BOOK NEWS
The VIWF wishes you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Book News will be taking a break for the remainder of the year and will be back on January 5.
AWARDS & LISTS
The Green Carnation prize 'for modern gay writing' goes to Catherine Hall’s The Proof of Love, beating work by Colm Tóibín and Jackie Kay.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/dec/08/green-carnation-prize-catherine-hall
The Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction has announced eleven titles on its long list, including books by: Carmen Aguirre, Wade Davis, Ryan Flavelle, Charlotte Gill, Richard Gwyn, J.J. Lee, David Adams Richards, Ray Robertson, Madeline Sonik, Andrew Westoll, and Joel Yanofsky. The short list will be announced on January 10, 2012.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/charles-taylor-prize-unveils-long-list/article2268011/
NEWS & FEATURES
Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy is to become a series of graphic novels. DC Comics have signed the Glaswegian crime writer Denise Mina to adapt the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo novels. The first graphic novel will be released in March, 2012.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/dec/13/stieg-larsson-millennium-trilogy-graphic-novel
Jay Parini writes a centenary tribute to Nobel prize-winner Naguib Mahfouz, born in Egypt December 11, 1911, author of 30 novels and numerous volumes of stories (he wrote about 350), a master of both detailed realism and fabulous storytelling.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/dec/12/naguib-mahfouz-centenary
There are calls for a judge to exhume the remains of Pablo Neruda for medical testing, due to allegations the poet and Nobel laureate died of poisoning and not of cancer. The request will be reviewed by Chilean Judge Mario Carroza who has been conducting probes into hundreds of deaths allegedly connected to abuses of Pinochet's regime from 1973 to 1990.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2011/12/06/neruda-poet-exhume-chile-investigate.html
Margaret Atwood describes Twitter followers as "dedicated readers" boldly exploring new frontiers in literacy. "Your brain lights up a lot," she said. Neuroscientists, however, have come to different conclusions, worrying the "expert reading brain" will become obsolete and its replacement, a completely different organ.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/books-vs-screens-which-should-your-kids-be-reading/article2268465/
Norwegian journalist Åsne Seierstad, author of The Bookseller of Kabul, has been cleared of invading the privacy of the Afghan family with whom she’d lived, while she researched her book.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/13/bookseller-of-kabul-author-cleared
John Kinsella has joined Alice Oswald in withdrawing from the shortlist for the TS Eliot Poetry Prize, due to the Prize’s sponsor. Observer books editor William Skidelsky and novelist Geoff Dyer debate the issue.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/dec/10/ts-eliot-poetry-prize-aurum
It should be noted that other arts are reviewing their sponsorships. The Tate galleries are reviewing their 20-year partnership with BP, after demonstrations by green campaigners, including a petition from 8,000 Tate members and visitors.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/dec/13/tate-bp-partnership-environmental-protests
A new facsimile edition of Dickens’s Great Expectations, showing the writer's decisions and revisions, as well as his terrible handwriting, provides fresh insight into his creative genius.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/dec/08/dickens-manuscript-great-expectations
Vancouver’s Ryan Nadel, a self-described "digital hustler", has created MetaMaus, a digital version of Art Spiegelman’s Holocaust memoir, Maus.
http://wevancouver.com/articles/entry/metamaus-more-than-just-a-digital-book/news-and-views/
The science of poetry, the poetry of science: both depend on metaphor, which is as crucial to scientific discovery as it is to lyric. The deepest thing science and poetry share, perhaps, is the way they can tolerate uncertainty, writes Ruth Padel.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/dec/09/ruth-padel-science-poetry?commentpage=1#comment-13683561
Michael Morpurgo, former children's laureate, author of more than 120 books, including War Horse, and judge of the Wicked young writers' award, offers his top advice for writers of all ages.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/childrens-books-site/2011/dec/08/michael-morpurgo-top-tips-writing
Congrats! You’re the best. For now. That’s the message Alison Espach received in June, when her novel The Adults was listed as an Amazon Best Book of 2011. It appears that Amazon simultaneously honours its writers and hedges its bets. Months later, books by Russell Banks, Haruki Murakami, Jeffrey Eugenides were launched and made Amazon’s Best Books of 2011 list. As for Espach’s book? Its gold medal had disappeared.
http://www.salon.com/2011/12/08/when_amazon_took_my_gold_medal_away/singleton/
The hardline "Chinese way" of raising children revealed by Amy Chua in Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother has prompted The Complete Book of Combat With Mum, written by Chen Leshui and Deng Xinyi, a pair of Beijing schoolgirls, describing how to cope when you're being over-parented.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/dec/09/tiger-children-fight-back
Unbound is one of many start-ups offering to crowd fund literary endeavour. Authors pitch their ideas for a book; people who like them are invited to show their support in the form of donations. If enough money is raised, the author writes it, thus publishing books that "otherwise might never see the light of day".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/dec/07/evil-machines-terry-jones-review
Michael Holroyd explains why the 15 years it took to write his biography of George Bernard Shaw was 'remarkably quick'.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/dec/13/paperback-q-a-michael-holroyd-bernard-shaw
Two significant literary figures have died this week: Russell Hoban, aged 86, author of post-apocalyptic classic Riddley Walker, as well as numerous children's books and George Whitman, aged 98, the proprietor of Shakespeare and Company in Paris, probably the world's most famous bookshop.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/dec/14/russell-hoban-dies-86
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/dec/14/george-whitman-obituary
The Writers' Trust of Canada is accepting submissions for the Bronwen Wallace Emerging Author Award, which is awarded to authors under the age of 35 whose work has been published in a magazine or anthology. The deadline for submissions is January 30, 2012. Full submission guidelines here:
http://www.cbabook.org/files/RBC_BWA_Call%20for%20Submissions.pdf
The Writers Union of Canada has announced the jury and the submission deadlines for the Danuta Gleed Literary Award, which will be awarded to the best first short fiction collection by a Canadian writer. The submission deadline is January 31, 2012 and submitted words must have been published in 2011.
http://www.writersunion.ca/pdfs/2011_danutagleed_press_release.pdf
BOOKS & WRITERS
Michael Torosian started 25 years ago to produce, in the tradition of Johannes Gutenberg, exquisitely crafted, limited-edition books on photography and photographers. His latest labour of love is a 52-page volume, published in a case-bound edition of only 250 copies, titled Steichen: Eduard et Voulangis.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/book-craftsman-produces-limited-edition-on-edward-steichen/article2269766/
Many books have been written about Catherine The Great. Robert K. Massie’s Catherine the Great, Portrait of a Woman brings a novelistic effect to his profile of this unique woman. He is a storyteller in the true sense, writes Jennifer Hunter.
http://www.thestar.com/news/books/article/1098482--catherine-the-great-by-robert-k-massie
Simon Sebag Montefiore's epic survey of Jerusalem's history does not inspire confidence in the civilizing qualities of religion, writes Wendy Smith. "Most of Jerusalem's shrines...have been borrowed or stolen." And Jerusalem's political and social history is equally complex.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/books/la-ca-simon-sebag-montefiore-20111211,0,3072170.story
In I Am Half-Sick of Shadows, Alan Bradley weaves a ghoulish yuletide tale against the backdrop of the crumbling Buckshaw mansion. The narrator is the 11-year-old hobby sleuth and compulsively curious Flavia de Luce. A lighthearted holiday read, writes Dravgana Kovacevic.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/i-am-half-sick-of-shadows-by-alan-bradley/article2263154/singlepage/#articlecontent
American writer Tim Mueller lives in Italy in a farmhouse surrounded by olive groves. Mueller’s Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil is filled with information mindful eaters will wish to have, writes Dwight Garner.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/08/books/extra-virginity-by-tom-mueller-a-word-on-olive-oil-review.html?ref=books
Jonathan P. Kuehlein, the Toronto Star’s resident graphic novel and comics expert reviews four of the latest offerings.
http://www.thestar.com/news/books/article/1097840--seth-s-brotherhood-worth-joining
A good winter read is Willa Cather’s My Antonia, writes Xan Brooks. A story of the hardships of a bitter winter in the American west, this is also a stirring tribute to unfreezable human spirit, says Brooks.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/dec/08/winter-reads-my-antonia-willa-cather
Kurt Vonnegut's son Mark disputes the portrait of his father drawn by Charles Shields in And So It Goes.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/dec/07/kurt-vonnegut-son-biography-charles-shields
David L. Ulin writes that And So It Goes is a problematic portrait of Vonnegut, sketchy and pedantic by turns. Although Shields loads the book with information, he never develops an integrated overview.
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/books/la-ca-charles-shields-20111113,0,2699733.story
Alison Preston is unique among Canadian crime writers, writes Jack Batten, no one else matching Preston’s combination of humour and creepiness. In The Girl in the Wall, readers experience both giggles and an impulse to pull the covers over their heads.
http://www.thestar.com/news/books/article/1098937--special-delivery-from-alison-preston
Sarah Murdoch reviews ten coffee table books including Animal: The Definitive Visual Guide, an updated volume of the Smithsonian Institution’s respected animal catalogue. Compiled by more than 70 biologists, zoologists and naturalists, it includes nearly 2,000 animal profiles.
http://www.thestar.com/news/books/article/1099075--get-the-picture
In India, where deep-rooted tradition meets the engine of unbridled capitalism, stories of loss, beauty and hurt abound, Anita Desai explores the personal effects of India’s modernization with The Artist of Disappearance. India is a multifarious world, unlike any other, concludes Hector Tobar.
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/books/la-ca-anita-desai-20111211,0,4738202.story
Ian McGillis speaks with Kevin Chong about Beauty Plus Pity, Chong’s first novel since 2001. The book is well-paced, smartly structured, and packs a sting in the tail. It was, in short, one of my favourite novels of 2011, says McGillis.
http://blogs.montrealgazette.com/2011/12/10/kevin-chong-talks-about-beauty-plus-pity-a-novel-where-frothy-meets-substantial-and-substantial-wins/
Anna Porter writes that P.D. James’s Death Comes to Pemberley is a story to savour. There are, of course, numerous suspects. Porter’s sole complaint is that the book is not long enough.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/death-comes-to-pemberley-by-pd-james/article2265841/
COMMUNITY EVENTS
ROBSON READING SERIES
Readings by Esi Edugyan and Jen Sookfong Lee. Thursday, December 15 at 7:00pm, free. UBC Bookstore/Library at Robson Square, 800 Robson Street. More information at www.robsonreadingseries.ubc.ca.
MIKE MCCARDELL
The local news reporter and author signs copies of his new book Here's Mike. Proceeds from the sale of each book go to Variety-The Children's Charity. Saturday, December 17 at 1:00pm. Black Bond Books Warehouse, 1-15562-24th Ave., Surrey. More information at www.blackbondbooks.com.
HOBNOB WITH LOCAL AUTHORS
People's Co-Op Books is holding an open house with many writers including Kevin Chong, Timothy Taylor, Dennis Bolen, Ivan Coyote, Elizabeth Bachinsky and many more. Sunday, December 18 starting at 5pm. People's Co-Op Books, 1391 Commercial Drive. More information at talonbooks.com/events.
VANCOUVER STORYTELLERS
Winter Solstice stories told by Mary Gavan, Erin Graham, and Chen Ha. Includes seasonal music and stories by Philomena Jordan. Sunday, December 18 at 7:00pm. Tickets: $6. St. Mark's Anglican Church, 1805 Larch Street. More information at www.vancouverstorytellers.ca.
MARATHON POETRY READING EVENT
subTerrain magazine launches its Vancouver 125 issue with readings from many of the 95 poets featured in the issue. Tuesday, December 20 at 5:00pm. Army, Navy, and Air Force Veteran's Club, 3917 Main. More information at www.subterrain.ca.
Upcoming
POETRY READING
Readings by three members of the Vancouver Poetry Dogs: Stephanie Bolster, Barbara Nickel, and Elise Partridge. Tuesday, January 3 at 7:00pm, free. Peter Kaye room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street.
DEAD POETS READING SERIES
Reading featuring David Zieroth, Diane Tucker, Miranda Pearson, Garry Thomas Morse, and John Donlan. Sunday, January 8 at 3:00pm. Project Space, 222 East Georgia Street. More information at http://www.deadpoetslive.com.
CHINATOWN STORIES
Come hear about forgotten Chinatowns and stories about growing up Chinese in Vancouver and in Mexico. Meet authors Rebeca Lau, Chad Reimer, and Larry Wong and learn more about the new book series Gold Mountain Stories. Wednesday, January 11 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen & Peter Kaye Rooms, Lower Level, Central Library, 350 West Georgia Street.
GRACE LI XIU WOO
Author of Ghost Dancing with Colonialism discusses her new book. Thursday, January 12 at 7:00pm, free. Alma vanDusen room, lower level, Central Branch, 350 W. Georgia Street.
WRITING FROM REAL LIFE
Madeline Sonik, award-winning author and university teacher of writing, will teach autobiographical writing techniques, structure and theme. Saturday, January 14 at 1:00pm, free. Alma vanDusen room, lower level, Central Branch, 350 W. Georgia Street. More information at www.vpl.ca.
BETTY JEAN MCHUGH
Please join the author as she reads from My Road to Rome: The Running Times of BJ McHugh, the story of how she became the world's fastest senior long-distance runner. Monday, January 16 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen & Peter Kaye Rooms, Lower Level, Central Library, 350 West Georgia Street.
PLAY CHTHONICS
Readings by bill bissett and Alex Leslie. Wednesday, January 18 at 5:00pm. Piano lounge, Graham House, Green College, UBC. More information at talonbooks.com.
ROBSON READING SERIES
Readings by Sachiko Murakami (Rebuild) and Nick Thran (Earworm). Thursday, January 19 at 7:00pm, free. UBC Bookstore/Library at Robson Square, 800 Robson Street. More information at www.robsonreadingseries.ubc.ca.
KEVIN MCNEILLY
Reading by the author of his debut poetry collection, Embouchure. Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 2:00pm. Rm301, Irving K. Barber Learning Centre 1961 East Mall, UBC.
JOHN IRVING
The author will talk about his new novel In One Person on Friday, May 18th, 2012 at 7:30 pm at the North Shore Credit Union Centre for the Performing Arts. Capilano University, 2055 Purcell Way, North Vancouver. Ticket price of $30 includes a copy of the new novel available for pick up at the event. More information at 604.990.7810 or http://www2.capilanou.ca/news-events/nscucentre.html.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Book News Vol. 6 No. 48
BOOK NEWS
The perfect gift for book lovers!
Gift certificates, in increments of $20, are now available for the 2012 Vancouver International Writers & Readers Festival. To purchase gift certificates, valid towards events during the 2012 Festival from October 16 to 21, please call 604-681-6330 x0. Gift certificates are available for purchase until December 16, 2011. Some restrictions apply.
AWARDS & LISTS
Finalists named for BC's National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction.
http://www.bcachievement.com/nonfiction/finalists.php
Oncologist Siddhartha Mukherjee's biography of cancer, The Emperor of All Maladies, a 'remarkable and unusual' study, has won the Guardian First Book award, with a £10,000 prize.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/dec/01/biography-cancer-guardian-first-book-award?INTCMP=SRCH
An excerpt is here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/11/guardian-first-book-siddhartha-mukherjee
Nicanor Parra, the Chilean poet and mathematician who seeks to demystify poetry and make it accessible to a wide audience, is winner of the 2011 Miguel de Cervantes Prize. Worth €125,000 (nearly $171,500 Cdn), the Cervantes Prize honours a Spanish-language writer for his or her body of work.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2011/12/01/cervantes-prize-nicanor-parra.html
Jesmyn Ward has won the US National Book Award for her novel Salvage the Bones. The book was inspired by her family's gut-wrenching experience just prior to, and during Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/dec/01/jesmyn-ward-national-book-award
Margaret Drabble is the winner of the 2011 Golden PEN Award, an award given annually to an accomplished writer whose body of work has had a profound impact on readers, is held in high regard by the literary community, and is supportive of the values upheld by English PEN.
http://www.englishpen.org/news/_1708/
Emma Donoghue's novel Room has won the 2011 Evergreen Award. The Evergreen Award is administered by the Ontario Library Association as part of the Forest of Reading program, designed to expose adult library users to Canadian fiction and non-fiction. The award will be presented in February, 2012.
http://www.quillandquire.com/blog/index.php/2011/11/11/emma-donoghues-room-wins-evergreen-award/
David Guterson (author of Snow Fallng on Cedars, Ed King) was declared 'the clear winner' of the Literary Review's bad sex fiction award with his 'mortifyingly awful sex scenes'.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/dec/06/david-guterson-bad-sex-award
NEWS & FEATURES
Alice Oswald, shortlisted for her much-praised collection Memorial, has withdrawn from the TS Eliot poetry prize in protest at the sponsorship of the investment company Aurum and its focus on hedge funds.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/dec/06/alice-oswald-withdraws-ts-eliot-prize
How do you write about cancer? Siddhartha Mukherjee describes the process to Decca Aitkenhead, including dealing with the declarations of well-meaning individuals fostering 'positive mental attitude'. "A positive attitude does not cure cancer, any more than a negative one causes it", says Mukherjee.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/dec/04/siddhartha-mukherjee-talk-about-cancer
Britain's Royal Mint has come up with a novel way to wish Charles Dickens a happy 200th birthday—a new coin with a portrait of the author made up of the titles of some of his most famous fictional works.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2011/12/06/dickens-charles-coin.html
Alison Flood reports that New York City's transport department is hoping to reduce accidents with a set of haikus. Here is a selection:
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/curbside-haiku-sample.pdf
As a lark during this month's holiday season, House of Anansi has taken one of the most prominent authors in its stable—CanLit icon Margaret Atwood—and made her over as a Charleston-dancing elf: Atwood as dancing avatar.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/things-that-go-pop-blog/2011/12/anansi-plugs-dancing-atwood-avatar.html
The Colombian court has ruled against a man who claimed Gabriel García Márquez used his life story for the main character in Chronicle of a Death Foretold. This brings to an end a 17-year legal fight.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/30/gabriel-garcia-marquez-court-victory
Prompted by Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes sequel's imminent arrival in movie theatres, the Observer has identified the ten most brilliant sleuths, ranging from the Man with No Name to the single woman on the list—Smilla Qaaviqaaq Jasperson. A gallery of the ten is here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/gallery/2011/dec/04/ten-best-fictional-sleuths-in-pictures
Toronto comic artist Ramon Perez has illustrated Jim Henson's Tale of Sand, an unproduced film script in an archive for almost 40 years, now a graphic novel for adult readers. Perez's graphic novel will be the only version true to her father's vision, says Lisa Henson. Tale of Sand will be launched in Canada in January, 2012.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/ramon-perez-draws-on-henson-literally/article2258040/
Author Christa Wolf, one of Germany's most significant writers, has died in Berlin, at 82. Wolf is best known for her novel Cassandra, a retelling of the Trojan War, known for its feminist themes. Wolf was awarded the Thomas Mann prize in 2010.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/2011/12/german-author-christa-wolf-has-died.html
Ten paper sculptures, created from shredded books, have been left anonymously at various cultural institutions in Edinburgh.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2011/dec/01/edinburgh-book-sculptures
A sculpture created specifically for Ian Rankin can be viewed here:
http://twitter.com/#!/EdinBookshop/status/142570552152956928/photo/1/large
Siddhartha Mukherjee names Primo Levi as his hero. After reading Levi's description of distilling, Mukherjee writes: "If chemists can write like that, God help the writers."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/dec/02/my-hero-primo-levi-siddhartha-mukherjee
Film-maker Shaun Tan, In a conversation with Neil Gaiman, says: 'I use text as the grout between the tiles of the pictures. I always overwrite and then trim it down to the bare bones'.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/dec/02/neil-gaiman-shaun-tan-interview
The Globe and Mail's guide to the fattest and fanciest gift books, in all categories, can be found here:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/the-globe-guide-to-the-fattest-and-fanciest-gift-books-of-the-year/article2258380/
Renowned literary critic Harold Bloom has just begun his 58th year teaching literature at Yale. In an interview, Bloom says that Walt Whitman is America's Shakespeare, but not much appreciated. The result is the forthcoming "Walt Whitman: A Pageant," a combination of biography, poetry and music.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/10/02/RVJA1KV53J.DTL&type=books
In an essay about fantasy fiction, Adam Gopnik describes Oxford students' experience studying in the 1940s under Tolkien—then considered the most boring lecturer, teaching the most boring subject. But, as the boring old professor knew, says Gopnik, the backstory is the biggest one of all.
http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2011/12/05/111205crat_atlarge_gopnik?currentPage=all
Novelist (The Yacoubian Building, The State of Egypt), dentist, and defender of democracy, Alaa Al Aswany speaks to Joe Lauria about the Egyptian uprising and the future of Eygpt.
http://www.salon.com/2011/12/03/novelist_dentist_and_defender_of_democracy/
The National Post's Mark Medley is reading Moby Dick for the first time and poses a challenge to readers: what books do you feel you should read but haven't? Post in the comments section or participate in the conversation. on Twitter (#unread) before Saturday, December 10.
http://arts.nationalpost.com/2011/12/05/the-great-unread/
Twitter is good for literacy, says Margaret Atwood. We should celebrate it and the internet as new platforms for instant communication and as drivers of literacy, says Atwood.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2011/12/05/margaret-atwood-digital-twitter-publishing.html
The National Literacy Trust has published research showing that almost 4 million children in Britain—one in three—do not own a book. The Literacy Trust charity, which carried out the survey, said the proportion had risen from one in 10 in 2005.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/dec/05/children-literacy-britain-book
Niall Ferguson's resort to legal threats over a bad book review smacks of bullying, not intellectual rigour, writes Catherine Bennett.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/dec/04/catherine-bennett-niall-ferguson-libel
The European commission has launched an investigation into whether Apple and five large publishing houses have conspired to fix the price of ebooks.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/dec/06/ebooks-price-fixing-apple-inquiry
The Writers' Trust of Canada is accepting submissions for the Bronwen Wallace Emerging Author Award, which is awarded to authors under the age of 35 whose work has been published in a magazine or anthology. The deadline for submissions is January 30, 2012. Full submission guidelines here:
http://www.cbabook.org/files/RBC_BWA_Call%20for%20Submissions.pdf
The Writers Union of Canada has announced the jury and the submission deadlines for the Danuta Gleed Literary Award, which will be awarded to the best first short fiction collection by a Canadian writer. The submission deadline is January 31, 2012 and submitted words must have been published in 2011.
http://www.writersunion.ca/pdfs/2011_danutagleed_press_release.pdf
BOOKS & WRITERS
Chuck Davis's History of Metropolitan Vancouver is 574 pages of short factual items covering the years from 1757 (George Vancouver's birth) to 2011 (the city's 125th birthday). A group of writers, photographers, editors and publishers helped finish the book after Davis's death.
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/books/filled+with+facts/5803032/story.html
Stephen King travels back in time to the Kennedy assassination—and changes the course of history. Which prompts Mike Fischer's question: what right do any of us have to change others' stories in order to write our own?
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/books/King+travels+back+time+Kennedy+assassination/5803035/story.html
David Adams Richards' new book, Facing the Hunter: Reflections on a Misunderstood Pursuit is a mix of memoir and meditation about the art and sport of hunting, writes Nathan Whitlock, a practice he both defends and admits he has mostly given up.
http://www.thestar.com/news/books/article/1096229--facing-the-hunter-reflections-on-a-misunderstood-pursuitby-david-adams-richards
What I Don't Know About Animals, by British author Jenny Diski, is a personal journey into her engagement with non-humans, writes Erika Ritter. Diski's wide-ranging exploration of what she doesn't know about animals makes for a lively read, says Ritter.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/what-i-dont-know-about-animals-by-jenny-diski/article2260565/
George Jonas is CanLit's version of a Swiss Army knife, writes Mark Medley; his output is as eclectic as it is prolific. Jonas comes full circle with the release of his 16th book, The Jonas Variations, his first collection of poetry since 1993.
http://arts.nationalpost.com/2011/12/05/poetry-in-devotion-george-jonas-comes-full-circle-with-the-release-of-his-new-book/#more-55353
Jean H. Baker's biography Margaret Sanger: A Life of Passion, defends the Planned Parenthood founder's career without whitewashing her brush with eugenics, writes Barbara Spindel for Barnes & Noble Reviews. Sanger was a tenacious visionary in her advocacy for female sexual autonomy.
http://www.salon.com/2011/12/06/margaret_sanger_jean_baker/singleton/
River of Smoke is Amitav Ghosh's follow-up to Sea of Poppies, which was short-listed for the Man Booker Prize. In a recent New York Times piece, Dwight Garner wondered whether some overweight American novels might need liposuction: Why so large, he asks. This lush tome might well raise the same question, but Mark Anthony Jarman argues that this art is worth the time and caloric intake.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/river-of-smoke-by-amitav-ghosh/article2261750/
COMMUNITY EVENTS
THE WRITER'S STUDIO READING SERIES
Come and hear poems and stories related to the theme of 'New Beginnings'. December's guest author, Dan Green, published his first novel, Blue Saltwater, last year. Thursday, December 8 at 7:00pm. Rhizome Cafe, 317 East Broadway.
MIKE MCCARDELL
Meet the renowned news reporter and author at a book signing of his new book, Here's Mike: And Junkyard Granny, Whistling Bernie Smith, the Robertson Screwdriver, Pancakes and Eternal Truth. Saturday, December 10 at 11:00am. Coles, Cottonwood Corner, 45-45585 Lukakuck Way, Chilliwack. For more information, phone 604-858-9595.
POETRY AROUND THE WORLD
Book launch by Ibrahim Honjo, author of Poems I Didn't Want to Write, Some Other Dreams. Saturday, December 10 at 3:30pm. Renfrew Public Library, 2969 22nd Ave. E., Vancouver. More information at 604-441-0169.
BOB LENARDUZZI
Meet the soccer legend and renowned sports writer Jim Taylor at a book signing for Bob Lenarduzzi: A Canadian Soccer Story. Saturday, December 10 at 5:00pm. Black Bond Books, Trenant Park Square Shopping Centre, 5251 Ladner Trunk Road, Ladner. For more information, phone 604-946-6677.
ROBSON READING SERIES
Readings by Esi Edugyan and Jen Sookfong Lee. Thursday, December 15 at 7:00pm, free. UBC Bookstore/Library at Robson Square, 800 Robson Street. More information at www.robsonreadingseries.ubc.ca.
Upcoming
POETRY READING
Readings by three members of the Vancouver Poetry Dogs: Stephanie Bolster, Barbara Nickel, and Elise Partridge. Tuesday, January 3 at 7:00pm, free. Peter Kaye room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street.
CHINATOWN STORIES
Come hear about forgotten Chinatowns and stories about growing up Chinese in Vancouver and in Mexico. Meet authors Rebeca Lau, Chad Reimer, and Larry Wong and learn more about the new book series Gold Mountain Stories. Wednesday, January 11 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen & Peter Kaye Rooms, Lower Level, Central Library, 350 West Georgia Street.
GRACE LI XIU WOO
Author of Ghost Dancing with Colonialism discusses her new book. Thursday, January 12 at 7:00pm, free. Alma vanDusen room, lower level, Central Branch, 350 W. Georgia Street.
WRITING FROM REAL LIFE
Madeline Sonik, award-winning author and university teacher of writing, will teach autobiographical writing techniques, structure and theme. Saturday, January 14 at 1:00pm, free. Alma vanDusen room, lower level, Central Branch, 350 W. Georgia Street. More information at www.vpl.ca.
BETTY JEAN MCHUGH
Please join the author as she reads from My Road to Rome: The Running Times of BJ McHugh, the story of how she became the world's fastest senior long-distance runner. Monday, January 16 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen & Peter Kaye Rooms, Lower Level, Central Library, 350 West Georgia Street.
ROBSON READING SERIES
Readings by Sachiko Murakami (Rebuild) and Nick Thran (Earworm). Thursday, January 19 at 7:00pm, free. UBC Bookstore/Library at Robson Square, 800 Robson Street. More information at www.robsonreadingseries.ubc.ca.
KEVIN MCNEILLY
Reading by the author of his debut poetry collection, Embouchure. Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 2:00pm. Rm301, Irving K. Barber Learning Centre 1961 East Mall, UBC.
The perfect gift for book lovers!
Gift certificates, in increments of $20, are now available for the 2012 Vancouver International Writers & Readers Festival. To purchase gift certificates, valid towards events during the 2012 Festival from October 16 to 21, please call 604-681-6330 x0. Gift certificates are available for purchase until December 16, 2011. Some restrictions apply.
AWARDS & LISTS
Finalists named for BC's National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction.
http://www.bcachievement.com/nonfiction/finalists.php
Oncologist Siddhartha Mukherjee's biography of cancer, The Emperor of All Maladies, a 'remarkable and unusual' study, has won the Guardian First Book award, with a £10,000 prize.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/dec/01/biography-cancer-guardian-first-book-award?INTCMP=SRCH
An excerpt is here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/11/guardian-first-book-siddhartha-mukherjee
Nicanor Parra, the Chilean poet and mathematician who seeks to demystify poetry and make it accessible to a wide audience, is winner of the 2011 Miguel de Cervantes Prize. Worth €125,000 (nearly $171,500 Cdn), the Cervantes Prize honours a Spanish-language writer for his or her body of work.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2011/12/01/cervantes-prize-nicanor-parra.html
Jesmyn Ward has won the US National Book Award for her novel Salvage the Bones. The book was inspired by her family's gut-wrenching experience just prior to, and during Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/dec/01/jesmyn-ward-national-book-award
Margaret Drabble is the winner of the 2011 Golden PEN Award, an award given annually to an accomplished writer whose body of work has had a profound impact on readers, is held in high regard by the literary community, and is supportive of the values upheld by English PEN.
http://www.englishpen.org/news/_1708/
Emma Donoghue's novel Room has won the 2011 Evergreen Award. The Evergreen Award is administered by the Ontario Library Association as part of the Forest of Reading program, designed to expose adult library users to Canadian fiction and non-fiction. The award will be presented in February, 2012.
http://www.quillandquire.com/blog/index.php/2011/11/11/emma-donoghues-room-wins-evergreen-award/
David Guterson (author of Snow Fallng on Cedars, Ed King) was declared 'the clear winner' of the Literary Review's bad sex fiction award with his 'mortifyingly awful sex scenes'.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/dec/06/david-guterson-bad-sex-award
NEWS & FEATURES
Alice Oswald, shortlisted for her much-praised collection Memorial, has withdrawn from the TS Eliot poetry prize in protest at the sponsorship of the investment company Aurum and its focus on hedge funds.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/dec/06/alice-oswald-withdraws-ts-eliot-prize
How do you write about cancer? Siddhartha Mukherjee describes the process to Decca Aitkenhead, including dealing with the declarations of well-meaning individuals fostering 'positive mental attitude'. "A positive attitude does not cure cancer, any more than a negative one causes it", says Mukherjee.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/dec/04/siddhartha-mukherjee-talk-about-cancer
Britain's Royal Mint has come up with a novel way to wish Charles Dickens a happy 200th birthday—a new coin with a portrait of the author made up of the titles of some of his most famous fictional works.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2011/12/06/dickens-charles-coin.html
Alison Flood reports that New York City's transport department is hoping to reduce accidents with a set of haikus. Here is a selection:
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/curbside-haiku-sample.pdf
As a lark during this month's holiday season, House of Anansi has taken one of the most prominent authors in its stable—CanLit icon Margaret Atwood—and made her over as a Charleston-dancing elf: Atwood as dancing avatar.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/things-that-go-pop-blog/2011/12/anansi-plugs-dancing-atwood-avatar.html
The Colombian court has ruled against a man who claimed Gabriel García Márquez used his life story for the main character in Chronicle of a Death Foretold. This brings to an end a 17-year legal fight.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/30/gabriel-garcia-marquez-court-victory
Prompted by Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes sequel's imminent arrival in movie theatres, the Observer has identified the ten most brilliant sleuths, ranging from the Man with No Name to the single woman on the list—Smilla Qaaviqaaq Jasperson. A gallery of the ten is here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/gallery/2011/dec/04/ten-best-fictional-sleuths-in-pictures
Toronto comic artist Ramon Perez has illustrated Jim Henson's Tale of Sand, an unproduced film script in an archive for almost 40 years, now a graphic novel for adult readers. Perez's graphic novel will be the only version true to her father's vision, says Lisa Henson. Tale of Sand will be launched in Canada in January, 2012.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/ramon-perez-draws-on-henson-literally/article2258040/
Author Christa Wolf, one of Germany's most significant writers, has died in Berlin, at 82. Wolf is best known for her novel Cassandra, a retelling of the Trojan War, known for its feminist themes. Wolf was awarded the Thomas Mann prize in 2010.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/2011/12/german-author-christa-wolf-has-died.html
Ten paper sculptures, created from shredded books, have been left anonymously at various cultural institutions in Edinburgh.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2011/dec/01/edinburgh-book-sculptures
A sculpture created specifically for Ian Rankin can be viewed here:
http://twitter.com/#!/EdinBookshop/status/142570552152956928/photo/1/large
Siddhartha Mukherjee names Primo Levi as his hero. After reading Levi's description of distilling, Mukherjee writes: "If chemists can write like that, God help the writers."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/dec/02/my-hero-primo-levi-siddhartha-mukherjee
Film-maker Shaun Tan, In a conversation with Neil Gaiman, says: 'I use text as the grout between the tiles of the pictures. I always overwrite and then trim it down to the bare bones'.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/dec/02/neil-gaiman-shaun-tan-interview
The Globe and Mail's guide to the fattest and fanciest gift books, in all categories, can be found here:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/the-globe-guide-to-the-fattest-and-fanciest-gift-books-of-the-year/article2258380/
Renowned literary critic Harold Bloom has just begun his 58th year teaching literature at Yale. In an interview, Bloom says that Walt Whitman is America's Shakespeare, but not much appreciated. The result is the forthcoming "Walt Whitman: A Pageant," a combination of biography, poetry and music.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/10/02/RVJA1KV53J.DTL&type=books
In an essay about fantasy fiction, Adam Gopnik describes Oxford students' experience studying in the 1940s under Tolkien—then considered the most boring lecturer, teaching the most boring subject. But, as the boring old professor knew, says Gopnik, the backstory is the biggest one of all.
http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2011/12/05/111205crat_atlarge_gopnik?currentPage=all
Novelist (The Yacoubian Building, The State of Egypt), dentist, and defender of democracy, Alaa Al Aswany speaks to Joe Lauria about the Egyptian uprising and the future of Eygpt.
http://www.salon.com/2011/12/03/novelist_dentist_and_defender_of_democracy/
The National Post's Mark Medley is reading Moby Dick for the first time and poses a challenge to readers: what books do you feel you should read but haven't? Post in the comments section or participate in the conversation. on Twitter (#unread) before Saturday, December 10.
http://arts.nationalpost.com/2011/12/05/the-great-unread/
Twitter is good for literacy, says Margaret Atwood. We should celebrate it and the internet as new platforms for instant communication and as drivers of literacy, says Atwood.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2011/12/05/margaret-atwood-digital-twitter-publishing.html
The National Literacy Trust has published research showing that almost 4 million children in Britain—one in three—do not own a book. The Literacy Trust charity, which carried out the survey, said the proportion had risen from one in 10 in 2005.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/dec/05/children-literacy-britain-book
Niall Ferguson's resort to legal threats over a bad book review smacks of bullying, not intellectual rigour, writes Catherine Bennett.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/dec/04/catherine-bennett-niall-ferguson-libel
The European commission has launched an investigation into whether Apple and five large publishing houses have conspired to fix the price of ebooks.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/dec/06/ebooks-price-fixing-apple-inquiry
The Writers' Trust of Canada is accepting submissions for the Bronwen Wallace Emerging Author Award, which is awarded to authors under the age of 35 whose work has been published in a magazine or anthology. The deadline for submissions is January 30, 2012. Full submission guidelines here:
http://www.cbabook.org/files/RBC_BWA_Call%20for%20Submissions.pdf
The Writers Union of Canada has announced the jury and the submission deadlines for the Danuta Gleed Literary Award, which will be awarded to the best first short fiction collection by a Canadian writer. The submission deadline is January 31, 2012 and submitted words must have been published in 2011.
http://www.writersunion.ca/pdfs/2011_danutagleed_press_release.pdf
BOOKS & WRITERS
Chuck Davis's History of Metropolitan Vancouver is 574 pages of short factual items covering the years from 1757 (George Vancouver's birth) to 2011 (the city's 125th birthday). A group of writers, photographers, editors and publishers helped finish the book after Davis's death.
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/books/filled+with+facts/5803032/story.html
Stephen King travels back in time to the Kennedy assassination—and changes the course of history. Which prompts Mike Fischer's question: what right do any of us have to change others' stories in order to write our own?
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/books/King+travels+back+time+Kennedy+assassination/5803035/story.html
David Adams Richards' new book, Facing the Hunter: Reflections on a Misunderstood Pursuit is a mix of memoir and meditation about the art and sport of hunting, writes Nathan Whitlock, a practice he both defends and admits he has mostly given up.
http://www.thestar.com/news/books/article/1096229--facing-the-hunter-reflections-on-a-misunderstood-pursuitby-david-adams-richards
What I Don't Know About Animals, by British author Jenny Diski, is a personal journey into her engagement with non-humans, writes Erika Ritter. Diski's wide-ranging exploration of what she doesn't know about animals makes for a lively read, says Ritter.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/what-i-dont-know-about-animals-by-jenny-diski/article2260565/
George Jonas is CanLit's version of a Swiss Army knife, writes Mark Medley; his output is as eclectic as it is prolific. Jonas comes full circle with the release of his 16th book, The Jonas Variations, his first collection of poetry since 1993.
http://arts.nationalpost.com/2011/12/05/poetry-in-devotion-george-jonas-comes-full-circle-with-the-release-of-his-new-book/#more-55353
Jean H. Baker's biography Margaret Sanger: A Life of Passion, defends the Planned Parenthood founder's career without whitewashing her brush with eugenics, writes Barbara Spindel for Barnes & Noble Reviews. Sanger was a tenacious visionary in her advocacy for female sexual autonomy.
http://www.salon.com/2011/12/06/margaret_sanger_jean_baker/singleton/
River of Smoke is Amitav Ghosh's follow-up to Sea of Poppies, which was short-listed for the Man Booker Prize. In a recent New York Times piece, Dwight Garner wondered whether some overweight American novels might need liposuction: Why so large, he asks. This lush tome might well raise the same question, but Mark Anthony Jarman argues that this art is worth the time and caloric intake.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/river-of-smoke-by-amitav-ghosh/article2261750/
COMMUNITY EVENTS
THE WRITER'S STUDIO READING SERIES
Come and hear poems and stories related to the theme of 'New Beginnings'. December's guest author, Dan Green, published his first novel, Blue Saltwater, last year. Thursday, December 8 at 7:00pm. Rhizome Cafe, 317 East Broadway.
MIKE MCCARDELL
Meet the renowned news reporter and author at a book signing of his new book, Here's Mike: And Junkyard Granny, Whistling Bernie Smith, the Robertson Screwdriver, Pancakes and Eternal Truth. Saturday, December 10 at 11:00am. Coles, Cottonwood Corner, 45-45585 Lukakuck Way, Chilliwack. For more information, phone 604-858-9595.
POETRY AROUND THE WORLD
Book launch by Ibrahim Honjo, author of Poems I Didn't Want to Write, Some Other Dreams. Saturday, December 10 at 3:30pm. Renfrew Public Library, 2969 22nd Ave. E., Vancouver. More information at 604-441-0169.
BOB LENARDUZZI
Meet the soccer legend and renowned sports writer Jim Taylor at a book signing for Bob Lenarduzzi: A Canadian Soccer Story. Saturday, December 10 at 5:00pm. Black Bond Books, Trenant Park Square Shopping Centre, 5251 Ladner Trunk Road, Ladner. For more information, phone 604-946-6677.
ROBSON READING SERIES
Readings by Esi Edugyan and Jen Sookfong Lee. Thursday, December 15 at 7:00pm, free. UBC Bookstore/Library at Robson Square, 800 Robson Street. More information at www.robsonreadingseries.ubc.ca.
Upcoming
POETRY READING
Readings by three members of the Vancouver Poetry Dogs: Stephanie Bolster, Barbara Nickel, and Elise Partridge. Tuesday, January 3 at 7:00pm, free. Peter Kaye room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street.
CHINATOWN STORIES
Come hear about forgotten Chinatowns and stories about growing up Chinese in Vancouver and in Mexico. Meet authors Rebeca Lau, Chad Reimer, and Larry Wong and learn more about the new book series Gold Mountain Stories. Wednesday, January 11 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen & Peter Kaye Rooms, Lower Level, Central Library, 350 West Georgia Street.
GRACE LI XIU WOO
Author of Ghost Dancing with Colonialism discusses her new book. Thursday, January 12 at 7:00pm, free. Alma vanDusen room, lower level, Central Branch, 350 W. Georgia Street.
WRITING FROM REAL LIFE
Madeline Sonik, award-winning author and university teacher of writing, will teach autobiographical writing techniques, structure and theme. Saturday, January 14 at 1:00pm, free. Alma vanDusen room, lower level, Central Branch, 350 W. Georgia Street. More information at www.vpl.ca.
BETTY JEAN MCHUGH
Please join the author as she reads from My Road to Rome: The Running Times of BJ McHugh, the story of how she became the world's fastest senior long-distance runner. Monday, January 16 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen & Peter Kaye Rooms, Lower Level, Central Library, 350 West Georgia Street.
ROBSON READING SERIES
Readings by Sachiko Murakami (Rebuild) and Nick Thran (Earworm). Thursday, January 19 at 7:00pm, free. UBC Bookstore/Library at Robson Square, 800 Robson Street. More information at www.robsonreadingseries.ubc.ca.
KEVIN MCNEILLY
Reading by the author of his debut poetry collection, Embouchure. Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 2:00pm. Rm301, Irving K. Barber Learning Centre 1961 East Mall, UBC.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Book News Vol. 6 No. 47
BOOK NEWS
The perfect gift for book lovers!
Gift certificates, in increments of $20, are now available for the 2012 Vancouver International Writers & Readers Festival. To purchase gift certificates, valid towards events during the 2012 Festival from October 16 to 21, please call 604-681-6330 x0. Gift certificates are available for purchase until December 16, 2011. Some restrictions apply.
Incite - Complete details here: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/incite
Join us Wednesdays at 7:30pm in the Alice MacKay Room at VPL Central Library.
December 7: Two writers bring their debut books to Incite. JJ Lee and Heather Jessup read from their work and discuss the writing process; http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/incitedecember7
After the above event, Incite takes a break for the holidays and resumes on January 25th. Writers featured in the 2012 series will include William Gibson, Tess Gallagher, and Linden McIntyre.
AWARDS & LISTS
Rhea Tregebov and Myrna Kostash are two of the five authors short listed for the Kobzar 2012 Literary Award. The Kobzar Literary $25,000 Biennial Award recognizes outstanding contributions to Canadian literary arts by authors who develop a Ukrainian Canadian theme with literary merit.
http://209.171.32.180/en/releases/archive/November2011/11/c4757.html
Globe Books editors select the best-reviewed poetry collections of the year.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/the-globe-100-poetry/article2249438/
Globe Books editors select the best-reviewed Canadian novels and story collections of the year.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/the-globe-100-canadian-fiction/article2249250/
Globe Books editors select the best-reviewed fiction from around the world.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/the-globe-100-foreign-fiction/article2249293/
Globe Books editors select the best-reviewed non-fiction titles of the year.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/the-globe-100-non-fiction/article2249381/
NEWS & FEATURES
Nobel laureate Nadine Gordimer has accused the ANC of apartheid-style censorship. A new secrecy law to muzzle press will affect all writers, says the poet and fighter against black oppression.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/27/nadine-gordimer-south-africa-anc-secrecy-law-censorship
From Wall St to Athens and Occupy sit-ins worldwide, protesters are wearing masks inspired by Alan Moore's V for Vendetta. Moore talks to Tom Lamont about why his avenging hero has such potency today.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/27/alan-moore-v-vendetta-mask-protest
The compilers of the Oxford English Dictionary have chosen the phrase "squeezed middle" as word of the year. OED lexicographers on both sides of the Atlantic picked the phrase – popularised by (Labour Party leader) Ed Miliband – as their first global word of the year. Surprisingly, the accolade does not guarantee the phrase's inclusion into the dictionary.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/23/squeezed-middle-word-of-year?CMP=EMCNEWEML1355
The National Geographic's list of the top ten literary cities includes two American cities, but no Canadian cities.
http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/top-10/literary-cities/
PD James is not just the author of a slew of detective novels; she has slipped with ease into other genres. She is also an author of fanfiction with Death Comes to Pemberley. This finally shows that fanfiction is a worthwhile literary pursuit, writes Mathilda Gregory.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/nov/24/fanfiction-deserves-more-respect
Having an existential crisis? Or just caught in a reading rut? Bibliotherapy is the new service offering solace to jaded souls – by revitalising your reading list. The Guardian sent six of their writers to find out if it works.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/theobserver/2011/nov/27/school-of-life-bibliotherapy-books
Of the 12 authors short listed for the Bad Sex Award, only two are women. Nominations for the Literary Review Bad Sex awards are always dominated by men, says Rowan Pelling. Why are women so much better at writing about sex?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/the-womens-blog-with-jane-martinson/2011/nov/25/male-writers-bad-writing-sex
CBC Radio One has released the names of five celebrities and the books they will champion for next year's Canada Reads. For the first time, the books are all non-fiction. Participants selected their favorite books from 10 chosen by readers at CBC Books. In early February, the panellists will debate their books in front of audiences in Toronto before choosing a single book as the Canada Reads winner.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2011/11/22/canada-reads-panelists-books.html
Peter Waugh, nephew of Evelyn, talks to Patrick Barkham about the father whose love he couldn't accept – and the uncle who scared him.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/nov/26/peter-waugh-alec-wagh-evelyn-waugh
Among the snippets of stories, Simon Hoggart's finds a splendid article demolishing the many bonkers theories about who wrote the works of Shakespeare. It couldn't be better timed, writes Hoggart.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2011/nov/25/simon-hoggart-week-believing-in-the-bard
In an interview with Michelle Paul, Jeff Kinney says that he had never intended the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series to be for kids, although he is certainly happy with their response to the books.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/childrens-books-site/video/2011/nov/21/jeff-kinney-wimpy-kid-interview
Over forty authors were invited to identify the books that most impressed them in 2011. A novel about a dinner-party guest who won't leave, a history of Henry VII... Several made the same choices.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/25/books-of-the-year
The Writers' Trust of Canada is accepting submissions for the Bronwen Wallace Emerging Author Award, which is awarded to authors under the age of 35 whose work has been published in a magazine or anthology. The deadline for submissions is January 30, 2012. Full submission guidelines here:
http://www.cbabook.org/files/RBC_BWA_Call%20for%20Submissions.pdf
The Writers Union of Canada has announced the jury and the submission deadlines for the Danuta Gleed Literary Award, which will be awarded to the best first short fiction collection by a Canadian writer. The submission deadline is January 31, 2012 and submitted words must have been published in 2011.
http://www.writersunion.ca/pdfs/2011_danutagleed_press_release.pdf
BOOKS & WRITERS
William Carlos Williams was a furious poetic revolutionary. To many, he was the greatest poet of the 20th century. He would have been furious at the egregious proofreading of Herbert Leibowitz's Something Urgent I Have to Say to You, says Daisy Fried.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/27/books/review/something-urgent-i-have-to-say-to-you-the-life-and-works-of-william-carlos-williams-by-herbert-leibowitz-book-review.html?nl=books&emc=booksupdateema3
Jack Kerouac's long-lost first novel will finally see the light of day. The Sea Is My Brother, a semi-autographical work, was written when Kerouac was 20 and drew on his experience as a merchant seaman. The work is important because "it opens up and shows a side to (Kerouac) that we don't normally see in his books," says Dawn Ward, the book's editor. The book will be published in North America in March.
http://www.toronto.com/article/705394?bn=1
Three years after Geist received a review copy of Somewhere Towards the End (Granta), Diana Athill's memoir about getting old, Mary Schendlinger comments that everything is connected. Diana Athill generally makes old people look smart, generous, complicated and interesting, says Schendlinger.
http://www.geist.com/articles/grey-matters
David Lodge's The Campus Trilogy, about a fictional English university, are solidly crafted pieces of comedy, writes Natasha Tripney, the last oddly prescient about academic life and British society.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/27/david-lodge-campus-trilogy-review
In Johanna Skibsrud's This Will Be Difficult to Explain, stories hinge on a failure to communicate, writes Ian McGillis. Whole lives can turn on a misunderstood comment, an ambiguous choice of words, a language barrier. This writer is here to stay, says McGillis.
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/books/Failure+communicate/5762091/story.html
Candace Fertile became so engaged in Anne DeGrace's Flying with Amelia, she was late for a date. Life is hard, people move to find work or escape a bad situation. DeGrace delivers emotionally rich and aesthetically enticing fiction, says Fertile.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/flying-with-amelia-by-anne-degrace/article2246300/
The Granta Collection of Irish Short Stories attempts to define the essential Irish aspects of the stories chosen. As Anne Enright says, only some countries make the form their own. A book to dip into, rather than devour, writes Isobel Montgomery.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/22/granta-irish-short-story-enright-review
Marina Endicott's The Little Shadows should come with a warning label, writes Monique Polak: you will stay up too late at night reading this book. In the morning, your first thoughts will be about its characters. Are they all right?
http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/books/Marina+Endicott+Little+Shadows+World+Vaudeville+comes+alive/5767122/story.html
The literature of wartime France and the Holocaust is by now so vast as to confound the imagination, but there is always room for something new, writes Jonathan Yardley. Caroline Moorehead's A Train in Winter shows that friendship enabled women's survival.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/a-train-in-winter-an-extraordinary-story-of-women-friendship-and-resistance-in-occupied-france-by-caroline-moorehead/2011/11/09/gIQA4MnkvN_story.html
Kurt Vonnegut died in 2007, but one gets the sense from Charles J. Shields's sad, often heartbreaking biography, And So It Goes, that he would have been happy to depart this vale of tears sooner, writes Christopher Buckley. "So it goes."
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/27/books/review/and-so-it-goes-kurt-vonnegut-a-life-by-charles-j-shields-book-review.html?_r=1&nl=books&emc=booksupdateema1&pagewanted=all
Howard Mandel comments that Christopher Buckley's New York Times Book Review frontpage piece on And So It Goes, Charles J. Shields' biography of Kurt Vonnegut, is as lazy a bit of evaluation as it's possible to pick up a paycheck for. Vonnegut deserves better, says Mandel.
http://www.artsjournal.com/jazzbeyondjazz/2011/11/kurt-vonnegut-deserves-better.html
A casual observer might assume that big, continent-spanning sagas with magic in them are always set in some imaginary variation on Medieval Britain. And would be of little interest for African-American readers and writers. Dead wrong, writes Laura Miller.
http://www.salon.com/2011/11/09/if_tolkien_were_black/singleton
Since readers rarely read plays for pleasure, Robert Lepage and long-time collaborator Marie Michaud have published the play The Blue Dragon in the format of a graphic novel, combining traditional panels with wide-angle, two-page spreads.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/theatre/blue-dragon-in-graphic-novel-form/article2249352/
Marc Lewis's Memoirs of an Addicted Brain is a primer on the neural chemistry of addiction. At one stage, Lewis shot, snorted, swallowed and drank his way through nature's dangerous bounty, finally finding successful therapy. An inherently appealing story, says Brett Josef Grubisic.
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/books/former+addict+looks+neural+chemistry+addiction/5762070/story.html
In The Dovekeepers, Alice Hoffman's haunting re-imagining of the historical destruction of Masada and the defiance of its defenders, distinctions between fact and fable fall away, writes Nancy Richler.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/the-dovekeepers-by-alice-hoffman/article2250248/
A long-forgotten smallpox outbreak in the U.S. from 1898 to 1903 forms the basis for Michael Willrich's Pox: An American History, a combined medical thriller and courthouse drama, writes Crawford Kilian. That outbreak changed American law and politics.
http://thetyee.ca/Books/2011/11/09/Smallpox-Vaccine/
COMMUNITY EVENTS
NOWHERE ELSE ON EARTH
Postponed until early 2012. Book launch and reading by Caitlin Vernon from her new book Nowhere Else on Earth: Standing Tall for the Great Bear Rainforest. For more information, visit http://www.sierraclub.bc.ca/events/nowhere-else-on-earth-2.
THE TIME WE ALL WENT MARCHING
Arley McNeney launches her new novel set during the 1930s and 1940s in the BC interior. Thursday, December 1 at 7:00pm, free. Meeting room. level 3, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at www.vpl.ca.
ROBSON READING SERIES
Readings by Michael Christie (The Beggar's Garden), Kim Clark (Attemptations) and Ashley Little (PRICK: Confessions of a Tattoo Artist). Thursday, December 1 at 7:00pm, free. UBC Bookstore/Library at Robson Square, 800 Robson Street. More information at www.robsonreadingseries.ubc.ca.
JJ LEE
The New Westminster author and Governor General's Literary Award nominee talks about his new book The Measure of a Man. Thursday, December 1 at 7:00pm. New Westminster Public Library, 716 6th Ave. W., New Westminster).
TROPIC OF CHAOS
A discussion of Christian Parenti's book Tropic of Chaos: Climate Change and the New Geography of Violence. Friday, December 2 at 7:00pm. Tickets: $10 at the door. Djavad Mowafaghian Cinema, SFU Woodward's (149 W. Hastings). More information at www.sfuwoodwards.ca.
NORTH SHORE CRIC CRAC
Abegael Fisher-Lang hosts an evening of storytelling with Sepand Blank, Manuel Salgado, Patricia Smith, Pauline Wenn, and Allison Cox. Sunday, December 4 at 7:00pm. Tickets: $7/$5. Silk Purse Arts Centre, 1570 Argyle Road, West Vancouver. More information at wong.wingsiu@telus.net.
BOOK LAUNCH
Join journalist Allen Garr, publisher Howard White, broadcaster Red Robinson and others to celebrate the launch of The Chuck Davis History of Metropolitan Vancouver. Tuesday, December 6 at 7:00pm, free. Central Branch, VPL (350 West Georgia Street, Alma VanDusen & Peter Kaye Rooms). More information at www.harbourpublishing.com.
THE BRIGHT WELL
Editor Fiona Tinwei Lam and local poets Elise Partridge, Miranda Pearson, Rachel Rose, and Betsy Warland read poems from The Bright Well, Canada's first collection of contemporary poems about facing cancer. Tuesday, December 6 at 7:00pm, free. Central Branch, VPL, 350 W. Georgia Street. More information at www.vpl.ca.
PLAY CHTHONICS READING SERIES
Readings by poets Cecily Nicholson and Jim Johnstone. Wednesday, December 7 at 5pm, free. Graham House at Green College UBC, 6201 Cecil Green Park Road. For more information, email play.chthonics@gmail.com.
CHRIS PAOLINI
After a six-year absence, Chris Paolini comes to Vancouver with the final book in the cycle: Inheritance, Wednesday December 7 at 7 pm at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Gymnasium, 2550 Camosun Street (at W.10th Ave.) Vancouver. Note: Each person will require a ticket to attend. Tickets are $5.00 each and are fully redeemable toward any of Chris Paolini's books on the night of the event only. For more information, call Kidsbooks at 604-738-5335.
THE WRITER'S STUDIO READING SERIES
Come and hear poems and stories related to the theme of 'New Beginnings'. December's guest author, Dan Green, published his first novel, Blue Saltwater, last year. Thursday, December 8 at 7:00pm. Rhizome Cafe, 317 East Broadway.
Upcoming
ROBSON READING SERIES
Readings by Esi Edugyan and Jen Sookfong Lee. Thursday, December 15 at 7:00pm, free. UBC Bookstore/Library at Robson Square, 800 Robson Street. More information at www.robsonreadingseries.ubc.ca.
The perfect gift for book lovers!
Gift certificates, in increments of $20, are now available for the 2012 Vancouver International Writers & Readers Festival. To purchase gift certificates, valid towards events during the 2012 Festival from October 16 to 21, please call 604-681-6330 x0. Gift certificates are available for purchase until December 16, 2011. Some restrictions apply.
Incite - Complete details here: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/incite
Join us Wednesdays at 7:30pm in the Alice MacKay Room at VPL Central Library.
December 7: Two writers bring their debut books to Incite. JJ Lee and Heather Jessup read from their work and discuss the writing process; http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/incitedecember7
After the above event, Incite takes a break for the holidays and resumes on January 25th. Writers featured in the 2012 series will include William Gibson, Tess Gallagher, and Linden McIntyre.
AWARDS & LISTS
Rhea Tregebov and Myrna Kostash are two of the five authors short listed for the Kobzar 2012 Literary Award. The Kobzar Literary $25,000 Biennial Award recognizes outstanding contributions to Canadian literary arts by authors who develop a Ukrainian Canadian theme with literary merit.
http://209.171.32.180/en/releases/archive/November2011/11/c4757.html
Globe Books editors select the best-reviewed poetry collections of the year.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/the-globe-100-poetry/article2249438/
Globe Books editors select the best-reviewed Canadian novels and story collections of the year.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/the-globe-100-canadian-fiction/article2249250/
Globe Books editors select the best-reviewed fiction from around the world.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/the-globe-100-foreign-fiction/article2249293/
Globe Books editors select the best-reviewed non-fiction titles of the year.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/the-globe-100-non-fiction/article2249381/
NEWS & FEATURES
Nobel laureate Nadine Gordimer has accused the ANC of apartheid-style censorship. A new secrecy law to muzzle press will affect all writers, says the poet and fighter against black oppression.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/27/nadine-gordimer-south-africa-anc-secrecy-law-censorship
From Wall St to Athens and Occupy sit-ins worldwide, protesters are wearing masks inspired by Alan Moore's V for Vendetta. Moore talks to Tom Lamont about why his avenging hero has such potency today.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/27/alan-moore-v-vendetta-mask-protest
The compilers of the Oxford English Dictionary have chosen the phrase "squeezed middle" as word of the year. OED lexicographers on both sides of the Atlantic picked the phrase – popularised by (Labour Party leader) Ed Miliband – as their first global word of the year. Surprisingly, the accolade does not guarantee the phrase's inclusion into the dictionary.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/23/squeezed-middle-word-of-year?CMP=EMCNEWEML1355
The National Geographic's list of the top ten literary cities includes two American cities, but no Canadian cities.
http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/top-10/literary-cities/
PD James is not just the author of a slew of detective novels; she has slipped with ease into other genres. She is also an author of fanfiction with Death Comes to Pemberley. This finally shows that fanfiction is a worthwhile literary pursuit, writes Mathilda Gregory.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/nov/24/fanfiction-deserves-more-respect
Having an existential crisis? Or just caught in a reading rut? Bibliotherapy is the new service offering solace to jaded souls – by revitalising your reading list. The Guardian sent six of their writers to find out if it works.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/theobserver/2011/nov/27/school-of-life-bibliotherapy-books
Of the 12 authors short listed for the Bad Sex Award, only two are women. Nominations for the Literary Review Bad Sex awards are always dominated by men, says Rowan Pelling. Why are women so much better at writing about sex?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/the-womens-blog-with-jane-martinson/2011/nov/25/male-writers-bad-writing-sex
CBC Radio One has released the names of five celebrities and the books they will champion for next year's Canada Reads. For the first time, the books are all non-fiction. Participants selected their favorite books from 10 chosen by readers at CBC Books. In early February, the panellists will debate their books in front of audiences in Toronto before choosing a single book as the Canada Reads winner.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2011/11/22/canada-reads-panelists-books.html
Peter Waugh, nephew of Evelyn, talks to Patrick Barkham about the father whose love he couldn't accept – and the uncle who scared him.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/nov/26/peter-waugh-alec-wagh-evelyn-waugh
Among the snippets of stories, Simon Hoggart's finds a splendid article demolishing the many bonkers theories about who wrote the works of Shakespeare. It couldn't be better timed, writes Hoggart.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2011/nov/25/simon-hoggart-week-believing-in-the-bard
In an interview with Michelle Paul, Jeff Kinney says that he had never intended the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series to be for kids, although he is certainly happy with their response to the books.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/childrens-books-site/video/2011/nov/21/jeff-kinney-wimpy-kid-interview
Over forty authors were invited to identify the books that most impressed them in 2011. A novel about a dinner-party guest who won't leave, a history of Henry VII... Several made the same choices.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/25/books-of-the-year
The Writers' Trust of Canada is accepting submissions for the Bronwen Wallace Emerging Author Award, which is awarded to authors under the age of 35 whose work has been published in a magazine or anthology. The deadline for submissions is January 30, 2012. Full submission guidelines here:
http://www.cbabook.org/files/RBC_BWA_Call%20for%20Submissions.pdf
The Writers Union of Canada has announced the jury and the submission deadlines for the Danuta Gleed Literary Award, which will be awarded to the best first short fiction collection by a Canadian writer. The submission deadline is January 31, 2012 and submitted words must have been published in 2011.
http://www.writersunion.ca/pdfs/2011_danutagleed_press_release.pdf
BOOKS & WRITERS
William Carlos Williams was a furious poetic revolutionary. To many, he was the greatest poet of the 20th century. He would have been furious at the egregious proofreading of Herbert Leibowitz's Something Urgent I Have to Say to You, says Daisy Fried.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/27/books/review/something-urgent-i-have-to-say-to-you-the-life-and-works-of-william-carlos-williams-by-herbert-leibowitz-book-review.html?nl=books&emc=booksupdateema3
Jack Kerouac's long-lost first novel will finally see the light of day. The Sea Is My Brother, a semi-autographical work, was written when Kerouac was 20 and drew on his experience as a merchant seaman. The work is important because "it opens up and shows a side to (Kerouac) that we don't normally see in his books," says Dawn Ward, the book's editor. The book will be published in North America in March.
http://www.toronto.com/article/705394?bn=1
Three years after Geist received a review copy of Somewhere Towards the End (Granta), Diana Athill's memoir about getting old, Mary Schendlinger comments that everything is connected. Diana Athill generally makes old people look smart, generous, complicated and interesting, says Schendlinger.
http://www.geist.com/articles/grey-matters
David Lodge's The Campus Trilogy, about a fictional English university, are solidly crafted pieces of comedy, writes Natasha Tripney, the last oddly prescient about academic life and British society.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/27/david-lodge-campus-trilogy-review
In Johanna Skibsrud's This Will Be Difficult to Explain, stories hinge on a failure to communicate, writes Ian McGillis. Whole lives can turn on a misunderstood comment, an ambiguous choice of words, a language barrier. This writer is here to stay, says McGillis.
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/books/Failure+communicate/5762091/story.html
Candace Fertile became so engaged in Anne DeGrace's Flying with Amelia, she was late for a date. Life is hard, people move to find work or escape a bad situation. DeGrace delivers emotionally rich and aesthetically enticing fiction, says Fertile.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/flying-with-amelia-by-anne-degrace/article2246300/
The Granta Collection of Irish Short Stories attempts to define the essential Irish aspects of the stories chosen. As Anne Enright says, only some countries make the form their own. A book to dip into, rather than devour, writes Isobel Montgomery.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/22/granta-irish-short-story-enright-review
Marina Endicott's The Little Shadows should come with a warning label, writes Monique Polak: you will stay up too late at night reading this book. In the morning, your first thoughts will be about its characters. Are they all right?
http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/books/Marina+Endicott+Little+Shadows+World+Vaudeville+comes+alive/5767122/story.html
The literature of wartime France and the Holocaust is by now so vast as to confound the imagination, but there is always room for something new, writes Jonathan Yardley. Caroline Moorehead's A Train in Winter shows that friendship enabled women's survival.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/a-train-in-winter-an-extraordinary-story-of-women-friendship-and-resistance-in-occupied-france-by-caroline-moorehead/2011/11/09/gIQA4MnkvN_story.html
Kurt Vonnegut died in 2007, but one gets the sense from Charles J. Shields's sad, often heartbreaking biography, And So It Goes, that he would have been happy to depart this vale of tears sooner, writes Christopher Buckley. "So it goes."
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/27/books/review/and-so-it-goes-kurt-vonnegut-a-life-by-charles-j-shields-book-review.html?_r=1&nl=books&emc=booksupdateema1&pagewanted=all
Howard Mandel comments that Christopher Buckley's New York Times Book Review frontpage piece on And So It Goes, Charles J. Shields' biography of Kurt Vonnegut, is as lazy a bit of evaluation as it's possible to pick up a paycheck for. Vonnegut deserves better, says Mandel.
http://www.artsjournal.com/jazzbeyondjazz/2011/11/kurt-vonnegut-deserves-better.html
A casual observer might assume that big, continent-spanning sagas with magic in them are always set in some imaginary variation on Medieval Britain. And would be of little interest for African-American readers and writers. Dead wrong, writes Laura Miller.
http://www.salon.com/2011/11/09/if_tolkien_were_black/singleton
Since readers rarely read plays for pleasure, Robert Lepage and long-time collaborator Marie Michaud have published the play The Blue Dragon in the format of a graphic novel, combining traditional panels with wide-angle, two-page spreads.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/theatre/blue-dragon-in-graphic-novel-form/article2249352/
Marc Lewis's Memoirs of an Addicted Brain is a primer on the neural chemistry of addiction. At one stage, Lewis shot, snorted, swallowed and drank his way through nature's dangerous bounty, finally finding successful therapy. An inherently appealing story, says Brett Josef Grubisic.
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/books/former+addict+looks+neural+chemistry+addiction/5762070/story.html
In The Dovekeepers, Alice Hoffman's haunting re-imagining of the historical destruction of Masada and the defiance of its defenders, distinctions between fact and fable fall away, writes Nancy Richler.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/the-dovekeepers-by-alice-hoffman/article2250248/
A long-forgotten smallpox outbreak in the U.S. from 1898 to 1903 forms the basis for Michael Willrich's Pox: An American History, a combined medical thriller and courthouse drama, writes Crawford Kilian. That outbreak changed American law and politics.
http://thetyee.ca/Books/2011/11/09/Smallpox-Vaccine/
COMMUNITY EVENTS
NOWHERE ELSE ON EARTH
Postponed until early 2012. Book launch and reading by Caitlin Vernon from her new book Nowhere Else on Earth: Standing Tall for the Great Bear Rainforest. For more information, visit http://www.sierraclub.bc.ca/events/nowhere-else-on-earth-2.
THE TIME WE ALL WENT MARCHING
Arley McNeney launches her new novel set during the 1930s and 1940s in the BC interior. Thursday, December 1 at 7:00pm, free. Meeting room. level 3, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at www.vpl.ca.
ROBSON READING SERIES
Readings by Michael Christie (The Beggar's Garden), Kim Clark (Attemptations) and Ashley Little (PRICK: Confessions of a Tattoo Artist). Thursday, December 1 at 7:00pm, free. UBC Bookstore/Library at Robson Square, 800 Robson Street. More information at www.robsonreadingseries.ubc.ca.
JJ LEE
The New Westminster author and Governor General's Literary Award nominee talks about his new book The Measure of a Man. Thursday, December 1 at 7:00pm. New Westminster Public Library, 716 6th Ave. W., New Westminster).
TROPIC OF CHAOS
A discussion of Christian Parenti's book Tropic of Chaos: Climate Change and the New Geography of Violence. Friday, December 2 at 7:00pm. Tickets: $10 at the door. Djavad Mowafaghian Cinema, SFU Woodward's (149 W. Hastings). More information at www.sfuwoodwards.ca.
NORTH SHORE CRIC CRAC
Abegael Fisher-Lang hosts an evening of storytelling with Sepand Blank, Manuel Salgado, Patricia Smith, Pauline Wenn, and Allison Cox. Sunday, December 4 at 7:00pm. Tickets: $7/$5. Silk Purse Arts Centre, 1570 Argyle Road, West Vancouver. More information at wong.wingsiu@telus.net.
BOOK LAUNCH
Join journalist Allen Garr, publisher Howard White, broadcaster Red Robinson and others to celebrate the launch of The Chuck Davis History of Metropolitan Vancouver. Tuesday, December 6 at 7:00pm, free. Central Branch, VPL (350 West Georgia Street, Alma VanDusen & Peter Kaye Rooms). More information at www.harbourpublishing.com.
THE BRIGHT WELL
Editor Fiona Tinwei Lam and local poets Elise Partridge, Miranda Pearson, Rachel Rose, and Betsy Warland read poems from The Bright Well, Canada's first collection of contemporary poems about facing cancer. Tuesday, December 6 at 7:00pm, free. Central Branch, VPL, 350 W. Georgia Street. More information at www.vpl.ca.
PLAY CHTHONICS READING SERIES
Readings by poets Cecily Nicholson and Jim Johnstone. Wednesday, December 7 at 5pm, free. Graham House at Green College UBC, 6201 Cecil Green Park Road. For more information, email play.chthonics@gmail.com.
CHRIS PAOLINI
After a six-year absence, Chris Paolini comes to Vancouver with the final book in the cycle: Inheritance, Wednesday December 7 at 7 pm at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Gymnasium, 2550 Camosun Street (at W.10th Ave.) Vancouver. Note: Each person will require a ticket to attend. Tickets are $5.00 each and are fully redeemable toward any of Chris Paolini's books on the night of the event only. For more information, call Kidsbooks at 604-738-5335.
THE WRITER'S STUDIO READING SERIES
Come and hear poems and stories related to the theme of 'New Beginnings'. December's guest author, Dan Green, published his first novel, Blue Saltwater, last year. Thursday, December 8 at 7:00pm. Rhizome Cafe, 317 East Broadway.
Upcoming
ROBSON READING SERIES
Readings by Esi Edugyan and Jen Sookfong Lee. Thursday, December 15 at 7:00pm, free. UBC Bookstore/Library at Robson Square, 800 Robson Street. More information at www.robsonreadingseries.ubc.ca.
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Book News Vol. 6 No. 46
BOOK NEWS
Incite - Complete details here: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/incite
Join us Wednesdays at 7:30pm in the Alice MacKay Room at VPL Central Library.
December 7: Two writers bring their debut books to Incite. JJ Lee and Heather Jessup read from their work and discuss the writing process; http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/incitedecember7
AWARDS & LISTS
2011 National Book Awards went to Jesmyn Ward's Salvage the Bones for fiction, Stephen Greenblatt's The Swerve: How the World Became Modern for nonfiction, Nikky Finney's Head Off & Split for poetry, and Thanhha Lai's autobiographical novel Inside Out & Back Again, in the young-adult category.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/2011-national-book-awards-honor-jesmyn-wards-salvage-the-bones/2011/11/16/gIQAqPz7RN_story.html
Richard Wagamese has been named the 7th recipient of the George Ryga Award for Social Awareness for his non-fiction collection One Story, One Song.
http://www.abcbookworld.com/newspaper_files/newspaper_2011_4.pdf, scroll to p.4
The Culdill Award, McGill University's award for historical non-fiction (nearly $77,000), has been given to Sergio Luzzatto, 48, a modern history professor at the University of Turin, for his work Padre Pio: Miracles and Politics in a Secular Age.
http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1089572
Alice LaPlante's Turn of Mind is the first work of fiction to win the Wellcome Trust prize for medical writing. LaPlante explains how, after numerous failed attempts to write about her mother's Alzheimer's, she landed on the idea of a murder mystery.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/22/alice-laplante-alzheimers-turn-of-mind
Quebec Writers Federation Awards this week went to Lazer Lederhendler for Apocalypse for Beginners, Nicolas Dickner for translation of Tarmac, Joel Yanofsky for Bad Animals: A Father's Accidental Education in Autism, Ann Scowcroft for The Truth of Houses, Gabe Foreman for A Complete Encyclopedia of Different Types of People, Dimitri Nasrallah for Niko, Alan Silberg for Milo, Gillian Sze for Like This Together, as well as three winners of the Quebec Writing Competition Prize.
http://www.qwf.org/awards/
Stephen King and Haruki Murakami are among the dozen authors on the short list for the Bad Sex Award. The winner will be named December 6.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/22/bad-sex-awards-the-contenders
NEWS & FEATURES
Seventy years after The Grapes of Wrath was published, its themes – corporate greed, joblessness – are back with a vengeance. The Grapes of Wrath seems as savage as ever, writes Melvyn Bragg, currently making a BBC film on Steinbeck.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/21/melvyn-bragg-on-john-steinbeck?CMP=EMCNEWEML1355
Martin Amis claims that "When we say that we love a writer's work, we are always stretching the truth: what we really mean is that we love about half of it. "Are any writers always brilliant?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2011/nov/16/are-any-writers-always-brilliant
Niall Ferguson's spat with critic Pankaj Mishra is the latest in a long line of literary feuds, writes Robert McCrum. There are rows literary (a bad review), rows personal (e.g., Tom Wolfe and Mailer) and Vendettas-Visceral. Michel Houellebecq and Bernhard-Henri Levy have ended their feud with self-promotion, publishing their disputatious letters as a book, Public Enemies.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/20/niall-ferguson-pankaj-mishra-mccrum
Some campaigners attempting to stop the closure of their local libraries have won their case. The judge ruled that the decision to axe services in Gloucestershire and Somerset was unlawful and should be quashed, councillors not having properly assessed the disproportionately severe impact on the most vulnerable.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/nov/16/court-challenges-against-library-closures
Jonathan Lethem states that the literary world is like high school. In an article, he reveals the downside of getting into the cool kids club. The Ecstasy of Influence is, in part, an attempt to discuss the things artists and writers rarely talk about.
http://www.salon.com/2011/11/17/jonathan_lethem_the_literary_world_is_like_high_school/
Kenyan writer Binyavanga Wainaina, the 2002 winner of the Caine prize for African writing, finds British authors insular, claiming that they fail to tell 'universal' stories, leaving their books 'indigestible' for modern Africans.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/18/kenyan-author-insularity-british-fiction
Hilary Mantel is writing two sequels to Wolf Hall. Book two, Bring up the Bodies will focus on the downfall of Anne Boleyn. The third book, The Mirror & the Light, will continue Cromwell's story until his execution in 1540.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/17/hilary-mantel-sequel-wolf-hall
At an event about the Not the Booker prize, Sam Jordison heard many comments about newspapers' book reviews being bland, boring and formulaic.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/17/broadsheet-book-reviews-bland-boring
Next year marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of Anthony Burgess's notorious novel A Clockwork Orange. The author's widow has donated an archive of previously unseen work, including music written by Burgess—some for an operatic version of Clockwork—to the Anthony Burgess Foundation.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/nov/20/anthony-burgess-archive-opened
Print books may be under siege from the rise of e-books, but they have a tenacious hold on a particular group: children and toddlers. Their parents are insisting this next generation of readers spend their early years with old-fashioned books.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/21/business/for-their-children-many-e-book-readers-insist-on-paper.html?hp&pagewanted=all
Many popular self-published authors are coming down hard on the self-publishing services that Penguin added to community writing site Book Country earlier this week, calling the initiative overpriced, royalty-grabbing and "truly awful." "Vanity press, pure and simple," writes one commenter at The Passive Voice.
http://paidcontent.org/article/419-self-published-authors-sharply-criticize-penguins-book-country/P0/
Amazon has begun a new Amazon Lending Library for free, for those who own an Amazon Kindle, and belong to the Amazon Prime service. Works from the Big Six U.S. publishers—Random House, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., Penguin Books Ltd. and Hachette—are not included in the Amazon library.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/amazon-e-library-is-publishings-profit-model-virginia-postrel/2011/11/13/gIQAtSkTLN_story.html
The Authors' Guild calls this Lending Library "a mess".
http://blog.authorsguild.org/2011/11/14/contracts-on-fire-amazon's-lending-library-mess/
"Breach of contract", "without permission", "brute economic power" are some of the phrases used in the intense ongoing discussions taking place.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/16/amazon-kindle-lending-library-contract-authors
A speaking event in Auckland, N.Z. featuring controversial Chinese author Liao Yiwu has been cancelled. Some blame low ticket sales; others, political pressure.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/books/news/article.cfm?c_id=134&objectid=10766576
Historical novelists have to deal with readers that believe historical fiction is flawed and unreliable history, family descendents and others ignore the word ‘novel' on the cover, and the genre is simultaneously despised and popular. Philippa Gregory, Wayne Johnston and Kate Taylor, discuss their work in this genre.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/truth-lies-and-historical-fiction-how-far-can-an-author-go/article2233588/singlepage/#articlecontent
Best-selling American science fiction author Anne McCaffrey, who created the hugely popular Pern series of books about the symbiotic relationship between humans and 'good guy' dragons, has died, following a stroke.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/23/anne-mccaffrey-pern-dies-85?news
The Writers' Trust of Canada is accepting submissions for the Bronwen Wallace Emerging Author Award, which is awarded to authors under the age of 35 whose work has been published in a magazine or anthology. The deadline for submissions is January 30, 2012. Full submission guidelines here:
http://www.cbabook.org/files/RBC_BWA_Call%20for%20Submissions.pdf
BOOKS & WRITERS
The Last Colonial: Curious Adventures & Stories from a Vanishing World by Sir Christopher Ondaatje (elder brother of Michael) is a collection of mini-memoirs that evoke an odd affection for the last days of the Empire, writes Greg Quill.
http://www.thestar.com/news/books/article/1088733--the-last-colonial-by-christopher-ondaatje
Robert K. Massie's Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman convinces the reader he's looking out of Catherine's eyes. Catherine's ruthless abrogation of any threat to the power she claimed is at least as delicious as it is deplorable, writes Kathryn Harrison. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/20/books/review/catherine-the-great-portrait-of-a-woman-by-robert-k-massie-book-review.html?_r=1&nl=books&emc=booksupdateema1&pagewanted=all
In the year following the terrorist attacks of September 2001, US hate crimes against Muslims increased by 1,600%. The subsequent injustices are brought to light in HM Naqvi's Home Boy, winner of the DSC prize for south Asian literature.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/17/home-boy-h-m-naqvi-review
China in Ten Words by Yu Hua, concerns Yu's childhood in a backwater town during the Cultural Revolution, writes Laura Miller. Yu's revelation—that the Chinese often find their society bewildering, self-contradictory and ridiculous—is reassuring, says Miller.
http://entertainment.salon.com/2011/11/07/china_in_ten_words_life_inside_the_juggernaut/singleton/
Edmonton-born and BC-raised, Craig Taylor has written Londoners: The Days and Nights of London, describing the voices and hidden corners of London, Funny, epic, and moving stories from England's capital, says Sukhdev Sandhu.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/01/londoners-craig-taylor-review
In Fools Rule, William Marsden tells how the international community has failed to act for the collective, planetary good in the fight against climate change. And then Australia acted. Maybe there is hope for us, after all, says Steven Guilbeault.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/books/Fools+Rule+Gazette+reporter+William+Marsden+focuses+international/5733875/story.html
The success of Maus, Art Spiegelman's story of the Holocaust in graphic form, has followed him since its publication. 'MetaMaus,' deconstructs the original work as Spiegelman explores living in the shadow of Maus, says D.L. Ulin.
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/books/la-ca-art-spiegelman-20111016,0,7783952.story
Anthony Horowitz's The House of Silk addresses one of the greatest cases of Victorian England's greatest detective. At the climax of this exceptionally entertaining book, Sherlock Holmes solves three interrelated mysteries, writes Michael Dirda. A terrific period thriller, says Dirda.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/anthony-horowitzs-the-house-of-silk-a-sherlock-holmes-novel-reviewed-by-michael-dirda/2011/11/14/gIQAyNULSN_story.html
Born Ojibway, Richard Wagamese was lost to his roots as a teenager but was reborn to his culture as an adult. Runaway Dreams amounts to an autobiography in fifty poem/chapters, not a chronological account but a moving back and forth through the journeys, both inner and outer, writes Hannah Main-Van der Kamp.
http://www.abcbookworld.com/newspaper_files/newspaper_2011_4.pdf, scroll to p.23
In Life Times: Stories 1952-2007 and Telling Times, a companion volume of her essays, Nadine Gordimer shows her focused anger at the inequities of life in South Africa to full effect, writes Natasha Tripney.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/20/nadine-gordimer-life-times-review
Unlike an Inspector Alan Banks book, Peter Robinson's After the Poison is involved with history, mystery and romance. A thoughtful, wonderfully written book that will stay in the mind long after the last page is read, writes Cheryl Parker.
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/books/History+mystery+romance/5733840/story.html
Edward Riche's Easy to Like lives up to its promise, by offering a spry, light-hearted defence of cultivated taste and an artist's prerogative in the face of entertainment by committee, writes Kevin Chong.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/easy-to-like-by-edward-riche/article2243583/
The Association of Book Publishers of British Columbia is offering the entire collection of 10 Vancouver 125 Legacy books for sale.
http://books.bc.ca/read-bc-books/vancouver-125-legacy-books/
COMMUNITY EVENTS
MEET THE AUTHOR SERIES
Join author Roberta Rich for a discussion about her novel The Midwife of Venice. Part book club, part literary reading, the event also includes wine and light refreshments. Thursday, November 24 at 7:00pm. Tickets: $20. Christianne's Lyceum, 3696 8th Ave. W. More information is available at www.christiannehayward.com. Call 604.733.1356 or email lyceum@christiannehayward.com to register.
REMEMBERING OUR CHINATOWNS
Evening of fiction, remembrance, and intercultural dialogue features authors Rebecca Lau, Chad Reimer, and Larry Wong. Also includes a Q&A session, light refreshments, and a reception. Thursday, November 24 at 7pm. Tickets: $12/members get in for free. Museum of Vancouver, 1100 Chestnut Street. More information at www.museumofvancouver.ca.
SARAH ELLIS AND JULIE LAWSON
Welcome aboard the White Star Line Titanic! Safe passage guaranteed. Lifesavers for all. Sarah Ellis and Julie Lawson will be at Kidsbooks, at the West Broadway store on Thursday, November 24. RSVP by email to general@kidsbooks.ca. Tickets are not required.
ROY MIKI
The Canadian author launches his book In Flux: Transnational Shifts in Asian Canadian Writing. Friday, November 25 at 7:30pm, free. Audain Gallery, SFU Woodward's, 149 W. Hastings. More information at www.sfuwoodwards.ca.
MIKE MCCARDELL
News reporter and author signs his new book Here's Mike. Sale proceeds from each book sold will help support Variety The Childrens Charity. Saturday, November 26 at 1:30pm. Black Bond Books, Haney Place Mall (141-11900 Haney Place), Maple Ridge. More information at www.blackbondbooks.com.
BOB LENARDUZZI: A CANADIAN SOCCER STORY
Meet the soccer legend Bob Lenarduzzi and sports writer Jim Taylor as they sign their new book. Saturday, November 26 at 1:30pm. Black Bond Books, Lynn Valley Centre (1199 Lynn Valley Road), North Vancouver. More information at www.blackbondbooks.com.
JEWISH BOOK FESTIVAL
Authors from across Canada, the U.S., and Israel participate in the six-day event that includes meet-the-author opportunities, literary readings and panel discussions, a literary cocktail evening, a book-club event, writing and self-publishing workshops, children's authors, film screenings, and bookstores. November 26-December 1, 2011. Jewish Community Centre, 950 41st Ave. W. More information at www.jewishbookfestival.ca.
JANN ARDEN
Award-winning Canadian singer-songwriter signs her new biography Falling Backwards and her new album Uncover Me 2. Monday, November 28 at 12:30pm at Chapters Robson, 788 Robson Street. Also at 7:00pm at Chapters Metrotown. More information at www.chapters.indigo.ca.
VANCOUVER POETRY SLAM
Youth poetry slam featuring Jeremy Loveday. Monday, November 28 at 8:00pm. Tickets: $6/$3. Cafe Deux Soleils, 2096 Commercial Drive. More information at vancouverpoetryhouse.com.
STAN PERSKY
The Canadian author and recipient of the 2010 Lieutenant Governor's Award for Literary Excellence reads from his recently published work Reading the 21st Century: Books of the Decade, 2000-2009. Wednesday, November 30 at 7:00pm, free. North Vancouver City Library, 120 W. 14th. More information at www.nvcl.ca.
POETRY READING
An evening of poetry featuring Jennifer Still, Meira Cook and Daphne Marlatt. Wednesday, November 30 at 7:00pm, free. Peter Kaye room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street. More information at www.vpl.ca.
READINGS BY THE SALISH SEA
Local published authors Patricia and Terrence Young read and answer questions about their work. Wednesday, November 30 at 7:30pm. Pelican Rouge Coffee House (15142 North Bluff Rd., White Rock).
PATRICIA DONAHUE
The Canadian author and instructor speaks about the novel-writing process and her latest novel Mighty Orion—Fate. Wednesday, November 30 at 7:30pm. West Vancouver Memorial Library (1950 Marine Dr., West Vancouver).
DOUBLE LAUNCH PARTY
Ricepaper magazine celebrates its green and diversity/hybridity issues with video screenings and readings from writers Janey Lew, Rita Wong, Ray Hsu, and Valerie Sing Turner. Wednesday, November 30 at 7:30pm. Tickets: $10-$15. VIVO Media Arts, 1965 Main. More information at www.ricepapermagazine.
NOWHERE ELSE ON EARTH
Book launch and reading by Caitlin Vernon from her new book Nowhere Else on Earth: Standing Tall for the Great Bear Rainforest. Thursday, December 1 at 7:00pm. Rhizome Cafe, 317 East Broadway. For more information, visit http://www.sierraclub.bc.ca/events/nowhere-else-on-earth-2.
THE TIME WE ALL WENT MARCHING
Arley NcNeney launches her new novel set during the 1930s and 1940s in the BC interior. Thursday, December 1 at 7:00pm, free. Meeting room. level 3, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at www.vpl.ca.
ROBSON READING SERIES
Readings by Michael Christie (The Beggar's Garden), Kim Clark (Attemptations) and Ashley Little (PRICK: Confessions of a Tattoo Artist). Thursday, December 1 at 7:00pm, free. UBC Bookstore/Library at Robson Square, 800 Robson Street. More information at www.robsonreadingseries.ubc.ca.
ARLEY MCNENEY
The Vancouver author launches her latest novel The Time We All Went Marching. Thursday, December 1 at 7:00pm, free. Central Branch, VPL, 350 W. Georgia St.
JJ LEE
The New Westminster author and Governor General's Literary Award nominee talks about his new book The Measure of a Man. Thursday, December 1 at 7:00pm. New Westminster Public Library, 716 6th Ave. W., New Westminster).
Upcoming
BOOK LAUNCH
Join journalist Allen Garr, publisher Howard White, broadcaster Red Robinson and others to celebrate the launch of The Chuck Davis History of Metropolitan Vancouver. Tuesday, December 6 at 7:00pm, free. Central Branch, VPL (350 West Georgia Street, Alma VanDusen & Peter Kaye Rooms). More information at www.harbourpublishing.com.
CHRIS PAOLINI
After a six-year absence, Chris Paolini comes to Vancouver with the final book in the cycle: Inheritance, Wednesday December 7 at 7 pm at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Gymnasium, 2550 Camosun Street (at W.10th Ave.) Vancouver. Note: Each person will require a ticket to attend. Tickets are $5.00 each and are fully redeemable toward any of Chris Paolini's books on the night of the event only. For more information, call Kidsbooks at 604-738-5335.
ROBSON READING SERIES
Readings by Esi Edugyan and Jen Sookfong Lee. Thursday, December 15 at 7:00pm, free. UBC Bookstore/Library at Robson Square, 800 Robson Street. More information at www.robsonreadingseries.ubc.ca.
Incite - Complete details here: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/incite
Join us Wednesdays at 7:30pm in the Alice MacKay Room at VPL Central Library.
December 7: Two writers bring their debut books to Incite. JJ Lee and Heather Jessup read from their work and discuss the writing process; http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/incitedecember7
AWARDS & LISTS
2011 National Book Awards went to Jesmyn Ward's Salvage the Bones for fiction, Stephen Greenblatt's The Swerve: How the World Became Modern for nonfiction, Nikky Finney's Head Off & Split for poetry, and Thanhha Lai's autobiographical novel Inside Out & Back Again, in the young-adult category.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/2011-national-book-awards-honor-jesmyn-wards-salvage-the-bones/2011/11/16/gIQAqPz7RN_story.html
Richard Wagamese has been named the 7th recipient of the George Ryga Award for Social Awareness for his non-fiction collection One Story, One Song.
http://www.abcbookworld.com/newspaper_files/newspaper_2011_4.pdf, scroll to p.4
The Culdill Award, McGill University's award for historical non-fiction (nearly $77,000), has been given to Sergio Luzzatto, 48, a modern history professor at the University of Turin, for his work Padre Pio: Miracles and Politics in a Secular Age.
http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1089572
Alice LaPlante's Turn of Mind is the first work of fiction to win the Wellcome Trust prize for medical writing. LaPlante explains how, after numerous failed attempts to write about her mother's Alzheimer's, she landed on the idea of a murder mystery.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/22/alice-laplante-alzheimers-turn-of-mind
Quebec Writers Federation Awards this week went to Lazer Lederhendler for Apocalypse for Beginners, Nicolas Dickner for translation of Tarmac, Joel Yanofsky for Bad Animals: A Father's Accidental Education in Autism, Ann Scowcroft for The Truth of Houses, Gabe Foreman for A Complete Encyclopedia of Different Types of People, Dimitri Nasrallah for Niko, Alan Silberg for Milo, Gillian Sze for Like This Together, as well as three winners of the Quebec Writing Competition Prize.
http://www.qwf.org/awards/
Stephen King and Haruki Murakami are among the dozen authors on the short list for the Bad Sex Award. The winner will be named December 6.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/22/bad-sex-awards-the-contenders
NEWS & FEATURES
Seventy years after The Grapes of Wrath was published, its themes – corporate greed, joblessness – are back with a vengeance. The Grapes of Wrath seems as savage as ever, writes Melvyn Bragg, currently making a BBC film on Steinbeck.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/21/melvyn-bragg-on-john-steinbeck?CMP=EMCNEWEML1355
Martin Amis claims that "When we say that we love a writer's work, we are always stretching the truth: what we really mean is that we love about half of it. "Are any writers always brilliant?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2011/nov/16/are-any-writers-always-brilliant
Niall Ferguson's spat with critic Pankaj Mishra is the latest in a long line of literary feuds, writes Robert McCrum. There are rows literary (a bad review), rows personal (e.g., Tom Wolfe and Mailer) and Vendettas-Visceral. Michel Houellebecq and Bernhard-Henri Levy have ended their feud with self-promotion, publishing their disputatious letters as a book, Public Enemies.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/20/niall-ferguson-pankaj-mishra-mccrum
Some campaigners attempting to stop the closure of their local libraries have won their case. The judge ruled that the decision to axe services in Gloucestershire and Somerset was unlawful and should be quashed, councillors not having properly assessed the disproportionately severe impact on the most vulnerable.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/nov/16/court-challenges-against-library-closures
Jonathan Lethem states that the literary world is like high school. In an article, he reveals the downside of getting into the cool kids club. The Ecstasy of Influence is, in part, an attempt to discuss the things artists and writers rarely talk about.
http://www.salon.com/2011/11/17/jonathan_lethem_the_literary_world_is_like_high_school/
Kenyan writer Binyavanga Wainaina, the 2002 winner of the Caine prize for African writing, finds British authors insular, claiming that they fail to tell 'universal' stories, leaving their books 'indigestible' for modern Africans.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/18/kenyan-author-insularity-british-fiction
Hilary Mantel is writing two sequels to Wolf Hall. Book two, Bring up the Bodies will focus on the downfall of Anne Boleyn. The third book, The Mirror & the Light, will continue Cromwell's story until his execution in 1540.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/17/hilary-mantel-sequel-wolf-hall
At an event about the Not the Booker prize, Sam Jordison heard many comments about newspapers' book reviews being bland, boring and formulaic.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/17/broadsheet-book-reviews-bland-boring
Next year marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of Anthony Burgess's notorious novel A Clockwork Orange. The author's widow has donated an archive of previously unseen work, including music written by Burgess—some for an operatic version of Clockwork—to the Anthony Burgess Foundation.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/nov/20/anthony-burgess-archive-opened
Print books may be under siege from the rise of e-books, but they have a tenacious hold on a particular group: children and toddlers. Their parents are insisting this next generation of readers spend their early years with old-fashioned books.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/21/business/for-their-children-many-e-book-readers-insist-on-paper.html?hp&pagewanted=all
Many popular self-published authors are coming down hard on the self-publishing services that Penguin added to community writing site Book Country earlier this week, calling the initiative overpriced, royalty-grabbing and "truly awful." "Vanity press, pure and simple," writes one commenter at The Passive Voice.
http://paidcontent.org/article/419-self-published-authors-sharply-criticize-penguins-book-country/P0/
Amazon has begun a new Amazon Lending Library for free, for those who own an Amazon Kindle, and belong to the Amazon Prime service. Works from the Big Six U.S. publishers—Random House, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., Penguin Books Ltd. and Hachette—are not included in the Amazon library.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/amazon-e-library-is-publishings-profit-model-virginia-postrel/2011/11/13/gIQAtSkTLN_story.html
The Authors' Guild calls this Lending Library "a mess".
http://blog.authorsguild.org/2011/11/14/contracts-on-fire-amazon's-lending-library-mess/
"Breach of contract", "without permission", "brute economic power" are some of the phrases used in the intense ongoing discussions taking place.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/16/amazon-kindle-lending-library-contract-authors
A speaking event in Auckland, N.Z. featuring controversial Chinese author Liao Yiwu has been cancelled. Some blame low ticket sales; others, political pressure.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/books/news/article.cfm?c_id=134&objectid=10766576
Historical novelists have to deal with readers that believe historical fiction is flawed and unreliable history, family descendents and others ignore the word ‘novel' on the cover, and the genre is simultaneously despised and popular. Philippa Gregory, Wayne Johnston and Kate Taylor, discuss their work in this genre.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/truth-lies-and-historical-fiction-how-far-can-an-author-go/article2233588/singlepage/#articlecontent
Best-selling American science fiction author Anne McCaffrey, who created the hugely popular Pern series of books about the symbiotic relationship between humans and 'good guy' dragons, has died, following a stroke.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/23/anne-mccaffrey-pern-dies-85?news
The Writers' Trust of Canada is accepting submissions for the Bronwen Wallace Emerging Author Award, which is awarded to authors under the age of 35 whose work has been published in a magazine or anthology. The deadline for submissions is January 30, 2012. Full submission guidelines here:
http://www.cbabook.org/files/RBC_BWA_Call%20for%20Submissions.pdf
BOOKS & WRITERS
The Last Colonial: Curious Adventures & Stories from a Vanishing World by Sir Christopher Ondaatje (elder brother of Michael) is a collection of mini-memoirs that evoke an odd affection for the last days of the Empire, writes Greg Quill.
http://www.thestar.com/news/books/article/1088733--the-last-colonial-by-christopher-ondaatje
Robert K. Massie's Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman convinces the reader he's looking out of Catherine's eyes. Catherine's ruthless abrogation of any threat to the power she claimed is at least as delicious as it is deplorable, writes Kathryn Harrison. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/20/books/review/catherine-the-great-portrait-of-a-woman-by-robert-k-massie-book-review.html?_r=1&nl=books&emc=booksupdateema1&pagewanted=all
In the year following the terrorist attacks of September 2001, US hate crimes against Muslims increased by 1,600%. The subsequent injustices are brought to light in HM Naqvi's Home Boy, winner of the DSC prize for south Asian literature.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/17/home-boy-h-m-naqvi-review
China in Ten Words by Yu Hua, concerns Yu's childhood in a backwater town during the Cultural Revolution, writes Laura Miller. Yu's revelation—that the Chinese often find their society bewildering, self-contradictory and ridiculous—is reassuring, says Miller.
http://entertainment.salon.com/2011/11/07/china_in_ten_words_life_inside_the_juggernaut/singleton/
Edmonton-born and BC-raised, Craig Taylor has written Londoners: The Days and Nights of London, describing the voices and hidden corners of London, Funny, epic, and moving stories from England's capital, says Sukhdev Sandhu.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/01/londoners-craig-taylor-review
In Fools Rule, William Marsden tells how the international community has failed to act for the collective, planetary good in the fight against climate change. And then Australia acted. Maybe there is hope for us, after all, says Steven Guilbeault.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/books/Fools+Rule+Gazette+reporter+William+Marsden+focuses+international/5733875/story.html
The success of Maus, Art Spiegelman's story of the Holocaust in graphic form, has followed him since its publication. 'MetaMaus,' deconstructs the original work as Spiegelman explores living in the shadow of Maus, says D.L. Ulin.
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/books/la-ca-art-spiegelman-20111016,0,7783952.story
Anthony Horowitz's The House of Silk addresses one of the greatest cases of Victorian England's greatest detective. At the climax of this exceptionally entertaining book, Sherlock Holmes solves three interrelated mysteries, writes Michael Dirda. A terrific period thriller, says Dirda.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/anthony-horowitzs-the-house-of-silk-a-sherlock-holmes-novel-reviewed-by-michael-dirda/2011/11/14/gIQAyNULSN_story.html
Born Ojibway, Richard Wagamese was lost to his roots as a teenager but was reborn to his culture as an adult. Runaway Dreams amounts to an autobiography in fifty poem/chapters, not a chronological account but a moving back and forth through the journeys, both inner and outer, writes Hannah Main-Van der Kamp.
http://www.abcbookworld.com/newspaper_files/newspaper_2011_4.pdf, scroll to p.23
In Life Times: Stories 1952-2007 and Telling Times, a companion volume of her essays, Nadine Gordimer shows her focused anger at the inequities of life in South Africa to full effect, writes Natasha Tripney.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/20/nadine-gordimer-life-times-review
Unlike an Inspector Alan Banks book, Peter Robinson's After the Poison is involved with history, mystery and romance. A thoughtful, wonderfully written book that will stay in the mind long after the last page is read, writes Cheryl Parker.
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/books/History+mystery+romance/5733840/story.html
Edward Riche's Easy to Like lives up to its promise, by offering a spry, light-hearted defence of cultivated taste and an artist's prerogative in the face of entertainment by committee, writes Kevin Chong.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/easy-to-like-by-edward-riche/article2243583/
The Association of Book Publishers of British Columbia is offering the entire collection of 10 Vancouver 125 Legacy books for sale.
http://books.bc.ca/read-bc-books/vancouver-125-legacy-books/
COMMUNITY EVENTS
MEET THE AUTHOR SERIES
Join author Roberta Rich for a discussion about her novel The Midwife of Venice. Part book club, part literary reading, the event also includes wine and light refreshments. Thursday, November 24 at 7:00pm. Tickets: $20. Christianne's Lyceum, 3696 8th Ave. W. More information is available at www.christiannehayward.com. Call 604.733.1356 or email lyceum@christiannehayward.com to register.
REMEMBERING OUR CHINATOWNS
Evening of fiction, remembrance, and intercultural dialogue features authors Rebecca Lau, Chad Reimer, and Larry Wong. Also includes a Q&A session, light refreshments, and a reception. Thursday, November 24 at 7pm. Tickets: $12/members get in for free. Museum of Vancouver, 1100 Chestnut Street. More information at www.museumofvancouver.ca.
SARAH ELLIS AND JULIE LAWSON
Welcome aboard the White Star Line Titanic! Safe passage guaranteed. Lifesavers for all. Sarah Ellis and Julie Lawson will be at Kidsbooks, at the West Broadway store on Thursday, November 24. RSVP by email to general@kidsbooks.ca. Tickets are not required.
ROY MIKI
The Canadian author launches his book In Flux: Transnational Shifts in Asian Canadian Writing. Friday, November 25 at 7:30pm, free. Audain Gallery, SFU Woodward's, 149 W. Hastings. More information at www.sfuwoodwards.ca.
MIKE MCCARDELL
News reporter and author signs his new book Here's Mike. Sale proceeds from each book sold will help support Variety The Childrens Charity. Saturday, November 26 at 1:30pm. Black Bond Books, Haney Place Mall (141-11900 Haney Place), Maple Ridge. More information at www.blackbondbooks.com.
BOB LENARDUZZI: A CANADIAN SOCCER STORY
Meet the soccer legend Bob Lenarduzzi and sports writer Jim Taylor as they sign their new book. Saturday, November 26 at 1:30pm. Black Bond Books, Lynn Valley Centre (1199 Lynn Valley Road), North Vancouver. More information at www.blackbondbooks.com.
JEWISH BOOK FESTIVAL
Authors from across Canada, the U.S., and Israel participate in the six-day event that includes meet-the-author opportunities, literary readings and panel discussions, a literary cocktail evening, a book-club event, writing and self-publishing workshops, children's authors, film screenings, and bookstores. November 26-December 1, 2011. Jewish Community Centre, 950 41st Ave. W. More information at www.jewishbookfestival.ca.
JANN ARDEN
Award-winning Canadian singer-songwriter signs her new biography Falling Backwards and her new album Uncover Me 2. Monday, November 28 at 12:30pm at Chapters Robson, 788 Robson Street. Also at 7:00pm at Chapters Metrotown. More information at www.chapters.indigo.ca.
VANCOUVER POETRY SLAM
Youth poetry slam featuring Jeremy Loveday. Monday, November 28 at 8:00pm. Tickets: $6/$3. Cafe Deux Soleils, 2096 Commercial Drive. More information at vancouverpoetryhouse.com.
STAN PERSKY
The Canadian author and recipient of the 2010 Lieutenant Governor's Award for Literary Excellence reads from his recently published work Reading the 21st Century: Books of the Decade, 2000-2009. Wednesday, November 30 at 7:00pm, free. North Vancouver City Library, 120 W. 14th. More information at www.nvcl.ca.
POETRY READING
An evening of poetry featuring Jennifer Still, Meira Cook and Daphne Marlatt. Wednesday, November 30 at 7:00pm, free. Peter Kaye room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street. More information at www.vpl.ca.
READINGS BY THE SALISH SEA
Local published authors Patricia and Terrence Young read and answer questions about their work. Wednesday, November 30 at 7:30pm. Pelican Rouge Coffee House (15142 North Bluff Rd., White Rock).
PATRICIA DONAHUE
The Canadian author and instructor speaks about the novel-writing process and her latest novel Mighty Orion—Fate. Wednesday, November 30 at 7:30pm. West Vancouver Memorial Library (1950 Marine Dr., West Vancouver).
DOUBLE LAUNCH PARTY
Ricepaper magazine celebrates its green and diversity/hybridity issues with video screenings and readings from writers Janey Lew, Rita Wong, Ray Hsu, and Valerie Sing Turner. Wednesday, November 30 at 7:30pm. Tickets: $10-$15. VIVO Media Arts, 1965 Main. More information at www.ricepapermagazine.
NOWHERE ELSE ON EARTH
Book launch and reading by Caitlin Vernon from her new book Nowhere Else on Earth: Standing Tall for the Great Bear Rainforest. Thursday, December 1 at 7:00pm. Rhizome Cafe, 317 East Broadway. For more information, visit http://www.sierraclub.bc.ca/events/nowhere-else-on-earth-2.
THE TIME WE ALL WENT MARCHING
Arley NcNeney launches her new novel set during the 1930s and 1940s in the BC interior. Thursday, December 1 at 7:00pm, free. Meeting room. level 3, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at www.vpl.ca.
ROBSON READING SERIES
Readings by Michael Christie (The Beggar's Garden), Kim Clark (Attemptations) and Ashley Little (PRICK: Confessions of a Tattoo Artist). Thursday, December 1 at 7:00pm, free. UBC Bookstore/Library at Robson Square, 800 Robson Street. More information at www.robsonreadingseries.ubc.ca.
ARLEY MCNENEY
The Vancouver author launches her latest novel The Time We All Went Marching. Thursday, December 1 at 7:00pm, free. Central Branch, VPL, 350 W. Georgia St.
JJ LEE
The New Westminster author and Governor General's Literary Award nominee talks about his new book The Measure of a Man. Thursday, December 1 at 7:00pm. New Westminster Public Library, 716 6th Ave. W., New Westminster).
Upcoming
BOOK LAUNCH
Join journalist Allen Garr, publisher Howard White, broadcaster Red Robinson and others to celebrate the launch of The Chuck Davis History of Metropolitan Vancouver. Tuesday, December 6 at 7:00pm, free. Central Branch, VPL (350 West Georgia Street, Alma VanDusen & Peter Kaye Rooms). More information at www.harbourpublishing.com.
CHRIS PAOLINI
After a six-year absence, Chris Paolini comes to Vancouver with the final book in the cycle: Inheritance, Wednesday December 7 at 7 pm at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Gymnasium, 2550 Camosun Street (at W.10th Ave.) Vancouver. Note: Each person will require a ticket to attend. Tickets are $5.00 each and are fully redeemable toward any of Chris Paolini's books on the night of the event only. For more information, call Kidsbooks at 604-738-5335.
ROBSON READING SERIES
Readings by Esi Edugyan and Jen Sookfong Lee. Thursday, December 15 at 7:00pm, free. UBC Bookstore/Library at Robson Square, 800 Robson Street. More information at www.robsonreadingseries.ubc.ca.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Book News Vol. 6 No. 45
BOOK NEWS
Incite - Complete details here: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/incite
Incite, our free reading series is back! Join us Wednesdays at 7:30pm in the Alice MacKay Room at VPL Central Library.
November 23: Three exciting voices from Biblioasis, one of Canada's finest independent publishers, take to the stage. Ray Robertson, Cathy Stonehouse and Rebecca Rosenblum read from their latest works; http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/incitenovember23
December 7: Two writers bring their debut books to Incite. JJ Lee and Heather Jessup read from their work and discuss the writing process; http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/incitedecember7
SPECIAL EVENT
Chuck Palahniuk - 7pm, November 30, 2011
The bestselling author of Fight Club, Choke and Snuff reads from his latest novel, Damned. Details: http://www.writerfest.bc.ca/events/palahniuk
AWARDS & LISTS
Patrick deWitt's The Sisters Brothers has won the $25,000 Governor General's Literary Award for fiction. Charles Foran's Mordecai: The Life & Times, won the Governor General's non-fiction prize and the Governor General's children's literature award went to Christopher Moore for From Then to Now: A Short History of the World. Phil Wall has won the award for poetry and Erin Shields, for drama. Governor General David Johnston will present the awards November 24.
http://987321654.canadacouncil.net/en/archives/2011/Winners.aspx
Phil Wall's Killdeer is one of three nominees submitted by the small press Book Thug.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/bookthug-lives-up-to-its-name-in-poetry/article2234899/
Veteran Quebec poet, teacher and editor Endre Farkas, who fled to Canada after the failed Hungarian uprising of 1956, has been honoured by the Quebec Writers' Federation with its 2011 Community Award.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/endre-farkas-lauded-by-quebec-writers/article2233514/
Emma Donoghue's novel Room has won the 2011 Evergreen Award to be presented in February, 2012, in Toronto. The Evergreen Award is administered by the Ontario Library Association as part of the Forest of Reading program.
http://www.quillandquire.com/blog/index.php/2011/11/11/emma-donoghues-room-wins-evergreen-award/
The Guardian First Book shortlist consists of Stephen Kelman's Pigeon English, The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee, Down The Rabbit Hole by Juan Pablo Villalobos, Mirza Waheed‘s The Collaborator, and Amy Waldman's The Submission. The winner of the prize will be announced next month.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/11/guardian-first-book-award-shortlist
The £30,000 Costa Awards short list includes a debut novel from intensive care nurse Christie Watson and "big hitters" Julian Barnes, Carol Ann Duffy and Claire Tomalin. Category winners will be named 4 January; overall winner will be announced later in January.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/15/costa-book-awards-shortlists
Italian historian Sergio Luzzatto has won the Cundill Prize, a $75,000 award from McGill University for historical literature. for his book Padre Pio: Miracles and Politics in a Secular Age. The book concerns Padre Pio, a controversial 20th century saint.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2011/11/15/cundill-prize.html
Joel Yanofsky's memoir Bad Animals: A Father's Accidental Education in Autism is among 10 books long listed for the 2012 British Columbia National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction. The shortlist will be announced in early December.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/books/Joel+Yanofsky+longlisted+Fiction+Prize/5669928/story.html
Pen Centre USA honoured past U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky with the lifetime achievement award and Dave Eggers, the Award of Honor.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/2011/11/pen-center-usa-dave-eggers-robert-pinsky.html
Geist has announced its 2011 Erasure Poetry Contest Short List of ten poets. The three winners will be announced in January 2012.
http://www.geist.com/erasure-shortlist
NEWS & FEATURES
Greg Quill describes the man Wade Davis, beginning with Davis's 20-hour Peruvian tribal run that involved scaling several mountainsides and descending into deep jungle valleys as fast as his legs could carry him. A life jam-packed with quests, says Quill.
http://www.thestar.com/news/books/article/1085960--author-s-life-jam-packed-with-quests
The internationally acclaimed Nigerian author Chinua Achebe has declined the Nigerian government's attempt to name him a Commander of the Federal Republic for the second time. He initially refused it in 2004, saying corruption remains unaddressed. "The reasons for rejecting the offer when it was first made have not been addressed let alone solved. It is inappropriate to offer it again to me", said Achebe.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/14/chinua-achebe-refuses-nigerian-national-honour
A speaking event in Auckland, N.Z. featuring controversial Chinese author Liao Yiwu has been cancelled. Some blame low ticket sales; others, political pressure.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/books/news/article.cfm?c_id=134&objectid=10766576
The short-story writer Dagoberto Gilb is still recovering from a serious stroke in 2009, but he has returned to top form with his writing. Or, as Christopher Kelly puts it, "Writer's Body Is Weaker, but Voice Remains Strong".http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/13/us/writers-body-is-weaker-but-voice-remains-strong.html?_r=1&ref=books
German theologian Dr. Eske Wollrad argues that the trilogy of Astrid Lindgren's Pippi Longstocking books together contain 'colonial racist stereotypes'. Lindgren's daughter Karin Nyman emphatically rejected the charge.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/09/pippi-longstocking-books-racism
Based on her reading of Austen's letters, crime writer Lindsay Ashford claims that Jane Austen 'died from arsenic poisoning'. Murder cannot be ruled out, says Ashford, but Professor Janet Todd disagrees.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/14/jane-austen-arsenic-poisoning
Malcolm Gladwell writes in The New Yorker of the real genius of Steve Jobs.
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/11/14/111114fa_fact_gladwell
Ahmed Mourad speaks with Mark Seacombe about his being Hosni Mubarak's personal photographer at the same time as he wrote Vertigo, a bestselling thriller about Egypt's corruption, the anger that drove him to write the book and his hopes for Egypt's future.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/13/hosni-mubarak-ahmed-mourad-egypt
Novelist Ann Patchett adds "independent bookstore owner" to her list of accomplishments.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/16/us/ann-patchett-bucks-bookstore-tide-opening-her-own.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha28
The Writers' Trust of Canada is accepting submissions for the Bronwen Wallace Emerging Author Award, which is awarded to authors under the age of 35 whose work has been published in a magazine or anthology. The deadline for submissions is January 30, 2012. Full submission guidelines here:
http://www.cbabook.org/files/RBC_BWA_Call%20for%20Submissions.pdf
BOOKS & WRITERS
The collected writings of Chinese Nobel prizewinner Liu Xiaobo have been translated into English, to be published as No Enemies, No Hatred in 2012, with a foreword by Václav Havel. The author remains incarcerated in a Chinese jail and is unaware of the English translation.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/12/liu-xiaobo-book-lifts-gag
Liu Xiaobo's poem Your Lifelong Prisoner, a tribute to his wife, poet Liu Xia, can be found here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/12/your-lifelong-prisoner-liu-xiaobo
The historian Peter Englund, the permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy that awards the Nobel for literature, has written The Beauty and the Sorrow, which Ian Jack describes as "an unusual history of the first world war".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/11/beauty-and-sorrow-peter-englund-review
W.P. Kinsella wrote about 90 baseball short stories and novels, until an accident affected his writing. Now, writes Steven Hayward, Kinsella is back in the batter's box with Butterfly Winter, a novel that is unmistakably his in both conception and execution.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/butterfly-winter-by-wp-kinsella/article2229537/
Umberto Eco's The Prague Cemetery traces the life and career of the half-Italian, half-French Simone Simonini, neatly linking together most of the conspiracy mythologies of the era. It's engrossing and cautionary and only partly historical, writes Michael Dirda.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/umberto-ecos-the-prague-cemetery-reviewed-by-michael-dirda/2011/11/03/gIQAvJxT6M_story.html
Don DeLillo's books make some people's brains ache, writes Steven Poole, but in The Angel Esmeralda, the richly compressed short stories are the work of a true master, says Poole.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/09/the-angel-esmeralda-delillo-review
In Ami McKay's The Virgin Cure "girls sold matches, then themselves", writes Elaine Kalman Naves, because of the belief that syphilitic blood could be "cleansed" by having sex with a virgin. "A dark tale shot through with some bright threads."
http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/books/McKay+novel+girls+sold+matches+then+themselves/5697833/story.html
Although this is the fifth in the series featuring Arthur Beauchamp, William Deverell's I'll See You In My Dreams takes Beauchamp back to his first murder trial, writes Tracy Sherlock—involving a young native whom Beauchamp feared had been framed.
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/books/Deverell+travels+back+past/5697710/story.html
David Guterson's latest novel, Ed King, is his version of the Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex. It's more tongue-in-cheek than the Greek original. Despite readers' assumptions, Guterson insists that his interest is in blindness, blindness to self, writes Louis Peitzman.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/10/27/NSA21LJSPH.DTL&type=books
A compulsion to explore forbidden territory leads a woman to a nuclear power station in Trespassing, a specially commissioned short story by Margaret Drabble.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/07/short-story-margaret-drabble
COMMUNITY EVENTS
ROBSON READING SERIES
Carmen Aguirre reads from her book Something Fierce: Memoirs of a Revolutionary Daughter and Rishma Dunlop reads from her book of poetry Lover Through Departure. Thursday, November 17 at 7:00pm, free. UBC Bookstore Robson Square, Plaza Level, 800 Robson. More information at www.robsonreadingseries.ubc.ca.
HOLD ME NOW
Freehand Books and Little Sisters present a special evening of literature and conversation with a reading by Stephen Gauer from his new novel. Facilitated discussion and reception to follow. Thursday, November 17 at 7:00pm, free. Little Sisters, 1238 Davie Street.
JUDY COLLINS
Kidsbooks is hosting Judy Collins, one of America's greatest folk/rock performers, at the West Broadway store on Friday, November 18, 6:30 to 8pm. Two free, timed tickets for the signing line are available with each purchase (by November 17) of either book--When You Wish Upon a Star or Over the Rainbow.
DEAD POETS READING SERIES
Newly revived series featuring poetry by Thomas Hardy, Cesar Vallejo, Marianne Bluger, Ron Johnson and Frank Stanford, read by David Zieroth, Fiona Lam, Russell Thornton,Sonnet L'Abbé and Raoul Fernandes. Sunday, November 20 at 3:00pm. Admission by donation. Project Space, 222 East Georgia Street. More information at www.deadpoetslive.com.
CBC BOOKCLUB
Linwood Barclay is one of Canada's most successful thriller writers and his new novel The Accident is already an international hit! The Globe and Mail review said "Barclay knows how to tell a story, knows how to pace it, knows how to make those pages keep turning."Come meet
Linwood in the CBC Studio One Book Club on Monday November 21, at 6:30 pm. Win free tickets at www.cbc.ca/bc/bookclub.
GARY GEDDES
Internationally acclaimed author Gary Geddes reads from his much-anticipated book Drink the Bitter Root: A Writers Search for Justice and Redemption in Africa. Monday, November 21 at 7:00pm, free. Peter Kaye room, lower level. Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street. More information at www.vpl.ca.
JAMES TRACY
The American author reads from his book Hillbilly Nationalists, Urban Race Rebels, and Black Power, a narrative history about the work of JOIN Community Union, the Young Patriots, Rising Up Angry, October 4th Organization, and White Lightning. Monday, November 21 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, VPL, 350 W. Georgia. More information at sonnieandtracybook@gmail.com.
PEN-IN-HAND POETRY/PROSE READING SERIES
Featuring Deborah Willis, Sandy Pool, Hollie Adams. Monday, November 21 at 7:30pm. Cost: $3. Cook Street Village Serious Coffee, 230 Cook Street, Victoria.
ARCHIVAL INTERVENTION AND RETRO-SPECULATION
Vancouver Public Library Writer-in-Residence Wayde Compton leads two dynamic workshops for emerging writers. Tuesday, November 22 at 6:30pm. Free but registration is required. Morris J. Wosk board room, level 7, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. For more information please contact Vancouver Public Library at 604-331-3603.
BOOK EXCHANGE
Join CBC host and author Bill Richardson and a celebrity panel including Simi Sara and Veda Hille for the first annual Book Exchange, where books are the only acceptable currency for the evening. Tuesday, November 22 at 7:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street.
MEET THE AUTHOR SERIES
Join author Roberta Rich for a discussion about her novel The Midwife of Venice. Part book club, part literary reading, the event also includes wine and light refreshments. Thursday, November 24 at 7:00pm. Tickets: $20. Christianne's Lyceum, 3696 8th Ave. W. More information is available at www.christiannehayward.com. Call 604.733.1356 or email lyceum@christiannehayward.com to register.
REMEMBERING OUR CHINATOWNS
Evening of fiction, remembrance, and intercultural dialogue features authors Rebecca Lau, Chad Reimer, and Larry Wong. Also includes a Q&A session, light refreshments, and a reception. Thursday, November 24 at 7pm. Tickets: $12/members get in for free. Museum of Vancouver, 1100 Chestnut Street. More information at www.museumofvancouver.ca.
SARAH ELLIS AND JULIE LAWSON
Welcome aboard the White Star Line Titanic! Safe passage guaranteed. Lifesavers for all. Sarah Ellis and Julie Lawson will be at Kidsbooks, at the West Broadway store on Thursday, November 24. RSVP by email to general@kidsbooks.ca. Tickets are not required.
JEWISH BOOK FESTIVAL
Authors from across Canada, the U.S., and Israel participate in the six-day event that includes meet-the-author opportunities, literary readings and panel discussions, a literary cocktail evening, a book-club event, writing and self-publishing workshops, children's authors, film screenings, and bookstores. November 26-December 1, 2011. Jewish Community Centre, 950 41st Ave. W. More information at www.jewishbookfestival.ca.
JANN ARDEN
Award-winning Canadian singer-songwriter signs her new biography Falling Backwards and her new album Uncover Me 2. Monday, November 28 at 12:30pm at Chapters Robson, 788 Robson Street. Also at 7:00pm at Chapters Metrotown. More information at www.chapters.indigo.ca.
Upcoming
POETRY READING
An evening of poetry featuring Jennifer Still, Meira Cook and Daphne Marlatt. Wednesday, November 30 at 7:00pm, free. Peter Kaye room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street. More information at www.vpl.ca.
NOWHERE ELSE ON EARTH
Book launch and reading by Caitlin Vernon from her new book Nowhere Else on Earth: Standing Tall for the Great Bear Rainforest. Thursday, December 1 at 7:00pm. Rhizome Cafe, 317 East Broadway. For more information, visit http://www.sierraclub.bc.ca/events/nowhere-else-on-earth-2.
THE TIME WE ALL WENT MARCHING
Arley NcNeney launches her new novel set during the 1930s and 1940s in the BC interior. Thursday, December 1 at 7:00pm, free. Meeting room. level 3, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at www.vpl.ca.
ROBSON READING SERIES
Readings by Michael Christie (The Beggar's Garden), Kim Clark (Attemptations) and Ashley Little (PRICK: Confessions of a Tattoo Artist). Thursday, December 1 at 7:00pm, free. UBC Bookstore/Library at Robson Square, 800 Robson Street. More information at www.robsonreadingseries.ubc.ca.
BOOK LAUNCH
Join journalist Allen Garr, publisher Howard White, broadcaster Red Robinson and others to celebrate the launch of The Chuck Davis History of Metropolitan Vancouver. Tuesday, December 6 at 7:00pm, free. Central Branch, VPL (350 West Georgia Street, Alma VanDusen & Peter Kaye Rooms). More information at www.harbourpublishing.com.
Incite - Complete details here: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/incite
Incite, our free reading series is back! Join us Wednesdays at 7:30pm in the Alice MacKay Room at VPL Central Library.
November 23: Three exciting voices from Biblioasis, one of Canada's finest independent publishers, take to the stage. Ray Robertson, Cathy Stonehouse and Rebecca Rosenblum read from their latest works; http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/incitenovember23
December 7: Two writers bring their debut books to Incite. JJ Lee and Heather Jessup read from their work and discuss the writing process; http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/incitedecember7
SPECIAL EVENT
Chuck Palahniuk - 7pm, November 30, 2011
The bestselling author of Fight Club, Choke and Snuff reads from his latest novel, Damned. Details: http://www.writerfest.bc.ca/events/palahniuk
AWARDS & LISTS
Patrick deWitt's The Sisters Brothers has won the $25,000 Governor General's Literary Award for fiction. Charles Foran's Mordecai: The Life & Times, won the Governor General's non-fiction prize and the Governor General's children's literature award went to Christopher Moore for From Then to Now: A Short History of the World. Phil Wall has won the award for poetry and Erin Shields, for drama. Governor General David Johnston will present the awards November 24.
http://987321654.canadacouncil.net/en/archives/2011/Winners.aspx
Phil Wall's Killdeer is one of three nominees submitted by the small press Book Thug.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/bookthug-lives-up-to-its-name-in-poetry/article2234899/
Veteran Quebec poet, teacher and editor Endre Farkas, who fled to Canada after the failed Hungarian uprising of 1956, has been honoured by the Quebec Writers' Federation with its 2011 Community Award.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/endre-farkas-lauded-by-quebec-writers/article2233514/
Emma Donoghue's novel Room has won the 2011 Evergreen Award to be presented in February, 2012, in Toronto. The Evergreen Award is administered by the Ontario Library Association as part of the Forest of Reading program.
http://www.quillandquire.com/blog/index.php/2011/11/11/emma-donoghues-room-wins-evergreen-award/
The Guardian First Book shortlist consists of Stephen Kelman's Pigeon English, The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee, Down The Rabbit Hole by Juan Pablo Villalobos, Mirza Waheed‘s The Collaborator, and Amy Waldman's The Submission. The winner of the prize will be announced next month.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/11/guardian-first-book-award-shortlist
The £30,000 Costa Awards short list includes a debut novel from intensive care nurse Christie Watson and "big hitters" Julian Barnes, Carol Ann Duffy and Claire Tomalin. Category winners will be named 4 January; overall winner will be announced later in January.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/15/costa-book-awards-shortlists
Italian historian Sergio Luzzatto has won the Cundill Prize, a $75,000 award from McGill University for historical literature. for his book Padre Pio: Miracles and Politics in a Secular Age. The book concerns Padre Pio, a controversial 20th century saint.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2011/11/15/cundill-prize.html
Joel Yanofsky's memoir Bad Animals: A Father's Accidental Education in Autism is among 10 books long listed for the 2012 British Columbia National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction. The shortlist will be announced in early December.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/books/Joel+Yanofsky+longlisted+Fiction+Prize/5669928/story.html
Pen Centre USA honoured past U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky with the lifetime achievement award and Dave Eggers, the Award of Honor.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/2011/11/pen-center-usa-dave-eggers-robert-pinsky.html
Geist has announced its 2011 Erasure Poetry Contest Short List of ten poets. The three winners will be announced in January 2012.
http://www.geist.com/erasure-shortlist
NEWS & FEATURES
Greg Quill describes the man Wade Davis, beginning with Davis's 20-hour Peruvian tribal run that involved scaling several mountainsides and descending into deep jungle valleys as fast as his legs could carry him. A life jam-packed with quests, says Quill.
http://www.thestar.com/news/books/article/1085960--author-s-life-jam-packed-with-quests
The internationally acclaimed Nigerian author Chinua Achebe has declined the Nigerian government's attempt to name him a Commander of the Federal Republic for the second time. He initially refused it in 2004, saying corruption remains unaddressed. "The reasons for rejecting the offer when it was first made have not been addressed let alone solved. It is inappropriate to offer it again to me", said Achebe.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/14/chinua-achebe-refuses-nigerian-national-honour
A speaking event in Auckland, N.Z. featuring controversial Chinese author Liao Yiwu has been cancelled. Some blame low ticket sales; others, political pressure.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/books/news/article.cfm?c_id=134&objectid=10766576
The short-story writer Dagoberto Gilb is still recovering from a serious stroke in 2009, but he has returned to top form with his writing. Or, as Christopher Kelly puts it, "Writer's Body Is Weaker, but Voice Remains Strong".http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/13/us/writers-body-is-weaker-but-voice-remains-strong.html?_r=1&ref=books
German theologian Dr. Eske Wollrad argues that the trilogy of Astrid Lindgren's Pippi Longstocking books together contain 'colonial racist stereotypes'. Lindgren's daughter Karin Nyman emphatically rejected the charge.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/09/pippi-longstocking-books-racism
Based on her reading of Austen's letters, crime writer Lindsay Ashford claims that Jane Austen 'died from arsenic poisoning'. Murder cannot be ruled out, says Ashford, but Professor Janet Todd disagrees.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/14/jane-austen-arsenic-poisoning
Malcolm Gladwell writes in The New Yorker of the real genius of Steve Jobs.
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/11/14/111114fa_fact_gladwell
Ahmed Mourad speaks with Mark Seacombe about his being Hosni Mubarak's personal photographer at the same time as he wrote Vertigo, a bestselling thriller about Egypt's corruption, the anger that drove him to write the book and his hopes for Egypt's future.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/13/hosni-mubarak-ahmed-mourad-egypt
Novelist Ann Patchett adds "independent bookstore owner" to her list of accomplishments.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/16/us/ann-patchett-bucks-bookstore-tide-opening-her-own.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha28
The Writers' Trust of Canada is accepting submissions for the Bronwen Wallace Emerging Author Award, which is awarded to authors under the age of 35 whose work has been published in a magazine or anthology. The deadline for submissions is January 30, 2012. Full submission guidelines here:
http://www.cbabook.org/files/RBC_BWA_Call%20for%20Submissions.pdf
BOOKS & WRITERS
The collected writings of Chinese Nobel prizewinner Liu Xiaobo have been translated into English, to be published as No Enemies, No Hatred in 2012, with a foreword by Václav Havel. The author remains incarcerated in a Chinese jail and is unaware of the English translation.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/12/liu-xiaobo-book-lifts-gag
Liu Xiaobo's poem Your Lifelong Prisoner, a tribute to his wife, poet Liu Xia, can be found here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/12/your-lifelong-prisoner-liu-xiaobo
The historian Peter Englund, the permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy that awards the Nobel for literature, has written The Beauty and the Sorrow, which Ian Jack describes as "an unusual history of the first world war".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/11/beauty-and-sorrow-peter-englund-review
W.P. Kinsella wrote about 90 baseball short stories and novels, until an accident affected his writing. Now, writes Steven Hayward, Kinsella is back in the batter's box with Butterfly Winter, a novel that is unmistakably his in both conception and execution.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/butterfly-winter-by-wp-kinsella/article2229537/
Umberto Eco's The Prague Cemetery traces the life and career of the half-Italian, half-French Simone Simonini, neatly linking together most of the conspiracy mythologies of the era. It's engrossing and cautionary and only partly historical, writes Michael Dirda.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/umberto-ecos-the-prague-cemetery-reviewed-by-michael-dirda/2011/11/03/gIQAvJxT6M_story.html
Don DeLillo's books make some people's brains ache, writes Steven Poole, but in The Angel Esmeralda, the richly compressed short stories are the work of a true master, says Poole.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/09/the-angel-esmeralda-delillo-review
In Ami McKay's The Virgin Cure "girls sold matches, then themselves", writes Elaine Kalman Naves, because of the belief that syphilitic blood could be "cleansed" by having sex with a virgin. "A dark tale shot through with some bright threads."
http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/books/McKay+novel+girls+sold+matches+then+themselves/5697833/story.html
Although this is the fifth in the series featuring Arthur Beauchamp, William Deverell's I'll See You In My Dreams takes Beauchamp back to his first murder trial, writes Tracy Sherlock—involving a young native whom Beauchamp feared had been framed.
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/books/Deverell+travels+back+past/5697710/story.html
David Guterson's latest novel, Ed King, is his version of the Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex. It's more tongue-in-cheek than the Greek original. Despite readers' assumptions, Guterson insists that his interest is in blindness, blindness to self, writes Louis Peitzman.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/10/27/NSA21LJSPH.DTL&type=books
A compulsion to explore forbidden territory leads a woman to a nuclear power station in Trespassing, a specially commissioned short story by Margaret Drabble.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/07/short-story-margaret-drabble
COMMUNITY EVENTS
ROBSON READING SERIES
Carmen Aguirre reads from her book Something Fierce: Memoirs of a Revolutionary Daughter and Rishma Dunlop reads from her book of poetry Lover Through Departure. Thursday, November 17 at 7:00pm, free. UBC Bookstore Robson Square, Plaza Level, 800 Robson. More information at www.robsonreadingseries.ubc.ca.
HOLD ME NOW
Freehand Books and Little Sisters present a special evening of literature and conversation with a reading by Stephen Gauer from his new novel. Facilitated discussion and reception to follow. Thursday, November 17 at 7:00pm, free. Little Sisters, 1238 Davie Street.
JUDY COLLINS
Kidsbooks is hosting Judy Collins, one of America's greatest folk/rock performers, at the West Broadway store on Friday, November 18, 6:30 to 8pm. Two free, timed tickets for the signing line are available with each purchase (by November 17) of either book--When You Wish Upon a Star or Over the Rainbow.
DEAD POETS READING SERIES
Newly revived series featuring poetry by Thomas Hardy, Cesar Vallejo, Marianne Bluger, Ron Johnson and Frank Stanford, read by David Zieroth, Fiona Lam, Russell Thornton,Sonnet L'Abbé and Raoul Fernandes. Sunday, November 20 at 3:00pm. Admission by donation. Project Space, 222 East Georgia Street. More information at www.deadpoetslive.com.
CBC BOOKCLUB
Linwood Barclay is one of Canada's most successful thriller writers and his new novel The Accident is already an international hit! The Globe and Mail review said "Barclay knows how to tell a story, knows how to pace it, knows how to make those pages keep turning."Come meet
Linwood in the CBC Studio One Book Club on Monday November 21, at 6:30 pm. Win free tickets at www.cbc.ca/bc/bookclub.
GARY GEDDES
Internationally acclaimed author Gary Geddes reads from his much-anticipated book Drink the Bitter Root: A Writers Search for Justice and Redemption in Africa. Monday, November 21 at 7:00pm, free. Peter Kaye room, lower level. Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street. More information at www.vpl.ca.
JAMES TRACY
The American author reads from his book Hillbilly Nationalists, Urban Race Rebels, and Black Power, a narrative history about the work of JOIN Community Union, the Young Patriots, Rising Up Angry, October 4th Organization, and White Lightning. Monday, November 21 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, VPL, 350 W. Georgia. More information at sonnieandtracybook@gmail.com.
PEN-IN-HAND POETRY/PROSE READING SERIES
Featuring Deborah Willis, Sandy Pool, Hollie Adams. Monday, November 21 at 7:30pm. Cost: $3. Cook Street Village Serious Coffee, 230 Cook Street, Victoria.
ARCHIVAL INTERVENTION AND RETRO-SPECULATION
Vancouver Public Library Writer-in-Residence Wayde Compton leads two dynamic workshops for emerging writers. Tuesday, November 22 at 6:30pm. Free but registration is required. Morris J. Wosk board room, level 7, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. For more information please contact Vancouver Public Library at 604-331-3603.
BOOK EXCHANGE
Join CBC host and author Bill Richardson and a celebrity panel including Simi Sara and Veda Hille for the first annual Book Exchange, where books are the only acceptable currency for the evening. Tuesday, November 22 at 7:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street.
MEET THE AUTHOR SERIES
Join author Roberta Rich for a discussion about her novel The Midwife of Venice. Part book club, part literary reading, the event also includes wine and light refreshments. Thursday, November 24 at 7:00pm. Tickets: $20. Christianne's Lyceum, 3696 8th Ave. W. More information is available at www.christiannehayward.com. Call 604.733.1356 or email lyceum@christiannehayward.com to register.
REMEMBERING OUR CHINATOWNS
Evening of fiction, remembrance, and intercultural dialogue features authors Rebecca Lau, Chad Reimer, and Larry Wong. Also includes a Q&A session, light refreshments, and a reception. Thursday, November 24 at 7pm. Tickets: $12/members get in for free. Museum of Vancouver, 1100 Chestnut Street. More information at www.museumofvancouver.ca.
SARAH ELLIS AND JULIE LAWSON
Welcome aboard the White Star Line Titanic! Safe passage guaranteed. Lifesavers for all. Sarah Ellis and Julie Lawson will be at Kidsbooks, at the West Broadway store on Thursday, November 24. RSVP by email to general@kidsbooks.ca. Tickets are not required.
JEWISH BOOK FESTIVAL
Authors from across Canada, the U.S., and Israel participate in the six-day event that includes meet-the-author opportunities, literary readings and panel discussions, a literary cocktail evening, a book-club event, writing and self-publishing workshops, children's authors, film screenings, and bookstores. November 26-December 1, 2011. Jewish Community Centre, 950 41st Ave. W. More information at www.jewishbookfestival.ca.
JANN ARDEN
Award-winning Canadian singer-songwriter signs her new biography Falling Backwards and her new album Uncover Me 2. Monday, November 28 at 12:30pm at Chapters Robson, 788 Robson Street. Also at 7:00pm at Chapters Metrotown. More information at www.chapters.indigo.ca.
Upcoming
POETRY READING
An evening of poetry featuring Jennifer Still, Meira Cook and Daphne Marlatt. Wednesday, November 30 at 7:00pm, free. Peter Kaye room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street. More information at www.vpl.ca.
NOWHERE ELSE ON EARTH
Book launch and reading by Caitlin Vernon from her new book Nowhere Else on Earth: Standing Tall for the Great Bear Rainforest. Thursday, December 1 at 7:00pm. Rhizome Cafe, 317 East Broadway. For more information, visit http://www.sierraclub.bc.ca/events/nowhere-else-on-earth-2.
THE TIME WE ALL WENT MARCHING
Arley NcNeney launches her new novel set during the 1930s and 1940s in the BC interior. Thursday, December 1 at 7:00pm, free. Meeting room. level 3, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at www.vpl.ca.
ROBSON READING SERIES
Readings by Michael Christie (The Beggar's Garden), Kim Clark (Attemptations) and Ashley Little (PRICK: Confessions of a Tattoo Artist). Thursday, December 1 at 7:00pm, free. UBC Bookstore/Library at Robson Square, 800 Robson Street. More information at www.robsonreadingseries.ubc.ca.
BOOK LAUNCH
Join journalist Allen Garr, publisher Howard White, broadcaster Red Robinson and others to celebrate the launch of The Chuck Davis History of Metropolitan Vancouver. Tuesday, December 6 at 7:00pm, free. Central Branch, VPL (350 West Georgia Street, Alma VanDusen & Peter Kaye Rooms). More information at www.harbourpublishing.com.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Book News Vol. 6 No. 44
BOOK NEWS
Incite - Complete details here: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/incite
Incite, our free reading series is back! Join us Wednesdays at 7:30pm in the Alice MacKay Room at VPL Central Library.
November 23: Ray Robertson, Cathy Stonehouse, and Rebecca Rosenblum; http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/incitenovember23
December 7: Heather Jessup and JJ Lee; http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/incitedecember7
SPECIAL EVENTS
Wade Davis - 7:30pm, November 10, 2011
An evening with scientist, anthropologist and bestselling author Wade Davis discussing his latest book Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory, and the Conquest of Everest. Tickets available at the door! Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/wadedavis.
Chuck Palahniuk - 7pm, November 30, 2011
The bestselling author of Fight Club, Choke and Snuff reads from his latest novel, Damned. Details: http://www.writerfest.bc.ca/events/palahniuk
AWARDS & LISTS
Calgary-born novelist Esi Edugyan has won the 2011 Scotiabank Giller Prize, worth $50,000.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/the-giller-prize/author-esi-edugyan-takes-home-the-giller-prize/article2230146/
Patrick deWitt's The Sisters Brothers has won the $25,000 Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize. Other Writers' Trust//McClelland & Stewart awards include: Miranda Hill, the Journey Prize for a Canadian short story; Wayne Johnston, the $25,000 Writers' Trust Engel/Findley Award for a writer in mid-career; David Adams Richards, the $20,000 Matt Cohen Award for a lifetime of distinguished work by a Canadian writer; and Iain Lawrence, the $20,000 Vicky Metcalf Award for a body of work in children's literature.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2011/11/01/writers-trust-book-prizes.html
Belfast writer Lucy Caldwell has won the £30,000 University of Wales Dylan Thomas Prize 2011 for her second novel, The Meeting Point. The prize is awarded annually to a young writer of a novel, play, poetry or travel book. Nova Scotia-born, Toronto-based poet Jacob McArthur Mooney,who recently received the Banff Centre Bliss Carman Poetry Award, was one of the writers shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas prize.
http://www.dylanthomasprize.com/news/documents/LucyCaldwellWINNERrelease.pdf
Canadian author David Rakoff has won The 2011 Thurber Prize for American Humor for his third collection of essays, Half Empty.
http://www.thurberhouse.org/2011-thurber-prize-for-american-humor.html
Novelist and high school biology teacher Alexis Jenni has won France's Prix Goncourt for his debut novel, L'Art français de la guerre (The French Art of War). The cash award with the Prix Goncourt is a mere €10 ($14 Cdn.), but the prestige of the prize guarantees high book sales.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2011/11/02/prix-goncourt.html
Twelve novels from across the Asian region, including Murakami's magnum opus 1Q84, are contending for the Man Asian literary prize.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/02/man-asian-literary-prize-shortlist
The Russian Booker Prize Committee is to choose the best Russian novel of the decade; the five finalists were previously shortlisted for the prize in various years from 2001 to 2010. The winner of the Russian Booker of the Decade award will be announced December 1.
http://rt.com/art-and-culture/news/russian-booker-pick-decade-275/
The book trade (an academy of 750 book industry experts) has named Alan Hollinghurst its "author of the year" for his novel The Stranger's Child.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/04/alan-hollinghurst-galaxy-triumph
The Observer/Cape Graphic Short Story Prize 2011 has been awarded to Isabel Greenberg for Love in a Very Cold Climate.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/06/observer-graphic-short-story-prize-greenberg
Andrew Westoll’s The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary: A Canadian Story of Resilience and Recovery and Charlotte Gill’s Eating Dirt: Deep Forests, Big Timber, and Life with the Tree-Planting Tribe are among those longlisted for the BC National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction. The shortlist will be announced in December.
http://www.bcachievement.com/nonfiction/longlist.php
Carol Ann Duffy, Sean O'Brien, Alice Oswald and John Burnside have been shortlisted for the TS Eliot prize 2011, described as 'the prize most poets want to win'.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/oct/20/ts-eliot-prize-2011-shortlist
A dozen Canadian authors--Caroline Adderson, David Bergen, Emma Donoghue, Camilla Gibb, Shilpi Somaya Gowda, Guy Gavriel Kay, Yann Martel, Beth Powning, Joan Thomas, Tom Rachman, Dianne Warren, and Kathleen Winter--have been longlisted for the 2012 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. The shortlist will be announced in April, 2012.
http://arts.nationalpost.com/2011/11/07/a-dozen-canadians-on-international-impac-dublin-literary-award-longlist/
The 2011 Canadian Online Publishing Awards has honoured the Vancouver Observer in three categories.
http://www.vancouverobserver.com/Media/2011/10/25/2011-canadian-online-publishing-awards-vo-honoured-three-categories
The CBC has released the ten titles chosen for consideration for 2012 Canada Reads.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2011/11/01/canada-reads-top10.html
NEWS & FEATURES
Seventy years after the end of World War II, endless words continue to be published, following several strands: the Nazis, the discovery by English and American readers of the Eastern Front, and the secret side of the war, among others, writes Robert McCrum.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/06/second-world-war-historians-mccrum
Victoria-based playwright Joan MacLeod speaks with Marsha Lederman about the impact on her life of her winning the 2011 Elinore & Lou Siminovitch Prize in Theatre.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/theatre/joan-macleod-wins-siminovitch-prize/article2228389/
Kevin Canfield writes about the challenges and dilemmas faced by translators. Tiina Nunally likens the work to that of a musician.
http://www.salon.com/2011/10/30/how_do_you_say_balls_of_gold_in_french/singleton/
Lee Rourke writes about why creative writing is better when done longhand.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/03/creative-writing-better-pen-longhand
Adam Gopnik says about The New Yorker’s 'house style': "All claims to a consistent house style at the magazine are consistently denied, And yet...in truth I do think there’s a house style, or a collective house choir-voicing."
http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2011/11/07/adam_gopnik_interview_about_food_baseball_and_the_new_yorker.html
Harper Lee asked a penpal not to put a particular letter on the internet. He is currently selling this, and other letters online.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/2011/11/harper-lee-letters-sale-please-dont-put-this-on-the-internet.html
BOOKS & WRITERS
Ian Kershaw’s The End attempts "to understand better how and why the Nazi regime could hold out for so long." The question has more than academic importance, writes Jonathan Steinberg. Even in this magnificent account, Kershaw has no answer.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/the-end-by-ian-kershaw/article2225635/
A girl is sent from wartime London blitz to the safety of the English countryside, the premise for A.S. Byatt’s retellng of Norse myths in Ragnarok: The End of the Gods, writes Gale Zoë Garnett. A great gift, says Garnett.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/ragnarok-the-end-of-the-gods-by-as-byatt/article2220161/
In Death Comes to Pemberley, P.D. James has revisited the characters in Pride and Prejudice and created 'a really original, exciting, credible detective story at the same time', writes Sarah Crown.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2011/nov/04/pd-james-life-in-writing
"Why be happy when you could be normal?" is both the real-life question of her adopted mother, as Jeanette Winterson is evicted, at 16, and the title of Winterson’s memoir. Zoe Williams finds the memoir deeply moving.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/04/why-be-happy-jeanette-winterson-review
Art critic Robert Hughes’s book Rome is a personal history of the Eternal City, told largely through its art. A sweeping, personal history that races from the city's beginnings to its current state as a woefully crowded tourist attraction, writes Suzanne Muchnic.
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-ca-rome-20111106,0,1225625.story
Steven Levinston suggests that the 94-year-old former French World War II resistance fighter Stéphane Hessel and author of Indignez-vous (translated as Time for Outrage), may have become the sage of the Occupy Wall Street movement in America.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/political-bookworm/post/a-sage-for-the-occupy-wall-street-movement/2011/11/01/gIQAYfEWiM_blog.html
Marsha Lederman writes that the illustrations on the cover of Highly Inappropriate Tales for Young People seem kid-friendly, but the book is grimmer than the Brothers Grimm. “Think twice before giving it to your nine-year-old.“ says Lederman, “it’s aimed at adults.”
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/kidlit-noir-just-dont-give-it-to-your-kids/article2226125/
Writing about Quite Enough of Calvin Trillin, John Allemang says of Trillin “his make-believe journalistic world always seems more true and lifelike than the one usually presented to us, in all seriousness, as the real thing.”
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/quite-enough-of-calvin-trillin-by-calvin-trillin/article2228186/
In Underbrush Man, a specially commissioned (by The Guardian) story, Margaret Atwood tells the comic tale of a dog's very unexpected discovery.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/07/short-story-margaret-atwood
COMMUNITY EVENTS
THE WRITER'S STUDIO READING SERIES
The Writer's Studio Reading Series continues on November 11th at Take 5 Caf, 429 Granville St. (at West Hastings), 7-9 pm, with readings of poetry, fiction and nonfiction.This month's guest author is Cathy Stonehouse, who has just published a collection of poetry, Grace Shiver(Inanna Publications).
BRANDON SANDERSON
Bestselling author signs his newest book in the Mistborn series, Alloy of Law. Saturday, November 12 at 2:00pm. Chapters Metrotown, 4700 Kingsway. More information at 604-431-0463.
DANIEL FRANCIS
The author reads from his book Seeing Reds: The Red Scare of 1918-1919, Canada's First War on Terror, which tells the story of how a fearful government tried to suppress radical political activity by branding legitimate labour leaders as Bolsheviks and Reds. Monday, November 14 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, VPL, 350 W. Georgia. More information at www.vpl.ca.
VANCOUVER BOOK LAUNCH
Author Carmen Rodríguez launches her debut novel Retribution. Books will be available for purchase, courtesy of the People's Co-op Bookstore. Tuesday, November 15 at 7pm, free. SFU Harbour Centre, 515 W. Hastings. More information at www.threeoclockpress.com.
BOB ROBERTSON
The comedy writer gives a talk about his new book Mayan Horror: How to Survive the End of the World in 2012. Tuesday, November 15 at 7:00pm, free but registration required. North Vancouver Capilano Branch Library (3045 Highland Blvd., North Vancouver).
BOB LENARDUZZI AND JIM TAYLOR
The soccer legend and the sports writer discuss their new book Bob Lenarduzzi: A Canadian Soccer Story. Tuesday, November 15 at 7:00pm, free. New Westminster Public Library (716 6th Ave., New Westminster). More information at www.nwpl.ca.
SPOKEN INK
Reading by Vancouver writer and journalist Peter Tupper. Tuesday, November 15 at 8:00pm. La Fontana Caffe, 101-3701 East Hastings, Burnaby.
PLAY CHTHONICS READING SERIES
Play Chthonics presents local writers Daphne Marlatt and Meredith Quartermain. Wednesday, November 16 at 5:00pm, free. Graham House at Green College, 6201 Cecil Green Park Road. More information at playchtonics.blogspot.com.
MYSTERY NIGHT READING
Author Garry Ryan talks about his newest novel Malabarista. Wednesday, November 16 at 6:30pm. Cafe Montmartre, 4362 Main street. More information at kim@publicitymavens.com.
ROBSON READING SERIES
Carmen Aguirre reads from her book Something Fierce: Memoirs of a Revolutionary Daughter and Rishma Dunlop reads from her book of poetry Lover Through Departure. Thursday, November 17 at 7:00pm, free. UBC Bookstore Robson Square, Plaza Level, 800 Robson. More information at www.robsonreadingseries.ubc.ca.
JUDY COLLINS
Kidsbooks is hosting Judy Collins, one of America's greatest folk/rock performers, at the West Broadway store on Friday, November 18, 6:30 to 8pm. Two free, timed tickets for the signing line are available with each purchase (by November 17) of either book--When You Wish Upon a Star or Over the Rainbow.
HOLD ME NOW
Freehand Books and Little Sisters present a special evening of literature and conversation with a reading by Stephen Gauer from his new novel. Facilitated discussion and reception to follow. Thursday, November 17 at 7:00pm, free. Little Sisters, 1238 Davie Street.
DEAD POETS READING SERIES
Newly revived series featuring poetry by Thomas Hardy, Cesar Vallejo, Marianne Bluger, Ron Johnson and Frank Stanford, read by David Zieroth, Fiona Lam, Russell Thornton,Sonnet L'Abbé and Raoul Fernandes. Sunday, November 20 at 3:00pm. Admission by donation. Project Space, 222 East Georgia Street. More information at www.deadpoetslive.com.
CBC BOOKCLUB
Linwood Barclay is one of Canada's most successful thriller writers and his new novel The Accident is already an international hit! The Globe and Mail review said "Barclay knows how to tell a story, knows how to pace it, knows how to make those pages keep turning." Come meet
Linwood in the CBC Studio One Book Club on Monday November 21, at 6:30 pm. Win free tickets at www.cbc.ca/bc/bookclub.
GARY GEDDES
Internationally acclaimed author Gary Geddes reads from his much-anticipated book Drink the Bitter Root: A Writers Search for Justice and Redemption in Africa. Monday, November 21 at 7:00pm, free. Peter Kaye room, lower level. Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street. More information at www.vpl.ca.
JAMES TRACY
The American author reads from his book Hillbilly Nationalists, Urban Race Rebels, and Black Power, a narrative history about the work of JOIN Community Union, the Young Patriots, Rising Up Angry, October 4th Organization, and White Lightning. Monday, November 21 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, VPL, 350 W. Georgia. More information at sonnieandtracybook@gmail.com.
PEN-IN-HAND POETRY/PROSE READING SERIES
Featuring Deborah Willis, Sandy Pool, Hollie Adams. Monday, November 21 at 7:30pm. Cost: $3. Cook Street Village Serious Coffee, 230 Cook Street, Victoria.
Upcoming
ARCHIVAL INTERVENTION AND RETRO-SPECULATION
Vancouver Public Library Writer-in-Residence Wayde Compton leads two dynamic workshops for emerging writers. Tuesday, November 22 at 6:30pm. Free but registration is required. Morris J. Wosk board room, level 7, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. For more information please contact Vancouver Public Library at 604-331-3603.
BOOK EXCHANGE
Join CBC host and author Bill Richardson and a celebrity panel including Simi Sara and Veda Hille for the first annual Book Exchange, where books are the only acceptable currency for the evening. Tuesday, November 22 at 7:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street.
MEET THE AUTHOR SERIES
Join author Roberta Rich for a discussion about her novel The Midwife of Venice. Part book club, part literary reading, the event also includes wine and light refreshments. Thursday, November 24 at 7:00pm. Tickets: $20. Christianne's Lyceum, 3696 8th Ave. W. More information is available at www.christiannehayward.com. Call 604.733.1356 or email lyceum@christiannehayward.com to register.
REMEMBERING OUR CHINATOWNS
Evening of fiction, remembrance, and intercultural dialogue features authors Rebecca Lau, Chad Reimer, and Larry Wong. Also includes a Q&A session, light refreshments, and a reception. Thursday, November 24 at 7pm. Tickets: $12/members get in for free. Museum of Vancouver, 1100 Chestnut Street. More information at www.museumofvancouver.ca.
JEWISH BOOK FESTIVAL
Authors from across Canada, the U.S., and Israel participate in the six-day event that includes meet-the-author opportunities, literary readings and panel discussions, a literary cocktail evening, a book-club event, writing and self-publishing workshops, children's authors, film screenings, and bookstores. November 26-December 1, 2011. Jewish Community Centre, 950 41st Ave. W. More information at www.jewishbookfestival.ca.
JANN ARDEN
Award-winning Canadian singer-songwriter signs her new biography Falling Backwards and her new album Uncover Me 2. Monday, November 28 at 12:30pm at Chapters Robson, 788 Robson Street. Also at 7:00pm at Chapters Metrotown. More information at www.chapters.indigo.ca.
POETRY READING
An evening of poetry featuring Jennifer Still, Meira Cook and Daphne Marlatt. Wednesday, November 30 at 7:00pm, free. Peter Kaye room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street. More information at www.vpl.ca.
THE TIME WE ALL WENT MARCHING
Arley NcNeney launches her new novel set during the 1930s and 1940s in the BC interior. Thursday, December 1 at 7:00pm, free. Meeting room. level 3, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at www.vpl.ca.
ROBSON READING SERIES
Readings by Michael Christie (The Beggar's Garden), Kim Clark (Attemptations) and Ashley Little (PRICK: Confessions of a Tattoo Artist). Thursday, December 1 at 7:00pm, free. UBC Bookstore/Library at Robson Square, 800 Robson Street. More information at www.robsonreadingseries.ubc.ca.
BOOK LAUNCH
Join journalist Allen Garr, publisher Howard White, broadcaster Red Robinson and others to celebrate the launch of The Chuck Davis History of Metropolitan Vancouver. Tuesday, December 6 at 7:00pm, free. Central Branch, VPL (350 West Georgia Street, Alma VanDusen & Peter Kaye Rooms). More information at www.harbourpublishing.com.
Incite - Complete details here: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/incite
Incite, our free reading series is back! Join us Wednesdays at 7:30pm in the Alice MacKay Room at VPL Central Library.
November 23: Ray Robertson, Cathy Stonehouse, and Rebecca Rosenblum; http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/incitenovember23
December 7: Heather Jessup and JJ Lee; http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/incitedecember7
SPECIAL EVENTS
Wade Davis - 7:30pm, November 10, 2011
An evening with scientist, anthropologist and bestselling author Wade Davis discussing his latest book Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory, and the Conquest of Everest. Tickets available at the door! Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/wadedavis.
Chuck Palahniuk - 7pm, November 30, 2011
The bestselling author of Fight Club, Choke and Snuff reads from his latest novel, Damned. Details: http://www.writerfest.bc.ca/events/palahniuk
AWARDS & LISTS
Calgary-born novelist Esi Edugyan has won the 2011 Scotiabank Giller Prize, worth $50,000.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/the-giller-prize/author-esi-edugyan-takes-home-the-giller-prize/article2230146/
Patrick deWitt's The Sisters Brothers has won the $25,000 Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize. Other Writers' Trust//McClelland & Stewart awards include: Miranda Hill, the Journey Prize for a Canadian short story; Wayne Johnston, the $25,000 Writers' Trust Engel/Findley Award for a writer in mid-career; David Adams Richards, the $20,000 Matt Cohen Award for a lifetime of distinguished work by a Canadian writer; and Iain Lawrence, the $20,000 Vicky Metcalf Award for a body of work in children's literature.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2011/11/01/writers-trust-book-prizes.html
Belfast writer Lucy Caldwell has won the £30,000 University of Wales Dylan Thomas Prize 2011 for her second novel, The Meeting Point. The prize is awarded annually to a young writer of a novel, play, poetry or travel book. Nova Scotia-born, Toronto-based poet Jacob McArthur Mooney,who recently received the Banff Centre Bliss Carman Poetry Award, was one of the writers shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas prize.
http://www.dylanthomasprize.com/news/documents/LucyCaldwellWINNERrelease.pdf
Canadian author David Rakoff has won The 2011 Thurber Prize for American Humor for his third collection of essays, Half Empty.
http://www.thurberhouse.org/2011-thurber-prize-for-american-humor.html
Novelist and high school biology teacher Alexis Jenni has won France's Prix Goncourt for his debut novel, L'Art français de la guerre (The French Art of War). The cash award with the Prix Goncourt is a mere €10 ($14 Cdn.), but the prestige of the prize guarantees high book sales.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2011/11/02/prix-goncourt.html
Twelve novels from across the Asian region, including Murakami's magnum opus 1Q84, are contending for the Man Asian literary prize.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/02/man-asian-literary-prize-shortlist
The Russian Booker Prize Committee is to choose the best Russian novel of the decade; the five finalists were previously shortlisted for the prize in various years from 2001 to 2010. The winner of the Russian Booker of the Decade award will be announced December 1.
http://rt.com/art-and-culture/news/russian-booker-pick-decade-275/
The book trade (an academy of 750 book industry experts) has named Alan Hollinghurst its "author of the year" for his novel The Stranger's Child.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/04/alan-hollinghurst-galaxy-triumph
The Observer/Cape Graphic Short Story Prize 2011 has been awarded to Isabel Greenberg for Love in a Very Cold Climate.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/06/observer-graphic-short-story-prize-greenberg
Andrew Westoll’s The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary: A Canadian Story of Resilience and Recovery and Charlotte Gill’s Eating Dirt: Deep Forests, Big Timber, and Life with the Tree-Planting Tribe are among those longlisted for the BC National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction. The shortlist will be announced in December.
http://www.bcachievement.com/nonfiction/longlist.php
Carol Ann Duffy, Sean O'Brien, Alice Oswald and John Burnside have been shortlisted for the TS Eliot prize 2011, described as 'the prize most poets want to win'.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/oct/20/ts-eliot-prize-2011-shortlist
A dozen Canadian authors--Caroline Adderson, David Bergen, Emma Donoghue, Camilla Gibb, Shilpi Somaya Gowda, Guy Gavriel Kay, Yann Martel, Beth Powning, Joan Thomas, Tom Rachman, Dianne Warren, and Kathleen Winter--have been longlisted for the 2012 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. The shortlist will be announced in April, 2012.
http://arts.nationalpost.com/2011/11/07/a-dozen-canadians-on-international-impac-dublin-literary-award-longlist/
The 2011 Canadian Online Publishing Awards has honoured the Vancouver Observer in three categories.
http://www.vancouverobserver.com/Media/2011/10/25/2011-canadian-online-publishing-awards-vo-honoured-three-categories
The CBC has released the ten titles chosen for consideration for 2012 Canada Reads.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2011/11/01/canada-reads-top10.html
NEWS & FEATURES
Seventy years after the end of World War II, endless words continue to be published, following several strands: the Nazis, the discovery by English and American readers of the Eastern Front, and the secret side of the war, among others, writes Robert McCrum.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/06/second-world-war-historians-mccrum
Victoria-based playwright Joan MacLeod speaks with Marsha Lederman about the impact on her life of her winning the 2011 Elinore & Lou Siminovitch Prize in Theatre.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/theatre/joan-macleod-wins-siminovitch-prize/article2228389/
Kevin Canfield writes about the challenges and dilemmas faced by translators. Tiina Nunally likens the work to that of a musician.
http://www.salon.com/2011/10/30/how_do_you_say_balls_of_gold_in_french/singleton/
Lee Rourke writes about why creative writing is better when done longhand.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/03/creative-writing-better-pen-longhand
Adam Gopnik says about The New Yorker’s 'house style': "All claims to a consistent house style at the magazine are consistently denied, And yet...in truth I do think there’s a house style, or a collective house choir-voicing."
http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2011/11/07/adam_gopnik_interview_about_food_baseball_and_the_new_yorker.html
Harper Lee asked a penpal not to put a particular letter on the internet. He is currently selling this, and other letters online.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/2011/11/harper-lee-letters-sale-please-dont-put-this-on-the-internet.html
BOOKS & WRITERS
Ian Kershaw’s The End attempts "to understand better how and why the Nazi regime could hold out for so long." The question has more than academic importance, writes Jonathan Steinberg. Even in this magnificent account, Kershaw has no answer.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/the-end-by-ian-kershaw/article2225635/
A girl is sent from wartime London blitz to the safety of the English countryside, the premise for A.S. Byatt’s retellng of Norse myths in Ragnarok: The End of the Gods, writes Gale Zoë Garnett. A great gift, says Garnett.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/ragnarok-the-end-of-the-gods-by-as-byatt/article2220161/
In Death Comes to Pemberley, P.D. James has revisited the characters in Pride and Prejudice and created 'a really original, exciting, credible detective story at the same time', writes Sarah Crown.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2011/nov/04/pd-james-life-in-writing
"Why be happy when you could be normal?" is both the real-life question of her adopted mother, as Jeanette Winterson is evicted, at 16, and the title of Winterson’s memoir. Zoe Williams finds the memoir deeply moving.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/04/why-be-happy-jeanette-winterson-review
Art critic Robert Hughes’s book Rome is a personal history of the Eternal City, told largely through its art. A sweeping, personal history that races from the city's beginnings to its current state as a woefully crowded tourist attraction, writes Suzanne Muchnic.
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-ca-rome-20111106,0,1225625.story
Steven Levinston suggests that the 94-year-old former French World War II resistance fighter Stéphane Hessel and author of Indignez-vous (translated as Time for Outrage), may have become the sage of the Occupy Wall Street movement in America.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/political-bookworm/post/a-sage-for-the-occupy-wall-street-movement/2011/11/01/gIQAYfEWiM_blog.html
Marsha Lederman writes that the illustrations on the cover of Highly Inappropriate Tales for Young People seem kid-friendly, but the book is grimmer than the Brothers Grimm. “Think twice before giving it to your nine-year-old.“ says Lederman, “it’s aimed at adults.”
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/kidlit-noir-just-dont-give-it-to-your-kids/article2226125/
Writing about Quite Enough of Calvin Trillin, John Allemang says of Trillin “his make-believe journalistic world always seems more true and lifelike than the one usually presented to us, in all seriousness, as the real thing.”
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/quite-enough-of-calvin-trillin-by-calvin-trillin/article2228186/
In Underbrush Man, a specially commissioned (by The Guardian) story, Margaret Atwood tells the comic tale of a dog's very unexpected discovery.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/07/short-story-margaret-atwood
COMMUNITY EVENTS
THE WRITER'S STUDIO READING SERIES
The Writer's Studio Reading Series continues on November 11th at Take 5 Caf, 429 Granville St. (at West Hastings), 7-9 pm, with readings of poetry, fiction and nonfiction.This month's guest author is Cathy Stonehouse, who has just published a collection of poetry, Grace Shiver(Inanna Publications).
BRANDON SANDERSON
Bestselling author signs his newest book in the Mistborn series, Alloy of Law. Saturday, November 12 at 2:00pm. Chapters Metrotown, 4700 Kingsway. More information at 604-431-0463.
DANIEL FRANCIS
The author reads from his book Seeing Reds: The Red Scare of 1918-1919, Canada's First War on Terror, which tells the story of how a fearful government tried to suppress radical political activity by branding legitimate labour leaders as Bolsheviks and Reds. Monday, November 14 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, VPL, 350 W. Georgia. More information at www.vpl.ca.
VANCOUVER BOOK LAUNCH
Author Carmen Rodríguez launches her debut novel Retribution. Books will be available for purchase, courtesy of the People's Co-op Bookstore. Tuesday, November 15 at 7pm, free. SFU Harbour Centre, 515 W. Hastings. More information at www.threeoclockpress.com.
BOB ROBERTSON
The comedy writer gives a talk about his new book Mayan Horror: How to Survive the End of the World in 2012. Tuesday, November 15 at 7:00pm, free but registration required. North Vancouver Capilano Branch Library (3045 Highland Blvd., North Vancouver).
BOB LENARDUZZI AND JIM TAYLOR
The soccer legend and the sports writer discuss their new book Bob Lenarduzzi: A Canadian Soccer Story. Tuesday, November 15 at 7:00pm, free. New Westminster Public Library (716 6th Ave., New Westminster). More information at www.nwpl.ca.
SPOKEN INK
Reading by Vancouver writer and journalist Peter Tupper. Tuesday, November 15 at 8:00pm. La Fontana Caffe, 101-3701 East Hastings, Burnaby.
PLAY CHTHONICS READING SERIES
Play Chthonics presents local writers Daphne Marlatt and Meredith Quartermain. Wednesday, November 16 at 5:00pm, free. Graham House at Green College, 6201 Cecil Green Park Road. More information at playchtonics.blogspot.com.
MYSTERY NIGHT READING
Author Garry Ryan talks about his newest novel Malabarista. Wednesday, November 16 at 6:30pm. Cafe Montmartre, 4362 Main street. More information at kim@publicitymavens.com.
ROBSON READING SERIES
Carmen Aguirre reads from her book Something Fierce: Memoirs of a Revolutionary Daughter and Rishma Dunlop reads from her book of poetry Lover Through Departure. Thursday, November 17 at 7:00pm, free. UBC Bookstore Robson Square, Plaza Level, 800 Robson. More information at www.robsonreadingseries.ubc.ca.
JUDY COLLINS
Kidsbooks is hosting Judy Collins, one of America's greatest folk/rock performers, at the West Broadway store on Friday, November 18, 6:30 to 8pm. Two free, timed tickets for the signing line are available with each purchase (by November 17) of either book--When You Wish Upon a Star or Over the Rainbow.
HOLD ME NOW
Freehand Books and Little Sisters present a special evening of literature and conversation with a reading by Stephen Gauer from his new novel. Facilitated discussion and reception to follow. Thursday, November 17 at 7:00pm, free. Little Sisters, 1238 Davie Street.
DEAD POETS READING SERIES
Newly revived series featuring poetry by Thomas Hardy, Cesar Vallejo, Marianne Bluger, Ron Johnson and Frank Stanford, read by David Zieroth, Fiona Lam, Russell Thornton,Sonnet L'Abbé and Raoul Fernandes. Sunday, November 20 at 3:00pm. Admission by donation. Project Space, 222 East Georgia Street. More information at www.deadpoetslive.com.
CBC BOOKCLUB
Linwood Barclay is one of Canada's most successful thriller writers and his new novel The Accident is already an international hit! The Globe and Mail review said "Barclay knows how to tell a story, knows how to pace it, knows how to make those pages keep turning." Come meet
Linwood in the CBC Studio One Book Club on Monday November 21, at 6:30 pm. Win free tickets at www.cbc.ca/bc/bookclub.
GARY GEDDES
Internationally acclaimed author Gary Geddes reads from his much-anticipated book Drink the Bitter Root: A Writers Search for Justice and Redemption in Africa. Monday, November 21 at 7:00pm, free. Peter Kaye room, lower level. Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street. More information at www.vpl.ca.
JAMES TRACY
The American author reads from his book Hillbilly Nationalists, Urban Race Rebels, and Black Power, a narrative history about the work of JOIN Community Union, the Young Patriots, Rising Up Angry, October 4th Organization, and White Lightning. Monday, November 21 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, VPL, 350 W. Georgia. More information at sonnieandtracybook@gmail.com.
PEN-IN-HAND POETRY/PROSE READING SERIES
Featuring Deborah Willis, Sandy Pool, Hollie Adams. Monday, November 21 at 7:30pm. Cost: $3. Cook Street Village Serious Coffee, 230 Cook Street, Victoria.
Upcoming
ARCHIVAL INTERVENTION AND RETRO-SPECULATION
Vancouver Public Library Writer-in-Residence Wayde Compton leads two dynamic workshops for emerging writers. Tuesday, November 22 at 6:30pm. Free but registration is required. Morris J. Wosk board room, level 7, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. For more information please contact Vancouver Public Library at 604-331-3603.
BOOK EXCHANGE
Join CBC host and author Bill Richardson and a celebrity panel including Simi Sara and Veda Hille for the first annual Book Exchange, where books are the only acceptable currency for the evening. Tuesday, November 22 at 7:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street.
MEET THE AUTHOR SERIES
Join author Roberta Rich for a discussion about her novel The Midwife of Venice. Part book club, part literary reading, the event also includes wine and light refreshments. Thursday, November 24 at 7:00pm. Tickets: $20. Christianne's Lyceum, 3696 8th Ave. W. More information is available at www.christiannehayward.com. Call 604.733.1356 or email lyceum@christiannehayward.com to register.
REMEMBERING OUR CHINATOWNS
Evening of fiction, remembrance, and intercultural dialogue features authors Rebecca Lau, Chad Reimer, and Larry Wong. Also includes a Q&A session, light refreshments, and a reception. Thursday, November 24 at 7pm. Tickets: $12/members get in for free. Museum of Vancouver, 1100 Chestnut Street. More information at www.museumofvancouver.ca.
JEWISH BOOK FESTIVAL
Authors from across Canada, the U.S., and Israel participate in the six-day event that includes meet-the-author opportunities, literary readings and panel discussions, a literary cocktail evening, a book-club event, writing and self-publishing workshops, children's authors, film screenings, and bookstores. November 26-December 1, 2011. Jewish Community Centre, 950 41st Ave. W. More information at www.jewishbookfestival.ca.
JANN ARDEN
Award-winning Canadian singer-songwriter signs her new biography Falling Backwards and her new album Uncover Me 2. Monday, November 28 at 12:30pm at Chapters Robson, 788 Robson Street. Also at 7:00pm at Chapters Metrotown. More information at www.chapters.indigo.ca.
POETRY READING
An evening of poetry featuring Jennifer Still, Meira Cook and Daphne Marlatt. Wednesday, November 30 at 7:00pm, free. Peter Kaye room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street. More information at www.vpl.ca.
THE TIME WE ALL WENT MARCHING
Arley NcNeney launches her new novel set during the 1930s and 1940s in the BC interior. Thursday, December 1 at 7:00pm, free. Meeting room. level 3, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at www.vpl.ca.
ROBSON READING SERIES
Readings by Michael Christie (The Beggar's Garden), Kim Clark (Attemptations) and Ashley Little (PRICK: Confessions of a Tattoo Artist). Thursday, December 1 at 7:00pm, free. UBC Bookstore/Library at Robson Square, 800 Robson Street. More information at www.robsonreadingseries.ubc.ca.
BOOK LAUNCH
Join journalist Allen Garr, publisher Howard White, broadcaster Red Robinson and others to celebrate the launch of The Chuck Davis History of Metropolitan Vancouver. Tuesday, December 6 at 7:00pm, free. Central Branch, VPL (350 West Georgia Street, Alma VanDusen & Peter Kaye Rooms). More information at www.harbourpublishing.com.
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