BOOK NEWS
AWARDS & LISTS
Writers Fest author J.B. MacKinnon has received another book award nod. He has just been named to the shortlist for the BC National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction.
http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2013/12/12/j-b-mackinnon-gets-another-book-award-nod/
In fact, it's a double whammy week for MacKinnon. He's also been nominated this week for the $25,000 RBC Taylor Prize for his book The Once and Future World: Nature As It Was, As It Is, As It Could Be.
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/books/Vancouver+author+makes+Taylor+Prize+long+list/9275288/story.html
YOUNG READERS
From bizarre fantasy to Middle Eastern romance, here are four new books for young adults that are worth checking out. One is a final book in a wildly popular dystopian trilogy, and another has been described as "heartbreaker of a story...about two young women in love in Iran."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/book-reviews/from-weird-fantasy-to-iranian-romance-four-books-for-young-adults/article15948460/
NEWS & FEATURES
The first prison memoir ever written by an African-American has been uncovered in upstate New York. The Life and Adventures of a Haunted Convict, or the Inmate of a Gloomy Prison, tells the tale of Austin Reed, a prisoner from the 1830s to the 1850s. Though he was born a free man, the book reveals "the deep connection between the history of slavery and the history of incarceration."
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/12/books/prison-memoir-of-a-black-man-in-the-1850s.html
What does it mean to publish short novels in the digital age? Are they a sign of the times, a nod to the internet's "too long; didn't read" syndrome, or a genre that's doomed to fail in competition with "doorstop" classics, since "now with a Kindle or iPad, War and Peace takes up no more space in your bag than a dime-store romance would?"
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/the-little-book-a-nod-to-the-internets-too-long-didnt-read-syndrome/article15956764/
And what about small presses? "I think books are becoming an increasingly strange object in the same way vinyl records are now strange objects... We believe in the subtle art of subtraction....Publishing fewer titles, but very fine ones," says Callie Collins of the new literary press, A Strange Object.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/15/us/the-literary-journal-and-the-small-press-live-on-in-austin.html
The Christmas season always brings about nostalgia for Victorian literature, especially Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. But, according to Colin Fleming, there's a different Dickens book we should be looking at too: The Signal Man.
http://www.thesmartset.com/article/article12131301.aspx
Though December is a season of merrymaking, it's also one of reflection. In this Guardian piece, Peter Leonard reflects on the death of his father, Elmore Leonard, who passed away this year, and whom he describes as the "coolest guy I knew".
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/dec/13/elmore-leonard-obituary-son-peter-leonard
In the wake of Nelson Mandela's death, Binyavanga Wainaina, author of How to Write About Africa reflects on the life of another famous African: Chinua Achebe. In relation to both Mandela and Achebe, he writes that "both had the same husky voice and a noble good that trapped them into permanent bronze images hardened by the intense desires of tens of millions".
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/dec/15/chinua-achebe-obituary-binyavanga-wainaina
Cressida Cowell, author of the How to Train Your Dragon novels has launched a Christmas Mini-Challenge scheme to children across the UK. The online scheme encourages kids to check out and recommend favourite books over the holiday season.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/dec/13/christmas-library-reading-challenge-children
The British Library has released over a million images online, as a new inventive way to "navigate, find and display these 'unseen illutrations'". The images come from 17th, 18th and 19th century books, and include maps, geological diagrams, illuminated and decorative letters and landscapes.
http://britishlibrary.typepad.co.uk/digital-scholarship/
"This year may go down in history as the year of the 'selfie', with even world leaders getting in on the act." As a response to all this narcissism, the Guardian newspaper is asking readers to submit 'shelfies', a snapshot of their bookshelves. Contribute here:
http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2013/dec/16/shelfie-show-photo-your-bookshelf
BOOKS & WRITERS
Are you still stuck for shiny presents to stick under the tree? Here's the Georgia Straight's list of glossy books for holiday giving. If you're looking for something local, for masters of nature photography or for something for when you'll all out of ideas, this is the list for you!
http://www.straight.com/life/548611/glossy-books-holiday-giving
The Tyee has also released its list of picks for every quirky reader, from "your buddy the boulevardier" to "that fervent Francophile with fulsome time on her hands".
http://thetyee.ca/Books/2013/12/09/Novel-Christmas-Reads/
What makes a city "happy"? "When thinking of Vancouver's grid-patterned streets, "prison," "colonization" and "hegemony" may not be the first words that come to mind—but that's exactly what the Romans and Assyrians had in mind when they built cities this way millennia ago." Charles Montgomery makes a case for crowd-sourced, non-linear neighbourhoods in his new book, Happy City.
http://thetyee.ca/Books/2013/12/13/Happy-City/
What's your favourite book for comfort reading during these cold, wet winter months? The Guardian Reading Group has chosen Cold Comfort Farm, by Stella Gibbons, "a parody of the doomy, tragic, close-to-the-earth gothic novels of writers like Mary Webb and DH Lawrence, and, earlier, Thomas Hardy".
http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2013/dec/15/comfort-reading-cold-comfort-farm
When John Williams wrote Stoner in the 1960s, it "steered a mid-course between the novelist's fears and his hopes. It was respectably reviewed; it had a reasonable sale; it did not become a bestseller; it went out of print." Now, fifty years later, Stoner has become "a bestseller of the purest kind–one caused almost entirely by word-of-mouth among readers".
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/dec/13/stoner-john-williams-julian-barnes
Russell Banks' sixth story collection has been released, called A Permanent Member of the Family. "Banks has always been a writer of profound morality and conscience; his greatness lies in the fact that he never allows these things to penetrate the surface of his words."
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/2013/12/12/a_permanent_member_of_the_family_by_russell_banks_review.html
For many years, The Paris Review and the Unterberg Poetry Center (at NYC's 92nd Street Y) have teamed together to present onstage literary conversations. Now they're sharing the recordings of these conversations online. The most recent ones feature T.C. Boyle, Martin Amis and Ian McEwan.
http://92yondemand.org/Topic/poetry-center-online/
COMMUNITY EVENTS
DEAD POETS READING SERIES
Five poets/readers/poetry-lovers/writers with extensive public reading experience read poems from one of their favourite dead poets. Sunday, January 12 at 3:00pm, free. Meeting Room, level 3, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street. More information at vpl.ca.
RAILWAY ROCK GANG
Join former BC RAIL Rock Gang foreman Gary Sim for a presentation on his new book. Wednesday, January 15 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street. More information at vpl.ca.
TWISTED POETS LITERARY SALON
Features poets Mariner Janes & Raoul Fernandes plus open mic. Thursday, January 23, 7–9:30pm, at The Cottage Bistro, 4468 Main Street, Vancouver. Suggested donation at the door: $5. Sign up for open mic at 7 pm. More information at www.pandorascollective.com.
SHY: AN ANTHOLOGY
Contributors Sylvia Stopforth, Dhana Musil and Elaine Woo will read. Tuesday, January 28 at 7:00pm, free. McGill Branch, Burnaby Public Library, 4595 Albert Street. More information and registration at 604-299-8955.
WORDSTORM READING SERIES
WordStorm will feature Daniela Elza, Mary Ann Moore and Jan De Grass on Tuesday, January 28th, 7pm, at Demeter's Coffee Vault, 499 Wallace Street,
Nanaimo. More information atwordstorm.ca.
ANNIE PAQUETTE
Author talks about her new memoir, Left, Right, Then Center. Wednesday, January 29 at 7:00pm. Welsh Hall West, West Vancouver Memorial Library, 1950 Marine Drive, West Vancouver. For more information, phone 604-925-7403.
THE ON EDGE READINGS SERIES
Features Gillian Jerome & Daniela Elza, 7pm, Thursday, January 30th, South Building Room 406, Emily Carr University, 1399 Johnston St., Granville Island. Free and open to the public.
Upcoming
GRAFFITI HACK BOOK LAUNCH PARTY
Launch of Elen Ghulam's new book, Graffiti Hack: A Novel. Saturday, February 8 at 7:00pm. The Landing, 375 Water Street, Vancouver. More information at ihath.com.
AUTHORS UNBOUND
An evening of readings of both brand new and established local authors in a variety of genres from poetry to short stories to novels. Monday, February 17 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street. More information at vpl.ca.
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.
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Book News Vol. 8 No. 43
BOOK NEWS
HOLIDAY GIVING
Looking for a special gift for the book-lovers on your list? Look no further! The VWF has gift ideas to bring joy to readers of all persuasions, from gift certificates to memberships.
http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/content/perfect-gifts-book-lovers
AWARDS & LISTS
Congratulations to Vancouverite J.B. Mackinnon and 2013 Festival author Alison Wearing for making the 2014 RBC Taylor Prize-formerly the Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction.
http://arts.nationalpost.com/2013/12/11/longlist-for-rbc-taylor-prize-announced/
The shortlist has been announced for the 2014 Blue Peter Book Awards. What makes this children's book award unique is the fact that the final decision is made by the readers themselves. More than two hundred children from ten schools across the UK will read the shortlisted books and vote for their favourites.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookprizes/10490889/Blue-Peter-Book-Awards-2014-shortlist-announced.html
Speaking of that land across the pond, the Eccles British Library Writer in Residence Award is a prize specifically set up to create a bridge across the Atlantic, "to promote awareness of the British Library collections relating to the U.S. and Canada and to help facilitate the use of these collections." Olivia Laing and Erica Wagner will be beginning their 2014 residency on January 2nd.
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/awards-and-prizes/article/60316-a-book-prize-that-bridges-the-atlantic.html
Alice Munro's daughter has accepted the Nobel Prize for literature on her behalf in Stockholm. "Munro writes about what are usually called ordinary people, but her intelligence, compassion, astonishing power of perception enable her to give their lives a remarkable dignity", said Peter Englund, permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/alice-munros-nobel-prize-ceremony-underway-in-stockholm/article15840842/
YOUNG READERS
Many children have begun their countdown to Christmas, and so have the children's book blogs! Here's an excerpt from the Independent's own children's literature advent calendar. You can check back every day for new features!
http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/12/10/the-children%E2%80%99s-book-blog-christmas-countdown-the-bear%E2%80%99s-winter-house-by-john-yeoman-illustrated-by-quentin-blake/
NEWS & FEATURES
The death of Nelson Mandela was the biggest headline this past week. And though it was his political work that brought him the most renown, he was also an accomplished writer. Here's a chance to remember Nelson Mandela through his books:
http://www.latimes.com/features/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-nelson-mandela-remembered-through-his-books-20130625,0,6466006,print.story
Nadine Gordimer also penned a tribute to the great South African, with whom she had both a personal and a literary relationship. To her, he was "not a figure carved in stone but a tall man, of flesh and blood, whose suffering had made him not vengeful but still more human—even toward the people who had created the prison that was apartheid".
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2013/12/mandela-my-countryman.html
On a much lighter note, The New Yorker has released a list of the best literary feuds of 2013. If you're a fan of gossip, bickering, or good old-fashioned claw-baring, this list is a good reminder that authors, critics and their coterie can be just as bad as the rest of us.
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2013/12/literary-feuds-of-2013.html
Stephen King has joined the twitterati! Despite tweeting that he's "On Twitter at last, and can't think of a thing to say. Some writer I turned out to be", he accumulated 172,258 followers in his first three days.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/dec/09/stephen-king-twitter-170000-followers
We may live in an age of instant online publication, but the old-fashioned tools of the literary trade still pique the interest of many. William Morris' Albion Press No. 6551 exemplifies this exactly, a device made in 1891 to create books that are "essentially a work of art", and which brings with it "the satisfying thwack of handcrafted antiquity".
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/06/arts/design/kelmscott-press-a-thing-of-iron-musculature-is-to-be-sold.html
Speaking of antiquity...after a century of work, the Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources has finally been completed. Seventeen volumes long, with three different editors and a "small army of contributors" who helped bring it to fruition, it is the "first ever comprehensive description of the vocabulary of the Latin language used in Britain and by Britons between AD540 to 1600".
http://www.mhpbooks.com/medieval-dictionary-completed-after-100-years/
A new report has determined that Torontonians receive $5.63 of value for every dollar invested in the Toronto Public Library. Among the findings was the fact that "On average, one open hour at any one of the library's 98 branches generates $2,515 in benefits for the city of Toronto".
http://www.infodocket.com/2013/12/06/new-report-torontonians-receive-5-63-of-value-for-every-dollar-invested-in-toronto-public-library/
Have you ever found yourself baffled by the Western Canon? Chances are you might be, if you're a woman. This is especially the case with writers from the mid-20th century, whom Emily Gould calls "midcentury misogynists". In this article, women writers talk about how infuriating it can be to read Kerouac, Bukowski, Roth and Mailer.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2013/12/09/in_no_regrets_women_writers_talk_about_what_it_was_like_to_read_literature.html
After Alice Munro's Nobel Prize win, it should come as no surprise to many that her books have seen a significant spike in sales. In Canada, alone, they have increased by 4,424 percent!
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/books/Alice+Munro+titles+spike+sales+after+Nobel/9265675/story.html#ixzz2n62kvR3x
And Alice's win was just one of many boons to the Canadian, and even more specifically, British Columbian, publishing scene. The Vancouver Sun highlights the biggest West Coast book news of the year, here:
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/books/2013+year+changes+publishing/9256914/story.html
Jane Urquhart reflects on Alice Munro's legacy, as well as their shared origins, and even, occasionally, shared days, in rural Ontario. "As she receives the Nobel Prize for literature we should all remember her father's statement...without the example of her spectacular work, without the encouragement of her brilliant attention to us, his book, and many other books, would not, could not have been written".
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/without-alice-munros-spectacular-work-many-books-would-not-have-been-written/article15840502/
BOOKS & WRITERS
Alice Munro was not able to attend the Nobel Prize ceremony this year. However, her Nobel Lecture in Literature was replaced by a pre-recorded video conversation called "Alice Munro: In her Own Words". You can watch the thirty-minute video here:
http://www.nobelprize.org/mediaplayer/index.php?id=1973
The Globe Books Gift Guide is out, with twenty-seven ideas for the book lovers in your life! For a taste of the most lavish and delicious literature, stunning photography collections, and books for art lovers and music fans alike, click here:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/holiday-guide/gift-guides-shopping/the-globe-books-2013-gift-guide-27-ideas-for-the-book-lover-in-your-life/article15806684/
Kansas City Lightning: The Rise and Times of Charlie Parker and Duke: A Life of Duke Ellington have been described as "the two best music books this fall". Chronicling the lives and times of two great jazz icons, the author believes that this is an indication "that rumours of the death of jazz are highly exaggerated".
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/groovin-high-jazz-is-alive-and-well-on-the-printed-page/article15801462/
The much-anticipated volume of Emily Dickinson's envelope poems, called The Gorgeous Nothings, has finally been published. It's a visual phenomenon, the first book devoted to full-color, actual-size facsimiles of a specific body of her work.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/06/books/the-gorgeous-nothings-shows-dickinsons-envelope-poems.html
"I'm a writer who hustled. I'm not a hustler who wrote. I don't think this happens to other writers. Why should their subjects dominate their identity?" So says John Rechy in an interview with Slate, after the publication of a 50th-anniversary edition of City of Night, his landmark novel about a young hustler who travels the country plying his trade.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2013/12/09/city_of_night_a_hustler_s_story_an_interview_with_john_rechy.html
Who are today's most influential writers? American Author Wally Lamb reflects on this, and more, in an interview with the Globe and Mail.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/wally-lamb-on-the-writers-who-shaped-him-dave-eggers-is-influential/article15804222/
COMMUNITY EVENTS
GRANT LAWRENCE
West Vancouver-raised CBC Radio broadcaster, musician and award-winning author will read from his new memoir, The Lonely End of the Rink: Confessions of a Reluctant Goalie. Sunday, December 15 at 2;30pm. West Vancouver Memorial Library, 1950 Marine Drive, West Vancouver. For more information, phone 604-925-7403.
P.W. BRIDGMAN
Author reads from his new book Standing at an Angle to My Age. Tuesday, December 17 at 8:00pm. La Fontana Caffe, 101-3701 East Hastings, Burnaby.
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.
DEAD POETS READING SERIES
Five poets/readers/poetry-lovers/writers with extensive public reading experience read poems from one of their favourite dead poets. Sunday, January 12 at 3:00pm, free. Meeting Room, level 3, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street. More information at vpl.ca.
RAILWAY ROCK GANG
Join former BC RAIL Rock Gang foreman Gary Sim for a presentation on his new book. Wednesday, January 15 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street. More information at vpl.ca.
Upcoming
SHY: AN ANTHOLOGY
Contributors Sylvia Stopforth, Dhana Musil and Elaine Woo will read. Tuesday, January 28 at 7:00pm, free. McGill Branch, Burnaby Public Library, 4595 Albert Street. More information and registration at 604-299-8955.
ANNIE PAQUETTE
Author talks about her new memoir, Left, Right, Then Center. Wednesday, January 29 at 7:00pm. Welsh Hall West, West Vancouver Memorial Library, 1950 Marine Drive, West Vancouver. For more information, phone 604-925-7403.
GRAFFITI HACK BOOK LAUNCH PARTY
Launch of Elen Ghulam's new book, Graffiti Hack: A Novel. Saturday, February 8 at 7:00pm. The Landing, 375 Water Street, Vancouver. More information at ihath.com.
AUTHORS UNBOUND
An evening of readings of both brand new and established local authors in a variety of genres from poetry to short stories to novels. Monday, February 17 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street. More information at vpl.ca.
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.
HOLIDAY GIVING
Looking for a special gift for the book-lovers on your list? Look no further! The VWF has gift ideas to bring joy to readers of all persuasions, from gift certificates to memberships.
http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/content/perfect-gifts-book-lovers
AWARDS & LISTS
Congratulations to Vancouverite J.B. Mackinnon and 2013 Festival author Alison Wearing for making the 2014 RBC Taylor Prize-formerly the Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction.
http://arts.nationalpost.com/2013/12/11/longlist-for-rbc-taylor-prize-announced/
The shortlist has been announced for the 2014 Blue Peter Book Awards. What makes this children's book award unique is the fact that the final decision is made by the readers themselves. More than two hundred children from ten schools across the UK will read the shortlisted books and vote for their favourites.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookprizes/10490889/Blue-Peter-Book-Awards-2014-shortlist-announced.html
Speaking of that land across the pond, the Eccles British Library Writer in Residence Award is a prize specifically set up to create a bridge across the Atlantic, "to promote awareness of the British Library collections relating to the U.S. and Canada and to help facilitate the use of these collections." Olivia Laing and Erica Wagner will be beginning their 2014 residency on January 2nd.
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/awards-and-prizes/article/60316-a-book-prize-that-bridges-the-atlantic.html
Alice Munro's daughter has accepted the Nobel Prize for literature on her behalf in Stockholm. "Munro writes about what are usually called ordinary people, but her intelligence, compassion, astonishing power of perception enable her to give their lives a remarkable dignity", said Peter Englund, permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/alice-munros-nobel-prize-ceremony-underway-in-stockholm/article15840842/
YOUNG READERS
Many children have begun their countdown to Christmas, and so have the children's book blogs! Here's an excerpt from the Independent's own children's literature advent calendar. You can check back every day for new features!
http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/12/10/the-children%E2%80%99s-book-blog-christmas-countdown-the-bear%E2%80%99s-winter-house-by-john-yeoman-illustrated-by-quentin-blake/
NEWS & FEATURES
The death of Nelson Mandela was the biggest headline this past week. And though it was his political work that brought him the most renown, he was also an accomplished writer. Here's a chance to remember Nelson Mandela through his books:
http://www.latimes.com/features/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-nelson-mandela-remembered-through-his-books-20130625,0,6466006,print.story
Nadine Gordimer also penned a tribute to the great South African, with whom she had both a personal and a literary relationship. To her, he was "not a figure carved in stone but a tall man, of flesh and blood, whose suffering had made him not vengeful but still more human—even toward the people who had created the prison that was apartheid".
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2013/12/mandela-my-countryman.html
On a much lighter note, The New Yorker has released a list of the best literary feuds of 2013. If you're a fan of gossip, bickering, or good old-fashioned claw-baring, this list is a good reminder that authors, critics and their coterie can be just as bad as the rest of us.
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2013/12/literary-feuds-of-2013.html
Stephen King has joined the twitterati! Despite tweeting that he's "On Twitter at last, and can't think of a thing to say. Some writer I turned out to be", he accumulated 172,258 followers in his first three days.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/dec/09/stephen-king-twitter-170000-followers
We may live in an age of instant online publication, but the old-fashioned tools of the literary trade still pique the interest of many. William Morris' Albion Press No. 6551 exemplifies this exactly, a device made in 1891 to create books that are "essentially a work of art", and which brings with it "the satisfying thwack of handcrafted antiquity".
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/06/arts/design/kelmscott-press-a-thing-of-iron-musculature-is-to-be-sold.html
Speaking of antiquity...after a century of work, the Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources has finally been completed. Seventeen volumes long, with three different editors and a "small army of contributors" who helped bring it to fruition, it is the "first ever comprehensive description of the vocabulary of the Latin language used in Britain and by Britons between AD540 to 1600".
http://www.mhpbooks.com/medieval-dictionary-completed-after-100-years/
A new report has determined that Torontonians receive $5.63 of value for every dollar invested in the Toronto Public Library. Among the findings was the fact that "On average, one open hour at any one of the library's 98 branches generates $2,515 in benefits for the city of Toronto".
http://www.infodocket.com/2013/12/06/new-report-torontonians-receive-5-63-of-value-for-every-dollar-invested-in-toronto-public-library/
Have you ever found yourself baffled by the Western Canon? Chances are you might be, if you're a woman. This is especially the case with writers from the mid-20th century, whom Emily Gould calls "midcentury misogynists". In this article, women writers talk about how infuriating it can be to read Kerouac, Bukowski, Roth and Mailer.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2013/12/09/in_no_regrets_women_writers_talk_about_what_it_was_like_to_read_literature.html
After Alice Munro's Nobel Prize win, it should come as no surprise to many that her books have seen a significant spike in sales. In Canada, alone, they have increased by 4,424 percent!
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/books/Alice+Munro+titles+spike+sales+after+Nobel/9265675/story.html#ixzz2n62kvR3x
And Alice's win was just one of many boons to the Canadian, and even more specifically, British Columbian, publishing scene. The Vancouver Sun highlights the biggest West Coast book news of the year, here:
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/books/2013+year+changes+publishing/9256914/story.html
Jane Urquhart reflects on Alice Munro's legacy, as well as their shared origins, and even, occasionally, shared days, in rural Ontario. "As she receives the Nobel Prize for literature we should all remember her father's statement...without the example of her spectacular work, without the encouragement of her brilliant attention to us, his book, and many other books, would not, could not have been written".
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/without-alice-munros-spectacular-work-many-books-would-not-have-been-written/article15840502/
BOOKS & WRITERS
Alice Munro was not able to attend the Nobel Prize ceremony this year. However, her Nobel Lecture in Literature was replaced by a pre-recorded video conversation called "Alice Munro: In her Own Words". You can watch the thirty-minute video here:
http://www.nobelprize.org/mediaplayer/index.php?id=1973
The Globe Books Gift Guide is out, with twenty-seven ideas for the book lovers in your life! For a taste of the most lavish and delicious literature, stunning photography collections, and books for art lovers and music fans alike, click here:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/holiday-guide/gift-guides-shopping/the-globe-books-2013-gift-guide-27-ideas-for-the-book-lover-in-your-life/article15806684/
Kansas City Lightning: The Rise and Times of Charlie Parker and Duke: A Life of Duke Ellington have been described as "the two best music books this fall". Chronicling the lives and times of two great jazz icons, the author believes that this is an indication "that rumours of the death of jazz are highly exaggerated".
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/groovin-high-jazz-is-alive-and-well-on-the-printed-page/article15801462/
The much-anticipated volume of Emily Dickinson's envelope poems, called The Gorgeous Nothings, has finally been published. It's a visual phenomenon, the first book devoted to full-color, actual-size facsimiles of a specific body of her work.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/06/books/the-gorgeous-nothings-shows-dickinsons-envelope-poems.html
"I'm a writer who hustled. I'm not a hustler who wrote. I don't think this happens to other writers. Why should their subjects dominate their identity?" So says John Rechy in an interview with Slate, after the publication of a 50th-anniversary edition of City of Night, his landmark novel about a young hustler who travels the country plying his trade.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2013/12/09/city_of_night_a_hustler_s_story_an_interview_with_john_rechy.html
Who are today's most influential writers? American Author Wally Lamb reflects on this, and more, in an interview with the Globe and Mail.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/wally-lamb-on-the-writers-who-shaped-him-dave-eggers-is-influential/article15804222/
COMMUNITY EVENTS
GRANT LAWRENCE
West Vancouver-raised CBC Radio broadcaster, musician and award-winning author will read from his new memoir, The Lonely End of the Rink: Confessions of a Reluctant Goalie. Sunday, December 15 at 2;30pm. West Vancouver Memorial Library, 1950 Marine Drive, West Vancouver. For more information, phone 604-925-7403.
P.W. BRIDGMAN
Author reads from his new book Standing at an Angle to My Age. Tuesday, December 17 at 8:00pm. La Fontana Caffe, 101-3701 East Hastings, Burnaby.
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.
DEAD POETS READING SERIES
Five poets/readers/poetry-lovers/writers with extensive public reading experience read poems from one of their favourite dead poets. Sunday, January 12 at 3:00pm, free. Meeting Room, level 3, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street. More information at vpl.ca.
RAILWAY ROCK GANG
Join former BC RAIL Rock Gang foreman Gary Sim for a presentation on his new book. Wednesday, January 15 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street. More information at vpl.ca.
Upcoming
SHY: AN ANTHOLOGY
Contributors Sylvia Stopforth, Dhana Musil and Elaine Woo will read. Tuesday, January 28 at 7:00pm, free. McGill Branch, Burnaby Public Library, 4595 Albert Street. More information and registration at 604-299-8955.
ANNIE PAQUETTE
Author talks about her new memoir, Left, Right, Then Center. Wednesday, January 29 at 7:00pm. Welsh Hall West, West Vancouver Memorial Library, 1950 Marine Drive, West Vancouver. For more information, phone 604-925-7403.
GRAFFITI HACK BOOK LAUNCH PARTY
Launch of Elen Ghulam's new book, Graffiti Hack: A Novel. Saturday, February 8 at 7:00pm. The Landing, 375 Water Street, Vancouver. More information at ihath.com.
AUTHORS UNBOUND
An evening of readings of both brand new and established local authors in a variety of genres from poetry to short stories to novels. Monday, February 17 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street. More information at vpl.ca.
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.
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Book News Vol. 8 No. 42
BOOK NEWS
HOLIDAY GIVING
Looking for a special gift for the book-lovers on your list? Look no further! The VWF has gift ideas to bring joy to readers of all persuasions, from gift certificates to memberships.
http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/content/perfect-gifts-book-lovers
AWARDS & LISTS
The shortlists for the Costa Book Awards, which reward enjoyability by writers based in the UK and Ireland, have been announced. The all-female fiction shortlist (one of several categories) includes a posthumous nomination for Bernardine Bishop, who wrote three novels with a blaze of energy before her death in July.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/nov/26/costa-book-award-shortlists-2013
The New York Times Book Review has unveiled its Notable Children's Books of 2013 List. This list includes young adult, middle grade and picture books titles.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/08/books/review/notable-childrens-books-of-2013.html
Novelist Gillian Slovo has won the Golden PEN award for 2013. She has written twelve novels and a memoir, Every Secret Thing, which told her parents' story as committed anti-apartheid campaigners. Ironically, she had just recently resigned as president of PEN on grounds of "democratic accountability".
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/dec/03/gillian-slovo-golden-pen-award
YOUNG READERS
"If breakfast is the most important meal of the day, surely the half-hour or so before bed is, for families, the day's most important moment: a time to reflect on the past, plan for tomorrow, and read together." Here are three new picture books that make for great bedtime reading:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/27/books/harriet-zieferts-its-time-to-say-good-night-and-more.html
NEWS & FEATURES
The Guardian has created its own book advent calendar, with daily extracts from Barnaby Rogerson's fascinating Book of Numbers: the Culture of numbers from 1001 Nights to the Seven Wonders of the World. Here's day one:
http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2013/dec/01/books-advent-calendar-1-year-one
What does your favorite book from high school tell you about your life? Check out the Paris Review's High School Literature zodiac, here:
http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2013/11/27/the-high-school-literature-zodiac/
"Homer's Iliad is the first and greatest poetic account of the first type of war. But it is the Odyssey that takes on the second kind: the war of the homecoming." What can Odyssesus' journey tell us about a soldier's road home? How do they cope when conflicts end?
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/nov/30/odyssey-soldier-afghanistan-military-homer
Concordia University has opened a new reading room named after Mordechai Richler. Many of the author's personal possessions were donated, including his tea-stained desk, one of his old typewriters, and some typescripts and personal papers.
http://www.quillandquire.com/blog/index.php/book-news/concordia-opens-mordecai-richler-reading-room/
Three of J.D. Salinger's unpublished stories have been leaked online. Fans are inevitably split on the issue, with some "eager to get at every unpublished word", and others "respectful of their eccentric hero's determination to control his literary legacy from beyond the grave."
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/nov/28/salinger-unpublished-stories-leaked-online
We have already seen many lists of the year's best books. But what about the best book covers? Five eminent book designers make their choices, and two of them are Writers Fest faves!
http://www.quillandquire.com/blog/index.php/books-year/books-of-the-year-2013-designers-choice/attachment/cavepainter/
Are you a fan of e-books? Penguin has just teamed up with Treadmill on a booksharing app that allows e-book readers to share highlights and updates to social media websites.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/nov/28/penguin-sell-ebooks-direct-readmill-app
When Aimee Bender, author of The Color Master, set out to memorize Wallace Stevens' poem "Final Soliloquy Of the Interior Paramour", she found that "much more than the pleasure of learning words by heart—the poem worked a real, physiological magic that surprises her to this day." She discusses her favourite passage in literature, here:
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/11/how-aimee-bender-feels-after-memorizing-a-poem-caffeinated/281861/
Dutch literary star Arnon Grunberg has begun a "literary stunt turned lab experiment that combines the rigor of academic neuroscience with the self-obsessive spirit of the "quantified self" movement, which has inspired people to track (and broadcast) the minutiae of their lives." He's currently writing a novella while attached to electrodes.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/30/books/arnon-grunberg-is-writing-while-connected-to-electrodes.html
BOOKS & WRITERS
The online magazine Slate has chosen its favourite books of 2013. Among the chosen and reviewed are two books by Writers Fest authors: Rachel Kushner's The Flamethrowers, and Amanda Lindhout's A House in the Sky.
http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2013/11/slate_staff_picks_for_best.
Charles Glass' The Deserters: A Hidden History of World War II is a collection of stories about men who fled conflict. According to The Tyee, this book may finally kill the myth of the 'Good War'.
http://thetyee.ca/Books/2013/11/29/Deserters/
What has happened to the art of letter writing? Simon Garfield's To the Letter "is a nostalgic and fretful look at the "lost art" of letter writing. "A world without letters would surely be a world without oxygen," [the author] declares."
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/01/books/review/to-the-letter-by-simon-garfield.html
Harvard professor Leo Damrosch has written a commanding new biography of Jonathan Swift, called Jonathan Swift: His Life and His World. According to The New York Times, it "does ample justice to a figure for whom religion and politics — the world—were even more important than literature and especially the other arts."
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/01/books/review/jonathan-swift-by-leo-damrosch.html
In this month's New Yorker fiction podcast, Jonathan Safran Foer reads Amos Oz's "The King of Norway". The story tells the tale of a kibbutz gardener named Zvi Provizor who is "obsessed with delivering news of disaster and suffering in distant parts of the world."
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2013/12/fiction-podcast-jonathan-safran-foer-reads-amos-oz.html
In Donna Tartt's new novel, The Goldfinch, tragedy strikes New York in the form of a fictional bombing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. A young boy named Theo loses a mother, but in a strange twist of fate, also gains a painting. According to Maureen Corrigan, no other word can describe this novel except 'Dickensian', "both in the ambition of its jumbo, coincidence-laced plot, as well as in its symphonic range of emotions."
http://www.npr.org/2013/10/31/242105656/dickensian-ambition-and-emotion-make-goldfinch-worth-the-wait
Mary Lawson's relationship with her imagination " seems like that between ill-suited spouses...she has to follow him around, even along the garden paths he leads her down, tricking her into thinking it's the right way, only to discover a dead end." She discusses this, and her new novel, Road Ends, here:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/why-novelist-mary-lawsons-imagination-is-like-an-ill-suited-spouse/article15716750/
If you didn't already follow along on Tuesday, Joseph Boyden's book, The Orenda, was featured in this week's Vancouver Sun Book Club live chat. Joseph Boyden participated in the discussion, which you can read here:
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Live+chat+noon+Joseph+Boyden+Orenda/9237221/story.html
COMMUNITY EVENTS
STORY/LINE: MUSIC, POETRY, AND ART
An evening featuring poetry inspired by Larry Wolfson's exhibit Story/Line and music by Tzimmers. Featured poets are Dennis E. Bolen, Chelsea Comeau, Daniela Elza, Christy Hill, Dethe Elza, Natasha Boskic, and Una Bruhns. Dec. 5th, 7-9 pm, at Sidney and Gertrude Zack Gallery, Jewish Community Centre, 950 West 41st Ave, Vancouver. Free admission.
ZAPATOS EN LAS PIEDRAS/SHOES ON THE ROCKS
An evening of storytelling, live music and tango performance with six Latino-Canadian writers. Friday, December 6 at 7:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street. More information at 604-331-3603.
DANIELA ELZA
Daniela Elza will be featuring at Renaissance Books. Sunday, December 8th, 1-3pm, 43-6th Street, New Westminster. This event is free and will also have an open mic portion. http://www.renaissancebookstore.com.
ALIVE AT THE CENTRE
Twisted Poets Literary Salon will be hosting a reading for Alive at the Centre Anthology. Over 20 poets will be reading from the anthology. December 11, 7-9:30pm, at The Cottage Bistro, 4468 Main Street, Vancouver. Hosts: Daniela Elza & Bonnie Nish. Suggested donation at the door: $5. All are welcome. More information at www.pandorascollective.com.
GRANT LAWRENCE
West Vancouver-raised CBC Radio broadcaster, musician and award-winning author will read from his new memoir, The Lonely End of the Rink: Confessions of a Reluctant Goalie. Sunday, December 15 at 2;30pm. West Vancouver Memorial Library, 1950 Marine Drive, West Vancouver. For more information, phone 604-925-7403.
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.
Upcoming
DEAD POETS READING SERIES
Five poets/readers/poetry-lovers/writers with extensive public reading experience read poems from one of their favourite dead poets. Sunday, January 12 at 3:00pm, free. Meeting Room, level 3, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street. More information at vpl.ca.
RAILWAY ROCK GANG
Join former BC RAIL Rock Gang foreman Gary Sim for a presentation on his new book. Wednesday, January 15 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street. More information at vpl.ca.
SHY: AN ANTHOLOGY
Contributors Sylvia Stopforth, Dhana Musil and Elaine Woo will read. Tuesday, January 28 at 7:00pm, free. McGill Branch, Burnaby Public Library, 4595 Albert Street. More information and registration at 604-299-8955.
AUTHORS UNBOUND
An evening of readings of both brand new and established local authors in a variety of genres from poetry to short stories to novels. Monday, February 17 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street. More information at vpl.ca.
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.
HOLIDAY GIVING
Looking for a special gift for the book-lovers on your list? Look no further! The VWF has gift ideas to bring joy to readers of all persuasions, from gift certificates to memberships.
http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/content/perfect-gifts-book-lovers
AWARDS & LISTS
The shortlists for the Costa Book Awards, which reward enjoyability by writers based in the UK and Ireland, have been announced. The all-female fiction shortlist (one of several categories) includes a posthumous nomination for Bernardine Bishop, who wrote three novels with a blaze of energy before her death in July.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/nov/26/costa-book-award-shortlists-2013
The New York Times Book Review has unveiled its Notable Children's Books of 2013 List. This list includes young adult, middle grade and picture books titles.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/08/books/review/notable-childrens-books-of-2013.html
Novelist Gillian Slovo has won the Golden PEN award for 2013. She has written twelve novels and a memoir, Every Secret Thing, which told her parents' story as committed anti-apartheid campaigners. Ironically, she had just recently resigned as president of PEN on grounds of "democratic accountability".
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/dec/03/gillian-slovo-golden-pen-award
YOUNG READERS
"If breakfast is the most important meal of the day, surely the half-hour or so before bed is, for families, the day's most important moment: a time to reflect on the past, plan for tomorrow, and read together." Here are three new picture books that make for great bedtime reading:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/27/books/harriet-zieferts-its-time-to-say-good-night-and-more.html
NEWS & FEATURES
The Guardian has created its own book advent calendar, with daily extracts from Barnaby Rogerson's fascinating Book of Numbers: the Culture of numbers from 1001 Nights to the Seven Wonders of the World. Here's day one:
http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2013/dec/01/books-advent-calendar-1-year-one
What does your favorite book from high school tell you about your life? Check out the Paris Review's High School Literature zodiac, here:
http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2013/11/27/the-high-school-literature-zodiac/
"Homer's Iliad is the first and greatest poetic account of the first type of war. But it is the Odyssey that takes on the second kind: the war of the homecoming." What can Odyssesus' journey tell us about a soldier's road home? How do they cope when conflicts end?
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/nov/30/odyssey-soldier-afghanistan-military-homer
Concordia University has opened a new reading room named after Mordechai Richler. Many of the author's personal possessions were donated, including his tea-stained desk, one of his old typewriters, and some typescripts and personal papers.
http://www.quillandquire.com/blog/index.php/book-news/concordia-opens-mordecai-richler-reading-room/
Three of J.D. Salinger's unpublished stories have been leaked online. Fans are inevitably split on the issue, with some "eager to get at every unpublished word", and others "respectful of their eccentric hero's determination to control his literary legacy from beyond the grave."
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/nov/28/salinger-unpublished-stories-leaked-online
We have already seen many lists of the year's best books. But what about the best book covers? Five eminent book designers make their choices, and two of them are Writers Fest faves!
http://www.quillandquire.com/blog/index.php/books-year/books-of-the-year-2013-designers-choice/attachment/cavepainter/
Are you a fan of e-books? Penguin has just teamed up with Treadmill on a booksharing app that allows e-book readers to share highlights and updates to social media websites.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/nov/28/penguin-sell-ebooks-direct-readmill-app
When Aimee Bender, author of The Color Master, set out to memorize Wallace Stevens' poem "Final Soliloquy Of the Interior Paramour", she found that "much more than the pleasure of learning words by heart—the poem worked a real, physiological magic that surprises her to this day." She discusses her favourite passage in literature, here:
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/11/how-aimee-bender-feels-after-memorizing-a-poem-caffeinated/281861/
Dutch literary star Arnon Grunberg has begun a "literary stunt turned lab experiment that combines the rigor of academic neuroscience with the self-obsessive spirit of the "quantified self" movement, which has inspired people to track (and broadcast) the minutiae of their lives." He's currently writing a novella while attached to electrodes.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/30/books/arnon-grunberg-is-writing-while-connected-to-electrodes.html
BOOKS & WRITERS
The online magazine Slate has chosen its favourite books of 2013. Among the chosen and reviewed are two books by Writers Fest authors: Rachel Kushner's The Flamethrowers, and Amanda Lindhout's A House in the Sky.
http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2013/11/slate_staff_picks_for_best.
Charles Glass' The Deserters: A Hidden History of World War II is a collection of stories about men who fled conflict. According to The Tyee, this book may finally kill the myth of the 'Good War'.
http://thetyee.ca/Books/2013/11/29/Deserters/
What has happened to the art of letter writing? Simon Garfield's To the Letter "is a nostalgic and fretful look at the "lost art" of letter writing. "A world without letters would surely be a world without oxygen," [the author] declares."
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/01/books/review/to-the-letter-by-simon-garfield.html
Harvard professor Leo Damrosch has written a commanding new biography of Jonathan Swift, called Jonathan Swift: His Life and His World. According to The New York Times, it "does ample justice to a figure for whom religion and politics — the world—were even more important than literature and especially the other arts."
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/01/books/review/jonathan-swift-by-leo-damrosch.html
In this month's New Yorker fiction podcast, Jonathan Safran Foer reads Amos Oz's "The King of Norway". The story tells the tale of a kibbutz gardener named Zvi Provizor who is "obsessed with delivering news of disaster and suffering in distant parts of the world."
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2013/12/fiction-podcast-jonathan-safran-foer-reads-amos-oz.html
In Donna Tartt's new novel, The Goldfinch, tragedy strikes New York in the form of a fictional bombing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. A young boy named Theo loses a mother, but in a strange twist of fate, also gains a painting. According to Maureen Corrigan, no other word can describe this novel except 'Dickensian', "both in the ambition of its jumbo, coincidence-laced plot, as well as in its symphonic range of emotions."
http://www.npr.org/2013/10/31/242105656/dickensian-ambition-and-emotion-make-goldfinch-worth-the-wait
Mary Lawson's relationship with her imagination " seems like that between ill-suited spouses...she has to follow him around, even along the garden paths he leads her down, tricking her into thinking it's the right way, only to discover a dead end." She discusses this, and her new novel, Road Ends, here:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/why-novelist-mary-lawsons-imagination-is-like-an-ill-suited-spouse/article15716750/
If you didn't already follow along on Tuesday, Joseph Boyden's book, The Orenda, was featured in this week's Vancouver Sun Book Club live chat. Joseph Boyden participated in the discussion, which you can read here:
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Live+chat+noon+Joseph+Boyden+Orenda/9237221/story.html
COMMUNITY EVENTS
STORY/LINE: MUSIC, POETRY, AND ART
An evening featuring poetry inspired by Larry Wolfson's exhibit Story/Line and music by Tzimmers. Featured poets are Dennis E. Bolen, Chelsea Comeau, Daniela Elza, Christy Hill, Dethe Elza, Natasha Boskic, and Una Bruhns. Dec. 5th, 7-9 pm, at Sidney and Gertrude Zack Gallery, Jewish Community Centre, 950 West 41st Ave, Vancouver. Free admission.
ZAPATOS EN LAS PIEDRAS/SHOES ON THE ROCKS
An evening of storytelling, live music and tango performance with six Latino-Canadian writers. Friday, December 6 at 7:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street. More information at 604-331-3603.
DANIELA ELZA
Daniela Elza will be featuring at Renaissance Books. Sunday, December 8th, 1-3pm, 43-6th Street, New Westminster. This event is free and will also have an open mic portion. http://www.renaissancebookstore.com.
ALIVE AT THE CENTRE
Twisted Poets Literary Salon will be hosting a reading for Alive at the Centre Anthology. Over 20 poets will be reading from the anthology. December 11, 7-9:30pm, at The Cottage Bistro, 4468 Main Street, Vancouver. Hosts: Daniela Elza & Bonnie Nish. Suggested donation at the door: $5. All are welcome. More information at www.pandorascollective.com.
GRANT LAWRENCE
West Vancouver-raised CBC Radio broadcaster, musician and award-winning author will read from his new memoir, The Lonely End of the Rink: Confessions of a Reluctant Goalie. Sunday, December 15 at 2;30pm. West Vancouver Memorial Library, 1950 Marine Drive, West Vancouver. For more information, phone 604-925-7403.
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.
Upcoming
DEAD POETS READING SERIES
Five poets/readers/poetry-lovers/writers with extensive public reading experience read poems from one of their favourite dead poets. Sunday, January 12 at 3:00pm, free. Meeting Room, level 3, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street. More information at vpl.ca.
RAILWAY ROCK GANG
Join former BC RAIL Rock Gang foreman Gary Sim for a presentation on his new book. Wednesday, January 15 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street. More information at vpl.ca.
SHY: AN ANTHOLOGY
Contributors Sylvia Stopforth, Dhana Musil and Elaine Woo will read. Tuesday, January 28 at 7:00pm, free. McGill Branch, Burnaby Public Library, 4595 Albert Street. More information and registration at 604-299-8955.
AUTHORS UNBOUND
An evening of readings of both brand new and established local authors in a variety of genres from poetry to short stories to novels. Monday, February 17 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street. More information at vpl.ca.
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.
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