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.