Book News Vol. 7 No. 20

BOOK NEWS




Special Offers



If being a member of the VIWF didn't already have enough benefits, we've added an extra incentive! Every two weeks new and renewing members will have a chance to win a book by a Festival or Incite author. At the end of August we'll have a grand prize draw for a deluxe pack of Festival tickets - two tickets to any event of your choice for each day of the Festival! Sign up now here, https://www.writersfest.bc.ca/secure/secure_membership.php.



Newfoundland writer Russell Wangersky will be appearing at this year's Festival - but you don't have to wait until October to experience his acclaimed new collection. cStories eBook Singles is a new program that offers short Canadian fiction in ePub format for download on a wide array of digital devices, desktop or mobile, to be read anytime, anywhere. Russell's ebook single Bolt is now available to Book News subscribers free on cstories.ca - get it now! Details: http://win.cstories.ca.



VIRTUAL FESTIVAL



Listen to the seventh installment in our series of audio archives from past Festival events. This week you'll hear "An Intimate Evening" from the 2011 Festival, featuring Aminatta Forna. How does hope exist for a generation shaped and scarred by war? Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/multimedia/audio-archives.



AWARDS & LISTS



Victoria author Kit Pearson has won a 2012 Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book Award for The Whole Truth. The annual literary honour celebrates writing and illustration excellence in English-language Canadian children's literature.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2012/05/31/schwartz-awards-pearson-griek.html



Author Annabel Lyon, and Michal Kozlowski, Assistant Publisher of Geist, have been short listed for the 2012-2013 Chocolate Lily Book Awards: Lyon, for Encore Edie; Kozlowski, for Louis the Tiger who Came from the Sea. The full list of nominees is here:

http://chocolatelilyawards.com/?p=298



The Walrus Foundation and the Hal Jackman Foundation have launched the Walrus Poetry Prize, which offers a $5,000 cheque and a chance to be published in the Walrus magazine. The contest is accepting submissions until July 31.

http://www.thestar.com/news/books/article/1204364--5-000-poetry-prize-offers-a-chance-to-be-published-in-the-walrus-magazine



Sir Terry Pratchett has a new honour: a pig named after one of his books. He was given the unusual award after his novel Snuff won the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction. The prize includes a case of champagne.

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/sir-terry-pratchett-wins-wodehouse-book-prize-7803946.html



Peter Robinson and his novel Before the Poison have won the Arthur Ellis Award for the best crime novel of the year, the sixth Arthur Ellis triumph for Robinson. Go here for the full list of winners.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2012/06/04/arthur-ellis-awards.html



The winner of the Griffin Poetry Prize will be announced Thursday. The short listed contenders for the Prize can be found here:

http://www.thestar.com/news/books/article/1203657--griffin-poetry-prize-contender-redefined-polish-poetry



YOUNG READERS



As Kit Pearson's The Whole Truth begins, Polly and Maud are newly orphaned and are travelling by train from Winnipeg to B.C., where they will live with relatives they've never met. A sequel, entitled And Nothing But The Truth, will be published later this year. For ages 10 to 13.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2012/05/31/schwartz-awards-pearson-griek.html



The Hueys are a horde of egg-shaped characters that "looked and thought the same, and did the same things." Until one of them, named Rupert, knitted himself an orange jumper (read: sweater). The other Hueys were horrified but Gillespie "thought being different was interesting". Ages 5 to 7.

http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Kids+Embracing+individuality/6707662/story.html#ixzz1wbfPv69v



Listen to Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker reading from Oliver Jeffers's new picture book, The Hueys in the New Jumper here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/childrens-books-site/video/2012/may/31/jarvis-cocker-hueys-video



Lee Wardlaw's Won Ton: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku is about a homeless feline that wiggles his way out of the shelter and slips into your heart. "Letmeoutletme / outletmeoutletmeout. / Wait — let me back in!" Ages 5 to 7.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/best-childrens-books-of-2011/2011/11/15/gIQAwyLfiO_story.html



UnBEElievables: Honeybee Poems and Paintings by Douglas Florian. With facts tucked in at the bottom of the page. His bees sound like confident rappers. For ages 5 to 8.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/books/sc-ent-0418-books-kids-20120425,0,4336840.story



NEWS & FEATURES



Ray Bradbury, master of science fiction, has died, at 91.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/07/books/ray-bradbury-popularizer-of-science-fiction-dies-at-91.html?_r



Read Ray Bradbury's last article in the June 4 edition of the New Yorker here:

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/06/04/120604fa_fact_bradbury



Both Enid Blyton and JK Rowling have proved that if children find a book, series or author they love, they'll read – regardless of what their parents think about it, writes Julia Eccleshare.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/childrens-books-site/2012/jun/05/book-doctor-enid-blyton



Lemony Snicket's new series, All the Wrong Questions, is the first authorised account of his childhood. Who Could That Be at This Hour? – the first wrong question – will be published on 23 October. For one week, you can read the first chapter here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/childrens-books-site/interactive/2012/jun/04/lemony-snicket-new-book-first-chapter



Are literary classics obsolete? Laura Miller reports that a new study says today's writers are influenced by authors of the present, not the past. More than anything else, these writers hate the prose of the past.

http://www.salon.com/2012/05/31/are_literary_classics_obsolete/



Kira Cochrane interviews Madeline Miller, the most recent (and last-ever) recipient of the Orange Prize for her novel, The Song of Achilles.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/jun/02/madeline-miller-orange-prize-achilles



An original Tintin comic book cover that the legendary Belgian artist Hergé created in 1932 has fetched more than €1.3 million at a Paris auction. An anonymous collector paid €1,338,509.20 (about $1.7 million Cdn) for the rare cover illustration of Tintin in America.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2012/06/04/tintin-cover-art-auction.html



The world's first known one book bookshop was established. A bookshop selling only one title: Pig Iron. The upshot of the impromptu bookshop is that Pig Iron is currently out-selling Hilary Mantel in the area by 3-1. A phyrric victory, of course, writes Ben Myers.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/the-northerner/2012/jun/04/ben-myers-pig-iron-hebden-bridge



BOOKS & WRITERS



Sir Andrew Motion's 10-year tenure as Britain's Poet Laureate almost killed the poet in him, he says. Now promoting Silver, a sequel to Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island, Motion has begun writing a sequel to his own sequel.

http://www.thestar.com/news/books/article/1202346--poet-finds-novel-treasure-in-classic-pirate-yarn



In his Complete Poems, Philip Larkin writes: "What will survive of us is love." Ron Rosenbaum comments: "The line is so uncharacteristic of Larkin, you can barely believe it. Elsewhere, there are quotes from Larkin suggesting he could barely believe it either."

http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/the_spectator/2012/05/_what_will_survive_of_us_is_love_poet_philip_larkin_s_controversial_line_from_on_arundel_tomb_.html



Chris Cleave's Olympics-themed novel Gold is timely, sentimental...and thrillingly good, writes Alex Preston. As much a domestic drama as a trackside thriller, the novel takes us deep into the lives of three Olympic sprint cyclists in the lead-up to the London games.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/jun/03/gold-chris-cleave-review-olympics



Reality, Reality, Jackie Kay's most recent short story collection is both hilarious and heartbreaking, writes Anita Sethi, although loss is the connecting theme in the collection. Often recounted by unreliable narrators, the stories probe one of Kay's obsessions: the tricksy nature of our perceptions.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/jun/03/reality-reality-jackie-kay-review



Paul Krugman's End This Depression Now has a plan for escaping the financial crisis, and it doesn't involve austerity measures or deregulating the banks, writes Decca Aitkenhead. It's the sort of book you wish were compulsory reading, says Aitkenhead.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/jun/03/paul-krugman-cassandra-economist-crisis



Orhan Pamuk's plan was to write a novel in the form of a museum catalogue, writes Elif Batuman, while simultaneously building the museum to which it referred. Pamuk's first step was to contact a real-estate agent.

http://www.lrb.co.uk/v34/n11/elif-batuman/diary?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=3411&hq_e=el&hq_m=1750968&hq_l=11&hq_v=e88626cf24



Martin Amis, now living in New York, has written Lionel Asbo: State of England, whose key character is a criminal who has won the lottery. The press conjectures that Amis's move to New York is due to disaffection for England are entirely wrong.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/jun/03/martin-amis-brooklyn-lionel-asbo-interview



Thanks to Peggy Dymond Leavey‘s Laura Secord: Heroine of the War of 1812, we who believed that Laura Secord was Canadian, now know that she was born in Massachusetts. Still, Secord walked 30 km. to warn the Brits the Americans were coming.

http://www.thestar.com/news/books/article/1203013--laura-secord-heroine-of-the-war-of-1812-column



Herta Müller's The Hunger Angel reduces life to its essentials, endowing objects with human characteristics and reducing people to objects. The novel is based on the memories of her fellow German-Romanian poet Oskar Pastior, who was carted off to a labour camp at 17.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/the-hunger-angel-by-herta-mller/article4226026/



In What We Talk About When We Talk About War, Noah Richler writes that Canada's former self-identity as a peacekeeping nation has switched to one as a warrior nation. "Using the word terrorist excuses us from having to think about what it means to be someone else," says Richler.

http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/books/Noah+Richler+explores+role+combat+affects+folklore+book/6715936/story.html



A farm girl has a compelling tale to tell in Nell Leyshon's evocative novella The Colour of Milk, says Lettie Ransley. The charm of Leyshon's novella is to be found as much in its spare, evocative style as in the candour of its narrator.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/jun/03/colour-milk-nell-leyshon-review



Paul Theroux's new novel The Lower River tells a story of an American who goes back to Africa where he was once happy. The Lower River is all about being misunderstood: madly, wildly and very nearly fatally, writes Christopher Hope.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/may/31/lower-river-paul-theroux-review



HHhH, the brilliant, haunting debut novel by French writer Laurent Binet, focuses on Operation Anthropoid, the 1942 military plan to assassinate Reinhard Heydrich. HHhH is as much the story of Binet's lifelong obsession with the mission as it is the story of the mission itself, writes Anthony Domestico.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/05/27/RVFO1OADP9.DTL



COMMUNITY EVENTS



GRIFFIN VANCOUVER

Livestream video of the prize ceremonies in Toronto. Thursday, June 7 at 6:00pm. Performance Space, W2 Media Cafe, 111 West Hastings Street. More information at griffinvancouver.com.



KUCKI LOW

Author will talk about her memoir recalling her life as South Africa's first female airline pilot, This is Kucki Your Pilot Speaking. Thursday, June 7 at 7:00pm. Free but please register in advance by phoning 604-299-8955. McGill branch, Burnaby Public Library, 4595 Albert Street, Burnaby.



TWISTED POETS LITERARY SALON

Reading by Lisa Shatzky and Robin Susanto. Thursday, June 7 at 7:00pm. Suggested donation at the door: $5. The Prophouse Cafe, 1636 Venables Ave., Vancouver. More information at www.pandorascollective.com.



TALE OF THE GREAT WHITE FISH

Reading by Maggie de Vries. Saturday, June 9 at 1:00pm. Free but registration required. Bob Prittie Metrotown, 6100 Willingdon Ave., Burnaby. More information at 604-436-5420.



MICHAEL SCOTT

The award-winning Irish author of the popular Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series will be coming to Kidsbooks to present the sixth and final book: The Enchantress. Wednesday, June 13 at 7:00pm. Tickets: $23 and include a copy of the book. Kidsbooks, 3083 West Broadway. More information at www.kidsbooks.ca.



ROBSON READING SERIES

Readings by Phil Hall (Killdeer) and Aaron Bushkowsky (Curtains for Roy). Thursday, June 14 at 7:00pm, free. BC Bookstore/Library at Robson Square, 800 Robson Street. More information at www.robsonreadingseries.ubc.ca.



TWS READING SERIES

The Writer's Studio at SFU presents an evening with guest author Robyn Michele Levy, who has been shortlisted for the 2012 Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour for her book All of Me:Surviving My Medical Meltdown. Thursday, June 14 at 7:00pm. Admission by donation. Rhizome Cafe, 317 East Broadway.



CHRISTINA JOHNSON-DEAN

Launch of the fifth book in the series The Unheralded Artists of BC, The Life and Art of Ina D.D. Uhthoff. Saturday, June 16 at 8:00pm, free. Martin Batchelor Gallery, 712 Cormorant St., Victoria. More information at www.mothertonguepublishing.com.



THE OPENING ACT: CANADIAN THEATRE HISTORY 1945-1953

Book launch of Susan McNicoll new theatre history book. Sunday, June 17 at 2 pm, free. Trout Lake Community Centre, Lakewood Room, 3360 Victoria Drive. More information at www.ronsdalepress.com.



Upcoming



LUNCH POEMS @ SFU

Readings by Sonnet L'Abbe and Renee Sarojini Saklilkar presented by Simon Fraser University. Wednesday, June 20 at 12:00pm, free. Teck Gallery, SFU Harbour Centre, 515 West Hastings.



BEHIND BARBED WIRE

Literary reading from Behind Barbed Wire: Creative Works on the Internment of Italian Canadians and Beyond Barbed Wire: Essays on the Internment of Italian Canadians with B.C. authors Lynne Bowen, Anna Foschi Ciampolini, Robert Pepper-Smith, and Osvaldo Zappa. Wednesday, June 20 at 7:00pm, free. McGill branch, Burnaby Public Library, 4595 Albert Street, Burnaby.



TOM WAYMAN AND KATE BRAID

Award-winning authors present a dynamic evening of poetry. Wayman reads from Dirty Snow and Braid reads from several collections, including a new edition of To This Cedar Fountain. Thursday, June 21 at 7:00pm, free. Meeting room, level 3, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street. More information at 604-331-3603.



TRIPLE THREAT: CHICKS WHO SOLVE CRIME!

Three Canadian mystery authors - Deryn Collier, Hilary Davidson, and Robin Spano - team up for an evening of readings & discussion. Thursday, June 21 at 7:00pm. Free but register in advance at 604-299-8955. McGill branch, Burnaby Public Library, 4595 Albert Street, Burnaby.



TWISTED POETS LITERARY SALON

Readings by Jen Currin and Lisa McInnes. Thursday, June 21 at 7:00pm. Suggested donation at the door: $5. The Prophouse Cafe, 1636 Venables Ave., Vancouver. More information at www.pandorascollective.com.



RICHELLE MEAD

Signing by the author of the Bloodlines series. Saturday, June 23 at 2:00pm. Chapters Metrotown, 4700 Kingsway, Burnaby. More information at 604-431-0463.



DAPHNE MARLATT

Presentation of the 19th Annual George Woodcock Lifetime Achievement Award to Daphne Marlatt for an outstanding literary career in British Columbia. Thursday, June 28 at 7:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at 604-331-3603.



VISIBLE VERSE FESTIVAL 2012

VVF seeks videopoems that wed words and images, the voice seen as well as heard. Deadline for submissions is August 1, 2012. For more information, contact Artistic Director Heather Haley at hshaley@emspace.com.