Book News Vol. 8 No. 39

BOOK NEWS

SPECIAL EVENT

Jung Chang
The best-selling author of the books Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China and Mao: The Unknown Story talks about her groundbreaking new biography, Empress Dowager Cixi. Sponsored by SFU Library Services. Event details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/jungchang

SPECIAL FOR BOOK CLUBS! $16 per person, minimum of 5 people, book by phone only at 604-629-8849.

Thursday, November 21 at 7:30pm
Waterfront Theatre
1412 Cartwright Street, Granville Island

Khaled Hosseini
The author of The Kite Runner talks about his latest book, And the Mountains Echoed. Event details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/khaledhosseini.

SPECIAL FOR BOOK CLUBS! $16 per person, minimum of 5 people, book by phone only at 604-629-8849.

Thursday, December 5 at 7:30pm
St. Andrew's-Wesley United Church
Burrard at Nelson

FESTIVAL

The 29th annual JCC Jewish Book Festival

The JCC Jewish Book Festival (Nov 23-28, 2013) presents an exciting roster of writers from across Canada, the US, and Israel. Featured 2013 Festival authors include opening night gala event headliner Sheila Heti, the Libidos Unleashed panel with Abe Morgentaler (Why Men Fake It: The Unexpected Truth About Men and Sex) and Daniel Bergner (What Women Want: Adventures in the Science of Female Desire).

Complete details at jewishbookfestival.ca.

AWARDS & LISTS

The Governor General's Literary Awards have been announced, and two of this year's Writers Fest authors have taken home prizes! Eleanor Catton won the English-language fiction award for The Luminaries, while Teresa Toten won the children's literature prize for The Unlikely Hero of room 13B. Find out more about all the winners, here:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/terrific-storyteller-eleanor-catton-nabs-governor-generals-literary-award/article15400603/

American author Claire Vaye Watkins has won the Dylan Thomas Prize for her short story collection, Battleborn. The prize is awarded to the best book by an author under the age of thirty.
http://www.dylanthomasprize.com/documents/DTP-2013-winner-FINAL.pdf

YOUNG READERS

Publisher's Weekly has released its list of the 50 best children's books of the year.
http://www.publishersweekly.com/paper-copy/by-topic/childrens/childrens-book-news/article/59926-pw-s-best-children-s-books-of-2013.html

NEWS & FEATURES

Books can provide a fascinating window into the past. In this article, historical novelist Maria McCann chooses her ten favourite accounts of 18th century London, a city overrun by "alcoholism, gambling, card sharps, pick-pockets, priggers, highwaymen, bullies and mohocks".
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/nov/06/best-books-18th-century-london-maria-mccann

It's the centennial of Marcel Proust's Swann's Way, and the city of New York is celebrating in unique fashion: "by bringing Proust's endlessly subdividing sentences, microscopic self-consciousness and, yes, plenty of madeleines to seven Proust-appropriate locations across New York City."
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/08/books/celebrating-the-centennial-of-prousts-swanns-way.html

Aldous Huxley died fifty years ago this month. What would he make of the way we consume popular media and culture? Adam Kirsch and Jennifer Szalai discuss the subject, here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/10/books/review/what-would-aldous-huxley-make-of-the-way-we-consume-media-and-popular-culture.html

How does an author's drink of choice perfume the pages of a novel? "Fitzgerald's very language is redolent of the gin rickey; Kerouac stinks of tequila; Chandler of gimlets; Hemingway of mojitos and red wine...and then there is Faulkner, the poet laureate of corn whiskey." Robert Moor reflects on the Faulkner he discovered while working at the Kings County Distillery.
http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2013/10/23/faulkners-cocktail-of-choice/

Have you ever considered living in a library? At New York University, where even subsidized graduate student housing can cost between $19,708 and $25,354, it's a fact of life for many students. Find out more about the accidental dormitory that is NYU's Bobst Library, here:
http://observer.com/2013/10/the-new-homeless-inside-the-accidental-dormitory-that-is-nyus-bobst-library/

What happens to books when they die? "Discarded books from the old Birmingham central library have been given a new life after being transformed into works of art and put on display at the new Library of Birmingham."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-24825340

Here's a little whimsy for you: a collection of literary-themed wedding cakes. From Game of Thrones to The Cat and the Hat, there are some real butter and sugar-laced gems to be enjoyed.
http://bookriot.com/2013/11/06/sweetest-sweets-bookish-wedding-cakes/

On a more serious note, this week's Guardian Poem of the week commemorates Remembrance Day. In We Hear Larks, soldiers arriving home to camp after an evening of fighting are surprised by birdsong.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2013/nov/11/poem-week-returning-we-hear-larks-isaac-rosenberg

How did they move books back in the day? If you were Columbia University, you would use a giant slide, apparently! And it turns out that book slides are more common than you might think. Learn about a few, here:
http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2013/11/08/the-great-columbia-book-slide-of-1934/

Is this the year of the short story? Now that Alice Munro has won the Nobel, and Lynn Coady the Gilller, things are looking up for writers of short fiction. According to the Toronto Star, it's a brave new world out there.
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/2013/11/08/have_alice_munro_and_lynn_coady_ushered_in_year_of_the_short_story.html

What effect has recent government surveillance had on free expression in the literary world? The PEN American Center has just released a disturbing report which reveals that self-censorship among authors is on the rise. Is Henry Miller's notion that "you cannot eliminate an idea by suppressing it" still valid today?
http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-pen-survey-nsa-surveillance -curbs-writers-20131112,0,1696567.story

BOOKS & WRITERS

Which dead author would you like to go on a date with? For Sherman Alexie, it would be Dorothy Parker! Why? Because he would like to "get verbally eviscerated."
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/10/books/review/sherman-alexie-by-the-book.html

On this week's Guardian Books podcast, William Boyd talks about the troubled soul of Ian Fleming's James Bond, and the pleasures and perils of taking on the 007 franchise. He also reads from his new James Bond novel, Solo.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/audio/2013/nov/08/james-bond-william-boyd-podcast

In Amsterdam, Russell Shorto writes the history of what he considers to be "the World's Most Liberal City". The book fuses large cultural trends with small, intimately personal tales, from the memories of Anne Frank's childhood friend to the concept of collectivity.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/11/books/amsterdam-by-russell-shorto.html

If you're a fan of Emily Carr, you might be interested in this new book about her friend and sketching partner Edythe Hembroff-Schleicher. It's the sixth in a series devoted to unheralded BC artists, and features more than 100 rarely seen paintings, prints and photographs.
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/books/Unheralded+artist+brought+light/9143493/story.html#ixzz2kLyJqOUU

Elizabeth Gilbert has gotten a lot of press lately for her new novel, The Signature of All Things, which breaks the stereotypes of many of her previous ones (hint: it's not self-help). In this article, she shares one of her all-time favourite passages in literature, written by a literary outsider named Jack Gilbert.
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/11/the-stubborn-gladness-of-elizabeth-gilberts-favorite-poet/281158/

Have you ever read any Arctic Poetry? Dan O'Brien has created a series of poems entitled Arctic Graffiti, "about untangled seal guts, elusive hares and Inuit sculptors in the Arctic tundra". They're all being featured in Geist, and you can read them here:
http://www.geist.com/fact/poetry/walk-in-the-arctic/#sthash.i9Hkt6XW.dpuf

It's a good time to be Lynn Coady, now that she's won the Giller Prize. The presses are rumbling to reprint many of her books, a lovely boon, since her last one (which one the prize) apparently arose out of writer's block.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/after-the-giller-presses-are-rumbling-with-lynn-coady-reprints/article15350004/?ts=131111104104&ord=1

Margaret MacMillan has written a follow-up to her highly successful book, Paris 1919. Called The War that Ended Peace, it "offers an equally evocative recasting of the interplay of European diplomats, emperors and senior military officers all manoeuvring for power and prestige in the years of peace before all-out war in 1914."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/the-war-that-ended-peace-historian-margaret-macmillan-deftly-reconsiders-the-great-wars-inevitability/article15347392/

COMMUNITY EVENTS

LOVE AND WAR
Mother Tongue Publishing presents the brilliant debut fiction from two exciting new literary voices, Kathryn Para (Lucky: A Novel) and Eufemia Fantetti (A Recipe for Disaster and Other Unlikely Tales of Love). Friday, November 15 at 3:30pm, free. Alma VanDusen & Peter Kaye rooms, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.

TOO TRUE
Acclaimed BC poets, Elizabeth Bachinsky, Marita Dachsel, Amber Dawn, and Jennica Harper will read from their most recent books and engage in a discussion about the nature of truth in poetry, mining biography and autobiography in their works, and whether or not it is possible to be too true. Friday, November 15 at 7:30pm, free. Goldcorp Centre for the Arts. More information at sfuwoodwards.ca.

ROYAL CITY POETS ANTHOLOGY
Book launch presented by Silver Bow Publishing, hosted by Candice James and Janet Kvammen. Saturday, November 16 at 1:00pm. The Heritage Grill, 447 Columbia Street, New Westminster. More information at rclas.com.

BOWEN ISLAND AUTHOR READING SERIES
Readings by Leilah Nadir (The Orange Trees of Baghdad) and Kathy Para (Lucky: A Novel). Saturday, November 16 at 7:30pm. Gallery @ Artisan Square, Bowen Island. More information at biac.ca.

BOOK LAUNCH
Launch of author Michael Hetherington's first novel, The Playing Card. Tuesday, November 19 at 6:00pm, free. The Paper Hound Bookshop, 344 West Pender, Vancouver. More information at passfieldpress.ca.

THIS DAY IN VANCOUVER
Launch of Jesse Donaldson's latest book. Also Lani Russwurm's book Vancouver Was Awesome. Tuesday, November 19 at 7:00pm, free. The Portside Pub, 7 Alexander Street, Vancouver. More information at cynara@arsenalpulp.com.

SPOKEN INK
Readings by Bonnie Nish and Dennis E. Bolen. Tuesday, November 19 at 8:00pm. La Fontana Caffe, 101-3701 East Hastings, Burnaby.

LUNCH POEMS AT SFU
Dennis E. Bolen and Fiona Tinwei Lam featured at Nov 20 "Lunch Poems at SFU." Presented by SFU Public Square, 12-1pm in SFU Harbour Centre's Teck Gallery (515 W Hastings St.). Free admission, no registration required. For more information visit www.sfu.ca/publicsquare/lunchpoems.

PLAY CHTHONICS
Readings by Daniel Zomparelli and David McGimpsey. Wednesday, November 20 at 5:00pm. Green College, UBC, 6201 Cecil Green Park Road. More information at greencollege.ubc.ca.

DAVID ZIEROTH
The Governor General Award-winning poet and author will read from The November Optimist and talk about working with Gaspereau Press and about his own initiative, The Alfred Gustav Press. Wednesday, November 20 at 7:00pm, free. Peter Kaye room, Central Library, 350 West Georgia Street. More information at www.vpl.ca.

LITERASIAN
Inaugural literASIAN: A Festival of Pacific Rim Asian Canadian Writing featuring a weekend of readings, workshops, panel discussions and book launches. November 21 to 24, 2013. UBC Learning Exchange, 612 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at asiancanadianwriters.ca.

ANDREW NIKIFORUK ON THE FATE OF HYDROCARBON CULTURE
Author of The Tar Sands and The Energy of Slaves: Oil and the New Servitude, acclaimed writer Andrew Nikiforuk will give this year's Ericson Lecture on "Energy Slaves and the Fate of Hydrocarbon Culture." Thursday November 21 at 4:30pm, free. Cecil Green Park House, UBC. Part of the Utopia/Dystopia lecture series organized by UBC's Creative Writing Program and Green College. More information http://www.greencollege.ubc.ca/index/spotlight508.php.

JANIE CHANG
Janie Chang discusses her novel Three Souls. Thursday, November 21 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.

POETRY PLEASE!
Tiffany Stone and Robert Heidbreder, two well-known BC children's poets whose published works include Rainbow Shoes, Floyd the Flamingo and His Flock of Friends, Black and Bittern Was Night and Crocodiles Play, will take you on a poetic ride. You will listen to poetry, act it out, read it, write your own poems, and discover some criteria for choosing and writing poetry with your class. Friday November 22 at the University Golf Club. Co-sponsored by CWILL. Early bird rates end October 31. For registration and information, go to www.vclr.ca.

AN EVENING OF POETRY AND FICTION
Readings from Memoria: An Anthology of Portuguese Canadian Writers. Friday, November 22 at 6:00pm. Cottage Bistro, 4470 Main Street, Vancouver.

DENISE CHONG
Launch of the author's new book Lives of the Family: Stories of Fate and Circumstance. Friday, November 22 at 7:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.

RAWI HAGE
A special evening with Vancouver Public Library's writer in residence Rawi Hage. Monday, November 25 at 7:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.

JOE CLARK
Pacific Arbour Speaker Series presents Joe Clark, the former Prime Minister weighs in on Canada's future from his own unique perspective. Monday, November 25 @ 7:30pm. Tickets $12/$10, BlueShore Financial Centre for the Performing Arts, Capilano University, 2055 Purcell Way, North Vancouver. Tix & Info: 604.990.7810 / capilanou.ca/centre.

Upcoming

JACQUELINE WINDH
Book reading and slide show of Hai kur mamashu chis, a collection of stories recounted by Cristina Calderón and her late sister Ursula Calderón. Wednesday, November 27 at 6:30pm, free. Banyen Books & Sound, 3608 4th Ave. W., Vancouver. More information at jacquelinewindh.com.

CHARLES VAN SANDWYK
An evening with internationally acclaimed artist and author. Wednesday, November 27 at 6:30pm, free. 32 Books & Gallery, 3185 Edgemont Blvd, North Vancouver. More information and RSVP at 604-980-9032.

IAN RANKIN
Meet bestselling author Ian Rankin as he talks and signs copies of his new book, Saints of the Shadow Bible, featuring Rebus and Malcolm Fox working together for the first time. Wednesday, November 27 at 7:00pm. Chapters Robson, 788 Robson Street, Vancouver.

TWISTED POETS LITERARY SALON
Features Pam Galloway and Sylvia Taylor plus open mic. Thursday, November 28 at 7:00pm. Suggested donation at the door: $5. The Cottage Bistro, 4468 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at www.pandorascollective.com.

LUNCH POEMS AT SFU
Jordan Abel and Nicole Markotic featured at Dec 18 "Lunch Poems at SFU." Presented by SFU Public Square, 12-1pm in SFU Harbour Centre's Teck Gallery (515 W Hastings St.). Free admission, no registration required. For more information visit www.sfu.ca/publicsquare/lunchpoems.

F.G. BRESSANI LITERARY PRIZE
IL CENTRO Italian Cultural Centre is thrilled to announce the publication of the Rules & Regulations for the 2014 Edition of the F.G. Bressani Literary Prize. The literary prize honours and promotes the work of Canadian writers of Italian origin or Italian descent. Deadline: April 2, 2014. Complete details can be found here: http://italianculturalcentre.ca/blog/bressani-literary-prize/.

ICELAND WRITERS RETREAT
The Iceland Writers Retreat invites published and aspiring book writers (fiction and non-fiction) to participate in a series of workshops and panels led by a team of international writers from April 9-13, 2014 including Joseph Boyden. Between intimate workshops and lectures tour the spectacular Golden Circle, sit in the cozy cafés of Reykjavik, soak in hot geothermal pools, listen to new Icelandic music, and learn about the country's rich literary tradition. More information at www.IcelandWritersRetreat.com.