Book News Vol. 7 No. 40

BOOK NEWS

AWARDS & LISTS

Incite author Will Ferguson has won the $50,000 2012 Giller Prize for 419, for the best Canadian fiction of the year.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/will-fergusons-lucky-number-author-takes-giller-prize-for-419/article4786765/.

Festival author Rawi Hage, along with Tim Bowling, Tamas Dobozy, Alix Ohlin, and Linda Spalding, is on the short list for the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize. The winner of the prize will be announced November 7.
http://www.writerstrust.com/awards/rogers-writers--trust-fiction-prize.aspx

Festival authors Vincent Lam and Carrie Snyder, along with Tamas Dobozy, Robert Hough and Linda Spalding are on the short list for the Governor General's Literary Awards (English). The winner will be announced November 13.
http://ggbooks.canadacouncil.ca/en.aspx

Louise Erdrich is one of five finalists for the National Book Award. The winner will be announced November 14.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/book-reviews/in-louise-erdichs-latest-a-tangle-of-laws-and-people/article4680831/

Frank Cottrell Boyce has won the Guardian children's fiction prize for his book The Unforgotten Coat, based on the true story of a girl deported to Mongolia, an unusual winner in that it was not written for commercial publication.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/childrens-books-site/2012/oct/24/guardian-childrens-fiction-prize-winner

Montreal-born Steven Pinker is one of three authors in the running for the $75,000 US Cundill Prize in History at McGill, an annual award open to history books from all over the globe. The winner will be announced November 29.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2012/10/29/cundill-prize.html

YOUNG READERS

Twelve year-old Rishi and Lottie Longshanks have reviewed The Unforgotten Coat. "This book has a slight pinch of comedy, a teaspoon of mystery and a whole flagon of brilliance," says Rishi.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/childrens-books-site/2012/oct/24/the-unforgotten-coat-frank-cottrell-boyce-guardian-young-critics-awards-reviews

Sample the first chapter of The Unforgotten Coat here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/childrens-books-site/interactive/2011/dec/09/extract-unforgotten-coat-cottrell-boyce

The Guardian's review of Russell Hoban's Soonchild carries the warning that it is "mind blowingly spooky with an exciting journey ahead".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/childrens-books-site/2012/oct/24/soonchild-russell-hoban-guardian-young-critics-awards-review

In Beta, the kickoff to a new series from bestselling young-adult author Rachel Cohn, the local cloning lab has just finished an experiment. Now they're beginning to make teenagers. Elysia is one of two so-called betas, or prototype teen clones. For readers 14 and up.
http://www.latimes.com/features/books/la-ca-rachel-cohn-20121014,0,7351542.story

NEWS & FEATURES

Spanish novelist Javier Marías, author of The Infatuations, turned down a €20,000 government prize, stating he had rejected the national narrative prize because of a lifelong aversion to receiving public money.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/26/spanish-novelist-turns-down-prize

The A-frame home built by the late Canadian poet Al Purdy has been bought by a non-profit group–the Al Purdy A-Frame Association–and will be turned into a writers' retreat.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2012/10/29/ottawa-al-purdy-aframe-home-to-become-writer-residence.html

Anna Porter comments on the Douglas & McIntyre bankruptcy in The Star.
http://www.thestar.com/news/insight/article/1278205--douglas-mcintyre-collapse-new-sign-of-publishing-industry-struggles

Speaking about The Unforgotten Coat, Frank Cottrell Boyce says: "If I've got a political axe to grind, it's around literacy. We've tragically conflated literacy and reading. Tests make pupils feel like failures before they have barely begun. We risk putting children off reading forever."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2012/oct/26/frank-cottrell-boyce-life-in-writing

Last week's Book News included the information that Amazon profits from a tax loophole in Britain. Now Amazon is to be stripped of its huge tax advantage on the sales of electronic books after the European commission ordered Luxembourg to close a VAT loophole.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/oct/24/amazon-tax-loophole-ebooks?CMP=EMCNEWEML1355

What do writers do all day? Emma Donoghue lets us in on her writing life with this article in the Guardian.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/oct/29/emma-donoghue-how-to-write-book?newsfeed=true

David Mitchell describes the process of ‘translating' a book–Cloud Atlas–into a film, which was launched October 26.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443675404578060870111158076.html

British publishing and education company Pearson PLC will merge its Penguin Books division with Random House, which is owned by German media company Bertelsmann, creating the world's largest publisher of consumer books, with around a quarter of the market. The joint venture will be known as Penguin Random House.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2012/10/29/penguin-random-house.html

Quebec crime writer Louise Penny's debut novel Still Life is being made into a two-hour TV movie—the first of a proposed series—with British actor Nathaniel Parker portraying Inspector Armand Gamache. Shooting is now underway outside Montreal.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2012/10/29/still-life-film.html

If you could create a bookstore, what would you put in it? What would you exclude? Nearly all bibliophiles—that peculiar breed of people who feel more at home in bookstores than in their actual homes—have at some point posed such questions.
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2012/10/the-bookstore-brain-how-bookstores-choose-their-books.html#ixzz2AYFFirb0

Ian McEwen describes the novella as the perfect form of prose fiction, in the latest issue of The New Yorker.
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2012/10/some-notes-on-the-novella.html

There's a Deeper Meaning to the zombie craze, writes Margaret Atwood. A lot of angst from publishers and writers about the young "not reading" may mean they aren't reading what older people want them to read. Let the young begin with whatever interests them, says Atwood, quoting Northrop Frye.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/global/booksblog/2012/oct/25/margaret-atwood-naomi-alderman-zombie-novel

BOOKS & WRITERS

Twelve years after his death, four Edward Gorey titles have just landed on bookstore shelves–Thoughtful Alphabets: The Just Dessert & the Deadly Blotter, The Osbick Bird, and Saint Melissa the Mottled, an unpublished story supplemented with images from the Gorey archive, some never before published.
http://www.latimes.com/features/books/jacketcopy/la-ca-jc-edward-gorey-20121028,0,530119.story

There are two parallel Haruki Murakamis, writes Roland Kelts: Murakami is not American, doesn't write in English, and not a single vampire or wizard appears in his oeuvre. This year, he topped everyone's list of favorites for the Nobel Prize for Literature, only to be disappointed.
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2012/10/the-harukists-disappointed.html#ixzz2AKbvpWIt

There is growing evidence that the ancient Mayans didn't actually think the world was going to end in 2012. American writer Craig Childs travelled around the planet seeking up-close evidence of how the Earth is always moving toward an end, documenting what he found in his engaging, if sometimes frightening, Apocalyptic Planet: Field Guide to the Everending Earth, writes Monique Beaudin.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Apocalyptic+Planet+Field+Guide+Everending+Earth+Craig+Childs/7404973/story.html#ixzz2AQTPC72l

Shortly after Sudanese novelist Abdelaziz Baraka Sakin's books arrived at Khartoum's book fair, security officers confiscated all copies, saying they had to read them before they could go into circulation. Minutes later, social media broke the news of the confiscations and youngsters started asking where they could get their hands on the confiscated books.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/oct/26/secret-reading-sudan-banning-books

Those who tell their stories in Hidden Lives: Coming Out on Mental Illness have either experienced mental illness first-hand or through their relationship with a close family member and virtually every Canadian is touched by the issue. The collection of 26 true stories is riveting, writes Tracy Sherlock.
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/books/Hidden+Lives+Stories+mental+illness+forge/7452931/story.html

Sherman Alexie has been celebrated for his acerbic, funny, politically charged stories and poems over 20 years. Tenderness and passion are pervasive in Blasphemy, his most recent work, writes Christie Sneed, as are his grief and outrage over the exploitation and neglect of indigenous populations in the United States.
http://www.sfgate.com/books/article/Blasphemy-by-Sherman-Alexie-3965352.php#ixzz2AYOrtOQU

Candace Fertile writes that Alice Munro's Dear Life shows convincingly how human beings are unique and that everyone is at least one story and not the least bit ordinary. People are capable of much in Munroland, all of it human, says Fertile.
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/books/Alice+Munro+Dear+Life+There+ordinary+people/7452941/story.html

Susie Boyt's novel The Small Hours is a psychological drama about Harriet, a brash but troubled woman who opens the nursery school of her dreams. In an interview with Lucy Scholes, Boyt, who is the daughter of Lucian Freud and great-granddaughter of Sigmund, says 'I'm very Freudian in the way I look at things'.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/oct/28/susie-boyt-interview-small-hours

CS Forester's long-lost 1935 revenge story, The Pursued, was lost for six decades, writes Anthony Cummins. An endnote by Lawrence Brewer, a Forester enthusiast who purchased it when it turned up at auction in 1999, calls it a "little masterpiece"; he's not wrong, says Cummins.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/oct/28/cs-forester-the-pursued-review

The tale of Hillary and Tenzing's ascent of Everest in Mick Conefrey's Everest 1953: The Epic Story of the First Ascent includes a connection to Britain, notes Justin Cartwright. Conefrey's book confirms Cartwright's childhood understanding that the coronation and the conquest of Everest were yoked together.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/oct/25/everest-1953-mick-conefrey-review

Louise Erdrich's The Round House continues the complex, sensitive saga of native Americans that Erdrich began in 1984. The novel works wonderfully both as social commentary and as a mystery, but over all, it is literary fiction at its best, writes Candace Fertile.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/book-reviews/in-louise-erdichs-latest-a-tangle-of-laws-and-people/article4680831/

Damien Walters writes that the power of Ursula K. Le Guin's work will guarantee it an audience for centuries to come. With the publication of The Real and the Unreal: The Selected Stories of Ursula K Le Guin, you can expect to hear a great deal about the legendary author.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/oct/30/ursula-k-le-guin-stories

Shortly after Stephen King excited a New Brunswick high school with his surprise appearance in the school library, a library in Los Angeles considered banning one of King's books because it depicts a rape scene. The committee that voted to ban the book never read the book (the lone dissenting vote, a 17-year-old student, did read the book).
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/oct/28/opinion/la-ed-banned-book-20121028

COMMUNITY EVENTS

ROBSON READING SERIES
Readings by Michael Kenyon (A Year at River Mountain) and Grant Lawrence (Adventures in Solitude). Thursday, November 1 at 7:00pm, free. UBC Bookstore at Robson Square, 800 Robson Street, plaza level. More information at www.robsonreadingseries.ubc.ca.

MARINA ENDICOTT
Marina Endicott discusses her novel The Little Shadows. Thursday, November 1 at 7:00 PM. Christianne's Lyceum. 3696 W. 8th Ave. $20 (includes refreshments). To reserve your space call 604.733.1356 or email lyceum@christiannehayward.com. More information at www.christiannehayward.com.

TWISTED POETS LITERARY SALON
Features Diana E. Hayes + Taryn Hubbard + Open Mic. Thursday, Nov. 1 at 7:00pm. (Sign up for open mic at 7, readings begin at 7:30). Hosts: Daniela Elza & Timothy Shay. Suggested donation at the door: $5. Our new location is @Cafe Montmartre, 4362 Main Street, Vancouver. All are welcome. More information at www.pandorascollective.com.

CHRIS KRAUS
American writer reads from her new novel Summer of Hate with Marina Roy as respondent. Friday, November 2 at 8:00pm. Western Front, 303 8th Ave. E. More information at www.front.bc.ca.

ETERNAL HYDRA
Anton Piatigorsky's fascinating, award-winning play Eternal Hydra will open Touchstone's 2012/13 season. Sex, identity politics and the myth of genius are some of the themes tackled, as the play looks for the truth about the origins of a long lost literary masterpiece. http://www.touchstonetheatre.com/productions/eternal-hydra

CELEBRATE SCIENCE
The third annual Celebrate Science, a Festival of Science Writers for Children and Youth-and Canada's only science writer's festival-will be held November 3rd at UBC's Beaty Biodiversity Museum, in conjunction with Family Science Day. Events include a panel discussion with top science writers for children, a keynote speech and introduction by the Dean of Education, and storytelling for younger children as well as hands on science activities. The event is free and open to the public and includes admission to the Beaty Museum. http://blogs.ubc.ca/celebratescience.

TEEN AUTHORS TELL ALL
Young-adult authors Eileen Cook, Denis Jaden, Catherine Knutsson, Joëlle Anthony, and Mindi Scott read excerpts from their books and talk about the behind-the-scenes truth of publishing. Saturday, November 3 at 1:00pm, free. North Vancouver City Library, 120 14th St. W. More information at www.nvcl.ca.

LLOYD ROBERTSON
legendary broadcaster and the longest-serving TV news anchor in Canadian history, talks about his extraordinary career and the fascinating anecdotes shared in his memoir, The Kind of Life It's Been. Saturday, November 3 at 2:00pm. Chapters Granville, 2505 Granville St., Vancouver. More information at 604-731-7822.

LEMONY SNICKET
"Who Could That Be at This Hour?" is Lemony Snicket's autobiographical account of his childhood and is the first book in the new series called All the Wrong Questions. Don't miss hearing all the truth (and more) from Lemony himself. Tuesday, November 6 at 6:30pm. Cost: $5. West Point Grey United Church sanctuary, 4595 8th Ave. W. More information at www.kidsbooks.

JOURNEY WITH NO MAPS
Author Sandra Djwa presents her biography of poet and artist P.K. Page. Wednesday, November 7 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen & Peter Kaye rooms, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at www.vpl.ca.

111 WEST COAST LITERARY PORTRAITS
Photographer Barry Peterson discusses his new book that featuring rare portraits of writers who have lived in B.C., accompanied by excerpts of their writing. Guest writers will also speak at the event. Wednesday, November 7 at 7:00pm, free. McGill branch, Burnaby Public Library, 4595 Albert St. For more information and to register, phone 604-299-8955.

VANCOUVER BOOK CLUB
Discussion with Billie Livingston about her recent novel One Good Hustle, one of the 10 finalists for the B.C./Yukon Canada Reads 2013 selection. Thursday, November 8 at 7:00pm, free. the Prophouse Cafe, 1636 Venables. More information at 604-733-5665.

KATE BRAID
BC poet and author launches her new memoir Joureywoman: Swinging a Hammer in a Man's World. Friday, November 9 at 7:00pm. Canadian Memorial Centre for Peace, 1825 16th Ave. W., Vancouver. More information at 604-885-9194.

2012 ALCUIN BOOK AUCTION
The Alcuin Society will hold an auction of new books submitted to the Awards for Excellence in Book Design in Canada in March, 2012, as well as books which won awards in 2011. Saturday, November 10 at 11:00am. Cost: $18 and includes a light lunch. University Golf Club, 5185 University Blvd., Vancouver. For reservations, email awards@alcuinsociety.com.

DEAD POETS READING SERIES
Readings of works by Robin Blaser, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Robert Hayden, Glyn Hughes and Roy Kiyooka. Sunday, November 11 at 3:00pm. Admission by donation. Project Space, 222 East Georgia Street. More information at deadpoetslive.com.

Upcoming

JEEGAREH MA
Author Rahela Nayebzadah reads from her new book. Tuesday, November 13 at 6:30pm, free. Tommy Douglas branch, Burnaby Public Library, 7311 Kingsway, Burnaby. More information at www.bpl.bc.ca.

GARRY THOMAS MORSE
Writer Garry Thomas Morse reads from his new book of fiction Minor Episodes/Major Ruckus, concerning surrealist and speculative genres. Wednesday, November 14 at 7:00pm, free. Peter Kaye room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at www.vpl.ca.

CARRIE MAC
Reading by the award-winning author of teen novels ‘The Opposite of Tidy', 'The Beckoners', 'The Gryphon Project', the Triskelia trilogy, and others. Wednesday, November 14 at 7:00pm, free. McGill branch, Burnaby Public Library, 4595 Albert St. More information at 604-297-4803.

JACQUELINE PEARCE
Meet the author of The Truth About Rats (and Dogs), Dog House Blues, The Reunion and The Trickster. Monday, November 19 at 1:30pm. Newton Library, SPL, 13795 70 Ave., Surrey. More information at 604-598-7408.

PLAY CHTHONICS
Readings by Garry Thomas Morse and Brad Cran. Wednesday, November 21 at 5:00pm. Piano lounge, Green College, UBC.

ROBSON READING SERIES
Readings by Dani Couture (Algoma) and Julie Wilson (Seen Reading). Thursday, November 22 at 7:00pm, free. UBC Bookstore at Robson Square, 800 Robson Street, Plaza level. More information at www.robsonreadingseries.ubc.ca.

MARGARET ATWOOD: WRITING THE FUTURE
The Canadian author explores whether or not one can write about the future, why prophecy is dodgy, and the meaning of the zombie apocalypse. Thursday, November 22 at 8:00pm. Chan Centre for the Performing Arts, 6265 Crescent Road. More information at www.terry.ubc.ca.

JEWISH BOOK FESTIVAL
28th annual Cherie Smith JCC Jewish Book Festival. Featuring Maya Arad, Stan Coren, Deborah Hodge, Sayed Kashua and many other. November 24-29, 2012. For complete details, visit jccgv.ca.

A READING
Authors John Francis Hughes and George Bowering read from their recent non-fiction collections Nobody Rides for Free: a Drifter in the Americas and The Diamond Alphabet: Baseball in Shorts. Wednesday, November 28 at 7:00pm, free. Meeting room, level 3, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street. More information at www.vpl.ca.

CARMEN AGUIRRE
Reading by the author of Something Fierce: Memoirs of a Revolutionary Daughter. Wednesday, November 28 at 7:00pm. North Vancouver City Library, 120 14th Street W., North Vancouver.