508072/

Annie Proulx praises Tim Gautreaux's collection Waiting for the Evening News: Stories of the Deep South and rejects his tag as a regional southern writer, calling him one of the best short story writers anywhere.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/mar/20/waiting-for-evening-news-gautreaux

In this Q&A with Norwegian crime writer Jo Nesbo, the author suggests there is such an appetite for crime fiction in Scandinavia because the society itself is so organized and safe: "the criminal is a very exotic creature that people want to study and look at."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/books/questions-answers-with-jo-nesbo/article1506874/

Hanif Kureishi has written a "raw, deeply felt and often moving" memoir, My Ear At His Heart: Reading My Father, in which he tells the story of his father, a man who spent all his free time writing, hoping in vain to receive validation as an artist.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/23/books/23book.html?ref=books

COMMUNITY EVENTS

PRINTING IN THE SHADOW OF ALDUS
The Alcuin Society presents an illustrated talk by Peter Rutledge Koch on the making, in Venice, of his fine press edition of Nobel laureate Joseph Brodsky's Watermark: a Memoir of Venice. Introduced by Robert Bringhurst. Thursday, March 25 at 7:00pm, free. Fletcher Challenge Room, Harbour Centre, SFU Downtown Campus, 2300 - 515 West Hastings St., Vancouver. More information at www.alcuinsociety.com.

ROBSON READING SERIES
Women Take on the Words featuring Narine Holtz and Lisa Robertson. Thursday, March 25 at 7:00pm, free. UBC Bookstore Library, Robson Square, 800 Robson Street.

ON EDGE READING SERIES
Readings by Pamela Mordecai and Salimah Valiani (Letter In: Letter Out). Thursday, March 25 at 7:00pm. SB406, Emily Carr University, Granville Island.

BERYL YOUNG
Launch of the author's new book, Follow the Elephant with book draws and East Indian appetizers. Friday, March 26 at 6:30pm. Tilley Endurables Western, 2401 Granville Street.

FINE PRINTING AND IMAGINATION
UBC Library and the Alcuin Society present a lecture by Peter Rutledge Koch on his major work. Friday, March 26 at 1:30pm. The Dodson Room, Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, UBC, 1961 East Mall, Vancouver. More information at www.alcuinsociety.com.

THRUST
Robson Reading Series presents the launch of Thrust, a single edition literary magazine featuring the work of students from UBC's MFA in Creative Writing program. Friday, March 26 at 7:00pm, free. UBC Bookstore Library, Robson Square, 800 Robson Street.

SHANE KOYCZAN
Slam poet from the Olympic opening ceremonies performs live. Friday, March 26 at 8:30pm. Tickets $25. The Cultch, 1895 Venables. More information at www.thecultch.com.

THE INQUISITION YOURS
Launch of Vancouver poet Jen Currin's new book The Inquisition Yours, with readings by Jen Currin, Nikki Reimer, and Jordan Scott, and music by Pelican Ossman and Dramady. Saturday, March 27 at 9:00pm. Montmartre Cafe, 4362 Main. More information at www.chbooks.com.

RAIN CITY CHRONICLES
An evening of live storytelling. Monday, March 29 at 7:00pm. Tickets $8. Western Front, 303 8th Ave. E.

IT CAN HAPPEN TO YOU
Local author Lynn Crymble discusses her novel. Monday, March 29 at 7:30pm, free but admission required. Parkgate Branch Library (3675 Banff Court, North Vancouver). More information at 604.929.3727.

VANCOUVER POETRY SLAM
Van Slam Poetry team final. Monday, March 29 at 8:00pm. Admission: $5/$3. Cafe Deux Soleils (2096 Commercial). More information at www.vancouverpoetryhouse.com.

ROBSON READING SERIES SPECIAL EVENT
Reading by Randall Maggs, author of Night Work: The Sawchuk Poems and poet Elizabeth Bachinsky, author of God of Missed Connections to celebrate Brick Books 35th anniversary. Thursday, April 1 at 7:00pm, free. UBC Bookstore Library, Robson Square, 800 Robson Street.

UP CHUTE CREEK
Melody Hessing reads from her book. Thursday, April 1 at 7:00pm, free. Meeting room, level 3, VPL Central Library, 350 W. Georgia. More information at www.vpl.ca.

NEIL SAFIER
Author reads from his award-winning book, Measuring the New World Enlightenment Science and South America. Tuesday, April 6 at 3:00pm. Room 302, Dodson Room, Irving K. Barber Learning Centre (1961 East Mall).

Upcoming

WRITING THE NEW CANADIAN LANDSCAPE
Reading by Pamela Mordecai (Pink Icing and other stories) and George Sipos (The Geography of Arrival). Thursday, April 8 at 7:00pm. UBC Bookstore Library, Robson Square, 800 Robson Street.

NATIONAL POETRY MONTH
Celebration with Gillian Jerome, Laisha Rosnau and Gregory Scofield. Thursday, April 22 at 7:00pm, free. UBC Bookstore Library, Robson Square, 800 Robson Street.

WRITING FOR SOCIAL CHANGE READING SERIES
Visit the intimate living room at Historic Joy Kogawa House for a series of small salon evenings with five writers who use literature to call for social change and justice and as a tool for social transformation. The first writer in the series, Joan Macleod will read from and sign her works. Monday, April 19 at 7:30pm, admission by donation. Historic Joy Kogawa House, 1450 64th Ave. W. More information here: http://www.kogawahouse.com/node/181.

STUDIO ONE BOOK CLUB
Yann Martel's highly anticipated new novel beatrice & virgil is about to hit bookstores in early April, and you can meet him in the CBC Radio Studio One Book Club! The new book is a bewitching story about a famous, yet struggling author, an eccentric taxidermist, a donkey and a howler monkey. Meet the author of Life of Pi in the intimate setting of Studio One on Sunday April 25 at 3 pm. The only way to get in, is to win! Go to www.cbc.ca/bc/bookclub to enter for free tickets.

YANN MARTEL
Capilano University Pacific Arbour Speaker Series presents Yann Martel with Anosh Irani. Yann Martel is the author of the internationally acclaimed Man Booker prize-winning novel Life of Pi. Anosh Irani, the award-winning playwright and best-selling author whose novel, The Song of Kahunsha, was a 2007 Canada Reads finalist. Monday, April 26 at 7:30pm. Tickets: $15/$13. Kay Meek Centre, North Vancouver. More information at http://www.capilanou.ca/news-events/performing-arts/season-performances/Speaker.html.

Book News Vol. 5 No. 14

BOOK NEWS

Join us!
Since we started campaigning a few weeks ago, more than 100 new members have signed on. Thank you for your support! Now that it's clear we're losing substantial funding from the Provincial government, contributions from our audiences are increasingly important. If you haven't already become a member we urge you to join us and show your support for great literary programming and our Spreading the Word education program for BC schools. And the benefits of membership are great...discounts, earlybird tickets, we could go on... Click for more information, http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/supportus/joinus.

Every two weeks we will draw the name of a new member to win an exciting prize. The prize for April 1: two tickets to see Peter Carey in conversation with Hal Wake on May 7.

Special Events

Ian McEwan
Ian McEwan will be interviewed by Jerry Wasserman. Details at http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/community/specialevents. VIWF members: Receive a $2 member discount for Ian McEwan event tickets! Join us: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/supportus/joinus.

Peter Carey
The Vancouver International Writers Festival and Random House of Canada present the Man Booker Prize for Fiction winner and the author of Oscar and Lucinda and True History of the Kelly Gang in conversation with Hal Wake. Details at http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/community/specialevents.