Book News Vol. 8 No. 46

BOOK NEWS

INCITE

Join us on January 29 for the launch of the 2014 edition of Incite at VPL, with two compelling non-fiction writers. Charles Montgomery looks at our urban centres through rose coloured glasses with his book Happy City, and Arno Kopecky takes a hard look at oil and our natural environment through the lenses of activism and journalism in The Oil Man and the Sea. On February 5 Incite presents three time Olympic medalist Silken Laumann with her memoir Unsinkable. Details on these and other upcoming Incite events here, http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/incite.

SPECIAL EVENTS

Olivia Chow
Member of Parliament, seasoned politician and widow of former New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton—tells her story in her candid new memoir, My Journey. Ms. Chow will be interviewed by Kathryn Gretsinger. Click here for event details and to find out more about our special offer for bookclubs: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/oliviachow.

Roddy Doyle
CBC and the Vancouver Writers Fest are excited to present Roddy Doyle on Wednesday, February 12 at 6:30pm. The Booker Prize winner's latest novel revisits the characters from his contemporary classic The Commitments, with the same raunchy humour and provocative social commentary. Come join in the conversation with North by Northwest's Sheryl MacKay. Doors open at 5:30pm, taping starts promptly at 6:30, at the CBC Broadcast Centre, 700 Hamilton Street, Vancouver. No reserved seating-first come, first seated.

VANCOUVER WRITERS FEST WRITING CONTESTS

The Vancouver Writers Fest has announced the winners of both the 2013 Vancouver Writers Fest Poetry and Short Story Contest (http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/writingcontest), sponsored by UBC Continuing Studies Writing Centre, and our inaugural Spreading the Word Youth writing contest (http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/youthwritingcontest), sponsored by Amazon.

FEATURED EVENT

Chor Leoni Men's Choir has graced the stage at the Vancouver Writers Fest on two occasions, most recently with author Jack Hodgins. Hodgins and Chor Leoni team up once again to present Cadillac Cathedral, featuring a rollicking original story read by Jack, accompanied by new and favourite works by the renowned pride of singing lions. Jan 31 (Vancouver), Feb 1 (Victoria), Feb 2(Nanaimo). Info at http://bit.ly/CLcadillac.

AWARDS & LISTS

George Packer, Ruth Ozeki, Donna Tartt, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Jonathan Franzen have been named among the finalists for the National Book Critics Circle awards.
http://news.yahoo.com/tartt-franzen-among-finalists-critics-prizes-011430667.html

Historian Charlotte Gray, author and broadcaster Thomas King and journalist Graeme Smith will vie for the 2014 RBC Taylor Prize.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/charlotte-gray-thomas-king-up-for-25k-rbc-taylor-prize-1.2497558

The finalists for the Story Prize (for short fiction) have also been announced. Andrea Barrett was nominated for her short story collection Archangel, and Rebecca Lee and George Saunders were nominated for Bobcat and Tenth of December, respectively.
http://www.thestoryprize.org/

Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, Belfast's first poet laureate has won the TS Eliot Poetry Prize for her collection entitled Parallax. As the title suggests, "it is a meditation on this idea of parallax, looking at things from different angles. This speaks through the whole book".
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jan/13/ts-eliot-poetry-prize-sinead-morrissey-parallax

YOUNG READERS

The first book of 2014 to be crowned most-read on the Guardian children's books website is Tom Gates Extra Spacial Treats (Not!), by Liz Pichon. The sixth book in the well-known Tom Gates series, it has been described by its (mostly teenage) readers as "'funny', 'awesome' and 'EPIC!'"
http://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2014/jan/11/review-roundup-your-top-reads

NEWS & FEATURES

Amiri Baraka died last Thursday at 79. He was one of the major forces in the Black Arts movement of the 1960s and '70s, "a poet and playwright of pulsating rage, whose long illumination of the black experience in America was incandescent in some quarters and incendiary in others".
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/10/arts/amiri-baraka-polarizing-poet-and-playwright-dies-at-79.html

Every year, new books enter the public domain. That means that if you're a fan of e-books, and also on a limited budget, it's a great time to check out this treasure trove of free reading:
http://ebookfriendly.com/free-public-domain-books-sources/

Are you a writer looking for a free place to live? A nonprofit organization called 'Write a House' is currently refurnishing three two-bedrooms houses in Detroit, and is accepting application for writers to move in, rent-free, this spring.
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2014/01/were-not-in-new-york-anymore-a-home-for-writers-in-detroit.html

"It's impossible to turn the past pages of this magazine, or the pages of American literary history, for that matter, without being reminded of how inextricable the drinking life and the writing life—or, to put it more bluntly, alcoholism and art—once were." In this week's New Yorker, Adam Gopnik discusses the age-old relationship between booze and writing, and what it means to be a writer in our current age of literary sobriety.
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2014/01/writers-and-rum.html

Perhaps one of the most unexpected (and disturbing) book facts of 2013 was that the e-book of Hitler's Mein Kampf was one of the top political best sellers of the year. "Mein Kampf's rise may be similar to that of 50 Shades of Grey, which is thought to have been so popular as an e-book because it's easy to read electronic copies discreetly."
http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2014/01/09/mein_kampf_by_hitler_is_topping_political_best_seller_lists_for_e_books.html

BOOKS & WRITERS

Canadian author Tom Howell has written an "uproariously silly" take on the history of the English language. In The Rude Story of English, he employs wacky tangents and wit in order to teach modern English speakers the "spotted 1,564-year history of their tongue".
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/book-reviews/the-rude-story-of-english-oh-those-cunning-linguists/article16285144/

America's "most prolific blurber" has taken on a new project: a memoir. Gary Shteyngart's Little Failure covers the years following his family's emigration from the USSR to New York, "full of stories of striving both to write and to be understood, to become a man and an American." He's interviewed in Salon, here:
http://www.salon.com/2014/01/11/gary_shteyngart_i%E2%80%99ve_left_russia_i%E2%80%99m_just_trying_to_save_brooklyn/

Richard Powers new road novel, Orfeo, is about "a man on the lam...deep inside a traumatized country still dreaming of security." That country is, of course, America, though it's not the book's only driving narrative force. Music also takes centre stage, in the form of the protagonist's remembrances. "Really listening, Orfeo suggests, can redeem us in this life".
http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2014/01/richard_powers_novel_orfeo_reviewed.html

When Sue Monk Kidd stumbled upon the story of Sarah and Nina Grimke, two 19th century southern belles who became fervent abolitionists, she couldn't help but feel that her ignorance of them was "both a personal failing and a confirmation...that women's achievements had been repeatedly erased throughout history." Her new novel, The Invention of Wings, is based on their story.
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/books/tale+women+slavery/9372418/story.html

Two new Kafka-related books have appeared on the scene, both attempting "to capture the gaunt specter of modernism—and make him talk." The first is a "fastidious" new translation of The Metamorphosis by Susan Bernofsky, and the second a "provocative" story collection by Jay Cantor, called Forgiving the Angel.
http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2014/01/kafka_books_susan_bernofsky_translation_of_the_metamorphosis_and_jay_cantor.html

How does a writer's reading habits affect her work? The Globe and Mail interviews Amy Tan, author of The Joy Luck Club and most recently The Valley of Amazement, about this, and more, here:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/book-reviews/what-amy-tan-learned-about-writing-just-write-what-you-want/article16285055/

"How are we to make sense of ourselves and the world that holds us if not by reading stories?" asked Rachel Cooke in a recent Observer article about the decline of reading. A new book by Rebecca Mead, called My Life in Middlemarch, addresses that question directly, "an extraordinary mixture of literary criticism, biography and personal memoir combined to form an irresistibly fresh appreciation of one of the most famous novels of the English language."
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/01/14/growing-up-with-george-eliot-rebecca-mead-s-my-life-in-middlemarch.html

Diaries almost always provide juicy insights into the lives of those who write them. If you're Alan Bennett, however, they're more likely to detail your break-and-enter job into a medieval abbey, or the day you decided to wear clothes on top of your pajamas. The London Review of Books has created a podcast out of the writer's diaries, and you can listen to (or read them) here:
http://www.lrb.co.uk/v36/n01/alan-bennett/diary

COMMUNITY EVENTS

NICOLAS ANCION
Meet the author of La cravate de Simenon. Saturday, January 18 at 9:30pm. Alliance Francaise, 6161 Cambie St, Vancouver. More information at alliancefrancaise.ca.

KIM FU
Launch of the author's first novel, For Today I am a Boy. Hosted by Margret Bollerup, with musical guest Francesca Belcourt. Saturday, January 18 at 7:00pm, free. The WISE Hall, 1882 Adanac Street, Vancouver.

POETIC JUSTICE
Features Fran Bourassa, Joan Boxall, and Timothy Shay, with host Dennis E. Bolen. Sunday, January 19 at 3:00pm. The Heritage Grill, 447 Columbia Street, New Westminster. More information at poeticjustice.ca.

SPOKEN INK
Author of the crime series featuring Alex Bellamy and the Casey Holland security mystery series, Debra Purdy Kong, will be featured. Tuesday, January 21 at 8:00pm. La Fontana Caffe, 101-3701 East Hastings, Burnaby. More information at bwscafe@gmail.com.

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.

ANNABEL LYON
Author discuses her novel The Sweet Girl. Thursday, January 23 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.

BURNS MARATHON 2014
Come help the SFU Centre for Scottish Studies make history as they set another world record for "The Longest Continual Recitation of Burns Poetry and Song." Be a part of the day by giving a recitation or come to cheer on the participants. Saturday, January 25 at 9:00am. Teck Gallery, SFU Harbour Centre, 515 West Hastings. For more info: http://www.scottish.sfu.ca/sfus_robert_burns_marathon or contact Tricia Barker, tbarker@sfu.ca.

POETIC JUSTICE
Features Alan Hill, Jonina Kirton, and Garry Ward, with host Sho Wiley. Sunday, January 26 at 3:00pm. The Heritage Grill, 447 Columbia Street, New Westminster. More information at poeticjustice.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.

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.

JENNIFER ZILM
Launch of the author's new chapbook The Whole and Broken Yellows. Tuesday, January 28 at 8:00pm. Cottage Bistro, 4468 Main Street, Vancouver.

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.

SFU NOONHOUR READING SERIES
Poet Jeff Derksen reads from his new book The Vestiges. Thursday January 30th at 12:30pm, free. Bennett Library Special Collections/Rare Books (Room 7100), Bennett Library, SFU Burnaby. For more info, phone 778-782-6676.

BOOK LAUNCH
Marilynn Tebbit reads from her first novel, Pool Party. Friday, January 31 at 7:00pm. 6888 Royal Oak, Burnaby. More information at http://marilynntebbit.wordpress.com/2014/01/14/book-launch/.

Upcoming

POETIC JUSTICE
Features Kyle Hawke, Eileen Kernaghan, and Calvin Wharton, with host Candice James. Sunday, February 2 at 3:00pm. The Heritage Grill, 447 Columbia Street, New Westminster. More information at poeticjustice.ca.

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.

WORDSTHAW
Second annual symposium featuring 38 poets, novelists, short story writers and journalists. Landsdowne Lecture will feature Vancouver poet, novelist and librettist Daphne Marlatt. February 20-22, 2014. University of Victoria, Victoria, BC. More information at malahatreview.ca.

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.

ALMOST CRIMINAL
Vancouver writer E.R. Brown reads from his first novel, Almost Criminal, a BC-based crime thriller. Wednesday, February 26 at 7:00pm. Welsh Hall West, West Vancouver Memorial Library, 1950 Marine Drive, West Vancouver. For more information, phone 604-925-7403.

REWILDING VANCOUVER
Author J.B. MacKinnon discusses his latest book The Once and Future World. Thursday, February 27 at 6:30pm. Cecil Green Park House, 6251 Cecil Green Park Road, UBC. More information at greencollege.ubc.ca.

RED GIRL RAT BOY
Vancouver author Cynthia Flood reads from her latest book. Thursday, February 27 at 7:00pm, free. McGill branch, Burnaby Public Library, 4595 Albert Street, Burnaby. More information and registration at 604-299-8955 or bpl.bc.ca.

VEENA GOKHALE
Reading by Montreal-based author. Special guest poet and writer Rahat Kurd. Friday, February 28 at 12:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. 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.

SKAGIT RIVER POETRY FESTIVAL
A celebration of poetry featuring readings, workshops, and storytelling. Access to internationally famous poets through intimate venues and workshop sessions. May 15-18, 2014. Various venues throughout La Conner, WA. Tickets on sale in January. More information at www.skagitriverpoetry.org.