Book News Vol. 6 No. 10

BOOK NEWS

Incite @ VPL

The next installment of Incite (http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/readingseries) will feature Lorna Crozier, Pauline Holdstock and Susan Juby.

7:30 pm on Wednesday, March 23
http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/incitemarch23
Admission is free
Alice MacKay room, Central Library

Let us know you're coming by registering here, http://incitevpl.eventbrite.com. Please note that registration is so that we know how many people to expect. Admission on the night is always on a first-come-first-served basis.

SPECIAL EVENTS

Jodi Picoult - March 13, 2011
The bestselling author of My Sister's Keeper will read from her new novel, Sing You Home, accompanied by guitarist Ellen Wilber. Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/picoult.

Howard Jacobson - April 13, 2011
(2010 Man Booker award winner)
The Finkler Question is a scorching story of friendship and loss, exclusion and belonging, and of the wisdom and humanity of maturity. Funny, furious, unflinching, this extraordinary novel shows one of our finest writers at his brilliant best. Presented in partnership with the Jewish Book Festival. Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/jacobson.

Simon Winchester - April 18, 2011
The bestselling author of Krakatoa, returns to the natural world with his epic new book, a "biography" of the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic: Great Sea Battles, Heroic Discoveries, Titanic Storms, and a Vast Ocean of a Million Stories. http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/winchester.

Elizabeth Hay & Miriam Toews - May 5, 2011
Two of Canada's most acclaimed and beloved writers will discuss their new books, Alone in the Classroom and Irma Voth. Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/haytoews.

AWARDS & LISTS

Jack Hodgins, Sarah Leavitt, Doug Coupland, Susan Nielson, Grant Lawrence and Maggie de Vries are among the finalists for various categories of the BC Book Prize. The winners will be announced in April.
http://www.bcbookprizes.ca/winners/2011

Reviews of many of the nominated books are here:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/nominees-for-bc-book-prizes-announced/article1935326/

Emma Donoghue's Room has won the regional competition for the Commonwealth Writers Prize. Room is now a contender for the overall Commonwealth Prize, competing against regional winners from Europe and South Asia, Africa, and Southeast Asia and the Pacific. Katrina Best of Montreal was the regional winner in the first book category for her collection of short stories Bird Eat Bird.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/books/story/2011/03/04/commonwealth-prize.html

Jaimy Gordon's Lord of Misrule, which won the U.S. National Book Award for fiction in 2010, is one of five finalists for the PEN/Faulkner Award.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/books/story/2011/03/02/pen-faulkner-award.html

Richard Harris has won the 6th Annual Geist Literal Literary Postcard Contest for Men Gone Mad. Read the story here:
http://www.geist.com/postcard-story/men-gone-mad

Jamie Zeppa‘s Every Time We Say Goodbye has won a place in New Face of Fiction, a program annually highlighting a handful of first-time Canadian novelists. Past New Faces include Ann-Marie MacDonald, Yann Martel, Mary Lawson and Timothy Taylor.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/books/story/2011/03/08/jamie-zeppa-author.html

Canadian novelist Annabel Lyon, American author Howard Norman and Scottish writer Andrew O'Hagan have been named as jurors for the 2011 Scotiabank Giller Prize.
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/entertainment/books/novelist-annabel-lyon-among-jurors-for-2011-scotiabank-giller-prize-117602353.html

NEWS & FEATURES

The Guardian launched a children's book site last week, on World Book Day. The site, curated by young people from all over the world, is here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/childrens-books-site

The New Yorker includes David Foster Wallace's Backbone.
http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/features/2011/03/07/110307fi_fiction_wallace

British television is currently in the throes of a heady love affair with the book.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2011/mar/02/book-season-bbc-tv

In an interview about his latest book Star Island, Carl Hiassen says that his humour has always come from anger.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/mar/06/carl-hiaasen-interview

The New Yorker includes Cressida Leyshon's interview of Libyan novelist Hisham Matar—on Libya.
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2011/03/hisham-matar-on-libya-1.html

The Swedish crime-writing duo Anders Roslund and Borge Hellstrom see their books as part of a social dialogue about crime and how to avoid it.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/meet-the-swedish-crime-writers-not-named-larsson/article1920524/

Singer-songwriter Steve Earle explores life, death and Hank Williams' ghost in his first novel I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive.
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/books/la-ca-steve-earle-20110306,0,7668951.story

The publishing of chapbooks—pamphlet-sized, glossy and attractive—is making a comeback.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/thenortherner/2011/mar/04/chapbooks-publishing

In a feature article on the art of writing, Hanif Kureishi reveals how to succeed in the worlds of fiction and film.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/the-art-of-writing-hanif-kureishi-reveals-how-to-succeed-in-the-worlds-of-fiction-and-film-2231223.html

Patrick White's last novel was in a pile of papers that his literary executor was instructed to destroy when he died. She disobeyed. Hanging Garden will be published next year, the centenary of his birth.
http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/to-be-published-at-last-the-novel-that-patrick-white-left-hanging-20110228-1bbsd.html

Hans Fallada's Alone in Berlin, published in German 60 years ago, was finally translated into English in 2009 and is now a worldwide publishing phenomenon.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/mar/06/publishing-penguin

Michel Houellebecq, the bad boy of the literary world, has added songwriting and singing to his repertoire.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2011/mar/02/michel-houellebecq-makes-sweet-music

A book with entirely blank pages has become a bestseller after becoming a hit with students. Its title: What Every Man Thinks About Apart From Sex.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/books/Blank+page+book+becomes+bestseller+Amazon/4390518/story.html

Despite ebooks' indestructibility, HarperCollins is restricting US libraries to lending ebooks up to 26 times, the average number of loans they claim a print book would survive.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/mar/06/ebooks-on-borrowed-time

However The Guardian reports that HarperCollins is keen to get app developers working closely with its authors.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/appsblog/2011/mar/08/ebooks-harpercollins-tablets-smartphones-ipad

BOOKS & WRITERS

Jodi Picoult's Sing You Home (which comes with an original CD meant to complement the story) couldn't be more timely, says Marsha Lederman.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/jodi-picoults-new-gay-rights-novel-couldnt-be-more-timely/article1933872/

Barbara Casey describes Timothy Taylor's The Blue Light Project as both a novel of ideas and a page-turner.
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/article/947678--the-blue-light-pr

Peter Darbyshire writes that "With Stanley Park Taylor may have mastered the here, but with The Blue Light Project he's mastered the now."
http://www.theprovince.com/news/Vancouver+writer+goes+global/4391647/story.html

Lucy Caldwell's The Meeting Point, set mainly in the expat community in Bahrain during the run-up to the Iraq war, is compulsively readable, writes Stevie Davies.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/mar/05/meeting-point-lucy-caldwell-review

Doug Johnstone describes Steve Hely's How I Became a Famous Novelist as "a satire that hurts when you laugh".
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/how-i-became-a-famous-novelist-by-steve-hely-2233426.html

Margaux Fragoso's look at her years as victim of a child abuser is a searing portrait of play-acting, toxic parenting and, yes, love.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/tiger-tiger-by-margaux-fragoso/article1930162/

Margaux Fragoso writes of her relationship with the man who molested her. As adults we "mind our own business". Kathryn Harrison suggests that maybe a book like Tiger, Tiger can help us be a little braver.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/06/books/review/Harrison-t.html?ref=books&pagewanted=all

Philosopher David Livingstone Smith argues, in Less Than Human, that dehumanization is necessary for genocide, slavery and slaughter to take hold.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/06/books/review/Berreby-t.html?nl=books&emc=booksupdateema3

An excerpt is here:
http://us.macmillan.com/BookCustomPage.aspx?isbn=9780312532727#Excerpt

Bronson Alcott established a communal farm in an effort to create a modern Garden of Eden. Fruitlands is both the tale of a doomed utopia and an intellectual history of the mid-19th century.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/mar/06/fruitlands-utopia-richard-francis-review

Janine di Giovanni reports that Jonathan Franklin's account of the dramatic rescue of the 33 Chilean miners is gripping.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/06/33-chilean-miners-jonathan-franklin

Chekhov's rule: introduce a rifle in Act I, and it must be fired by Act III is manifest in Michael Frayne's My Father's Fortune, writes Christopher Buckley.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/06/books/review/Buckley-t.html?ref=books

An excerpt is here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/06/books/review/excerpt-my-fathers-fortune.html?ref=review

In Moonwalking With Einstein, Joshua Foer tackles the subject of memory, placing the mysteries of the brain within a larger philosophical and cultural context.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/08/books/08book.html?_r=1&hp

The most striking aspect of William Styron's Darkness Visible is just how close it gets in describing the stifling horrors of depression.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2011/mar/07/illuminating-depression-william-styron

Australian poet Les Murray's Taller When Prone and Killing the Black Dog derive bits of humour from a life of torment.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/09/books/taller-when-prone-and-killing-the-black-dog-by-les-murray-book-review.html?ref=books

Meg Clothier's The Girl King concerns the daughter of a king of medieval Georgia, without a male heir—Georgia's Elizabeth I. And the plot culminates in a dramatic Armada moment.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/the-girl-king-by-meg-clothier-2234154.html

Saints and Sinners, Edna O'Brien's new collection of stories is populated by imperfect characters we can all recognize.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/mar/05/saints-sinners-edna-obrien-review

Kamila Shamsie is gripped by Mirza Waheed's debut novel The Collaborator, and its devastating portrait of Kashmir.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/mar/05/collaborator-mirza-waheed-review

COMMUNITY EVENTS

POETRY AROUND THE WORLD
Poetry and spoken word featuring New Westminster Poet Laureate Candice James, Selene Bertelsen, Jemma Downes and Sharon Taylor. Thursday, March 10 at 6:30pm, free. Renfrew Public Library, 2969 22nd Ave. E., Vancouver.

ROBSON READING SERIES
Readings by John Gould and Terence Young. Thursday, March 10 at 7:00pm, free. UBC Library/Bookstore at Robson Square, Plaza Level, 800 Robson St. More information at www.robsonreadingseries.ubc.ca.

RACHEL WYATT
Reading and discussion of the author's new novel, Letters to Omar. Thursday, March 10 at 7:00pm, free. Ardea Books & Art, 2025 4th Ave. W. More information at http://ardeabooksandart.com/event/?event_id=31.

CROSS-BORDER POLLINATION READING SERIES
Readings by Wayde Compton, Sarah Leavitt, Kelli Russell Agodon, Miranda Pearson and Jacqueline Osherow. Saturday, March 12 at 5:00pm. Room 2270, Sauder Industries Policy Room, SFU Harbour Centre, 555 W. Hastings Street.

SUNSHINE COAST ARTS COUNCIL READING SERIES
Rachel Wyatt discusses her new novel, Letters to Omar. Saturday, March 12 at 8:00pm, free. Sunshine Coast Arts Centre, 5714 Medusa, Sechelt. More information at http://www.suncoastarts.com/profiles/scartscouncil/writersseries.html.

CABIN FEVER
Anna Swanson, Bren Simmers and Maleea Acker - three former fire lookouts - read from their debut collections of poetry. Monday, March 14 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. For more information please contact Vancouver Public Library at 604-331-3603.

SHORT LINE READING SERIES
This evening will feature several writers who work collaboratively with other writers or involve others in their writing process and work: Christine Leclerc, Shannon Rayne, Warren Dean Fulton, Mariner Janes, and Daniela Elza. Tuesday, March 15 at 6:30pm. The Railway Club, 579 Dunsmuir. For more information, email info@memewaronline.com.

VENTURING BEYOND
Spoken INK presents speculative writers Mary Choo and Sandra Wickham. Tuesday, March 15 at 7:30pm. La Fontana Caffe, 101-3701 East Hastings, Burnaby. More information at www.BurnabyWritersNews.blogspot.com.

PLAY CHTHONICS READING SERIES
Readings by Annharte and Joanne Arnott. Wednesday, March 16 at 7:30pm, free. Graham House, Green College, 6201 Cecil Green Park Road, UBC. More information at playchthonics.blogspot.com.

TWISTED POETS LITERARY SALON
Features Donato Mancini and Jess Hill. Thursday, March 17 at 7:00pm. Cost: $5 suggested donation at the door. The Prophouse Cafe, 1636 Venables Street. For more information, email blinsh_pandoras@yahoo.ca.

CAROLINE ADDERSON
Join author Caroline Adderson for a discussion about her novel The Sky is Falling. Part book club, part literary reading, the event includes wine, light refreshments and lively debate. Thursday, March 17 at 7:00pm. Cost: $20. Christianne's Lyceum, 3696 8th Ave. W. Call 604.733.1356 or email lyceum@christiannehayward.com to register.

JORDAN SCOTT
Reading by the author of Silt and Blert. Friday, March 18 at 8:00pm, free. People's Co-op Bookstore, 1391 Commercial Drive. More information at http://www.newstarbooks.com/news.php?news_id=40111.

BECKETT SOUNDINGS
Launch party for Inge Israel's new poetry collection. Also readings with Barbara Pelman and Pamela Porter. Sunday, March 20 at 5:00pm, free. Ardea Books & Art, 2025 4th Ave. W. More information at ronsdalepress.com.

MIRANDA PEARSON
Literature Alive presents poet Miranda Pearson. Monday, March 21 at 7:00pm. Room 1808, Douglas College, New Westminster.

PEN-IN-HAND
Poetry and prose reading featuring Rhea Tregebov and Cathy Ford. Monday, March 21 at 7:30pm. Cost: $3. Serious Coffee, 230 Cook Street, Victoria.

Upcoming

JEANETTE LYNES
Literature Alive presents poet and novellist Jeannette Lynes. Wednesday March 23 at 7:00pm. Room 3343, Douglas College, New Westminster.

ROBSON READING SERIES
Readings by Suzanne Buffam and Derek Lundy. Thursday, March 24 at 7:00pm, free. UBC Library/Bookstore at Robson Square, Plaza Level, 800 Robson St. More information at www.robsonreadingseries.ubc.ca.

PEARLS LAUNCH
Douglas College's Creative Writing Department is pleased to launch the 30th issue of Pearls, a yearly student anthology. Friday, March 25 at 7:00pm. Studio Theatre, Room 4140, Douglas College, New Westminster.

THREE POETS READING
New books of poetry presented by Cathy Ford, bill bissett and Mona Fertig. Saturday, April 9 at 3:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen & Peter Kaye rooms, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. For more information please contact VPL - Literature and Social Science at 604-331-3738.

ROBSON READING SERIES
Readings by Ryan Knighton and Ed Macdonald. Thursday, April 7 at 7:00pm, free. UBC Library/Bookstore at Robson Square, Plaza Level, 800 Robson St. More information at www.robsonreadingseries.ubc.ca.

RAISE SHIT!
Come join Susan Boyd, Donald MacPherson and Bud Osborn discuss their book Raise Shit! Social Action Saving Lives, which explores the community activism in Vancouver's DTES that led to the opening of the first safe injection site. Wednesday, April 13 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street. For more information please contact VPL - Literature and Social Science at 604-331-3738.

NON-FICTION WRITING CONTEST
EVENT is both a literary journal showcasing fiction, poetry, and creative non-fiction and a sponsor of an annual non-fiction contest. The deadline for submissions to the 2011 EVENT Non-Fiction Contest is April 15, 2011. Three winners will each receive $500 (plus publication payment). Publication in EVENT 40/3 (December 2011). Submission details here: http://event.douglas.bc.ca.

PEN-IN-HAND
Poetry and prose reading featuring Walk Myself Home: An Anthology to End Violence Against Women, with Janet Marie Rogers, Arleen Paré, Rhonda Ganz and other contributors to the book. Monday, April 18 at 7:30pm. Cost: $3. Serious Coffee, 230 Cook Street, Victoria.

VANCOUVER INTERNATIONAL POETRY FESTIVAL
The inaugural Vancouver International Poetry Festival will harness the diversity of spoken word in Canada and beyond to present a world-class spoken word festival that showcases the best that Canada has to offer, as well as exploring and expanding the boundaries of contemporary spoken word. April 18-23, 2011. For complete details, visit http://vancouverpoetryfestival.com.