Book News Vol. 7 No. 24

BOOK NEWS

UPCOMING EVENTS
Michael Chabon - Just Announced!
September 26, 2012 at 8:00pm
St. Andrew's Wesley United Church
Author of the New York Times bestselling novel, The Yiddish Policemen's Union, talks about his latest book, Telegraph Avenue. Members - check Ink e-newsletter for your special discount code. Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/michaelchabon

VIRTUAL FESTIVAL
Listen to the eleventh installment in our series of audio archives from past Festival events. This week you'll hear "An Intimate Afternoon" from the 2010 Festival, featuring David Mitchell. Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/multimedia/audio-archives.

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.

AROUND TOWN THIS MONTH

Indian Summer Literature Series
http://indiansummerfestival.ca
The Indian Summer Festival presents top international talent from Canada and India across music, literature, dance, film, yoga and cuisine. The literature series features some of the most exciting authors and public intellectuals from India, Canada and the UK.

Events this year include:

The Other Side of Silence, With Urvashi Butalia (SATURDAY JULY 14 @ 7:30pm |$15 | Goldcorp Centre for the Arts) Renowned Indian writer, publisher, feminist and historian Urvashi Butalia talks with Charlie Smith, Editor of the Georgia Straight. Details: http://indiansummerfestival.ca/events/butalia/

Multimedia Lit & Sound Cabaret (SATURDAY JULY 14 @ 9pm | $10 | W2 Media Cafe) Led by an all-star cast of wordsmiths and language artists into a plethora of sound and delight, this first Indian Summer Lit. and Sound Cabaret is a
must-see event. Details: http://indiansummerfestival.ca/events/cabaret/

Ideas Series: Who Do You Think You Are? With Gurjinder Basran, David Chariandy & Anosh Irani (SUNDAY JULY 15 @ 7pm | $15 | Goldcorp Centre for the Arts) Three of BC's most celebrated young writers talk with Hal Wake, Artistic Director of the Vancouver International Writers Festival. Details: http://indiansummerfestival.ca/events/ideas/

AWARDS & LISTS

Fran Diamond, Kevin McDonough and Jim Ryder have won the Downtown Eastisde Jamboree Writing Contest. Their winning entries will appear in Geist's Fall issue.
http://www.geist.com/blogs/news/local-litamboree-writing-contest

George Fetherling's Man of a Hundred Thousand Books has won the Profile award at The Western Magazine Awards. Read it here:
http://www.geist.com/articles/man-hundred-thousand-books

Well-known names and first-time authors—including Dave Shelton's A Boy and a Bear in a Boat, Roddy Doyle's A Greyhound of a Girl and Jack Gantos's Dead End in Norvelt—are on the longlist for the Guardian children's fiction prize. The winner will be announced in November.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/childrens-books-site/gallery/2012/jun/08/childrens-fiction-prize-longlist-gallery

Grace McCleen has won the £10,000 Desmond Elliott prize for her first novel, The Land of Decoration, the story of a fringe religious group as seen through the eyes of a 10-year-old girl.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/jun/29/grace-mccleen-desmond-elliott-prize

The "ambitious, darkly humorous" short story of a Nigerian soldier fighting in Burma during the second world war has won Nigeria's Rotimi Babatunde the £10,000 Caine prize for African writing.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/jul/03/rotimi-babatunde-wins-caine-prize

YOUNG READERS

Adam Rubin's Dragons Love Tacos, illustrated by Daniel Salmieri, is a heaping helping of silly as we learn just how much dragons love tacos but hate spicy salsa. Little kids will relate to the anti-spicy bias and to Salmieri's watercolor and gouache cartoon illustrations of boatloads of tacos and all sizes of dragons enjoying their favorite food. For ages 4 to 8.
http://www.sfgate.com/books/article/Roundup-of-children-s-books-3656983.php

Two Philip Pullman whodunnits set in Victorian London now appear in a single volume as Two Crafty Criminals!, subtitled And How They Were Captured by the Daring Detectives of the New Cut Gang (consisting of both girl and boy detectives). For ages 7 to 11.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/books/Kids+Gang+kids+tackles+mysteries/6860375/story.htm

In Summer in the City, by Marie-Louise Gay and David Homel, Charlie's life is nothing but eventful, despite a "stay-cation" holiday. Whether he's walking dogs, backyard camping or just picking up his repaired baseball glove, adventure finds him. For buoyant, long-suffering Charlie, even benign activities are weird, wonderful or hair-raising. For ages 6 to 11.
http://www.thestar.com/news/books/article/1218293--great-escapes-for-kids-and-teens

Between the Lines, a collaboration between bestselling writer Jodi Picoult and her teen daughter, Samantha van Leer, asks: What if a fairy tale's characters lived entirely different lives after the book's cover was closed? What if happily ever after wasn't real but an act? For ages 12 and up.
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-ca-jodi-picoult-20120624,0,717519.story

NEWS & FEATURES
49th Shelf offers an online interactive map that enables individuals traveling across Canada to read books about the destination: fiction books set in Canadian locations and non-fiction books about Canadian locations.
http://blogs.vancouversun.com/tag/49th-shelf/

Kate Carraway and Victor Dwyer have identified five up-and-comers to watch: David Chariandy, Yejide Kilanko, Alexander MacLeod, Grace O'Connell, and Iain Reid, adding "the one thing they have in common: compelling words, artfully composed, that remind us why the future of books, however it takes shape, matters."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/the-fab-five-canlits-hottest-up-and-comers/article4380445/

To celebrate the 112th anniversary of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's birth, the Christian Science Monitor has gathered 10 quotes that are attributed to him.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/2012/06/antoine-de-saint-exupery-little-prince-birthday.html

Salman Rushdie was the target of a notorious fatwa issued by Ayatollah Khomeini in 1989. Now, the author of The Satanic Verses is the subject of an Iranian computer game aimed at spreading to the next generation the message about his "sin".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/jun/26/salman-rushdie-fatwa-iranian-video-game

Mavis Gallant's private journals are to be published in Canada and in the United States. Gallant, who turns 90 in August, is most famous for her novellas and short stories. She has published more than 100 stories in The New Yorker, a record for a female contributor to that magazine.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/gallants-private-journals-to-be-published-in-canada-us/article4375337/?cmpid=rss1

Laura Miller attempts to understand what lies behind the boom in publication of dystopian fiction for young people. Are they new versions of adventure stories?, asks Miller.
http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2010/06/14/100614crat_atlarge_miller

The award-winning Australian poet Rosemary Dobson has died, at 92. Her first book, In a Convex Mirror, was published in 1944; her new Collected poems came out only three months ago. Reviewing Collected, David Malouf described Dobson as "one of our most admired and enduring voices".
http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/books/rosemary-dobson-enduring-voice-of-australia-dies-20120628-214ho.html

Julian Barnes writes that he has lived in books, for books, by and with books. Here he reflects on his lifelong bibliomania and explains why, despite e-readers and Amazon, he believes the physical book and bookshops will survive.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/jun/29/my-life-as-bibliophile-julian-barnes

Jim Holt explores the question "is philosophy literature?" and responds with: "Do people read philosophy for pleasure? Of course it is, and of course they do", he writes. But what is literature? That in itself might appear to be a philosophical question.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/30/is-philosophy-literature/?src=recg

The Official Companion Cookbook offers recipes for dishes from George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice & Fire novels. Waging battles requires lots of protein, and there's plenty of beef, pork and fowl to be found in many of the stories, says Nick Owchar.
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-ca-game-of-thrones-cookbook-20120624,0,3398686.story

In an essay, Kyle Carsten Wyatt reflects on Northrop Frye's comments on "the stranglehold of history and geography on Canadian culture" and the "condominium mentality".
http://walrusmagazine.com/articles/2012.05-essay-of-culture-and-condos/

The cover design of JK Rowling's first adult novel The Casual Vacancy: has been revealed, with the question: What clues do you think it holds? This prompted the comment: "That apparently we're still judging books by their cover despite several years of warning not to."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2012/jul/03/jk-rowling-casual-vacancy-cover

The Erasure Poetry Contest is Closing Soon! Visit geist.com/erasure for more details and to read the excerpt. All entries must be postmarked no later than August 1, 2012.
http://www.geist.com/

Enter the Search for the Great BC Novel contest offered by Mother Tongue Publishing Limited.
http://www.allianceforarts.com/files/enet/pdf/12/06/literary_0.pdf

BOOKS & WRITERS
Patrick Senécal's Against God, barely 100 pages, is a chilling tale of an ordinary man's rancorous dance with disillusionment in the wake of insufferable loss. Senécal, known as "Quebec's Stephen King," is a prolific writer. This first English translation will introduce English Canada to his work.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/book-reviews/against-god-by-patrick-sencal/article4375124/

Jim Lynch's Truth Like the Sun takes place around Seattle's Space Needle, between 1962 and 2001. Roger Morgan is the fictional mastermind of the fair: simultaneously an MC, ringmaster, power broker, cheerleader and director—and an optimist and a dreamer.
http://www.thestar.com/news/books/article/1216842--truth-like-the-sun-by-jim-lynch-review

Supported by translators, American author Katherine Boo creates in Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death and Hope in a Mumbai Slum an impressive view of the Mumbai slums, writes Amit Chaudhuri. Boo's intelligence keeps her tale from losing its grounding in reality, says Chaudhuri.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/jun/29/behind-beautiful-forevers-katherine-boo-review

When the Spanish Civil War broke out, hundreds of women volunteered to work for the Republican side. In Come From Afar, Gayla Reid's nurse remarks: "Every experienced nurse is a practised deceiver. Smile for the patient; do not disclose." A war novel with a female perspective, writes

M.A.C. Farrant.
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/books/Come+from+Afar+Mythic+nurse+story/6861491/story.html

Carlos Ruiz Zafón's thriller The Shadow of the Wind was beautifully crafted and The Prisoner of Heaven equally compelling, writes Steven Poole. Luckily, the books can be read in any order. Quoting the imprisoned writer, Poole asks: "If you don't trust a novelist, who are you going to trust?"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/jun/28/prisoner-heaven-carlos-ruiz-zafon-review

In his review of Zoobiquity: What Animals Can Teach Us About Being Human by Barbara Natterson Horowitz and Kathryn Bowers, Julian Baggini asks: Would it be healthier for humanity if doctors were more like vets?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/jul/01/zoobiquity-natterson-horowitz-bowers-review

Midnight in Peking, by Shanghai-based analyst-cum-historian Paul French, uses archival materials to re-launch an investigation into the 75-year-old unsolved mystery of Pamela Warner's murder in Peking. With this book, French has possibly attained some form of justice for Werner, writes Jason Beerman.
http://www.thestar.com/news/books/article/1218540--midnight-in-peking-how-the-murder-of-a-young-englishwoman-haunted-the-last-days-of-old-china-by-paul-french-review

In The Age of Miracles, Karen Thompson Walker imagines a world in which the Earth's rotation slows and the days lengthen, as narrated by 11-year-old Julia. Touching, harrowing, and magical, The Age of Miracles is an impressive debut, writes Betsy Toyne.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/book-reviews/the-age-of-miracles-by-karen-thompson-walker/article4380190/

In the 1880s, Prime Minister Gladstone sent Britain's Camel Corps to rescue General Charles Gordon. Gillian Slovo's An Honourable Man alternates between the journeys of physician John Smith, the Camel Corps, the mad General Gordon, and Smith's wife. This would make a smashing mini-series, writes Gale Zoë Garnett.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/book-reviews/an-honourable-man-by-gillian-slovo/article4385051/

COMMUNITY EVENTS

JED LA LUMIERE
The author of Patience: A Gay Man's Virtue brings humour and insight to the launch for his book about being an invisible minority. Thursday, July 5 at 7:00pm, free. Little Sister's Book & Art Emporium, 1238 Davie Street.

TWISTED POETS LITERARY SALON
Readings by bill bissett and Susan Cormier. Thursday, July 5 at 7:00pm. Suggested donation at the door: $5. The Prophouse Cafe, 1636 Venables Ave., Vancouver. More information at talonbooks.com.

DEAD POETS READING SERIES
Readings by Kate Braid, George McWhirter, Daniela Elza, Ken Klonksy, and Hal Wake. Sunday, July 8 at 3:00pm. Entry by donation. Project Space, 222 East Georgia Street, Vancouver. Details and registration here, www.deadpoetslive.com.

RACHEL HARTMAN
Author launches her new book Seraphina. Tuesday, July 10 at 7:00pm. RSVP to pkells@randomhouse.com. Kidsbooks, 3083 West Broadway. More information at kidsbooks.ca.

TWS READING SERIES
Readings by Fiona Scott, Tara Wohlberg, Ben Nuttall-Smith, Danielle Patrick, Karen J. Lee, Carol Tulpar, Bernice Lever and guest author Nora Gold. Friday, July 13 at 7:00pm. Take 5 Cafe, 429 Granville St.

TIM WARD
Author reads from Zombies on Kilimanjaro: A Father-Son Journey Above the Clouds. Tuesday, July 17 at 7:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street. More information at 604-331-3603.

Upcoming

DENMAN ISLAND READERS & WRITERS FESTIVAL
Annual summer event featuring Tzeporah Berman, Steven Galloway, Loran Goodison, Timothy Taylor and many others. July 19-22, 2012. For complete details, visit www.denmanislandwritersfestival.com.

FORT LANGLEY CELEBRATION OF THE ARTS
An Afternoon of Poetry and Music with poet Susan McCaslin and jazz musician Amanda Tosoff collaborate from their recent works. Saturday, July 28 at 2:30pm. Centennial Museum, 9135 King Street, Fort Langley.

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.

SUMMER DREAMS LITERARY ARTS FESTIVAL
Annual family-friendly celebration of literary arts features two stages, a kids' area, a marketplace, and over 90 performers, including headliner Barbara Adler and Fang, a local spoken-word artist who combines poetry with music. Saturday, August 25, 2012, free. Trout Lake Park, 3350 Victoria. More information at www.summerdreamsfest.com.