BOOK NEWS
Michael Moore
7:30pm, September 18, 2011
Before Michael Moore became an Oscar-winning filmmaker, and all-round rabble rouser and thorn-in-the-side of corporate and right-wing America, he was the guy who had an uncanny knack of just showing up where history was being made. In his only scheduled Canadian appearance, Moore will share stories from Here Comes Trouble, a hilarious and revealing memoir of his early life. Details at www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/moore.
Incite
Incite, our free reading series is back for the fall! Join us Wednesdays at 7:30pm in the Alice MacKay Room at VPL Central Library. September 14: An on stage interview with Carmen Aguirre, author of Something Fierce and Carmen Rodriguez, Chilean -Canadian activist and author of Retribution. September 28: Daniel Kalla discusses his latest book The Far Side of the Sky, Ashley Little reads from her debut novel PRICK: Confessions of a Tattoo Artist and poet Julia McCarthy reads from Return from Erebus. Please visit our website for event details: www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/incite.
SPECIAL EVENTS
Michael Ondaatje - September 21, 2011
Join us for an evening with the Booker Prize-winning author of The English Patient, Michael Ondaatje, as he discusses his forthcoming novel, The Cat's Table. Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/ondaatje.
An Evening with Anthony Bourdain - 8pm, October 29, 2011
The Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts. Tickets: $47.50/$55.00/$62.50/VIP package: $152.50. Tickets now on sale at Ticketmaster. Support the Writers Festival: use the code "writers" when purchasing your ticket, a portion of the ticket proceeds will go to the VIWF and you will receive a $5 discount per ticket. Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/bourdain.
An Evening with David Sedaris - 8pm, November 5, 2011
The Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts. Tickets: $45.00/$50.00/$57.50. Tickets now on sale at Ticketmaster. Support the Writers Festival: use the code "writers" when purchasing your ticket, a portion of the ticket proceeds will go to the VIWF and you will receive a $5 discount per ticket. Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/davidsedaris.
Wade Davis - 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. Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/wadedavis.
2011 FESTIVAL AUTHORS
David Bezmozgis writes about the experience of Soviet Jewish émigrés in the 1980s in his debut novel, The Free World, which he will be presenting at the Festival. Bezmozgis was on the New Yorker's "Top 20 Under 40" list last year. Q guest host Zaib Shaih's interview of Bezmozgis can be heard here.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/books/story/2011/08/17/david-bezmozgis-q.html
James Urquhart is loath to say much about the plot of Lloyd Jones' Hand Me Down World, for fear of giving away too much or give scant impression of the true subtlety of this masterful, prismatic piece of storytelling.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/hand-me-down-world-by-lloyd-jones-2131358.html
Boyd Tonkin says of John Vaillant's The Tiger: "this enthralling true-crime narrative takes us on a snowbound search not only for a beast, but for a motive. Vaillant's book moves with grace and stealth—and shakes the observer's soul."
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/the-tiger-by-john-vaillant-2335951.html
Alexandra (Bobo) Fuller treats us in this wonderful book to the inside scoop on her glamorous, tragic, indomitable mother, writes Binka Le Breton.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/alexandra-fullers-cocktail-hour-under-the-tree-of-forgetfulness/2011/07/13/gIQAy9XaQJ_story.html
Michiko Kakutani describes Bobo's mother as a sort of African version of Scarlett O'Hara—and a survivor. Alexandra Fuller manages the difficult feat of writing about her mother and father with love and understanding, and conveys the terrible human costs of the colonialism they supported.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/23/books/cocktail-hour-under-the-tree-of-forgetfulness-review.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha28
Michael Berry writes that Lev Grossman has put a postmodern spin on heroic fantasy and dramatized the dangerous attraction of children's literature. He has devised an enchanted milieu in The Magician King.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/08/19/RVA71KN03Q.DTL
Grossman's work has recently been recognized with the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer for the best new professional science fiction or fantasy writer of 2009 or 2010. The Award is sponsored by Dell Magazines and is not a Hugo Award, however, he received his award during an event honouring fifteen Hugo award-winners.
http://www.thehugoawards.org/
AWARDS & LISTS
Connie Willis's gripping portrait of London during the Blitz has won the American author a remarkable 11th Hugo award for her two-volume time travel sequence. The 2011 Hugo ceremony also saw Ted Chiang win the best novella prize for The Lifecycle of Software Objects, Allen M. Steele takes the best novelette award for The Emperor of Mars and Mary Robinette Kowal wins best short story for For Want of a Nail.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/aug/23/connie-willis-wins-11th-hugo-award
Debut novelist Tatjana Soli won Britain's oldest literary prize—the James Tait Black prize—for The Lotus Eaters, a love story about a female war photographer covering the fall of Saigon during the closing days of the Vietnam War.
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/uk/Dazzling-tale-of-Ms-Saigon.6821899.jp
A part-biography of Pearl Buck by Hilary Spurling won the James Tait Black best biography award for Burying the Bones: Pearl Buck in China.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2011/aug/20/edinburgh-james-tait-black-soli-spurling
The breadth, impact and influence of his writing have won Stephen Sondheim the 2011 Chicago Tribune Literary Prize for lifetime achievement. Sondheim will be honored at the Chicago Humanities Festival in November, when the Tribune's 2011 Heartland Prizes will be presented to Jonathan Franzen for fiction (Freedom) and Isabel Wilkerson for nonfiction (The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration).
http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/books/ct-ae-0807-lit-awards-20110806,0,6097101.story
Montreal-born, U.S. resident, David Rakoff, is one of three finalists for the 2011 Thurber Prize for American Humor, for his essay collection Half Empty. The winner will be announced October 3. Previous winners include Jon Stewart, David Sedaris and Christopher Buckley.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/david-rakoff-a-finalist-for-thurber-prize-for-american-humor/article2137407/
NEWS & FEATURES
Martin Levin's list (with short reviews) of sure-fire hits for the fall we should have on our radar include Michael Ondaatje's The Cat's Table; Marina Endicott's The Little Shadows; Misha Glenny's Darkmarket: Cyber Thieves, Cybercops And You; Michael Moore's Here Comes Trouble: Stories from my life; and Guy Vanderhaege's A Good Man.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/fall-books-10-surefire-hits-coming-your-way/article2135016/
Journalist and author Gil Courtemanche, whose novel on Rwanda was translated into 23 languages, has died. He presented A Sunday at the Pool in Kigali (among other writing) when he participated in our Festival in 2003.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/quebec-writer-gil-courtemanche-dies/article2135529/
Peter Ackroyd, the greatest living chronicler of London's seamy, violent underside, tells Andy McSmith that 'Rioting has been a London tradition for centuries' since the early Middle Ages when both the fighting and the penalties were more ferocious.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/peter-ackroyd-rioting-has-been-a-london-tradition-for-centuries-2341673.html
In an interview, author and poet Precious speaks of the ongoing racism that exists in the book business, for example, the type-casting that occurs in shelving books by African-Americans in "African-American literature" instead of "literature".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/aug/23/sapphire-racism-arts
Obsessive watchers of Michiko Kakutani, the New York Times' chief book critic, celebrate the return of her favorite obscure word "limn"—which means to depict or make a portrait of, in words.
http://www.salon.com/news/the_new_york_times/index.html?story=/books/feature/2011/08/17/michiko_kakutani_limn
What happens to words that aren't used anymore? Do they go extinct? Collins Dictionary compilers are creating an endangered words list, words presumed to have become extinct in the past year. Aerodrome and charabanc are among them.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/aug/21/endangered-words-collins-dictionary
In an interview with Stephen Moss, Edward St. Aubyn says he has spent 22 years trying to transform painful experience into pleasurable reading. With At Last, St. Aubyn has ended the five-book series on his alter ego, Patrick Melrose.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2011/aug/17/edward-st-aubyn-interview?CMP=EMCGT_180811&
The United Kingdom's first-ever statue of Charles Dickens—in spite of Dickens's request, made at his funeral, that there be no monuments in his honour—will be unveiled in Portsmouth, the writer's birthplace, in August next year.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/what-the-dickens-to-get-unwanted-statue-2340262.html
Here's what I hate about Writers' Houses, writes April Bernard. That art can be understood by examining the chewed pencils of the writer; visiting such a house can substitute for reading the work; that writers can, or should be sanctified.
http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2011/aug/11/heres-what-i-hate-about-writers-houses/
Killian Fox interviews Jennifer Egan, author of A Visit from the Goon Squad, discovering her views on winning awards, writing the future and why she would have gone on the road with The Who.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/aug/21/jennifer-egan-interview-observer
Creepy strangers, decadent families and (fill in the blank)... the Guardian revisits the 10 worst fictional holidays—in pictures.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/gallery/2011/aug/19/10-worst-fictional-holidays-in-pictures
The visionary science fiction writer, Ray Bradbury (Martian Chronicles, Fahrenheit 451, and other books) turned 91 this week.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/2011/08/happy-91st-birthday-ray-bradbury.html
Toronto author Maureen Jennings (Detective Murdoch, Murdoch Mysteries, television series) has embarked on a new literary project, the Season of Darkness trilogy.
http://www.quillandquire.com/reviews/review.cfm?review_id=7362
CBC Books invites Canadian fiction fans to nominate a book for the Scotiabank Giller Prize 2011 longlist—and become eligible for prizes. The most nominated book will be added to the official longlist. More information, and nomination forms are here:
http://www.cbc.ca/books/scotiabankgillerprize/#more
A reminder that Readers' Choice nominations to the 2011 Scotiabank Giller Prize longlist must be submitted by midnight ET on August 28. As part of the Readers' Choice contest, a random draw each week offers an entrant the prize of a Kobo eReader.
http://www.cbc.ca/books/scotiabankgillerprize/#more
The CBC has announced three new literary prizes: for short stories, poetry and literary nonfiction. The short story competition begins September 1. More details here:
http://www.cbc.ca/books/canadawrites/literaryprizes/
BOOKS & WRITERS
Risks are taken and relationships forged during the three-week ocean journey at the heart of Michael Ondaatje's The Cat's Table, a glittering coming-of-age story, writes Christian House. An eloquent, elegiac tribute to the game of youth, shaping what follows.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/the-cats-table-by-michael-ondaatje-2341109.html
Ursula K. LeGuin writes that Solace by Belinda McKeon is a tightly controlled debut from a promising Irish writer.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/aug/12/solace-belinda-mckeon-review
The 2011 Homeless World Cup in Paris prompted Bill Littlefield's review of Dave Bidini's Home and Away, describing his inspiring experience at the 2008 World Cup in Australia. Especially moving was the parade of the athletes, and the community response.
http://articles.boston.com/2011-08-19/ae/29906087_1_homeless-world-cup-mel-young-melbourne-residents
Joseph Heller is recalled in Yossarian Slept Here: When Joseph Heller Was Dad, the Apthorp Was Home, and Life Was a 'Catch-22', a memoir by daughter Erica Heller and Just One Catch: A Biography of Joseph Heller, by Tracy Daugherty.
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/books/la-ca-joseph-heller-20110821,0,4400220.story
"The New Generation" ("Molodniak"), a newly translated story by Alexander Solzhenitsyn asks elegant, timeless questions, says Elif Batuman.
http://www.salon.com/books/writing/index.html?story=/books/feature/2011/08/19/solzhenitsyn_story_english_debut
Thanks to Hemingway and Mark Twain, errant boys have long been running through our novels. Here, Ron Charles reviews four new novels about errant boys from Africa and the Middle East: their journeys take us somewhere entirely different, writes Charles.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/ron-charles-reviews-four-new-novels-about-boys-from-africa-and-the-middle-east/2011/08/08/gIQAQDy2JJ_story.html
Tracy Sherlock is fascinated by Denise Mina's The End of the Wasp Season, a crime story from four perspectives: the killer's, the victim's, a suspect, and the police. A fascinating psychological study that leaves the reader guessing, says Sherlock.
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/books/Mina+latest+guessing+game+until/5279233/story.html
In Amy Waldman's The Submission, New York City is struck by a catastrophic terrorist attack. Two years later, in an anonymous competition, a jury selects a design for the memorial—and discovers that the winning architect is a Muslim American.
http://www.salon.com/books/what_to_read/index.html?story=/books/laura_miller/2011/08/21/the_submission
With flaming cinders dropping from the sky and trees all around him exploding into fireballs. James Alford seems doomed to death in a forest fire. But Orland French reminds us that the title of Paul Almond's book is The Survivor.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/the-survivor-by-paul-almond/article2137445/
COMMUNITY EVENTS
CBC STUDIO ONE BOOK CLUB
For the next CBC Studio One Book Club, author William Gibson suggested British writer Sarah Salway. Her three novels and her short stories all share a common theme of how identity is formed through the stories we tell about ourselves - or those that are told about us. William is a big fan of Sarah's writing, so he's going to co-host with Sheryl MacKay, on Thursday August 25th at 6:30 pm. Check out Sarah's writing and enter to win free tickets at www.cbc.ca/bc/bookclub.
SCIENCE FICTION BOOK DISCUSSION GROUP
Read and talk about Ursula K. LeGuin's The Birthday of the World and Other Stories, a collection of short tales about love, sex, life, and alienation. Thursday, August 25 at 7:00pm. The Grind & Gallery, 4124 Main Street. More information at darthbuddy2000@yahoo.ca.
CANADIAN WAR ON QUEERS
Author talk and book signing with Gary Kinsman and Patrizia Gentile, in support of their book Canadian War on Queers: National Security as Sexual Regulation. Sunday, August 28 at 2:00pm. Little Sister's Book & Art Emporium, 1238 Davie.
MIXED VOICES RAISED
Writers Fred Wah, Joanne Arnott, and Tanya Evanson engage the audience in mixed root dialogue and share their literary expression in fiction, poetry and spoken-word performance. Wednesday, September 7 at 7:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street. Information at www.hapapalooza.ca/wednesday.
TZEPORAH BERMAN
Pacific Arbour Speaker Series presents Tzeporah Berman on Wednesday, Sept 7th @ 7:30pm. Currently Greenpeace International's Climate and Energy co-director tasked with working on climate change, Berman will address her past and the future of the environmental movement in relation to her new book entitled "This Crazy Time." Tickets and Info: 604.990.7810 / www.capilanou.ca/nscucentre
Upcoming
THE WRITER'S STUDIO READING SERIES
An evening of storytelling and poetry featuring Melanie Jackson, a suspense-adventure writer for children and young adults. Thursday, September 8 at 7pm. Rhizome Cafe, 317 East Broadway. More information at www.thewritersstudio.ca.
DENNIS BOLEN AND SORESSA GARDNER
Author Dennis Bolen presents Anticipated Results, his first story collection, in collaboration with unconventional soundscapes and song by artist Soressa Gardner. Wednesday, September 14 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen & Peter Kaye rooms, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street.
PEN-IN-HAND POETRY & PROSE READING SERIES
Presenting John Barton and Miles Lowry. Monday, September 19 at 7:30pm. Cost: $3. Serious Coffee, 230 Cook Street, Victoria.
WAYDE COMPTON
Inaugural reading by the Library's seventh Writer in Residence. Tuesday, September 20 at 7:00pm, free.Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street.
SUSAN MCCASLIN
Award-winning poet reads from her new volume of poetry, Demeter Goes Skydiving. Wednesday, September 21 at 7:00pm, free. Literature, Social Sciences and Multicultural Services, level 3, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St.
VOGON POETRY SLAM
Are you the best Vogon poet? Prove it and you may win Earth dollars! Submit your absolutely worst poems to be presented slam style at the VPL/VCON Gala with 501st Legion Stormtroopers. Prizes: $100, $60, $40. Youth prize: $42. Thursday, September 22 at 6:30pm, free. Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street. Information: www.vpl.ca.
ROBSON READING SERIES
Readings by Linda Besner (The Id Kid) and Matthew J. Trafford (The Divinity Gene). Thursday, September 22 at 7:00pm, free. UBC Bookstore/Library at Robson Square, Plaza level, 800 Robson Street. More information at www.robsonreadingseries.ubc.ca.
KOOTENAY BOOK WEEKEND
The 8th Annual Kootenay Book Weekend will take place in Nelson B.C. September 23, 24 an 25. The featured books are: Christos Tsiolkas' The Slap; Kathryn Stockett's The Help; Li Cunxin's Mao's Last Dancer, and special guest Ruth Ozeki and her books My Year of Meats and All Over Creation. Further information and registration forms can be found at www.kootenaybookweekend.ca.
WORD ON THE STREET
The VPL invites you to one of Canada's biggest annual book and magazine festivals. Sunday, September 25 from 11am to 5pm, free. North & South Plaza, Promenade, Alice MacKay room, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street. Information at www.vpl.ca.
ROBSON READING SERIES
Timothy Taylor reads from his novel, The Blue Light Project. Thursday, September 29 at 2:00pm, free. Dodson Room (302), Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, 1961 East Mall, UBC, Vancouver. More information at www.ikebarberlearningcentre.ubc.ca/robson.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Book News Vol. 6 No. 33
BOOK NEWS
Purchase a Festival Membership between August 1 and September 30, 2011 and be entered to win a Fabulous Festival Evening Out! The prize package includes:
• Two Tickets to the 2011 Literary Cabaret
• $100 Gift Card for the Dockside Restaurant
• Valet Parking at the Granville Island Hotel
Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/get-involved/memberprize
Purchase a Festival membership: https://www.writersfest.bc.ca/secure/secure_membership.php
SPECIAL EVENTS
Michael Ondaatje - September 21, 2011
Join us for an evening with the Booker Prize-winning author of The English Patient, Michael Ondaatje, as he discusses his forthcoming novel, The Cat's Table. Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/ondaatje.
An Evening with Anthony Bourdain - 8pm, October 29, 2011
The Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts. Tickets: $47.50/$55.00/$62.50/VIP package: $152.50. Tickets now on sale at Ticketmaster. Support the Writers Festival: use the code "writers" when purchasing your ticket, a portion of the ticket proceeds will go to the VIWF and you will receive a $5 discount per ticket. Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/bourdain.
An Evening with David Sedaris - 8pm, November 5, 2011
The Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts. Tickets: $45.00/$50.00/$57.50. Tickets now on sale at Ticketmaster. Support the Writers Festival: use the code "writers" when purchasing your ticket, a portion of the ticket proceeds will go to the VIWF and you will receive a $5 discount per ticket. Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/davidsedaris.
Wade Davis - 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. Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/wadedavis.
2011 FESTIVAL AUTHORS
Wayne Johnston's A World Elsewhere is a novel that turns upon lies and deceits. Read it and revel in one of the funniest books that will move you to a deeper sense of the poignancy of human experience, says T. F. Rigelhof.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/a-world-elsewhere-by-wayne-johnston/article2128173/
"Skip this review and head directly to the bookstore for Binyavanga Wainaina's memoir One Day I Will Write About This Place" says Alexandra Fuller. Fuller will attend the Festival with her latest memoir Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness, to be published mid-September.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/14/books/review/one-day-i-will-write-about-this-place-by-binyavanga-wainaina-book-review.html?_r=1&nl=books&emc=booksupdateema3&pagewanted=all
All serious writers have at least two dreams, writes Randy Boyagoda (who will be at the Festival with Beggar's Feast): the primal dream is of immediate discovery: the back-up dream is of posthumous discovery: Mihail Sebastian's The Accident is, alas, a posthumous discovery.
http://arts.nationalpost.com/2011/08/12/book-review-the-accident-by-mihail-sebastian/#more-42686
Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve, the foremost French literary critic of his day, is best remembered for his love affair with Victor Hugo's wife, Adèle, says William Palmer. Helen Humphreys' The Reinvention of Love is narrated by Charles and Adèle alternately.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/the-reinvention-of-love-by-helen-humphreys-2334871.html
David Adams Richards' Incidents in the Life of Markus Paul unfolds with the weight and significance of an Old Testament story, rooted in a strongly oral storytelling tradition. The novel sparks with an immediacy and power that is rare, writes Robert J. Wiersema.
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/books/David+Adams+Richards+game+latest+novel/5247409/story.html
The theft of the legendary Cartier Dagger during 1955's Richard Riot, and a brutal homicide in the immediate aftermath, comprise the central event of John Farrow's River City. It's also a sweeping history of Montreal, says H.J. Kitchhoff. John Farrow is the pen name of Trevor Ferguson.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/river-city-by-john-farrow/article2125502/
AWARDS & LISTS
Pulitzer prize winner Philip Levine, known for his detailed and personal verse about the working class, has been appointed the US's new poet laureate.The laureate is known officially as the poet laureate consultant in poetry.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/aug/11/philip-levine-us-poet-laureate
The inaugural award of the Edwin Morgan international poetry prize has gone to Jane McKie, for her poem Leper Window, St Mary the Virgin. It's a poem about touch–one of the most difficult senses to write about, says judge Vicki Feaver. The £5,000 prize is one of the largest of its kind and honours the first man to be made Scotland's national poet or makar.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-14561680
Vancouver poet Anna Swanson's first book of poems, The Nights Also has received two awards: the 2011 Lambda Award for Lesbian Poetry and the 2011 Gerald Lampert Memorial award, which recognizes the best first book of poetry published by a Canadian in the preceding year.
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Poet+garners+awards+first+effort/5251027/story.html
Paris bookshop Shakespeare & Co is among the 46 bookshops to be nationally recognised as libraires indépendantes de référence (LIR). The benchmark award was launched by French culture minister Frédéric Mitterrand and brings to 514 the total number of label recipients since the scheme was launched in April 2009.
http://www.thebookseller.com/news/french-government-lauds-independents.html
NEWS & FEATURES
Philip Levine wrote poetry for seven years before his first poem was published in his mid-20s, wrote Jan Herman when Levine won a 1991 Los Angeles Book Prize.
http://www.artsjournal.com/herman/2011/08/levines_voiceless_legion_of_fa.html
Carolyn Kellogg interviews Philip Levine about his goals for his one-year tenure as poet laureate.
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/books/la-et-levine-20110812,0,3919693,full.story
A leader in the booming genre of highbrow historical fiction–or "fictional history," as he is happy to call it–Wayne Johnston is always prepared for a fight, writes John Barber in his interview of Johnston.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/wayne-johnstons-colony-of-outraged-readers/article2127807/
Amazon has moved to fulfill its new ambition to publish as well as sell books, announcing it will publish Timothy Ferriss’s The 4-Hour Chef in the spring—as a hardcover, an e-book and an audio book. Some independent bookstores have already said they do not intend to carry any books from the retailer, not wanting to give a dollar to a company they feel is putting them out of business.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/17/technology/amazon-set-to-publish-tim-ferriss.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha26
Slaughterhouse-Five has been banned or challenged on at least 18 occasions. And no book is immune: the list includes Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl and the Harry Potter series, among others. The ALA attempts to understand why.
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/08/the-neverending-campaign-to-ban-slaughterhouse-five/243525/
The Vancouver Observer urges us to crack open the books on BookNet Canada's July bestseller lists of fiction, nonfiction and juvenile books.
http://www.vancouverobserver.com/blogs/bedsidetable/2011/08/11/booknet-canadas-july-bestseller-lists
John Mackie interviews David Watmough, who turned 85 this week, still writing, but not novels—sonnets now.
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/David+Watmough+Notes+life+literature/5247791/story.html
Margaret Atwood, David Mitchell and others will contribute to a new collection of short stories imagining the impact of global warming. The Verso publication will be out in October.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/aug/10/climate-change-short-stories
The NY Times reports that the publishing industry has expanded in the past three years, according to a new survey of thousands of publishers, retailers and distributors, challenging the gloom that tends to dominate discussions of the industry's health.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/09/books/survey-shows-publishing-expanded-since-2008.html?src=recg
A class-action lawsuit has been filed in the US alleging that HarperCollins, Hachette Book Group, Macmillan, Penguin and Simon & Schuster conspired with Apple to increase ebook prices "to boost profits and force ebook rival Amazon to abandon its pro-consumer discount pricing."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/aug/11/apple-ebook-price-fixing-penguin-macmillan
Do you know what wilfing is? Have you heard of keitai shosetsus? Sam Leith writes on what to expect if the Kindle really does kill off the printed book.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/aug/14/kindle-books
Sleeping With The Enemy: Coco Chanel's Secret War, by Paris-based American journalist Hal Vaughan aims to strengthen claims the French designer collaborated with the Nazis during World War II as a spy code-named "Westminster."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/americas/book-claims-coco-chanel-was-a-nazi-spy/article2131773/?cmpid=nl-news1
"Words that once led meaningful lives, now lie unused, unloved and unwanted." The Save the Words website (http://www.savethewords.org/) has an adoption scheme: you choose a word, and then sign a pledge to use this word, in conversation and correspondence."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2011/aug/10/save-the-words-endangered
Jonah Lehrer reports that spoilers don't spoil anything. In fact, a new study suggests that spoilers can actually increase our enjoyment of literature.
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/08/spoilers-dont-spoil-anything/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wired%2Findex+%28Wired%3A+Index+3+%28Top+Stories+2%29%29
\Orlando Figes will donate to charity half the takings from his next (unnamed) book. Based on 1,500 letters between a Russian soldier and his wife, smuggled from the Pechora gulag, the book is "a unique and uncensored account".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/aug/16/orlando-figes-royalties-next-book
CBC Books invites Canadian fiction fans to nominate a book for the Scotiabank Giller Prize 2011 longlist—and become eligible for prizes. The most nominated book will be added to the official longlist. More information, and nomination forms are here:
http://www.cbc.ca/books/scotiabankgillerprize/#more
Vancouver continues the search for its third Poet Laureate. Nominations, Submissions will be accepted until Aug. 24.
http://communities.canada.com/vancouversun/blogs/covertocover/archive/2011/06/23/vancouver-seeking-third-poet-laureate.aspx
A reminder that Readers' Choice nominations to the 2011 Scotiabank Giller Prize longlist must be submitted by midnight ET on August 28.
http://www.cbc.ca/books/scotiabankgillerprize/#more
BOOKS & WRITERS
An excerpt from Nassir Ghaemi's A First-rate Madness argues that Winston Churchill's depression helped him see the Nazi threat while non-depressed others, such as David Lloyd George and Chamberlain, were impressed by Hitler, describing him "a born leader".
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/how-churchills-depression-helped-him-see-the-nazi-threat/article2123794/singlepage/#articlecontent
Anyone interested in West Coast writing will glean much from Frank Davey's When TISH Happens, writes Alexander Varty. Feisty young intellectuals enrolled at UBC when a degree in English was seen as a far more glorious thing than one in forest management.
http://www.straight.com/article-419577/vancouver/when-tish-happens-exercise-inference-and-deduction
Mark Bourrie presents excellent material in The Fog of War, says J.L. Granatstein. Particularly important is his account of the censors arguing against government and the military in an effort to get news out during the Second World War.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/the-fog-of-war-by-mark-bourrie/article2128145/
Colour Me English reflects Caryl Phillips' thinking about race, racism, identity and Englishness. Currently a lecturer at Yale, Phillips follows the tradition of writers who, by moving abroad, have gained perspective on their homeland. A timely book, says Robert Epstein.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/colour-me-english-by-caryl-phillips-2337170.html
Idaho's story is the most brilliantly terrifying dream you've ever had, compelling and funny; even the random, seemingly impossible events make sense in the hands of Burgess, says Brooke Ford of Tony Burgess's Idaho Winter: simultaneously absurd and acceptable.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/idaho-winter-by-tony-burgess/article2130180/
Chattering is the short-fiction debut of visual artist and children's magazine publisher Louise Stern. Stern's stories run along unpredictably, much like the characters that inhabit them, writes Devon Code. Like the author, the narrator of some stories is deaf.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/chattering-by-louise-stern/article2131623/
COMMUNITY EVENTS
MAIN STREET MAGAZINE TOUR
Celebrate local arts and literary magazines and the community spaces in which they thrive. Includes EVENT, PRISM international, Room, Poetry Is Dead, Lester's Army, and OCW Magazine. Ends with a comedy reading of Say Wha?! Readings of Deliciously Rotten Writing. Thursday, August 18 at 6:00pm, admission by donation. Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, 578 Carrall. More information at www.magsbc.com/mainst.
CBC STUDIO ONE BOOK CLUB
For the next CBC Studio One Book Club, author William Gibson suggested British writer Sarah Salway. Her three novels and her short stories all share a common theme of how identity is formed through the stories we tell about ourselves - or those that are told about us. William is a big fan of Sarah's writing, so he's going to co-host with Sheryl MacKay, on Thursday August 25th at 6:30 pm. Check out Sarah's writing and enter to win free tickets at www.cbc.ca/bc/bookclub.
Upcoming
MIXED VOICES RAISED
Writers Fred Wah, Joanne Arnott, and Tanya Evanson engage the audience in mixed root dialogue and share their literary expression in fiction, poetry and spoken-word performance. Wednesday, September 7 at 7:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street. Information at www.hapapalooza.ca/wednesday.
TZEPORAH BERMAN
Pacific Arbour Speaker Series presents Tzeporah Berman on Wednesday, Sept 7th @ 7:30pm. Currently Greenpeace International's Climate and Energy co-director tasked with working on climate change, Berman will address her past and the future of the environmental movement in relation to her new book entitled "This Crazy Time." Tickets and Info: 604.990.7810 / www.capilanou.ca/nscucentre
THE WRITER'S STUDIO READING SERIES
An evening of storytelling and poetry featuring Melanie Jackson, a suspense-adventure writer for children and young adults. Thursday, September 8 at 7pm. Rhizome Cafe, 317 East Broadway. More information at www.thewritersstudio.ca.
DENNIS BOLEN AND SORESSA GARDNER
Author Dennis Bolen presents Anticipated Results, his first story collection, in collaboration with unconventional soundscapes and song by artist Soressa Gardner. Wednesday, September 14 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen & Peter Kaye rooms, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street.
PEN-IN-HAND POETRY & PROSE READING SERIES
Presenting John Barton and Miles Lowry. Monday, September 19 at 7:30pm. Cost: $3. Serious Coffee, 230 Cook Street, Victoria.
WAYDE COMPTON
Inaugural reading by the Library's seventh Writer in Residence. Tuesday, September 20 at 7:00pm, free.Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street.
SUSAN MCCASLIN
Award-winning poet reads from her new volume of poetry, Demeter Goes Skydiving. Wednesday, September 21 at 7:00pm, free. Literature, Social Sciences and Multicultural Services, level 3, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St.
VOGON POETRY SLAM
Are you the best Vogon poet? Prove it and you may win Earth dollars! Submit your absolutely worst poems to be presented slam style at the VPL/VCON Gala with 501st Legion Stormtroopers. Prizes: $100, $60, $40. Youth prize: $42. Thursday, September 22 at 6:30pm, free. Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street. Information: www.vpl.ca.
ROBSON READING SERIES
Readings by Linda Besner (The Id Kid) and Matthew J. Trafford (The Divinity Gene). Thursday, September 22 at 7:00pm, free. UBC Bookstore/Library at Robson Square, Plaza level, 800 Robson Street. More information at www.robsonreadingseries.ubc.ca.
KOOTENAY BOOK WEEKEND
The 8th Annual Kootenay Book Weekend will take place in Nelson B.C. September 23, 24 an 25. The featured books are: Christos Tsiolkas' The Slap; Kathryn Stockett's The Help; Li Cunxin's Mao's Last Dancer, and special guest Ruth Ozeki and her books My Year of Meats and All Over Creation. Further information and registration forms can be found at www.kootenaybookweekend.ca.
WORD ON THE STREET
The VPL invites you to one of Canada's biggest annual book and magazine festivals. Sunday, September 25 from 11am to 5pm, free. North & South Plaza, Promenade, Alice MacKay room, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street. Information at www.vpl.ca.
ROBSON READING SERIES
Timothy Taylor reads from his novel, The Blue Light Project. Thursday, September 29 at 2:00pm, free. Dodson Room (302), Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, 1961 East Mall, UBC, Vancouver. More information at www.ikebarberlearningcentre.ubc.ca/robson.
Purchase a Festival Membership between August 1 and September 30, 2011 and be entered to win a Fabulous Festival Evening Out! The prize package includes:
• Two Tickets to the 2011 Literary Cabaret
• $100 Gift Card for the Dockside Restaurant
• Valet Parking at the Granville Island Hotel
Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/get-involved/memberprize
Purchase a Festival membership: https://www.writersfest.bc.ca/secure/secure_membership.php
SPECIAL EVENTS
Michael Ondaatje - September 21, 2011
Join us for an evening with the Booker Prize-winning author of The English Patient, Michael Ondaatje, as he discusses his forthcoming novel, The Cat's Table. Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/ondaatje.
An Evening with Anthony Bourdain - 8pm, October 29, 2011
The Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts. Tickets: $47.50/$55.00/$62.50/VIP package: $152.50. Tickets now on sale at Ticketmaster. Support the Writers Festival: use the code "writers" when purchasing your ticket, a portion of the ticket proceeds will go to the VIWF and you will receive a $5 discount per ticket. Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/bourdain.
An Evening with David Sedaris - 8pm, November 5, 2011
The Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts. Tickets: $45.00/$50.00/$57.50. Tickets now on sale at Ticketmaster. Support the Writers Festival: use the code "writers" when purchasing your ticket, a portion of the ticket proceeds will go to the VIWF and you will receive a $5 discount per ticket. Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/davidsedaris.
Wade Davis - 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. Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/wadedavis.
2011 FESTIVAL AUTHORS
Wayne Johnston's A World Elsewhere is a novel that turns upon lies and deceits. Read it and revel in one of the funniest books that will move you to a deeper sense of the poignancy of human experience, says T. F. Rigelhof.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/a-world-elsewhere-by-wayne-johnston/article2128173/
"Skip this review and head directly to the bookstore for Binyavanga Wainaina's memoir One Day I Will Write About This Place" says Alexandra Fuller. Fuller will attend the Festival with her latest memoir Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness, to be published mid-September.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/14/books/review/one-day-i-will-write-about-this-place-by-binyavanga-wainaina-book-review.html?_r=1&nl=books&emc=booksupdateema3&pagewanted=all
All serious writers have at least two dreams, writes Randy Boyagoda (who will be at the Festival with Beggar's Feast): the primal dream is of immediate discovery: the back-up dream is of posthumous discovery: Mihail Sebastian's The Accident is, alas, a posthumous discovery.
http://arts.nationalpost.com/2011/08/12/book-review-the-accident-by-mihail-sebastian/#more-42686
Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve, the foremost French literary critic of his day, is best remembered for his love affair with Victor Hugo's wife, Adèle, says William Palmer. Helen Humphreys' The Reinvention of Love is narrated by Charles and Adèle alternately.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/the-reinvention-of-love-by-helen-humphreys-2334871.html
David Adams Richards' Incidents in the Life of Markus Paul unfolds with the weight and significance of an Old Testament story, rooted in a strongly oral storytelling tradition. The novel sparks with an immediacy and power that is rare, writes Robert J. Wiersema.
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/books/David+Adams+Richards+game+latest+novel/5247409/story.html
The theft of the legendary Cartier Dagger during 1955's Richard Riot, and a brutal homicide in the immediate aftermath, comprise the central event of John Farrow's River City. It's also a sweeping history of Montreal, says H.J. Kitchhoff. John Farrow is the pen name of Trevor Ferguson.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/river-city-by-john-farrow/article2125502/
AWARDS & LISTS
Pulitzer prize winner Philip Levine, known for his detailed and personal verse about the working class, has been appointed the US's new poet laureate.The laureate is known officially as the poet laureate consultant in poetry.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/aug/11/philip-levine-us-poet-laureate
The inaugural award of the Edwin Morgan international poetry prize has gone to Jane McKie, for her poem Leper Window, St Mary the Virgin. It's a poem about touch–one of the most difficult senses to write about, says judge Vicki Feaver. The £5,000 prize is one of the largest of its kind and honours the first man to be made Scotland's national poet or makar.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-14561680
Vancouver poet Anna Swanson's first book of poems, The Nights Also has received two awards: the 2011 Lambda Award for Lesbian Poetry and the 2011 Gerald Lampert Memorial award, which recognizes the best first book of poetry published by a Canadian in the preceding year.
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Poet+garners+awards+first+effort/5251027/story.html
Paris bookshop Shakespeare & Co is among the 46 bookshops to be nationally recognised as libraires indépendantes de référence (LIR). The benchmark award was launched by French culture minister Frédéric Mitterrand and brings to 514 the total number of label recipients since the scheme was launched in April 2009.
http://www.thebookseller.com/news/french-government-lauds-independents.html
NEWS & FEATURES
Philip Levine wrote poetry for seven years before his first poem was published in his mid-20s, wrote Jan Herman when Levine won a 1991 Los Angeles Book Prize.
http://www.artsjournal.com/herman/2011/08/levines_voiceless_legion_of_fa.html
Carolyn Kellogg interviews Philip Levine about his goals for his one-year tenure as poet laureate.
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/books/la-et-levine-20110812,0,3919693,full.story
A leader in the booming genre of highbrow historical fiction–or "fictional history," as he is happy to call it–Wayne Johnston is always prepared for a fight, writes John Barber in his interview of Johnston.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/wayne-johnstons-colony-of-outraged-readers/article2127807/
Amazon has moved to fulfill its new ambition to publish as well as sell books, announcing it will publish Timothy Ferriss’s The 4-Hour Chef in the spring—as a hardcover, an e-book and an audio book. Some independent bookstores have already said they do not intend to carry any books from the retailer, not wanting to give a dollar to a company they feel is putting them out of business.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/17/technology/amazon-set-to-publish-tim-ferriss.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha26
Slaughterhouse-Five has been banned or challenged on at least 18 occasions. And no book is immune: the list includes Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl and the Harry Potter series, among others. The ALA attempts to understand why.
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/08/the-neverending-campaign-to-ban-slaughterhouse-five/243525/
The Vancouver Observer urges us to crack open the books on BookNet Canada's July bestseller lists of fiction, nonfiction and juvenile books.
http://www.vancouverobserver.com/blogs/bedsidetable/2011/08/11/booknet-canadas-july-bestseller-lists
John Mackie interviews David Watmough, who turned 85 this week, still writing, but not novels—sonnets now.
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/David+Watmough+Notes+life+literature/5247791/story.html
Margaret Atwood, David Mitchell and others will contribute to a new collection of short stories imagining the impact of global warming. The Verso publication will be out in October.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/aug/10/climate-change-short-stories
The NY Times reports that the publishing industry has expanded in the past three years, according to a new survey of thousands of publishers, retailers and distributors, challenging the gloom that tends to dominate discussions of the industry's health.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/09/books/survey-shows-publishing-expanded-since-2008.html?src=recg
A class-action lawsuit has been filed in the US alleging that HarperCollins, Hachette Book Group, Macmillan, Penguin and Simon & Schuster conspired with Apple to increase ebook prices "to boost profits and force ebook rival Amazon to abandon its pro-consumer discount pricing."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/aug/11/apple-ebook-price-fixing-penguin-macmillan
Do you know what wilfing is? Have you heard of keitai shosetsus? Sam Leith writes on what to expect if the Kindle really does kill off the printed book.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/aug/14/kindle-books
Sleeping With The Enemy: Coco Chanel's Secret War, by Paris-based American journalist Hal Vaughan aims to strengthen claims the French designer collaborated with the Nazis during World War II as a spy code-named "Westminster."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/americas/book-claims-coco-chanel-was-a-nazi-spy/article2131773/?cmpid=nl-news1
"Words that once led meaningful lives, now lie unused, unloved and unwanted." The Save the Words website (http://www.savethewords.org/) has an adoption scheme: you choose a word, and then sign a pledge to use this word, in conversation and correspondence."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2011/aug/10/save-the-words-endangered
Jonah Lehrer reports that spoilers don't spoil anything. In fact, a new study suggests that spoilers can actually increase our enjoyment of literature.
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/08/spoilers-dont-spoil-anything/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wired%2Findex+%28Wired%3A+Index+3+%28Top+Stories+2%29%29
\Orlando Figes will donate to charity half the takings from his next (unnamed) book. Based on 1,500 letters between a Russian soldier and his wife, smuggled from the Pechora gulag, the book is "a unique and uncensored account".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/aug/16/orlando-figes-royalties-next-book
CBC Books invites Canadian fiction fans to nominate a book for the Scotiabank Giller Prize 2011 longlist—and become eligible for prizes. The most nominated book will be added to the official longlist. More information, and nomination forms are here:
http://www.cbc.ca/books/scotiabankgillerprize/#more
Vancouver continues the search for its third Poet Laureate. Nominations, Submissions will be accepted until Aug. 24.
http://communities.canada.com/vancouversun/blogs/covertocover/archive/2011/06/23/vancouver-seeking-third-poet-laureate.aspx
A reminder that Readers' Choice nominations to the 2011 Scotiabank Giller Prize longlist must be submitted by midnight ET on August 28.
http://www.cbc.ca/books/scotiabankgillerprize/#more
BOOKS & WRITERS
An excerpt from Nassir Ghaemi's A First-rate Madness argues that Winston Churchill's depression helped him see the Nazi threat while non-depressed others, such as David Lloyd George and Chamberlain, were impressed by Hitler, describing him "a born leader".
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/how-churchills-depression-helped-him-see-the-nazi-threat/article2123794/singlepage/#articlecontent
Anyone interested in West Coast writing will glean much from Frank Davey's When TISH Happens, writes Alexander Varty. Feisty young intellectuals enrolled at UBC when a degree in English was seen as a far more glorious thing than one in forest management.
http://www.straight.com/article-419577/vancouver/when-tish-happens-exercise-inference-and-deduction
Mark Bourrie presents excellent material in The Fog of War, says J.L. Granatstein. Particularly important is his account of the censors arguing against government and the military in an effort to get news out during the Second World War.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/the-fog-of-war-by-mark-bourrie/article2128145/
Colour Me English reflects Caryl Phillips' thinking about race, racism, identity and Englishness. Currently a lecturer at Yale, Phillips follows the tradition of writers who, by moving abroad, have gained perspective on their homeland. A timely book, says Robert Epstein.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/colour-me-english-by-caryl-phillips-2337170.html
Idaho's story is the most brilliantly terrifying dream you've ever had, compelling and funny; even the random, seemingly impossible events make sense in the hands of Burgess, says Brooke Ford of Tony Burgess's Idaho Winter: simultaneously absurd and acceptable.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/idaho-winter-by-tony-burgess/article2130180/
Chattering is the short-fiction debut of visual artist and children's magazine publisher Louise Stern. Stern's stories run along unpredictably, much like the characters that inhabit them, writes Devon Code. Like the author, the narrator of some stories is deaf.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/chattering-by-louise-stern/article2131623/
COMMUNITY EVENTS
MAIN STREET MAGAZINE TOUR
Celebrate local arts and literary magazines and the community spaces in which they thrive. Includes EVENT, PRISM international, Room, Poetry Is Dead, Lester's Army, and OCW Magazine. Ends with a comedy reading of Say Wha?! Readings of Deliciously Rotten Writing. Thursday, August 18 at 6:00pm, admission by donation. Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, 578 Carrall. More information at www.magsbc.com/mainst.
CBC STUDIO ONE BOOK CLUB
For the next CBC Studio One Book Club, author William Gibson suggested British writer Sarah Salway. Her three novels and her short stories all share a common theme of how identity is formed through the stories we tell about ourselves - or those that are told about us. William is a big fan of Sarah's writing, so he's going to co-host with Sheryl MacKay, on Thursday August 25th at 6:30 pm. Check out Sarah's writing and enter to win free tickets at www.cbc.ca/bc/bookclub.
Upcoming
MIXED VOICES RAISED
Writers Fred Wah, Joanne Arnott, and Tanya Evanson engage the audience in mixed root dialogue and share their literary expression in fiction, poetry and spoken-word performance. Wednesday, September 7 at 7:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street. Information at www.hapapalooza.ca/wednesday.
TZEPORAH BERMAN
Pacific Arbour Speaker Series presents Tzeporah Berman on Wednesday, Sept 7th @ 7:30pm. Currently Greenpeace International's Climate and Energy co-director tasked with working on climate change, Berman will address her past and the future of the environmental movement in relation to her new book entitled "This Crazy Time." Tickets and Info: 604.990.7810 / www.capilanou.ca/nscucentre
THE WRITER'S STUDIO READING SERIES
An evening of storytelling and poetry featuring Melanie Jackson, a suspense-adventure writer for children and young adults. Thursday, September 8 at 7pm. Rhizome Cafe, 317 East Broadway. More information at www.thewritersstudio.ca.
DENNIS BOLEN AND SORESSA GARDNER
Author Dennis Bolen presents Anticipated Results, his first story collection, in collaboration with unconventional soundscapes and song by artist Soressa Gardner. Wednesday, September 14 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen & Peter Kaye rooms, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street.
PEN-IN-HAND POETRY & PROSE READING SERIES
Presenting John Barton and Miles Lowry. Monday, September 19 at 7:30pm. Cost: $3. Serious Coffee, 230 Cook Street, Victoria.
WAYDE COMPTON
Inaugural reading by the Library's seventh Writer in Residence. Tuesday, September 20 at 7:00pm, free.Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street.
SUSAN MCCASLIN
Award-winning poet reads from her new volume of poetry, Demeter Goes Skydiving. Wednesday, September 21 at 7:00pm, free. Literature, Social Sciences and Multicultural Services, level 3, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St.
VOGON POETRY SLAM
Are you the best Vogon poet? Prove it and you may win Earth dollars! Submit your absolutely worst poems to be presented slam style at the VPL/VCON Gala with 501st Legion Stormtroopers. Prizes: $100, $60, $40. Youth prize: $42. Thursday, September 22 at 6:30pm, free. Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street. Information: www.vpl.ca.
ROBSON READING SERIES
Readings by Linda Besner (The Id Kid) and Matthew J. Trafford (The Divinity Gene). Thursday, September 22 at 7:00pm, free. UBC Bookstore/Library at Robson Square, Plaza level, 800 Robson Street. More information at www.robsonreadingseries.ubc.ca.
KOOTENAY BOOK WEEKEND
The 8th Annual Kootenay Book Weekend will take place in Nelson B.C. September 23, 24 an 25. The featured books are: Christos Tsiolkas' The Slap; Kathryn Stockett's The Help; Li Cunxin's Mao's Last Dancer, and special guest Ruth Ozeki and her books My Year of Meats and All Over Creation. Further information and registration forms can be found at www.kootenaybookweekend.ca.
WORD ON THE STREET
The VPL invites you to one of Canada's biggest annual book and magazine festivals. Sunday, September 25 from 11am to 5pm, free. North & South Plaza, Promenade, Alice MacKay room, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street. Information at www.vpl.ca.
ROBSON READING SERIES
Timothy Taylor reads from his novel, The Blue Light Project. Thursday, September 29 at 2:00pm, free. Dodson Room (302), Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, 1961 East Mall, UBC, Vancouver. More information at www.ikebarberlearningcentre.ubc.ca/robson.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Book News Vol. 6 No. 32
BOOK NEWS
SPECIAL EVENTS
Michael Ondaatje - September 21, 2011
Join us for an evening with the Booker Prize-winning author of The English Patient, Michael Ondaatje, as he discusses his forthcoming novel, The Cat's Table. Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/ondaatje.
An Evening with Anthony Bourdain - 8pm, October 29, 2011
The Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts. Tickets: $47.50/$55.00/$62.50/VIP package: $152.50. Tickets now on sale at Ticketmaster. Support the Writers Festival: use the code "writers" when purchasing your ticket, a portion of the ticket proceeds will go to the VIWF and you will receive a $5 discount per ticket. Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/bourdain.
An Evening with David Sedaris - 8pm, November 5, 2011
The Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts. Tickets: $45.00/$50.00/$57.50. Tickets now on sale at Ticketmaster. Support the Writers Festival: use the code "writers" when purchasing your ticket, a portion of the ticket proceeds will go to the VIWF and you will receive a $5 discount per ticket. Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/davidsedaris.
Wade Davis - 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. Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/wadedavis.
2011 FESTIVAL AUTHORS
Misha Glenny uses his forthcoming (Sept. 12) book Dark Market: CyberThieves, CyberCops and You to explore three fundamental threats facing us in the 21st century: cyber crime, cyber warfare and cyber industrial espionage. A recent article illustrates some of the issues.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/tech-news/mcafee-says-it-has-uncovered-biggest-ever-series-of-cyber-attacks/article2117891/
An artist-made studio on a Gulf Island, a desk dead centre and awash with whatever he is working on, and an ergonomic chair just uncomfortable enough to keep the author awake: these form the perfect writing environment for C.C. (Chris) Humphreys.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/cc-humphreys-island-retreat/article2114208/
Riveting, muscular prose carries spellbound readers along in Wayne Johnston's A World Elsewhere. The book's ending is full of surprises, writes Paul Gessell.
http://www.quillandquire.com/reviews/review.cfm?review_id=7297
Keith Donahue writes that Lev Grossman is a nerd who wants us to believe that it's cool to read fantasy fiction. Two years after the end of The Magician, summoned back to the world of magic, friends are reunited in The Magician King.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/book-world-magician-kings-surveys-a-dark-land-of-disenchantment/2011/07/05/gIQAvOQ7uI_story.html
AWARDS & LISTS
Barbara Kingsolver, (Poisonwood Bible, Lacuna) has won a U.S. literary prize awarded to authors who use their literature to promote peace. Formerly the Dayton Literary Peace Prize Lifetime Achievement Award, the honour has been renamed the Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award, after the former ambassador who brokered the Dayton Accords that led to peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2011/08/02/kingsolver-peace-prize.html
An online contest put on by The Writers' Trust of Canada and Samara has resulted in the choice of Ezra Levant's Shakedown: How Our Government is Undermining Democracy in the Name of Human Rights as the Best Canadian Political Books of the Last 25 Years.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2011/08/02/pol-best-books.html
Leslie Stark has won 1st prize for The Glamour in the 7th Annual Geist Literal Literary Postcard Story Contest. Jen Currin won 2nd Prize for East Van End Times Army. Third prize went to Leslie Vryenhoek for Under the Surface.
http://www.geist.com/news/winners-7th-annual-geist-postcard-story-contest
NEWS & FEATURES
The Vancouver Public Library has appointed Emily Carr University of Art & Design's Wayde Compton its Writer in Residence for the next four months.
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Library+turns+writer+with+beat/5226600/story.html
The Orange Prize for Fiction has appointed author Joanna Trollope as its chair of judges for 2012, only the second time a full-time novelist has chaired the prize, an award that is given to female fiction writers.
http://www.thebookseller.com/news/trollope-new-chair-orange-prize.html
Novelist Tony Parsons will spend a week as Writer in Residence at Heathrow, and write a collection of short stories based on people who work at and travel through Heathrow. Departures: Seven Stories from Heathrow, will be published in October.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/aug/03/tony-parsons-heathrow-writer-residence
Jaeger Mah, 29, received 4,000+ votes in the Live@YVR contest. With a camera and editing equipment, Mah will spend 80 days uncovering stories and sharing his experiences of living at an airport full time—live online. He begins August 17.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/08/08/bc-vancouver-airport-contest.html
That rule about writing what you know? Don't follow it, says Bret Anthony Johnson, both in his introductory fiction workshop at Harvard and in The Atlantic.
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/08/don-rsquo-t-write-what-you-know/8576/
Best-selling author Ann Patchett is opening an independent bookstore in Nashville. "I see this as a charitable contribution...really as somebody who loves Nashville and somebody who doesn't want to live in a city without a bookstore.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/turning-the-page-best-selling-author-ann-patchett-gives-nashville-the-gift-of-books/2011/07/23/gIQAzXnzUI_story.html
The US has signed up as World Book Night's first international partner, with one million free books due to be handed out on each side of the Atlantic in April 2012.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/jul/29/world-book-night-giveaway-international
Charles Dickens was a magazine editor for 20 years. Now an online project, Dickens Journals Online, aims to unearth more about this side of him. A call has gone out for volunteers to edit and proofread individual issues.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2011/aug/04/charles-dickens-journals-online-project?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487
Ebooks have reignited the question of what we're really paying publishers for. Robert Levine's forthcoming book Free Ride: How Digital Parasites Are Destroying the Culture Business and How the Culture Business Can Fight Back, has some surprising explanations, says William Skidelsky.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2011/aug/04/price-publishing-ebooks
With books evolving into digital texts, authors could go back and change stories from years ago. But would they? Alex Beam asked a handful of writers for their thoughts.
http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2011/08/05/get_me_rewrite/?rss_id=Boston+Globe+--+Alex+Beam+columns
Albert Camus might have been killed by the KGB for criticising the Soviet Union, claims the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. Camus' biographer Olivier Todd is not convinced.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/aug/07/albert-camus-killed-by-kgb
The Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library invited interested pupils at Republic High School in Missouri (which banned the book) to send an email requesting a free copy of Slaughterhouse-Five, provided by an anonymous donor. ‘Decide for yourself', says the Library director.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/aug/08/kurt-vonnegut-banned-book-free
UBC Bookstore's plans to change the name to "UBC Central" have set off a storm of negative feedback from within and outside the UBC community. The name "Central" is being shelved until alternatives are discussed with students in September.
http://www.vancouverobserver.com/culture/books/2011/08/07/ubc-bookstore-renaming-debate-reflects-drastic-changes-book-industry
Michael Winter might be tempted to use the name Ishmael for a character in his next novel, suggests Oliver Moore. The award-winning writer had a near brush with a 12-metre whale this week while jigging for cod near his Newfoundland home.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/author-goes-fishing-returns-with-whale-of-a-tale/article2121392/
CBC Books invites Canadian fiction fans to nominate a book for the Scotiabank Giller Prize 2011 longlist—and become eligible for prizes. The most nominated book will be added to the official longlist. More information, and nomination forms are here:
http://www.cbc.ca/books/scotiabankgillerprize/#more
Vancouver continues the search for its third Poet Laureate. Nominations and submissions will be accepted until Aug. 24.
http://communities.canada.com/vancouversun/blogs/covertocover/archive/2011/06/23/vancouver-seeking-third-poet-laureate.aspx
A reminder that Readers' Choice nominations to the 2011 Scotiabank Giller Prize longlist must be submitted by midnight ET on August 28.
http://www.cbc.ca/books/scotiabankgillerprize/#more
BOOKS & WRITERS
Some books never leave us. They shadow our subsequent reading and writing; they cast an altered light on whatever follows. Michael Ondaatje's In the Skin of a Lion has had that impact on Gail Jones.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/arts/swooning-to-ondaatjes-roar/story-e6frg8nf-1226107560148
Anne Chudobiak began to review Anatomy of a Disappearance, based on a misconception, then learned that author Hisham Matar is the son of a Libyan dissident, missing for the past 20 years. She read the book in a day.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/books/Book+review+Anatomy+Disappearance/5212299/story.html
The graphic novel One Soul by Toronto's Ray Fawkes breaks with modern comics convention by relying, counterintuitively, on a rigid nine-panel format per page, and generated a lot of interest at last month's Comic-Con in San Diego, says Raju Mudhar.
http://www.thestar.com/news/books/article/1033167--ray-fawkes-one-soul-18-characters
In his essay, "How to Write About Africa," Binyavanga Wainaina uses a mock imperative tone, including: "Always end your book with Nelson Mandela saying something about rainbows or renaissances." In his memoir, Wainaina ignores his own sardonic advice.
http://articles.boston.com/2011-07-31/ae/29836333_1_south-africa-memoir-kenya
M.A.C. Farrant writes that Susan Musgrave's Origami Dove plays to the delicacy and fleetingness of life, especially evident in Heroines, the "simply beautiful" poems based on the life stories of six women from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/books/Musgrave+writes+from+lonely+place+reality/5205750/story.html
Michael Sims's The Story of Charlotte's Web: EB White and the Birth of a Children's Classic is a well-spun history of the painfully shy man behind Charlotte's Web, writes Ian Sansom.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/aug/03/story-of-charlottes-web-review
Just when you thought you knew more than you wanted to know about the late FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, along comes Ronald Kessler's The Secrets of the FBI to raise the scandal ante.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/the-secrets-of-the-fbi-one-juicy-read/article2120837/
Romanian émigré and Nobel prize-winner Herta Müller presents the surreal absurdity of life under Ceausescu in The Appointment. It's never clear how many times the woman has been summoned, or whether she actually makes the final appointment, says Alfred Hickling.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/aug/05/appointment-herta-muller-review
Deborah Cadbury, from the Quaker chocolate family, tells the story, in The Chocolate Wars, of capitalists who held that "wealth creation for personal gain only would have been offensive". This absorbing book contains much food for thought, says Christopher Hirst.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/chocolate-wars-by-deborah-cadbury-2331729.html
Although planning a trip to the Caribbean, Reykjavik lawyer Thora Gudmunstdottir finds herself in Greenland. Yrsa Sigurdardottir's The Day is Dark explores the feelings both of the Inuit population and outsiders. A deeply satisfying mystery, says Jane Jakeman.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/the-day-is-dark-by-yrsa-sigurdardottir-2329533.html
Arthur Phillips's The Tragedy of Arthur offers up a putatively lost five-act, fully annotated play by Shakespeare called The Tragedy of Arthur—the authenticity of which is the central question in this extraordinarily inventive, extraordinarily good novel, writes Emily Donaldson.
http://www.thestar.com/news/books/article/1035635--the-tragedy-of-arthur-by-arthur-phillips
In A Book of Secrets, Michael Holroyd retells the story of Vita Sackville-West and Violet Keppel, but with more depth and context than anyone before. Holroyd is a kind of Fred Astaire on the page, writes Tom Bentley.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/07/books/review/a-book-of-secrets-by-michael-holroyd-book-review.html?_r=1&nl=books&emc=booksupdateema1&pagewanted=all
An excerpt is here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/04/books/excerpt-a-book-of-secrets-by-michael-holroyd.html?ref=review
Joel Bakan's Childhood Under Siege shows how big businesses target and exploit children in myriad subtle ways, writes Doug Johnstone. We are allowing our kids to be abused right under our noses, and we don't even know it, says Johnstone.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/childhood-under-siege-by-joel-bakan-2333073.html
The Globe and Mail has commissioned short stories to run over six weeks. This week: Cumulonimbus by Timothy Taylor.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/stories-for-summer-cumulonimbus/article2120930/
COMMUNITY EVENTS
BC BOOK PRIZES SUMMER 2011 AUCTION
Annual auction of many great prizes, packages and getaways. Currently features a literary package with 2 subscriptions to EVENT Magazine, two tickets to Michael Ondaatje and a copy of George Bowering's My Darling Nellie Grey. July 27 to August 31. Details at www.bcbookprizes.ca.
SUMMER DREAMS LITERARY ARTS FESTIVAL
Three stages of music, poetry, panel discussions, workshops, and kids' entertainment. Saturday, August 13 from 11:45 to 8pm. Lumberman's Arch, Stanley Park. More information at sites.google.com/site/summerdreamsfest.
ASH DICKINSON
Pen-In-Hand Poetry & Prose Reading Series presents multiple slam champion, writer, poet and comedy performer from the U.K. Monday, August 15 at 7:30pm. Cost: $3. Serious Coffee, 230 Cook Street, Victoria. More information at www.ashdickinson.com.
SUMMER READING CLUB CELEBRATION
A celebration in honour of all the young readers who are participating in North Vancouver District Public Library's Summer Reading Club. Wednesday, August 17 at 2:00pm, free. Pick up tickets at the children's department at any North Vancouver District Library branch. Community Meeting room, Lynn Valley Main Library, 1277 Lynn Valley Road, North Vancouver. More info at 604-984-0286.
MAIN STREET MAGAZINE TOUR
Celebrate local arts and literary magazines and the community spaces in which they thrive. Includes EVENT, PRISM international, Room, Poetry Is Dead, Lester's Army, and OCW Magazine. Ends with a comedy reading of Say Wha?! Readings of Deliciously Rotten Writing. Thursday, August 18 at 6:00pm, admission by donation. Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, 578 Carrall. More information at www.magsbc.com/mainst.
Upcoming
CBC STUDIO ONE BOOK CLUB
For the next CBC Studio One Book Club, author William Gibson suggested British writer Sarah Salway. Her three novels and her short stories all share a common theme of how identity is formed through the stories we tell about ourselves - or those that are told about us. William is a big fan of Sarah's writing, so he's going to co-host with Sheryl MacKay, on Thursday August 25th at 6:30 pm. Check out Sarah's writing and enter to win free tickets at www.cbc.ca/bc/bookclub.
MIXED VOICES RAISED
Writers Fred Wah, Joanne Arnott, and Tanya Evanson engage the audience in mixed root dialogue and share their literary expression in fiction, poetry and spoken-word performance. Wednesday, September 7 at 7:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street.
DENNIS BOLEN AND SORESSA GARDNER
Author Dennis Bolen presents Anticipated Results, his first story collection, in collaboration with unconventional soundscapes and song by artist Soressa Gardner. Wednesday, September 14 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen & Peter Kaye rooms, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street.
PEN-IN-HAND POETRY & PROSE READING SERIES
Presenting John Barton and Miles Lowry. Monday, September 19 at 7:30pm. Cost: $3. Serious Coffee, 230 Cook Street, Victoria.
WAYDE COMPTON
Inaugural reading by the Library's seventh Writer in Residence. Tuesday, September 20 at 7:00pm, free.Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street.
SUSAN MCCASLIN
Award-winning poet reads from her new volume of poetry, Demeter Goes Skydiving. Wednesday, September 21 at 7:00pm, free. Literature, Social Sciences and Multicultural Services, level 3, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St.
VOGON POETRY SLAM
Are you the best Vogon poet? Prove it and you may win Earth dollars! Submit your absolutely worst poems to be presented slam style at the VPL/VCON Gala with 501st Legion Stormtroopers. Prizes: $100, $60, $40. Youth prize: $42. Thursday, September 22 at 6:30pm, free. Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street. Information: www.vpl.ca.
ROBSON READING SERIES
Readings by Linda Besner (The Id Kid) and Matthew J. Trafford (The Divinity Gene). Thursday, September 22 at 7:00pm, free. UBC Bookstore/Library at Robson Square, Plaza level, 800 Robson Street. More information at www.robsonreadingseries.ubc.ca.
KOOTENAY BOOK WEEKEND
The 8th Annual Kootenay Book Weekend will take place in Nelson B.C. September 23, 24 an 25. The featured books are: Christos Tsiolkas' The Slap; Kathryn Stockett's The Help; Li Cunxin's Mao's Last Dancer, and special guest Ruth Ozeki and her books My Year of Meats and All Over Creation. Further information and registration forms can be found at www.kootenaybookweekend.ca.
WORD ON THE STREET
The VPL invites you to one of Canada's biggest annual book and magazine festivals. Sunday, September 25 from 11am to 5pm, free. North & South Plaza, Promenade, Alice MacKay room, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street. Information at www.vpl.ca.
ROBSON READING SERIES
Timothy Taylor reads from his novel, The Blue Light Project. Thursday, September 29 at 2:00pm, free. Dodson Room (302), Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, 1961 East Mall, UBC, Vancouver. More information at www.ikebarberlearningcentre.ubc.ca/robson.
SPECIAL EVENTS
Michael Ondaatje - September 21, 2011
Join us for an evening with the Booker Prize-winning author of The English Patient, Michael Ondaatje, as he discusses his forthcoming novel, The Cat's Table. Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/ondaatje.
An Evening with Anthony Bourdain - 8pm, October 29, 2011
The Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts. Tickets: $47.50/$55.00/$62.50/VIP package: $152.50. Tickets now on sale at Ticketmaster. Support the Writers Festival: use the code "writers" when purchasing your ticket, a portion of the ticket proceeds will go to the VIWF and you will receive a $5 discount per ticket. Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/bourdain.
An Evening with David Sedaris - 8pm, November 5, 2011
The Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts. Tickets: $45.00/$50.00/$57.50. Tickets now on sale at Ticketmaster. Support the Writers Festival: use the code "writers" when purchasing your ticket, a portion of the ticket proceeds will go to the VIWF and you will receive a $5 discount per ticket. Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/davidsedaris.
Wade Davis - 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. Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/wadedavis.
2011 FESTIVAL AUTHORS
Misha Glenny uses his forthcoming (Sept. 12) book Dark Market: CyberThieves, CyberCops and You to explore three fundamental threats facing us in the 21st century: cyber crime, cyber warfare and cyber industrial espionage. A recent article illustrates some of the issues.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/tech-news/mcafee-says-it-has-uncovered-biggest-ever-series-of-cyber-attacks/article2117891/
An artist-made studio on a Gulf Island, a desk dead centre and awash with whatever he is working on, and an ergonomic chair just uncomfortable enough to keep the author awake: these form the perfect writing environment for C.C. (Chris) Humphreys.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/cc-humphreys-island-retreat/article2114208/
Riveting, muscular prose carries spellbound readers along in Wayne Johnston's A World Elsewhere. The book's ending is full of surprises, writes Paul Gessell.
http://www.quillandquire.com/reviews/review.cfm?review_id=7297
Keith Donahue writes that Lev Grossman is a nerd who wants us to believe that it's cool to read fantasy fiction. Two years after the end of The Magician, summoned back to the world of magic, friends are reunited in The Magician King.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/book-world-magician-kings-surveys-a-dark-land-of-disenchantment/2011/07/05/gIQAvOQ7uI_story.html
AWARDS & LISTS
Barbara Kingsolver, (Poisonwood Bible, Lacuna) has won a U.S. literary prize awarded to authors who use their literature to promote peace. Formerly the Dayton Literary Peace Prize Lifetime Achievement Award, the honour has been renamed the Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award, after the former ambassador who brokered the Dayton Accords that led to peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2011/08/02/kingsolver-peace-prize.html
An online contest put on by The Writers' Trust of Canada and Samara has resulted in the choice of Ezra Levant's Shakedown: How Our Government is Undermining Democracy in the Name of Human Rights as the Best Canadian Political Books of the Last 25 Years.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2011/08/02/pol-best-books.html
Leslie Stark has won 1st prize for The Glamour in the 7th Annual Geist Literal Literary Postcard Story Contest. Jen Currin won 2nd Prize for East Van End Times Army. Third prize went to Leslie Vryenhoek for Under the Surface.
http://www.geist.com/news/winners-7th-annual-geist-postcard-story-contest
NEWS & FEATURES
The Vancouver Public Library has appointed Emily Carr University of Art & Design's Wayde Compton its Writer in Residence for the next four months.
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Library+turns+writer+with+beat/5226600/story.html
The Orange Prize for Fiction has appointed author Joanna Trollope as its chair of judges for 2012, only the second time a full-time novelist has chaired the prize, an award that is given to female fiction writers.
http://www.thebookseller.com/news/trollope-new-chair-orange-prize.html
Novelist Tony Parsons will spend a week as Writer in Residence at Heathrow, and write a collection of short stories based on people who work at and travel through Heathrow. Departures: Seven Stories from Heathrow, will be published in October.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/aug/03/tony-parsons-heathrow-writer-residence
Jaeger Mah, 29, received 4,000+ votes in the Live@YVR contest. With a camera and editing equipment, Mah will spend 80 days uncovering stories and sharing his experiences of living at an airport full time—live online. He begins August 17.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/08/08/bc-vancouver-airport-contest.html
That rule about writing what you know? Don't follow it, says Bret Anthony Johnson, both in his introductory fiction workshop at Harvard and in The Atlantic.
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/08/don-rsquo-t-write-what-you-know/8576/
Best-selling author Ann Patchett is opening an independent bookstore in Nashville. "I see this as a charitable contribution...really as somebody who loves Nashville and somebody who doesn't want to live in a city without a bookstore.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/turning-the-page-best-selling-author-ann-patchett-gives-nashville-the-gift-of-books/2011/07/23/gIQAzXnzUI_story.html
The US has signed up as World Book Night's first international partner, with one million free books due to be handed out on each side of the Atlantic in April 2012.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/jul/29/world-book-night-giveaway-international
Charles Dickens was a magazine editor for 20 years. Now an online project, Dickens Journals Online, aims to unearth more about this side of him. A call has gone out for volunteers to edit and proofread individual issues.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2011/aug/04/charles-dickens-journals-online-project?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487
Ebooks have reignited the question of what we're really paying publishers for. Robert Levine's forthcoming book Free Ride: How Digital Parasites Are Destroying the Culture Business and How the Culture Business Can Fight Back, has some surprising explanations, says William Skidelsky.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2011/aug/04/price-publishing-ebooks
With books evolving into digital texts, authors could go back and change stories from years ago. But would they? Alex Beam asked a handful of writers for their thoughts.
http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2011/08/05/get_me_rewrite/?rss_id=Boston+Globe+--+Alex+Beam+columns
Albert Camus might have been killed by the KGB for criticising the Soviet Union, claims the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. Camus' biographer Olivier Todd is not convinced.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/aug/07/albert-camus-killed-by-kgb
The Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library invited interested pupils at Republic High School in Missouri (which banned the book) to send an email requesting a free copy of Slaughterhouse-Five, provided by an anonymous donor. ‘Decide for yourself', says the Library director.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/aug/08/kurt-vonnegut-banned-book-free
UBC Bookstore's plans to change the name to "UBC Central" have set off a storm of negative feedback from within and outside the UBC community. The name "Central" is being shelved until alternatives are discussed with students in September.
http://www.vancouverobserver.com/culture/books/2011/08/07/ubc-bookstore-renaming-debate-reflects-drastic-changes-book-industry
Michael Winter might be tempted to use the name Ishmael for a character in his next novel, suggests Oliver Moore. The award-winning writer had a near brush with a 12-metre whale this week while jigging for cod near his Newfoundland home.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/author-goes-fishing-returns-with-whale-of-a-tale/article2121392/
CBC Books invites Canadian fiction fans to nominate a book for the Scotiabank Giller Prize 2011 longlist—and become eligible for prizes. The most nominated book will be added to the official longlist. More information, and nomination forms are here:
http://www.cbc.ca/books/scotiabankgillerprize/#more
Vancouver continues the search for its third Poet Laureate. Nominations and submissions will be accepted until Aug. 24.
http://communities.canada.com/vancouversun/blogs/covertocover/archive/2011/06/23/vancouver-seeking-third-poet-laureate.aspx
A reminder that Readers' Choice nominations to the 2011 Scotiabank Giller Prize longlist must be submitted by midnight ET on August 28.
http://www.cbc.ca/books/scotiabankgillerprize/#more
BOOKS & WRITERS
Some books never leave us. They shadow our subsequent reading and writing; they cast an altered light on whatever follows. Michael Ondaatje's In the Skin of a Lion has had that impact on Gail Jones.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/arts/swooning-to-ondaatjes-roar/story-e6frg8nf-1226107560148
Anne Chudobiak began to review Anatomy of a Disappearance, based on a misconception, then learned that author Hisham Matar is the son of a Libyan dissident, missing for the past 20 years. She read the book in a day.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/books/Book+review+Anatomy+Disappearance/5212299/story.html
The graphic novel One Soul by Toronto's Ray Fawkes breaks with modern comics convention by relying, counterintuitively, on a rigid nine-panel format per page, and generated a lot of interest at last month's Comic-Con in San Diego, says Raju Mudhar.
http://www.thestar.com/news/books/article/1033167--ray-fawkes-one-soul-18-characters
In his essay, "How to Write About Africa," Binyavanga Wainaina uses a mock imperative tone, including: "Always end your book with Nelson Mandela saying something about rainbows or renaissances." In his memoir, Wainaina ignores his own sardonic advice.
http://articles.boston.com/2011-07-31/ae/29836333_1_south-africa-memoir-kenya
M.A.C. Farrant writes that Susan Musgrave's Origami Dove plays to the delicacy and fleetingness of life, especially evident in Heroines, the "simply beautiful" poems based on the life stories of six women from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/books/Musgrave+writes+from+lonely+place+reality/5205750/story.html
Michael Sims's The Story of Charlotte's Web: EB White and the Birth of a Children's Classic is a well-spun history of the painfully shy man behind Charlotte's Web, writes Ian Sansom.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/aug/03/story-of-charlottes-web-review
Just when you thought you knew more than you wanted to know about the late FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, along comes Ronald Kessler's The Secrets of the FBI to raise the scandal ante.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/the-secrets-of-the-fbi-one-juicy-read/article2120837/
Romanian émigré and Nobel prize-winner Herta Müller presents the surreal absurdity of life under Ceausescu in The Appointment. It's never clear how many times the woman has been summoned, or whether she actually makes the final appointment, says Alfred Hickling.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/aug/05/appointment-herta-muller-review
Deborah Cadbury, from the Quaker chocolate family, tells the story, in The Chocolate Wars, of capitalists who held that "wealth creation for personal gain only would have been offensive". This absorbing book contains much food for thought, says Christopher Hirst.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/chocolate-wars-by-deborah-cadbury-2331729.html
Although planning a trip to the Caribbean, Reykjavik lawyer Thora Gudmunstdottir finds herself in Greenland. Yrsa Sigurdardottir's The Day is Dark explores the feelings both of the Inuit population and outsiders. A deeply satisfying mystery, says Jane Jakeman.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/the-day-is-dark-by-yrsa-sigurdardottir-2329533.html
Arthur Phillips's The Tragedy of Arthur offers up a putatively lost five-act, fully annotated play by Shakespeare called The Tragedy of Arthur—the authenticity of which is the central question in this extraordinarily inventive, extraordinarily good novel, writes Emily Donaldson.
http://www.thestar.com/news/books/article/1035635--the-tragedy-of-arthur-by-arthur-phillips
In A Book of Secrets, Michael Holroyd retells the story of Vita Sackville-West and Violet Keppel, but with more depth and context than anyone before. Holroyd is a kind of Fred Astaire on the page, writes Tom Bentley.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/07/books/review/a-book-of-secrets-by-michael-holroyd-book-review.html?_r=1&nl=books&emc=booksupdateema1&pagewanted=all
An excerpt is here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/04/books/excerpt-a-book-of-secrets-by-michael-holroyd.html?ref=review
Joel Bakan's Childhood Under Siege shows how big businesses target and exploit children in myriad subtle ways, writes Doug Johnstone. We are allowing our kids to be abused right under our noses, and we don't even know it, says Johnstone.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/childhood-under-siege-by-joel-bakan-2333073.html
The Globe and Mail has commissioned short stories to run over six weeks. This week: Cumulonimbus by Timothy Taylor.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/stories-for-summer-cumulonimbus/article2120930/
COMMUNITY EVENTS
BC BOOK PRIZES SUMMER 2011 AUCTION
Annual auction of many great prizes, packages and getaways. Currently features a literary package with 2 subscriptions to EVENT Magazine, two tickets to Michael Ondaatje and a copy of George Bowering's My Darling Nellie Grey. July 27 to August 31. Details at www.bcbookprizes.ca.
SUMMER DREAMS LITERARY ARTS FESTIVAL
Three stages of music, poetry, panel discussions, workshops, and kids' entertainment. Saturday, August 13 from 11:45 to 8pm. Lumberman's Arch, Stanley Park. More information at sites.google.com/site/summerdreamsfest.
ASH DICKINSON
Pen-In-Hand Poetry & Prose Reading Series presents multiple slam champion, writer, poet and comedy performer from the U.K. Monday, August 15 at 7:30pm. Cost: $3. Serious Coffee, 230 Cook Street, Victoria. More information at www.ashdickinson.com.
SUMMER READING CLUB CELEBRATION
A celebration in honour of all the young readers who are participating in North Vancouver District Public Library's Summer Reading Club. Wednesday, August 17 at 2:00pm, free. Pick up tickets at the children's department at any North Vancouver District Library branch. Community Meeting room, Lynn Valley Main Library, 1277 Lynn Valley Road, North Vancouver. More info at 604-984-0286.
MAIN STREET MAGAZINE TOUR
Celebrate local arts and literary magazines and the community spaces in which they thrive. Includes EVENT, PRISM international, Room, Poetry Is Dead, Lester's Army, and OCW Magazine. Ends with a comedy reading of Say Wha?! Readings of Deliciously Rotten Writing. Thursday, August 18 at 6:00pm, admission by donation. Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, 578 Carrall. More information at www.magsbc.com/mainst.
Upcoming
CBC STUDIO ONE BOOK CLUB
For the next CBC Studio One Book Club, author William Gibson suggested British writer Sarah Salway. Her three novels and her short stories all share a common theme of how identity is formed through the stories we tell about ourselves - or those that are told about us. William is a big fan of Sarah's writing, so he's going to co-host with Sheryl MacKay, on Thursday August 25th at 6:30 pm. Check out Sarah's writing and enter to win free tickets at www.cbc.ca/bc/bookclub.
MIXED VOICES RAISED
Writers Fred Wah, Joanne Arnott, and Tanya Evanson engage the audience in mixed root dialogue and share their literary expression in fiction, poetry and spoken-word performance. Wednesday, September 7 at 7:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street.
DENNIS BOLEN AND SORESSA GARDNER
Author Dennis Bolen presents Anticipated Results, his first story collection, in collaboration with unconventional soundscapes and song by artist Soressa Gardner. Wednesday, September 14 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen & Peter Kaye rooms, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street.
PEN-IN-HAND POETRY & PROSE READING SERIES
Presenting John Barton and Miles Lowry. Monday, September 19 at 7:30pm. Cost: $3. Serious Coffee, 230 Cook Street, Victoria.
WAYDE COMPTON
Inaugural reading by the Library's seventh Writer in Residence. Tuesday, September 20 at 7:00pm, free.Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street.
SUSAN MCCASLIN
Award-winning poet reads from her new volume of poetry, Demeter Goes Skydiving. Wednesday, September 21 at 7:00pm, free. Literature, Social Sciences and Multicultural Services, level 3, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St.
VOGON POETRY SLAM
Are you the best Vogon poet? Prove it and you may win Earth dollars! Submit your absolutely worst poems to be presented slam style at the VPL/VCON Gala with 501st Legion Stormtroopers. Prizes: $100, $60, $40. Youth prize: $42. Thursday, September 22 at 6:30pm, free. Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street. Information: www.vpl.ca.
ROBSON READING SERIES
Readings by Linda Besner (The Id Kid) and Matthew J. Trafford (The Divinity Gene). Thursday, September 22 at 7:00pm, free. UBC Bookstore/Library at Robson Square, Plaza level, 800 Robson Street. More information at www.robsonreadingseries.ubc.ca.
KOOTENAY BOOK WEEKEND
The 8th Annual Kootenay Book Weekend will take place in Nelson B.C. September 23, 24 an 25. The featured books are: Christos Tsiolkas' The Slap; Kathryn Stockett's The Help; Li Cunxin's Mao's Last Dancer, and special guest Ruth Ozeki and her books My Year of Meats and All Over Creation. Further information and registration forms can be found at www.kootenaybookweekend.ca.
WORD ON THE STREET
The VPL invites you to one of Canada's biggest annual book and magazine festivals. Sunday, September 25 from 11am to 5pm, free. North & South Plaza, Promenade, Alice MacKay room, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street. Information at www.vpl.ca.
ROBSON READING SERIES
Timothy Taylor reads from his novel, The Blue Light Project. Thursday, September 29 at 2:00pm, free. Dodson Room (302), Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, 1961 East Mall, UBC, Vancouver. More information at www.ikebarberlearningcentre.ubc.ca/robson.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Book News Vol. 6 No. 31
BOOK NEWS
SPECIAL EVENTS
Michael Ondaatje - September 21, 2011
Join us for an evening with the Booker Prize-winning author of The English Patient, Michael Ondaatje, as he discusses his forthcoming novel, The Cat's Table. Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/ondaatje.
An Evening with Anthony Bourdain - 8pm, October 29, 2011
The Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts. Tickets: $47.50/$55.00/$62.50/VIP package: $152.50. Tickets now on sale at Ticketmaster. Support the Writers Festival: use the code "writers" when purchasing your ticket, a portion of the ticket proceeds will go to the VIWF and you will receive a $5 discount per ticket. Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/bourdain.
An Evening with David Sedaris - 8pm, November 5, 2011
The Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts. Tickets: $45.00/$50.00/$57.50. Tickets now on sale at Ticketmaster. Support the Writers Festival: use the code "writers" when purchasing your ticket, a portion of the ticket proceeds will go to the VIWF and you will receive a $5 discount per ticket. Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/davidsedaris.
Wade Davis - 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. Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/wadedavis.
2011 FESTIVAL AUTHORS
In his profile of Peter Behrens, John Barber writes that Behrens's disclaimer is another part of the fiction. The family history is not. From the "famine Irish" immigrant to the 20th century tycoon, Behrens has made his family unforgettably alive.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/peter-behrens-blends-fact-and-fiction-in-family-saga-the-obriens/article2114125/
Randy Boyagoda's Beggar's Feast tells a concise rags-to-riches story that spans the hundred years of a self-made Sri Lankan man. Sent off at 10 because a horoscope portends family disaster, Sam becomes very much his own man.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/books/Beggar+Feast+Randy+Boyagoda+tells+rags+riches+story/5179700/story.html
Tessa McWatt's Vital Signs is a relatively short, character-driven novel set in Toronto and surrounding countryside. Although we communicate in hundreds of different ways, this book focuses on the end of a couple's marriage, writes Vit Wagner.
http://www.thestar.com/news/books/article/1030297--tessa-mcwatt-sixth-novel-explores-the-end-time-of-a-couple-s-long-term-marriage
AWARDS & LISTS
A sentence by Sue Fondrie, a University of Wisconsin professor, comparing forgotten memories to the bloodied corpses of sparrows, has won the 2011 Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest. Writers are invited to compose the worst opening sentence to an imaginary novel.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/american-academic-wins-bad-prose-award-2326474.html
NEWS & FEATURES
This year's is the bravest Booker longlist of all time, says former judge Louise Doughty, with its first novels, small presses, and eclectic range of topics.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/8668120/Hooray-for-the-bravest-Booker-longlist-of-all-time.html
The Not the Booker 2011 uses roughly the same entry criteria as the Booker panel. Readers are invited to nominate—on the Guardian website—one book the reader would like to see considered for the prize.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/jul/27/not-the-booker-prize-2011-nominate
CBC Books invites Canadian fiction fans to nominate a book for the Scotiabank Giller Prize 2011 longlist—and become eligible for prizes. The most nominated book will be added to the official longlist. More information, and nomination forms are here:
http://www.cbc.ca/books/scotiabankgillerprize/#more
Last week's New Yorker includes a Booker Review Round-up, in part because many of the titles on the long list haven't made it to the U.S. yet (or are not set to be published in the US at all).
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2011/07/a-booker-review-roundup.html
The Booker-longlisted author Sebastian Barry (On Canaan's Side) tells Leyla Sanai how his own ancestors' bloody history inspires his novels about Ireland's violent past.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/sebastian-barry-troubles-in-the-family-2328997.html
Sandstone Press, operating out of a bedroom in a flat in the Scottish Highlands, has Jane Rogers' The Testament of Jessie Lamb on the Booker longlist. All but four of the 13-strong longlist are from a "non-conglomerate" publisher.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/booker-prize-pits-tiny-highlands-publisher-against-literary-giants-2326475.html
Acclaimed Chinese author Ma Jian (Red Dust and Beijing Coma) was barred from entering mainland China during a recent visit to Hong Kong. It's not known how long the ban will last.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/29/author-ma-jian-banned-from-china
Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five and young adult novel Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler have both been banned from a school curriculum and library in a Missouri school following complaints from a local professor about children being exposed to "shocking material".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/jul/29/slaughterhouse-five-banned-us-school
Author Sarah Selecky writes about the experience of her home being broken into, with many things moved, tossed, taken. But her books—on shelves in every room in the house—were left, untouched. It seems her books were invisible.
http://arts.nationalpost.com/2011/07/29/sarahselecky/
Nordic crime writers' work is full of social commentary, many of the writers are former or working journalists, and there is a clear sense of difference from the mainstream. How will they respond to the Utøya massacre? asks Brian Oliver.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/jul/31/norway-crime-fiction-scandinavia
Robert McCrum brings back to our attention Elizabeth Mackintosh, who wrote as Josephine Tey or Gordon Daviot, was a friend of John Gielgud, and has influenced writers from Stephen King to Sarah Waters.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/jul/31/robert-mccrum-elizabeth-mackintosh-mystery
Chapters is offering a 30 per-cent discount off all Margaret Atwood books in its stores across Canada, after the author took a stand against funding cuts at Toronto libraries.
http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/News/1221258968/ID=2076145192
Internet pioneer Brewster Kahle wants to preserve a physical copy of every book ever published. So far, Kahle has gathered about 500,000 books which will be stored in converted shipping containers.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2011/08/01/kahle-books-archive.html
Boyd Tonkin reflects on "the law of unintended consequences" as they apply to publishers, especially those providing educational materials in Africa and other areas with which Britain has historical links.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/boyd-tonkin-good-books-but-a-bad-business-2327584.html
Stephen Henighan's opinion piece on Discover Canada: The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship—a booklet he read because of his partner's application for Canadian citizenship—identifies some content that doesn't conform to Henighan's experience and knowledge of Canada.
http://www.geist.com/opinion/canada-spartans
Tom Rachman's The Imperfectionists is a novel about journalists. Here are Rachman's 20 favourite books on the journalist, starting with his pick for the greatest press novel of all.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/jul/27/tom-rachman-top-10-journalist-tales?CMP=twt_fd
Will Lavender used to think genre fiction was for the slow-minded. And then he read a book by Michael Connelly—and learned to stop worrying and love the thriller.
http://www.salon.com/books/writing/index.html?story=/books/feature/2011/07/30/the_thrill_of_maturity
Author Sarah Thornton has won £65,000 in libel damages over a "spiteful" book review that was written by a journalist for the Daily Telegraph, a broadsheet newspaper.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-14306115
Alan Shadrake's Once a Jolly Hangman resulted in 14 charges for "scandalising the judiciary" and six weeks' imprisonment in Singapore. Still, Shandrake is proud of what he considers his best work in his 50-year career and has no regrets.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/27/jail-singapore
Should novelists double as book critics? David Gates thinks a fellow fiction writer can bring a unique perspective to critical discourse. Lev Grossman says "Being a novelist demands arrogance. To be a good critic, you have to be humble."
http://www.salon.com/books/writing/index.html?story=/books/feature/2011/07/24/should_novelists_double_as_book_critics
U.S. bookstores' buyers have recently received announcements of a mysterious last-minute addition to the Little, Brown & Company fall lineup. "Untitled," by Anonymous, it's "the inside story of life with one of the most controversial figures of our time."
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/28/books/little-brown-offers-untitled-by-anonymous.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
Bumble-Ardy, the first book in thirty years written and illustrated by Maurice Sendak, will be released in September.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2011/jul/28/1
Vanity Fair includes Dave Eggers' print portrait of Sendak.
http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2011/08/maurice-sendak-201108
The August 18 issue of the New York Review of Books has a series of four articles about Google: how it works; what it's like to work for Google; why we should worry; or not.
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2011/aug/18/how-google-dominates-us/?pagination=false
The headline for an interview with D.J. McIntosh asks whether she is the next Dan Brown. Someone posted on the Globe website that s/he found the Witch of Babylon as riveting as the Stieg Larsson trilogy.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/is-dj-mcintosh-the-next-dan-brown/article2114117/
Vancouver continues the search for its third Poet Laureate. Nominations and submissions will be accepted until Aug. 24.
http://communities.canada.com/vancouversun/blogs/covertocover/archive/2011/06/23/vancouver-seeking-third-poet-laureate.aspx
BOOKS & WRITERS
Townie: A Memoir is Andre Dubus III's mesmerising account of his adolescent descent into a life of violence in small-town America. He turned himself into a small-town Clint Eastwood, capable of standing up to the bullies, says William Skidelsky.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/jul/29/townie-memoir-andre-dubus-review
Edward Thomas and Robert Frost met in London in 1913, neither having yet made his name as a poet. Matthew Hollis' Now All Roads Lead to France: The Last Years of Edward Thomas describes a remarkable literary friendship.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/jul/29/robert-frost-edward-thomas-poetry
The Sense of an Ending, Julian Barnes's Booker-longlisted novella, is a meditation on ageing, memory and regret, scrutinising its own workings from every possible angle, writes Justine Jordan. The novella's narrator acts as if "all my memories are true".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/jul/26/sense-ending-julian-barnes-review1
Under the Sun: The Letters of Bruce Chatwin confirm how exotic and exhilarating was the world that Chatwin saw, says Stephen Smith, decrying the downfall of letter writers and wagging a finger at e-mailers. Thankfully, we still have Chatwin's books.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/under-the-sun-the-letters-of-bruce-chatwin/article2114254/
One day, Rebecca Kraatz bought a photo album from the 1940s at a flea market in Victoria, and studied the unknown people in the pictures, looking for connections between them. These ties invest Snaps with real excitement, says John Semley.
http://arts.nationalpost.com/2011/07/29/book-review-snaps-by-rebecca-kraatz/#more-41550
Growing up in China with a grandmother who had "golden lotus" feet, Xiaolan Zhao has pondered the tyranny of beauty. In Inner Beauty, Zhao draws parallels with foot destroying stilettos and cosmetic surgery, urging women to strive for inner beauty.
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/books/Doctor+offers+cross+cultural+look+beauty+health/5123821/story.html
Tom Carson's Daisy Buchanan's Daughter is messy and sprawling. It also brings the past alive and is a very engaging showcase for the most distinctive voice to be found in any recent American novel, says Jason Anderson.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/daisy-buchanans-daughter-by-tom-carson/article2114398/
America Walks Into a Bar is more than a book about America's tavern history; it is a book about America itself. Christine Sismondo's erudition and wit make this a lively, very readable study, writes Nicholas Pashley.
http://www.thestar.com/news/books/article/1032681--america-walks-into-a-bar-by-christine-sismondo
Ballet is a beautiful con job, writes Jim Bartley, and every aspiring prima knows there will be blood. Six pages in, Martha Schabas had Bartley in her authorial palm. Every parent and teacher should read Schabas's Various Positions, says Bartley.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/various-positions-by-martha-schabas/article2114126/
Carol Birch's Jamrach's Menagerie is set in 19th-century London and at sea. It's a story about male friendship, survival, human decency and what matters most. And, says Monique Polak, Birch is a masterful stylist.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/books/Jamrach+Menagerie+story+about+male+friendship/5145426/story.html
The Globe and Mail has commissioned short stories to run over six weeks. This week: Second Person From Hughtopia by Marina Endicott.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/stories-for-summer-second-person-from-hughtopia-by-marina-endicott/article2114236/
COMMUNITY EVENTS
THE LIFE CELEBRATION OF E. PAULINE JOHNSON
World Poetry, Aboriginal Writers Collective West Coast, and the City of Richmond present a First Nations welcome by World Poetry First Nations ambassador Roberta Price, a biography by Loretta Todd, music by Russell Wallace, and readings of Johnson's poems. Friday, July 29 at 6:30pm, free. Richmond Cultural Centre, 180 - 7700 Minoru Gate.
MARY AND CAROL HIGGINS CLARK
The American mystery-suspense writers promote their two new titles I'll Walk Alone and Mobbed. Wednesday, August 3 at 7:00pm, free. Chapters Granville, 2505 Granville Street.
CROSS BORDER POLLINATION READING SERIES
Literary readings by authors from both sides of the Canada-US border, curated by Rachel Rose, featuring John Barton, Jen Currin, Lydia Kwa, Elizabeth Colen, Carol Guess and Wayne Koestenbaum. Wednesday, August 3 at 7:30pm; donation. Roundhouse Exhibition Hall, 181 Roundhouse Mews. More information at queerartsfestival.com.
HAIKU NORTH AMERICA
A long weekend of papers, presentations, workshops, readings, and other activities in celebration of haiku poetry, held at the Seattle Center. August 3-7, 2011 in Seattle, Washington. More information at www.haikunorthamerica.com.
SUNSHINE COAST FESTIVAL OF THE WRITTEN ARTS
Canada's longest running summer gathering of Canadian writers and readers, featuring Charles Foran, Susan Juby, Alexander MacLeod and Margaret Trudeau and many more. August 4-7, 2011. Rockwood Centre (5511 Shorncliffe Ave.), Sechelt, BC. Complete details at www.writersfestival.ca.
THE ARTIST HIMSELF: A RAND HOLMES RETROSPECTIVE
Display of Rand Holmes' art curated by Martha Holmes and Patrick Rosenkrantz. Holmes, who passed away in 2002, is best known for his Harold Hedd comics and covers for the Georgia Straight in the '70s. Saturday, August 6 at 7:00pm. Lucky's Comics, 3972 Main Street. More information at www.luckys.ca.
QUEEROTICA
Ten local authors traverse not only the wide breadth of queer sex, desire and identities, but also explore how different literary genres and modes of storytelling all make fine bedmates for erotica. Monday, August 8 at 7:30pm; donation. Roundhouse Exhibition Hall, 181 Roundhouse Mews. More information at queerartsfestival.com.
SUMMER DREAMS LITERARY ARTS FESTIVAL
Three stages of music, poetry, panel discussions, workshops, and kids' entertainment. Sunday, August 13 from 11:45 to 8pm. Lumberman's Arch, Stanley Park. More information at sites.google.com/site/summerdreamsfest.
Upcoming
SUMMER READING CLUB CELEBRATION
A celebration in honour of all the young readers who are participating in North Vancouver District Public Library’s Summer Reading Club. Wednesday, August 17 at 2:00pm, free. Pick up tickets at the children's department at any North Vancouver District Library branch. Community Meeting room, Lynn Valley Main Library, 1277 Lynn Valley Road, North Vancouver. More info at 604-984-0286.
CBC STUDIO ONE BOOK CLUB
For the next CBC Studio One Book Club, author William Gibson suggested British writer Sarah Salway. Her three novels and her short stories all share a common theme of how identity is formed through the stories we tell about ourselves - or those that are told about us. William is a big fan of Sarah's writing, so he's going to co-host with Sheryl MacKay, on Thursday August 25th at 6:30 pm. Check out Sarah's writing and enter to win free tickets at www.cbc.ca/bc/bookclub.
MIXED VOICES RAISED
Writers Fred Wah, Joanne Arnott, and Tanya Evanson engage the audience in mixed root dialogue and share their literary expression in fiction, poetry and spoken-word performance. Wednesday, September 7 at 7:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street.
KOOTENAY BOOK WEEKEND
The 8th Annual Kootenay Book Weekend will take place in Nelson B.C. September 23, 24 an 25. The featured books are: Christos Tsiolkas' The Slap; Kathryn Stockett's The Help; Li Cunxin's Mao's Last Dancer, and special guest Ruth Ozeki and her books My Year of Meats and All Over Creation. Further information and registration forms can be found at www.kootenaybookweekend.ca.
SPECIAL EVENTS
Michael Ondaatje - September 21, 2011
Join us for an evening with the Booker Prize-winning author of The English Patient, Michael Ondaatje, as he discusses his forthcoming novel, The Cat's Table. Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/ondaatje.
An Evening with Anthony Bourdain - 8pm, October 29, 2011
The Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts. Tickets: $47.50/$55.00/$62.50/VIP package: $152.50. Tickets now on sale at Ticketmaster. Support the Writers Festival: use the code "writers" when purchasing your ticket, a portion of the ticket proceeds will go to the VIWF and you will receive a $5 discount per ticket. Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/bourdain.
An Evening with David Sedaris - 8pm, November 5, 2011
The Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts. Tickets: $45.00/$50.00/$57.50. Tickets now on sale at Ticketmaster. Support the Writers Festival: use the code "writers" when purchasing your ticket, a portion of the ticket proceeds will go to the VIWF and you will receive a $5 discount per ticket. Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/davidsedaris.
Wade Davis - 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. Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/wadedavis.
2011 FESTIVAL AUTHORS
In his profile of Peter Behrens, John Barber writes that Behrens's disclaimer is another part of the fiction. The family history is not. From the "famine Irish" immigrant to the 20th century tycoon, Behrens has made his family unforgettably alive.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/peter-behrens-blends-fact-and-fiction-in-family-saga-the-obriens/article2114125/
Randy Boyagoda's Beggar's Feast tells a concise rags-to-riches story that spans the hundred years of a self-made Sri Lankan man. Sent off at 10 because a horoscope portends family disaster, Sam becomes very much his own man.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/books/Beggar+Feast+Randy+Boyagoda+tells+rags+riches+story/5179700/story.html
Tessa McWatt's Vital Signs is a relatively short, character-driven novel set in Toronto and surrounding countryside. Although we communicate in hundreds of different ways, this book focuses on the end of a couple's marriage, writes Vit Wagner.
http://www.thestar.com/news/books/article/1030297--tessa-mcwatt-sixth-novel-explores-the-end-time-of-a-couple-s-long-term-marriage
AWARDS & LISTS
A sentence by Sue Fondrie, a University of Wisconsin professor, comparing forgotten memories to the bloodied corpses of sparrows, has won the 2011 Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest. Writers are invited to compose the worst opening sentence to an imaginary novel.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/american-academic-wins-bad-prose-award-2326474.html
NEWS & FEATURES
This year's is the bravest Booker longlist of all time, says former judge Louise Doughty, with its first novels, small presses, and eclectic range of topics.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/8668120/Hooray-for-the-bravest-Booker-longlist-of-all-time.html
The Not the Booker 2011 uses roughly the same entry criteria as the Booker panel. Readers are invited to nominate—on the Guardian website—one book the reader would like to see considered for the prize.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/jul/27/not-the-booker-prize-2011-nominate
CBC Books invites Canadian fiction fans to nominate a book for the Scotiabank Giller Prize 2011 longlist—and become eligible for prizes. The most nominated book will be added to the official longlist. More information, and nomination forms are here:
http://www.cbc.ca/books/scotiabankgillerprize/#more
Last week's New Yorker includes a Booker Review Round-up, in part because many of the titles on the long list haven't made it to the U.S. yet (or are not set to be published in the US at all).
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2011/07/a-booker-review-roundup.html
The Booker-longlisted author Sebastian Barry (On Canaan's Side) tells Leyla Sanai how his own ancestors' bloody history inspires his novels about Ireland's violent past.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/sebastian-barry-troubles-in-the-family-2328997.html
Sandstone Press, operating out of a bedroom in a flat in the Scottish Highlands, has Jane Rogers' The Testament of Jessie Lamb on the Booker longlist. All but four of the 13-strong longlist are from a "non-conglomerate" publisher.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/booker-prize-pits-tiny-highlands-publisher-against-literary-giants-2326475.html
Acclaimed Chinese author Ma Jian (Red Dust and Beijing Coma) was barred from entering mainland China during a recent visit to Hong Kong. It's not known how long the ban will last.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/29/author-ma-jian-banned-from-china
Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five and young adult novel Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler have both been banned from a school curriculum and library in a Missouri school following complaints from a local professor about children being exposed to "shocking material".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/jul/29/slaughterhouse-five-banned-us-school
Author Sarah Selecky writes about the experience of her home being broken into, with many things moved, tossed, taken. But her books—on shelves in every room in the house—were left, untouched. It seems her books were invisible.
http://arts.nationalpost.com/2011/07/29/sarahselecky/
Nordic crime writers' work is full of social commentary, many of the writers are former or working journalists, and there is a clear sense of difference from the mainstream. How will they respond to the Utøya massacre? asks Brian Oliver.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/jul/31/norway-crime-fiction-scandinavia
Robert McCrum brings back to our attention Elizabeth Mackintosh, who wrote as Josephine Tey or Gordon Daviot, was a friend of John Gielgud, and has influenced writers from Stephen King to Sarah Waters.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/jul/31/robert-mccrum-elizabeth-mackintosh-mystery
Chapters is offering a 30 per-cent discount off all Margaret Atwood books in its stores across Canada, after the author took a stand against funding cuts at Toronto libraries.
http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/News/1221258968/ID=2076145192
Internet pioneer Brewster Kahle wants to preserve a physical copy of every book ever published. So far, Kahle has gathered about 500,000 books which will be stored in converted shipping containers.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2011/08/01/kahle-books-archive.html
Boyd Tonkin reflects on "the law of unintended consequences" as they apply to publishers, especially those providing educational materials in Africa and other areas with which Britain has historical links.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/boyd-tonkin-good-books-but-a-bad-business-2327584.html
Stephen Henighan's opinion piece on Discover Canada: The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship—a booklet he read because of his partner's application for Canadian citizenship—identifies some content that doesn't conform to Henighan's experience and knowledge of Canada.
http://www.geist.com/opinion/canada-spartans
Tom Rachman's The Imperfectionists is a novel about journalists. Here are Rachman's 20 favourite books on the journalist, starting with his pick for the greatest press novel of all.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/jul/27/tom-rachman-top-10-journalist-tales?CMP=twt_fd
Will Lavender used to think genre fiction was for the slow-minded. And then he read a book by Michael Connelly—and learned to stop worrying and love the thriller.
http://www.salon.com/books/writing/index.html?story=/books/feature/2011/07/30/the_thrill_of_maturity
Author Sarah Thornton has won £65,000 in libel damages over a "spiteful" book review that was written by a journalist for the Daily Telegraph, a broadsheet newspaper.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-14306115
Alan Shadrake's Once a Jolly Hangman resulted in 14 charges for "scandalising the judiciary" and six weeks' imprisonment in Singapore. Still, Shandrake is proud of what he considers his best work in his 50-year career and has no regrets.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/27/jail-singapore
Should novelists double as book critics? David Gates thinks a fellow fiction writer can bring a unique perspective to critical discourse. Lev Grossman says "Being a novelist demands arrogance. To be a good critic, you have to be humble."
http://www.salon.com/books/writing/index.html?story=/books/feature/2011/07/24/should_novelists_double_as_book_critics
U.S. bookstores' buyers have recently received announcements of a mysterious last-minute addition to the Little, Brown & Company fall lineup. "Untitled," by Anonymous, it's "the inside story of life with one of the most controversial figures of our time."
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/28/books/little-brown-offers-untitled-by-anonymous.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
Bumble-Ardy, the first book in thirty years written and illustrated by Maurice Sendak, will be released in September.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2011/jul/28/1
Vanity Fair includes Dave Eggers' print portrait of Sendak.
http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2011/08/maurice-sendak-201108
The August 18 issue of the New York Review of Books has a series of four articles about Google: how it works; what it's like to work for Google; why we should worry; or not.
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2011/aug/18/how-google-dominates-us/?pagination=false
The headline for an interview with D.J. McIntosh asks whether she is the next Dan Brown. Someone posted on the Globe website that s/he found the Witch of Babylon as riveting as the Stieg Larsson trilogy.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/is-dj-mcintosh-the-next-dan-brown/article2114117/
Vancouver continues the search for its third Poet Laureate. Nominations and submissions will be accepted until Aug. 24.
http://communities.canada.com/vancouversun/blogs/covertocover/archive/2011/06/23/vancouver-seeking-third-poet-laureate.aspx
BOOKS & WRITERS
Townie: A Memoir is Andre Dubus III's mesmerising account of his adolescent descent into a life of violence in small-town America. He turned himself into a small-town Clint Eastwood, capable of standing up to the bullies, says William Skidelsky.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/jul/29/townie-memoir-andre-dubus-review
Edward Thomas and Robert Frost met in London in 1913, neither having yet made his name as a poet. Matthew Hollis' Now All Roads Lead to France: The Last Years of Edward Thomas describes a remarkable literary friendship.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/jul/29/robert-frost-edward-thomas-poetry
The Sense of an Ending, Julian Barnes's Booker-longlisted novella, is a meditation on ageing, memory and regret, scrutinising its own workings from every possible angle, writes Justine Jordan. The novella's narrator acts as if "all my memories are true".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/jul/26/sense-ending-julian-barnes-review1
Under the Sun: The Letters of Bruce Chatwin confirm how exotic and exhilarating was the world that Chatwin saw, says Stephen Smith, decrying the downfall of letter writers and wagging a finger at e-mailers. Thankfully, we still have Chatwin's books.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/under-the-sun-the-letters-of-bruce-chatwin/article2114254/
One day, Rebecca Kraatz bought a photo album from the 1940s at a flea market in Victoria, and studied the unknown people in the pictures, looking for connections between them. These ties invest Snaps with real excitement, says John Semley.
http://arts.nationalpost.com/2011/07/29/book-review-snaps-by-rebecca-kraatz/#more-41550
Growing up in China with a grandmother who had "golden lotus" feet, Xiaolan Zhao has pondered the tyranny of beauty. In Inner Beauty, Zhao draws parallels with foot destroying stilettos and cosmetic surgery, urging women to strive for inner beauty.
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/books/Doctor+offers+cross+cultural+look+beauty+health/5123821/story.html
Tom Carson's Daisy Buchanan's Daughter is messy and sprawling. It also brings the past alive and is a very engaging showcase for the most distinctive voice to be found in any recent American novel, says Jason Anderson.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/daisy-buchanans-daughter-by-tom-carson/article2114398/
America Walks Into a Bar is more than a book about America's tavern history; it is a book about America itself. Christine Sismondo's erudition and wit make this a lively, very readable study, writes Nicholas Pashley.
http://www.thestar.com/news/books/article/1032681--america-walks-into-a-bar-by-christine-sismondo
Ballet is a beautiful con job, writes Jim Bartley, and every aspiring prima knows there will be blood. Six pages in, Martha Schabas had Bartley in her authorial palm. Every parent and teacher should read Schabas's Various Positions, says Bartley.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/various-positions-by-martha-schabas/article2114126/
Carol Birch's Jamrach's Menagerie is set in 19th-century London and at sea. It's a story about male friendship, survival, human decency and what matters most. And, says Monique Polak, Birch is a masterful stylist.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/books/Jamrach+Menagerie+story+about+male+friendship/5145426/story.html
The Globe and Mail has commissioned short stories to run over six weeks. This week: Second Person From Hughtopia by Marina Endicott.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/stories-for-summer-second-person-from-hughtopia-by-marina-endicott/article2114236/
COMMUNITY EVENTS
THE LIFE CELEBRATION OF E. PAULINE JOHNSON
World Poetry, Aboriginal Writers Collective West Coast, and the City of Richmond present a First Nations welcome by World Poetry First Nations ambassador Roberta Price, a biography by Loretta Todd, music by Russell Wallace, and readings of Johnson's poems. Friday, July 29 at 6:30pm, free. Richmond Cultural Centre, 180 - 7700 Minoru Gate.
MARY AND CAROL HIGGINS CLARK
The American mystery-suspense writers promote their two new titles I'll Walk Alone and Mobbed. Wednesday, August 3 at 7:00pm, free. Chapters Granville, 2505 Granville Street.
CROSS BORDER POLLINATION READING SERIES
Literary readings by authors from both sides of the Canada-US border, curated by Rachel Rose, featuring John Barton, Jen Currin, Lydia Kwa, Elizabeth Colen, Carol Guess and Wayne Koestenbaum. Wednesday, August 3 at 7:30pm; donation. Roundhouse Exhibition Hall, 181 Roundhouse Mews. More information at queerartsfestival.com.
HAIKU NORTH AMERICA
A long weekend of papers, presentations, workshops, readings, and other activities in celebration of haiku poetry, held at the Seattle Center. August 3-7, 2011 in Seattle, Washington. More information at www.haikunorthamerica.com.
SUNSHINE COAST FESTIVAL OF THE WRITTEN ARTS
Canada's longest running summer gathering of Canadian writers and readers, featuring Charles Foran, Susan Juby, Alexander MacLeod and Margaret Trudeau and many more. August 4-7, 2011. Rockwood Centre (5511 Shorncliffe Ave.), Sechelt, BC. Complete details at www.writersfestival.ca.
THE ARTIST HIMSELF: A RAND HOLMES RETROSPECTIVE
Display of Rand Holmes' art curated by Martha Holmes and Patrick Rosenkrantz. Holmes, who passed away in 2002, is best known for his Harold Hedd comics and covers for the Georgia Straight in the '70s. Saturday, August 6 at 7:00pm. Lucky's Comics, 3972 Main Street. More information at www.luckys.ca.
QUEEROTICA
Ten local authors traverse not only the wide breadth of queer sex, desire and identities, but also explore how different literary genres and modes of storytelling all make fine bedmates for erotica. Monday, August 8 at 7:30pm; donation. Roundhouse Exhibition Hall, 181 Roundhouse Mews. More information at queerartsfestival.com.
SUMMER DREAMS LITERARY ARTS FESTIVAL
Three stages of music, poetry, panel discussions, workshops, and kids' entertainment. Sunday, August 13 from 11:45 to 8pm. Lumberman's Arch, Stanley Park. More information at sites.google.com/site/summerdreamsfest.
Upcoming
SUMMER READING CLUB CELEBRATION
A celebration in honour of all the young readers who are participating in North Vancouver District Public Library’s Summer Reading Club. Wednesday, August 17 at 2:00pm, free. Pick up tickets at the children's department at any North Vancouver District Library branch. Community Meeting room, Lynn Valley Main Library, 1277 Lynn Valley Road, North Vancouver. More info at 604-984-0286.
CBC STUDIO ONE BOOK CLUB
For the next CBC Studio One Book Club, author William Gibson suggested British writer Sarah Salway. Her three novels and her short stories all share a common theme of how identity is formed through the stories we tell about ourselves - or those that are told about us. William is a big fan of Sarah's writing, so he's going to co-host with Sheryl MacKay, on Thursday August 25th at 6:30 pm. Check out Sarah's writing and enter to win free tickets at www.cbc.ca/bc/bookclub.
MIXED VOICES RAISED
Writers Fred Wah, Joanne Arnott, and Tanya Evanson engage the audience in mixed root dialogue and share their literary expression in fiction, poetry and spoken-word performance. Wednesday, September 7 at 7:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street.
KOOTENAY BOOK WEEKEND
The 8th Annual Kootenay Book Weekend will take place in Nelson B.C. September 23, 24 an 25. The featured books are: Christos Tsiolkas' The Slap; Kathryn Stockett's The Help; Li Cunxin's Mao's Last Dancer, and special guest Ruth Ozeki and her books My Year of Meats and All Over Creation. Further information and registration forms can be found at www.kootenaybookweekend.ca.
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