BOOK NEWS
Just announced! - An Evening with David Mitchell
An elegant conjurer of interconnected tales, a genre-bending daredevil, and master prose stylist, Cloug Atlas author David Mitchell talks to Hal Wake, the Vancouver Writers Fest's Artistic Director, and reads from his new novel, The Bone Clocks.
Saturday, September 27 at 7:30pm
St. Andrew's-Wesley United Church
Purchase tickets online: http://vancouvertix.artsclub.com/tickets/reserve.aspx?performanceNumber=12382&type=rentals
Click here (http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/davidmitchell) for event details and to find out more about our special offer for bookclubs.
An Evening with Louise Penny
New York Times bestselling author, Louise Penny is back with her latest Chief Inspector Gamache book, A Long Way Home. Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/louisepenny.
Wednesday, September 3 at 7:30pm
St. Andrew's-Wesley United Church
Purchase tickets online: http://vancouvertix.artsclub.com/tickets/reserve.aspx?performanceNumber=12377&type=rentals
Click here (http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/louisepenny) for event details and to find out more about our special offer for bookclubs.
FESTIVALS
The TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival continues with concerts around town, and the free David Lam Park Jazz weekend, June 28 & 29 with music starting at noon and continuing until 10 PM. It's a huge, spectacular, international celebration of music, food, and culture. Don't miss bands like the Belle Game, Deli 2 Dublin, Jon Ballantyne and more. Vanjazzfest.ca.
The Indian Summer Festival returns from July 3–12 with its multidisciplinary celebration of arts, ideas and diversity. The scintillating Ideas Series features writers, thinkers and performers from Canada, India and around the world including Priscila Uppal, Renee Saklikar, David Wong, Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas and Orijit Sen, as well as the Lit and Sound Cabaret.
AWARDS & LISTS
Tamai Kobayashi has won The Writer's Trust of Canada's $4,000 Dayne Ogilvie Prize for LGBT Emerging Writers. Her newest work, a first novel, is called Prairie Ostrich.
http://www.quillandquire.com/awards/2014/06/24/tamai-kobayashi-wins-2014-dayne-ogilvie-prize-for-lgbt-emerging-writers/
The Carnegie and Kate Greenaway medals have been announced. The UK's most prestigious awards for children's writing and illustration went to Kevin Brooks and Canada's own Jon Klassen.
http://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2014/jun/23/carnegie-medal-kate-greenaway-2014-kevin-brooks-jon-klassen
It was a big week for Evie Wyld! She won the £10,000 Encore second-novel award for her book All the Birds, Singing. The next day she was proclaimed one of the eight winners of the Jerwood Fiction Uncovered prize, which aims to promote authors "of outstanding work, looking beyond the debut novelists and the bestsellers".
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jun/20/evie-wyld-wins-prize-double-encore-jerwood-fiction-uncovered
The 2014 Rainbow Caterpillar Multilingual Kid Lit Award winner has also been announced. This year, submissions were received in eight languages, with the winning being Yulia Kapridov's Russian-language story Giant's Granny!
http://www.quillandquire.com/awards/2014/06/19/2014-rainbow-caterpillar-multilingual-kid-lit-award-winner-announced/
YOUNG READERS
Sarah Ellis is a prolific writer of young adult fiction, and her newest novel, Outside In, is one of three YA books recommended by the Globe and Mail this week. Read more, here:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/three-young-adult-fiction-reads-worth-checking-out/article19266657/
Ten years ago, David Levithan wrote Boy Meets Boy, "a romantic teen comedy where the homecoming queen was once a guy and the gay-straight alliance was aimed at helping the straight kids learn how to dance." In this interview, Levithan (now the publisher and editorial director at Scholastic) discusses the amazing "burst of books" about LGBT youth:
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/Meets+author+David+Levithan+parenting+LGBT+books+young/9946391/story.html#ixzz35XKMSyEl
NEWS & FEATURES
More than twenty unseen Pablo Neruda poems have been discovered among the late writer's papers in Chile. His publisher says that the discovery amounts to "a literary event of universal significance."
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jun/19/pablo-neruda-poems-20-unseen
What does it mean to swear an oath on a book if that book is actually on a Kindle? Learn more about the history of oaths and books, here:
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2014/06/a-brief-history-of-oaths-and-books.html
On that note, how does technology rewrite literature? "Writers including Tom McCarthy and Joe Dunthorne consider whether the coming of computers and the net has changed the way they write."
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jun/23/technology-rewrites-literature-tom-mccarthy-internet
What about our digital reading habits? What does e-reading look like in Canada? BookNet Canada's research study is asking (and answering) just those questions.
http://www.cbc.ca/books/2014/06/infographic-digital-reading-habits-in-canada.html
Friends don't let friends read Ayn Rand, or so advised Flannery O'Connor in a 1960 letter to her friend, playwright Maryat Lee! You can read the letter, and find out more about Flannery O'Connor's literary preferences, here:
http://www.openculture.com/2014/06/flannery-oconnor-friends-dont-let-friends-read-ayn-rand-1960.html
"A novelist scrawling away in a notebook in seclusion may not seem to have much in common with an NBA player doing a reverse layup on a basketball court before a screaming crowd. But if you could peer inside their heads, you might see some striking similarities in how their brains were churning". This is your brain "on writing":
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/19/science/researching-the-brain-of-writers.html
When it comes to book launches, there are eight constant truths to observe! Find out what they are, here:
http://www.openbooktoronto.com/video/shall_we_launch_or_keep_moping_8_truths_about_book_launches
Have you ever heard of Campbell River's Haig-Brown Library? In the 1950's, writer and conservation Roderick Haig-Brown and his wife Ann began to "grow" a library in their home, a "wordy paradise" that makes for an excellent place to go "book fishing" to this day!
http://thetyee.ca/Books/2014/05/31/Haig-Brown-Library/
There are several even more-local libraries worth knowing about too! The "B is for Book Box" community book station has just opened on the 3100-block of East 8th Avenue, aimed at the "many children attending East Vancouver's Thunderbird Elementary school [who] have never been inside a public library."
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Book+brings+reading+east+side+Vancouver+childen/9951988/story.html#ixzz35XNrV6me
BOOKS & WRITERS
Teju Cole is one of a few authors (Joyce Carol Oates and Margaret Atwood among them) who sees Twitter as "an extension of, rather than a distraction from, his work." In this interview, he discusses his early life in Lagos, his new life in New York, and how Nigeria (and Twitter) have influenced his writing style.
http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/jun/21/teju-cole-every-day-thief-interview
Are you a fan of crime fiction? Here are the top ten summer crime fiction reads:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/top-ten-picks-in-summer-crime-fiction/article19263173/
If small press fiction is more your thing, you might want to check out this list (and collection of reviews), which features the newest book by Writers Fest fave Ivan E. Coyote.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/book-reviews/the-best-in-small-press-three-books-to-check-out-now/article19159918/
Christopher Moore's new novel, The Serpent of Venice, owes "as much to Blackadder as it does to William Shakespeare." He's interviewed about his inspiration, favourite sentences, historical periods and more, here:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/author-christopher-moore-on-his-new-book-his-favourite-sentences-and-more/article19267963/
Censorship is the topic of choice in Kevin Birmingham's newest book, The Most Dangerous Book: The Battle for James Joyce's ‘Ulysses.' It is the fullest recounting written so far about the struggle to publish the seminal 20th century novel.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/25/books/kevin-birminghams-book-on-ulysses-and-censorship.html
COMMUNITY EVENTS
PASSFIELD PRESS BOOK LAUNCH
Launch of Michael Hetherington's second novel Halving the Orange. Thursday, June 26 at 6:00pm. The Paper Hound, 344 W. Pender.
MOIRA YOUNG
Reading, Q&A and book signing by the author of Raging Star. Thursday, June 26 at 7:00pm. Book Warehouse, 4118 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at 604-879-7737.
TWISTED POETS LITERARY SALON
Features Susan McCaslin and Lee Johnson plus open mic. Thursday, June 26, 7-9:30pm, at The Cottage Bistro, 4468 Main Street, Vancouver. Suggested donation at the door: $5. Sign up for open mic at 7pm. More information at pandorascollective.com.
TRAITOR'S BLADE
Reading by Sebastien de Castell from the first book in his new fantasy series. Friday, June 27 at 7:00pm, free. McGill branch, Burnaby Public Library. More information and register online at 604-299-8955.
RAIN CITY CHRONICLES
Evening of stories and songs featuring David Moscrop, Adrienne Matei, Ollie Rankin, Tania Quiroz, Jeff Lawrence, Emily Elias, Cole Nowicki, Rommy Ghaly, and Beaucoup Bakery's Jackie Ellis. Friday, June 27 at 7:30pm. Rio Theatre, 1660 E. Broadway.
PEACH GIRL
Raymond Nakamura launches his children's book about the adventures of Momoko, a girl who was born inside a ripe peach. Saturday, June 28 at 12:30pm. Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre, 100-6688 Southoaks Cres., Burnaby.
Upcoming
DES KENNEDY
Canadian writer, environmentalist, and journalist Des Kennedy personalizes copies of his new book Heart & Soil: The Revolutionary Good of Gardens. Thursday, July 10 at 1:00pm. Book Warehouse, 632 W. Broadway.
BE NOBODY
Three Jewels Vancouver presents a book signing and public talk with Be Nobody author Lama Marut. Friday, July 11 at 6:30pm. Banyen Books and Sound, 3608 W. 4th Ave.
BOOK LAUNCH
Candice James and Manolis launch new books Purple Haze and Autumn Leaves. Saturday, July 12 at 1:30pm. New Westminster Arts Council Gallery, Queens Park, New Westminster.
DEAD POETS READING SERIES
Five poets/readers/poetry-lovers/writers with extensive public reading experience read poems from one of their favourite dead poet's work. Sunday, July 13 at 3:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central branch, VPL, 350 W. Georgia. More information at vpl.ca.
BOOK LAUNCH
C.C. Humphreys launches his new novel, Plague. Monday, July 14 at 5:00pm. The Fringe Cafe, 3124 West Broadway. More information at 604-738-6977.
TWISTED POETS LITERARY SALON
Features Micheal Heatherington, Susan Musgrave and Steve Noyes plus open mic. Wednesday, July 16, 7-9:30pm, at The Cottage Bistro, 4468 Main Street, Vancouver. Suggested donation at the door: $5. Sign up for open mic at 7pm. More information at pandorascollective.com.
KATIE CROUCH
Author reads from her new book Abroad. Thursday, July 17 at 7:00pm. Book Warehouse, 4118 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at 604-879-7737.
Thursday, June 26, 2014
Thursday, June 19, 2014
Book News Vol. 9 No. 16
BOOK NEWS
Just announced! - An Evening with Louise Penny
New York Times bestselling author, Louise Penny is back with her latest Chief Inspector Gamache book, A Long Way Home. Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/louisepenny.
Wednesday, September 3 at 7:30pm
St. Andrew's-Wesley United Church
Purchase tickets online: http://vancouvertix.artsclub.com/tickets/reserve.aspx?performanceNumber=12377&type=rentals
Click here (http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/louisepenny) for event details and to find out more about our special offer for bookclubs.
FESTIVALS
The TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival launches this weekend. From June 20-July 1 check out concerts with the 1800 of the world's best jazz, funk, Latin, fusion, and world music artists. The many free events include Downtown Jazz at Robson Square, David Lam Park Jazz Weekend, and Canada Day on Granville Island. www.coastaljazz.ca.
The Indian Summer Festival returns from July 3–12 with its multidisciplinary celebration of arts, ideas and diversity. The scintillating Ideas Series features writers, thinkers and performers from Canada, India and around the world including Priscila Uppal, Renee Saklikar, David Wong, Michael Yahgulanaas and Orijit Sen, as well as the Lit and Sound Cabaret.
AWARDS & LISTS
The Colombian novelist Juan Gabriel Vásquez has been awarded the Impac Dublin literary award for his novel, The Sound of Things Falling. As an exploration of the Colombian drug trade, it "reveals how intimate lives are overshadowed by history; how the past preys on the present; and how the fate of individuals as well as countries is moulded by distant, or covert, events."
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jun/12/impac-dublin-award-juan-gabriel-vasquez-the-sound-of-things-falling
YOUNG READERS
The number of children reading for pleasure has dropped significantly in the past few years. Can apps that force them to read reverse the trend? According to Salon, "this is the absolute worst way to teach your kids to read."
http://www.salon.com/2014/06/12/this_is_the_absolute_worst_way_to_teach_your_kids_to_read/
NEWS & FEATURES
2013 was a good year for self-publishing. Sales rose by 79%, along with those of e-books in general—a further sign of the decline of print.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jun/13/self-publishing-boom-lifts-sales-18m-titles-300m
What are the top 10 feminist books? Rachel Holmes (biographer of Eleanor Marx) has picked works "from Jeanette Winterson to George Bernard Shaw, that address 'the greatest global injustice.'"
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jun/11/top-10-feminist-books-rachel-holmes-eleanor-marx
Can you identify classic crime novels by their covers? Try your luck at The Guardian's quiz, here:
http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/quiz/2014/jun/17/quiz-identify-crime-novels-books-by-covers-jackets
A "literary map to end all literary maps" has been created. "Charles Dickens would recognize the curve of the river and the placement of the streets -- but he would be surprised to learn that his ‘Bleak House' is right across the street from something called ‘Fight Club.'"
http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-a-literary-map-to-end-all-literary-maps-20140617-story.html
Working-class fiction has slowly been written out of publishing, or at least that's what seems to be the case in Britain. "Publishing is in dire need of readers and yet, because of ingrained perceptions, millions of readers are unable to read about their experiences because those who commission and market new writing feel uncomfortable with something they know so little about."
http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2014/jun/17/working-class-fiction-publishing-assumption
How do writers achieve success? A recent survey sent to writers participating in the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books asked: Did they keep a diary as a child? Did they ever have a book rejected? Did they earn a living from writing? With answers from more than 200 authors, a literary board game was created. Try it here:
http://graphics.latimes.com/how-to-be-a-writer/
How do you move 500,000 books? The Foyles' flagship bookshop in central London was recently relocated to the former St Martins School of Arts building, less than 100 metres down Charing Cross Road. This timelapse video will show you how they did it!
http://www.theguardian.com/books/video/2014/jun/06/foyles-london-charing-cross-road-timelapse-video
BOOKS & WRITERS
J.K. Rowling has written a new novel using the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. The Silkworm features the same gumshoe team as The Cuckoo's Calling, and takes place in the "rarefied world of literary London, sending up the swollen egos and clashing ambitions of writers, editors and publishers vying for fame and top-dog standing."
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/16/books/j-k-rowlings-new-crime-novel-the-silkworm.html
Neil Gaiman is relentlessly busy, with a full slate of projects for the coming year. He was interviewed recently about his upcoming Carnegie Hall appearance, his take on "Hansel and Gretel" and the time he spent in a Jordanian refugee camp.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/14/books/neil-gaiman-follows-the-guiding-light-of-instinct.html
Stephen King's novel Joyland and an Amazon glitch have created an unexpected windfall for writer Emily Schultz.
http://observer.com/2014/06/novelist-emily-schultz-scores-stephen-king-windfall/#ixzz357bVC5Rj
Mary Byrd Thornton has been a fixture in American literary circles for a very long time. She's one of the founders of Square Books in Oxford, Mississippi, "a nerve center for contemporary American fiction, and a second home for a long list of Southern writers." At 63, she's finally written her first novel, called Flying Shoes.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/18/books/a-bookstore-owner-taps-a-wound-to-write-a-first-novel.html
Robert Frost is often thought to be the simplest of the great English-language modernist, though he's also one of the least understood. "Critics have looked past him because of his lack of ostensible difficulty, and we misunderstand him because of his difficulties. It is difficult even to say what they are."
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/118046/art-robert-frost-tim-kendall-reviewed-adam-plunkett
The Luminato Festival is wrapping up in Toronto, all themed around the idea of "unseen" Toronto. To mark the occasion, The Globe and Mail asked five participants which books, for them, capture the city best. Here are their answers:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/luminato-2014-toronto-shines-through-these-five-books/article19161484/
Speaking of Canadian cities, there's a new book out called Sensational Vancouver, which analyzes the interplay of cops, crooks and civic politicians in the city's history. "In a city whose material features are constantly changing, there's a certain comfort in knowing that, despite the fads and fashions of successive generations, Vancouver's rich and colourful criminal life is as rich and colourful as ever!"
http://www.straight.com/life/663811/crime-and-high-society-mingle-eve-lazaruss-sensational-vancouver
Maile Meloy's Madame Lazarus is the short story featured in this week's New Yorker. Read the tale, and an interview with the author, here:
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2014/06/this-week-in-fiction-maile-meloy-1.html
COMMUNITY EVENTS
GEORGE WOODCOCK LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
A Proclamation and Reading honoring Jean Barman, B.C.'s most active historian, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, as the 21st recipient of the George Woodcock Lifetime Achievement Award. Thursday, June 19 at 7:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 West Georgia Street. More information at vpl.ca.
EUROPEAN BOOK CLUB
Features Portuguese novel The True Actor (O verdadeiro ator) by Jacinto Lucas Pires. Saturday, June 21 at 4:00pm. Free but register at eubookclub.vancouver@shaw.ca. Istituto Italiano di Cultura, 500-510 West Hastings Street, Vancouver. More information at www.alliancefrancaise.ca.
POETIC FORM AND THE MYSTICAL MUSE
Readings by poets Lee Johnson and Susan McCaslin. Tuesday, June 24 at 7:00pm, free. Peter Kaye room, lower level, Central Library, 350 West Georgia Street. More information at vpl.ca.
GEOFFREY TIGG
The Painting is the second book in the Detective Kelly O'Brian series by Geoffrey Tigg. Wednesday, June 25 at 7:00pm. Welsh Hall West, West Vancouver Memorial Library, 1950 Marine Drive, West Vancouver. More information at westvanlibrary.ca.
MOIRA YOUNG
Reading, Q&A and book Signing by the author of Raging Star. Thursday, June 26 at 7:00pm. Book Warehouse, 4118 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at 604-879-7737.
Upcoming
BOOK LAUNCH
C.C. Humphreys launches his new novel, Plague. Monday, July 14 at 5:00pm. The Fringe Cafe, 3124 West Broadway. More information at 604-738-6977.
KATIE CROUCH
Author reads from her new book Abroad. Thursday, July 17 at 7:00pm. Book Warehouse, 4118 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at 604-879-7737.
Just announced! - An Evening with Louise Penny
New York Times bestselling author, Louise Penny is back with her latest Chief Inspector Gamache book, A Long Way Home. Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/louisepenny.
Wednesday, September 3 at 7:30pm
St. Andrew's-Wesley United Church
Purchase tickets online: http://vancouvertix.artsclub.com/tickets/reserve.aspx?performanceNumber=12377&type=rentals
Click here (http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/louisepenny) for event details and to find out more about our special offer for bookclubs.
FESTIVALS
The TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival launches this weekend. From June 20-July 1 check out concerts with the 1800 of the world's best jazz, funk, Latin, fusion, and world music artists. The many free events include Downtown Jazz at Robson Square, David Lam Park Jazz Weekend, and Canada Day on Granville Island. www.coastaljazz.ca.
The Indian Summer Festival returns from July 3–12 with its multidisciplinary celebration of arts, ideas and diversity. The scintillating Ideas Series features writers, thinkers and performers from Canada, India and around the world including Priscila Uppal, Renee Saklikar, David Wong, Michael Yahgulanaas and Orijit Sen, as well as the Lit and Sound Cabaret.
AWARDS & LISTS
The Colombian novelist Juan Gabriel Vásquez has been awarded the Impac Dublin literary award for his novel, The Sound of Things Falling. As an exploration of the Colombian drug trade, it "reveals how intimate lives are overshadowed by history; how the past preys on the present; and how the fate of individuals as well as countries is moulded by distant, or covert, events."
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jun/12/impac-dublin-award-juan-gabriel-vasquez-the-sound-of-things-falling
YOUNG READERS
The number of children reading for pleasure has dropped significantly in the past few years. Can apps that force them to read reverse the trend? According to Salon, "this is the absolute worst way to teach your kids to read."
http://www.salon.com/2014/06/12/this_is_the_absolute_worst_way_to_teach_your_kids_to_read/
NEWS & FEATURES
2013 was a good year for self-publishing. Sales rose by 79%, along with those of e-books in general—a further sign of the decline of print.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jun/13/self-publishing-boom-lifts-sales-18m-titles-300m
What are the top 10 feminist books? Rachel Holmes (biographer of Eleanor Marx) has picked works "from Jeanette Winterson to George Bernard Shaw, that address 'the greatest global injustice.'"
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jun/11/top-10-feminist-books-rachel-holmes-eleanor-marx
Can you identify classic crime novels by their covers? Try your luck at The Guardian's quiz, here:
http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/quiz/2014/jun/17/quiz-identify-crime-novels-books-by-covers-jackets
A "literary map to end all literary maps" has been created. "Charles Dickens would recognize the curve of the river and the placement of the streets -- but he would be surprised to learn that his ‘Bleak House' is right across the street from something called ‘Fight Club.'"
http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-a-literary-map-to-end-all-literary-maps-20140617-story.html
Working-class fiction has slowly been written out of publishing, or at least that's what seems to be the case in Britain. "Publishing is in dire need of readers and yet, because of ingrained perceptions, millions of readers are unable to read about their experiences because those who commission and market new writing feel uncomfortable with something they know so little about."
http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2014/jun/17/working-class-fiction-publishing-assumption
How do writers achieve success? A recent survey sent to writers participating in the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books asked: Did they keep a diary as a child? Did they ever have a book rejected? Did they earn a living from writing? With answers from more than 200 authors, a literary board game was created. Try it here:
http://graphics.latimes.com/how-to-be-a-writer/
How do you move 500,000 books? The Foyles' flagship bookshop in central London was recently relocated to the former St Martins School of Arts building, less than 100 metres down Charing Cross Road. This timelapse video will show you how they did it!
http://www.theguardian.com/books/video/2014/jun/06/foyles-london-charing-cross-road-timelapse-video
BOOKS & WRITERS
J.K. Rowling has written a new novel using the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. The Silkworm features the same gumshoe team as The Cuckoo's Calling, and takes place in the "rarefied world of literary London, sending up the swollen egos and clashing ambitions of writers, editors and publishers vying for fame and top-dog standing."
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/16/books/j-k-rowlings-new-crime-novel-the-silkworm.html
Neil Gaiman is relentlessly busy, with a full slate of projects for the coming year. He was interviewed recently about his upcoming Carnegie Hall appearance, his take on "Hansel and Gretel" and the time he spent in a Jordanian refugee camp.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/14/books/neil-gaiman-follows-the-guiding-light-of-instinct.html
Stephen King's novel Joyland and an Amazon glitch have created an unexpected windfall for writer Emily Schultz.
http://observer.com/2014/06/novelist-emily-schultz-scores-stephen-king-windfall/#ixzz357bVC5Rj
Mary Byrd Thornton has been a fixture in American literary circles for a very long time. She's one of the founders of Square Books in Oxford, Mississippi, "a nerve center for contemporary American fiction, and a second home for a long list of Southern writers." At 63, she's finally written her first novel, called Flying Shoes.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/18/books/a-bookstore-owner-taps-a-wound-to-write-a-first-novel.html
Robert Frost is often thought to be the simplest of the great English-language modernist, though he's also one of the least understood. "Critics have looked past him because of his lack of ostensible difficulty, and we misunderstand him because of his difficulties. It is difficult even to say what they are."
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/118046/art-robert-frost-tim-kendall-reviewed-adam-plunkett
The Luminato Festival is wrapping up in Toronto, all themed around the idea of "unseen" Toronto. To mark the occasion, The Globe and Mail asked five participants which books, for them, capture the city best. Here are their answers:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/luminato-2014-toronto-shines-through-these-five-books/article19161484/
Speaking of Canadian cities, there's a new book out called Sensational Vancouver, which analyzes the interplay of cops, crooks and civic politicians in the city's history. "In a city whose material features are constantly changing, there's a certain comfort in knowing that, despite the fads and fashions of successive generations, Vancouver's rich and colourful criminal life is as rich and colourful as ever!"
http://www.straight.com/life/663811/crime-and-high-society-mingle-eve-lazaruss-sensational-vancouver
Maile Meloy's Madame Lazarus is the short story featured in this week's New Yorker. Read the tale, and an interview with the author, here:
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2014/06/this-week-in-fiction-maile-meloy-1.html
COMMUNITY EVENTS
GEORGE WOODCOCK LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
A Proclamation and Reading honoring Jean Barman, B.C.'s most active historian, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, as the 21st recipient of the George Woodcock Lifetime Achievement Award. Thursday, June 19 at 7:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 West Georgia Street. More information at vpl.ca.
EUROPEAN BOOK CLUB
Features Portuguese novel The True Actor (O verdadeiro ator) by Jacinto Lucas Pires. Saturday, June 21 at 4:00pm. Free but register at eubookclub.vancouver@shaw.ca. Istituto Italiano di Cultura, 500-510 West Hastings Street, Vancouver. More information at www.alliancefrancaise.ca.
POETIC FORM AND THE MYSTICAL MUSE
Readings by poets Lee Johnson and Susan McCaslin. Tuesday, June 24 at 7:00pm, free. Peter Kaye room, lower level, Central Library, 350 West Georgia Street. More information at vpl.ca.
GEOFFREY TIGG
The Painting is the second book in the Detective Kelly O'Brian series by Geoffrey Tigg. Wednesday, June 25 at 7:00pm. Welsh Hall West, West Vancouver Memorial Library, 1950 Marine Drive, West Vancouver. More information at westvanlibrary.ca.
MOIRA YOUNG
Reading, Q&A and book Signing by the author of Raging Star. Thursday, June 26 at 7:00pm. Book Warehouse, 4118 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at 604-879-7737.
Upcoming
BOOK LAUNCH
C.C. Humphreys launches his new novel, Plague. Monday, July 14 at 5:00pm. The Fringe Cafe, 3124 West Broadway. More information at 604-738-6977.
KATIE CROUCH
Author reads from her new book Abroad. Thursday, July 17 at 7:00pm. Book Warehouse, 4118 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at 604-879-7737.
Thursday, June 12, 2014
Book News Vol. 9 No. 15
BOOK NEWS
SALT SPRING GETAWAY RAFFLE
Announcing the VWF's fabulous Salt Spring Getaway raffle-what could be better than a deluxe Gulf Island holiday? Enjoy a luxurious weekend at historic Hasting House and Spa-and avoid those ferry lineups by hopping onboard a SeaAir flight. In the blink of an eye you'll be relaxing on an island paradise. Aahh-feel that stress evaporate! Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/supportus/saltspring-getaway
AWARDS & LISTS
The winners of the Griffin Poetry Prize have been announced. 2013 Festival author Anne Carson, who won in the Canadian category, and Brenda Hillman, who won in the international one, were awarded $65,000 each.
http://www.cbc.ca/books/2014/06/who-will-win-the-2014-griffin-poetry-prize.html
The National Magazine Awards were announced a few nights ago in Toronto. Among the literary winners were Jess Taylor for her story, Paul, and Karen Solie for her poem, Conversion.
http://www.randomhouse.ca/hazlitt/poetry/conversion
The League of Canadian Poets has also announced the winner of its annual awards. Murray Reiss, Alexandra Oliver and Anne Compton all won prizes worth $1,000.
http://www.quillandquire.com/awards/2014/06/09/anne-compton-alexandra-oliver-murray-reiss-win-league-of-canadian-poets-awards/
YOUNG READERS
The Wind in the Willows is being featured this week in The Guardian's countdown of the 100 best novels. "Like the other books for children selected for this series…The Wind in the Willows deserves recognition as a novel in which adult readers will find wisdom, humour, entertainment and meaning, as well as many passages of great literary power."
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jun/09/100-best-novels-the-wind-in-the-willows-kenneth-grahame
Can YA Books be complex? Of course, argues Noah Berlatsky for The Atlantic, in response to a recently published article that described them as mere "maudlin teen dramas."
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/06/of-course-ya-books-can-be-complex/372340/
NEWS & FEATURES
A movement that calls attention to the marginalization of female writers, called #ReadWomen2014, has found a new defender: Canada's own House of Anansi Press. The publishing house, run mostly by women, has launched its own initiative to celebrate female authors.
http://www.quillandquire.com/book-news/2014/06/05/anansi-launches-readwomen2014-campaign/
The manuscript of Samuel Beckett's first published novel is set to go on display. It "will be on show at Reading University for just one day, before returning to the Beckett scholar who is painstakingly transcribing every crossed-out word, dash and comma."
http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/jun/09/samuel-beckett-manuscript-first-novel-on-display
The New York Review of Books has slammed the CIA with a Twitter attack! Upon the CIA's entrance into the twitterverse, the "august and technophobic" literary journal released a barrage of reminders about the agency's controversial interrogation techniques.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/07/cia-twitter-new-york-review-books-attack
Whose writing career do you envy most? From George Eliot to Sophocles, Zoë Heller and Daniel Mendelsohn discuss.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/08/books/review/whose-writing-career-do-you-most-envy.html
Speaking of long literary careers, the late Maya Angelou was iconoclastic in many ways. For one, she disliked modesty. "As I learned when I met her, the late author believed that true arrogance lay in denying one's own specialness—and denying the specialness of others."
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/06/why-maya-angelou-didnt-believe-in-modesty/371965/
BOOKS & WRITERS
Bill Gaston's new short story collection, Juliet Was a Surprise, is his first in eight years. "There is nothing heavy-handed about this approach...the stories are poised, always, at the cusp of laughter, heartbreak and mystery. To read them is a heart-opening experience."
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/books/writer+Bill+Gaston+collection+celebrates+strange+daily+life/9915604/story.html#ixzz34BKRvULz
Another B.C. writer, Gary Geddes, has released a new book of poetry called What Does a House Want?–Selected Poems. The over-arching theme of the book "could be summed up nicely by the Milan Kundera quote that opens Section One: ‘It takes so little, so infinitely little, for a person to cross that border beyond which everything loses meaning: love, conviction, faith, history.'"
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/books/Poignant+poet+Gary+Geddes+shatters+illusions/9915601/story.html
What do famous writers do when they're not writing? "When he wasn't writing, Kurt Vonnegut doodled. A new book, introduced by his daughter Nanette, brings together some of his finest drawings and his own musings about his art."
http://www.theguardian.com/books/gallery/2014/may/05/kurt-vonnegut-the-drawings-of-science-fictions-master-artist-in-pictures
Coinciding with the anniversary of D-Day, this week's Guardian Poem of the Week is Desert Flowers by Keith Douglas. "Succinct but mysterious, Desert Flowers belongs to a liminal state between sleeping and waking, night and day."
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jun/09/poem-of-the-week-keith-douglas-war
Ramona Ausubel's story, You Can Find Love Now, is about a Cyclops looking for love. It appears in The New Yorker's Summer Fiction Issue, and the author is interviewed here:
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2014/06/this-week-in-fiction-ramona-ausubel.html
When it comes to fear (of writing), Ted Thompson considers it a "self-fulfilling prophesy!" The acclaimed debut novelist says the only way to carry on is to "ignore the inner demon that tells you you'll never be as good as Zadie Smith."
http://www.salon.com/2014/06/06/ignore_the_inner_demon_that_tells_you_you%E2%80%99ll_never_be_as_good_as_zadie_smith/
In what ways can successful literary fiction contain a sense of political purpose? "For Molly Antopol, author of The UnAmericans, Grace Paley's short, generous stories manage to concern politics, and achieve a broadly activist spirit, without ever preaching."
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/05/the-writing-almost-feels-like-method-acting/371691/
COMMUNITY EVENTS
DIANE TUCKER
The Burnaby Writers' Society presents a special poetry workshop evening. Thursday, June 12 at 7:30pm. By donation. Studio 104, Shadbolt Centre for the Arts.
VANCOUVER INTERNATIONAL STORYTELLING FESTIVAL
A weekend of enlivening encounters with many passionate storytellers, including Naveen Girn, Naomi Steinberg, Todd Wong, Lizzy Karp, Victor Guerin, Magpie Ulysses and Deborah Williams. June 13-15, 2014. Various locations. Compete details at vancouverstorytelling.org.
LUNCH POEMS AT SFU
Featuring Billeh Nickerson and Heather Haley. Wednesday, June 18 at 12:00 noon, free. Teck Gallery in SFU's Harbour Centre, 515 West Hastings Street, Vancouver. More information at sfu.ca/publicsquare/lunchpoems.
A SPECIAL NIGHT FOR A SPECIAL MAN
On Wednesday, June 18, 2014, Pandora's Collective Presents A Special Night for A Special Man Benefit for Timothy Shay at The Cottage Bistro 4468 Main St, Vancouver. Doors open at 6pm-11pm. $10 suggested donation. Host: RC Weslowski. More information at pandorascollective.com.
GEORGE WOODCOCK LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
A Proclamation and Reading honoring Jean Barman, B.C.'s most active historian, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, as the 21st recipient of the George Woodcock Lifetime Achievement Award. Thursday, June 19 at 7:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 West Georgia Street. More information at vpl.ca.
EUROPEAN BOOK CLUB
Features Portuguese novel The True Actor (O verdadeiro ator) by Jacinto Lucas Pires. Saturday, June 21 at 4:00pm. Free but register at eubookclub.vancouver@shaw.ca. Istituto Italiano di Cultura, 500-510 West Hastings Street, Vancouver. More information at www.alliancefrancaise.ca.
Upcoming
POETIC FORM AND THE MYSTICAL MUSE
Readings by poets Lee Johnson and Susan McCaslin. Tuesday, June 24 at 7:00pm, free. Peter Kaye room, lower level, Central Library, 350 West Georgia Street. More information at vpl.ca.
GEOFFREY TIGG
The Painting is the second book in the Detective Kelly O'Brian series by Geoffrey Tigg. Wednesday, June 25 at 7:00pm. Welsh Hall West, West Vancouver Memorial Library, 1950 Marine Drive, West Vancouver. More information at westvanlibrary.ca.
MOIRA YOUNG
Reading, Q&A and book Signing by the author of Raging Star. Thursday, June 26 at 7:00pm. Book Warehouse, 4118 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at 604-879-7737.
BOOK LAUNCH
C.C. Humphreys launches his new novel, Plague. Monday, July 14 at 5:00pm. The Fringe Cafe, 3124 West Broadway. More information at 604-738-6977.
KATIE CROUCH
Author reads from her new book Abroad. Thursday, July 17 at 7:00pm. Book Warehouse, 4118 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at 604-879-7737.
SALT SPRING GETAWAY RAFFLE
Announcing the VWF's fabulous Salt Spring Getaway raffle-what could be better than a deluxe Gulf Island holiday? Enjoy a luxurious weekend at historic Hasting House and Spa-and avoid those ferry lineups by hopping onboard a SeaAir flight. In the blink of an eye you'll be relaxing on an island paradise. Aahh-feel that stress evaporate! Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/supportus/saltspring-getaway
AWARDS & LISTS
The winners of the Griffin Poetry Prize have been announced. 2013 Festival author Anne Carson, who won in the Canadian category, and Brenda Hillman, who won in the international one, were awarded $65,000 each.
http://www.cbc.ca/books/2014/06/who-will-win-the-2014-griffin-poetry-prize.html
The National Magazine Awards were announced a few nights ago in Toronto. Among the literary winners were Jess Taylor for her story, Paul, and Karen Solie for her poem, Conversion.
http://www.randomhouse.ca/hazlitt/poetry/conversion
The League of Canadian Poets has also announced the winner of its annual awards. Murray Reiss, Alexandra Oliver and Anne Compton all won prizes worth $1,000.
http://www.quillandquire.com/awards/2014/06/09/anne-compton-alexandra-oliver-murray-reiss-win-league-of-canadian-poets-awards/
YOUNG READERS
The Wind in the Willows is being featured this week in The Guardian's countdown of the 100 best novels. "Like the other books for children selected for this series…The Wind in the Willows deserves recognition as a novel in which adult readers will find wisdom, humour, entertainment and meaning, as well as many passages of great literary power."
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jun/09/100-best-novels-the-wind-in-the-willows-kenneth-grahame
Can YA Books be complex? Of course, argues Noah Berlatsky for The Atlantic, in response to a recently published article that described them as mere "maudlin teen dramas."
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/06/of-course-ya-books-can-be-complex/372340/
NEWS & FEATURES
A movement that calls attention to the marginalization of female writers, called #ReadWomen2014, has found a new defender: Canada's own House of Anansi Press. The publishing house, run mostly by women, has launched its own initiative to celebrate female authors.
http://www.quillandquire.com/book-news/2014/06/05/anansi-launches-readwomen2014-campaign/
The manuscript of Samuel Beckett's first published novel is set to go on display. It "will be on show at Reading University for just one day, before returning to the Beckett scholar who is painstakingly transcribing every crossed-out word, dash and comma."
http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/jun/09/samuel-beckett-manuscript-first-novel-on-display
The New York Review of Books has slammed the CIA with a Twitter attack! Upon the CIA's entrance into the twitterverse, the "august and technophobic" literary journal released a barrage of reminders about the agency's controversial interrogation techniques.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/07/cia-twitter-new-york-review-books-attack
Whose writing career do you envy most? From George Eliot to Sophocles, Zoë Heller and Daniel Mendelsohn discuss.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/08/books/review/whose-writing-career-do-you-most-envy.html
Speaking of long literary careers, the late Maya Angelou was iconoclastic in many ways. For one, she disliked modesty. "As I learned when I met her, the late author believed that true arrogance lay in denying one's own specialness—and denying the specialness of others."
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/06/why-maya-angelou-didnt-believe-in-modesty/371965/
BOOKS & WRITERS
Bill Gaston's new short story collection, Juliet Was a Surprise, is his first in eight years. "There is nothing heavy-handed about this approach...the stories are poised, always, at the cusp of laughter, heartbreak and mystery. To read them is a heart-opening experience."
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/books/writer+Bill+Gaston+collection+celebrates+strange+daily+life/9915604/story.html#ixzz34BKRvULz
Another B.C. writer, Gary Geddes, has released a new book of poetry called What Does a House Want?–Selected Poems. The over-arching theme of the book "could be summed up nicely by the Milan Kundera quote that opens Section One: ‘It takes so little, so infinitely little, for a person to cross that border beyond which everything loses meaning: love, conviction, faith, history.'"
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/books/Poignant+poet+Gary+Geddes+shatters+illusions/9915601/story.html
What do famous writers do when they're not writing? "When he wasn't writing, Kurt Vonnegut doodled. A new book, introduced by his daughter Nanette, brings together some of his finest drawings and his own musings about his art."
http://www.theguardian.com/books/gallery/2014/may/05/kurt-vonnegut-the-drawings-of-science-fictions-master-artist-in-pictures
Coinciding with the anniversary of D-Day, this week's Guardian Poem of the Week is Desert Flowers by Keith Douglas. "Succinct but mysterious, Desert Flowers belongs to a liminal state between sleeping and waking, night and day."
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jun/09/poem-of-the-week-keith-douglas-war
Ramona Ausubel's story, You Can Find Love Now, is about a Cyclops looking for love. It appears in The New Yorker's Summer Fiction Issue, and the author is interviewed here:
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2014/06/this-week-in-fiction-ramona-ausubel.html
When it comes to fear (of writing), Ted Thompson considers it a "self-fulfilling prophesy!" The acclaimed debut novelist says the only way to carry on is to "ignore the inner demon that tells you you'll never be as good as Zadie Smith."
http://www.salon.com/2014/06/06/ignore_the_inner_demon_that_tells_you_you%E2%80%99ll_never_be_as_good_as_zadie_smith/
In what ways can successful literary fiction contain a sense of political purpose? "For Molly Antopol, author of The UnAmericans, Grace Paley's short, generous stories manage to concern politics, and achieve a broadly activist spirit, without ever preaching."
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/05/the-writing-almost-feels-like-method-acting/371691/
COMMUNITY EVENTS
DIANE TUCKER
The Burnaby Writers' Society presents a special poetry workshop evening. Thursday, June 12 at 7:30pm. By donation. Studio 104, Shadbolt Centre for the Arts.
VANCOUVER INTERNATIONAL STORYTELLING FESTIVAL
A weekend of enlivening encounters with many passionate storytellers, including Naveen Girn, Naomi Steinberg, Todd Wong, Lizzy Karp, Victor Guerin, Magpie Ulysses and Deborah Williams. June 13-15, 2014. Various locations. Compete details at vancouverstorytelling.org.
LUNCH POEMS AT SFU
Featuring Billeh Nickerson and Heather Haley. Wednesday, June 18 at 12:00 noon, free. Teck Gallery in SFU's Harbour Centre, 515 West Hastings Street, Vancouver. More information at sfu.ca/publicsquare/lunchpoems.
A SPECIAL NIGHT FOR A SPECIAL MAN
On Wednesday, June 18, 2014, Pandora's Collective Presents A Special Night for A Special Man Benefit for Timothy Shay at The Cottage Bistro 4468 Main St, Vancouver. Doors open at 6pm-11pm. $10 suggested donation. Host: RC Weslowski. More information at pandorascollective.com.
GEORGE WOODCOCK LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
A Proclamation and Reading honoring Jean Barman, B.C.'s most active historian, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, as the 21st recipient of the George Woodcock Lifetime Achievement Award. Thursday, June 19 at 7:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 West Georgia Street. More information at vpl.ca.
EUROPEAN BOOK CLUB
Features Portuguese novel The True Actor (O verdadeiro ator) by Jacinto Lucas Pires. Saturday, June 21 at 4:00pm. Free but register at eubookclub.vancouver@shaw.ca. Istituto Italiano di Cultura, 500-510 West Hastings Street, Vancouver. More information at www.alliancefrancaise.ca.
Upcoming
POETIC FORM AND THE MYSTICAL MUSE
Readings by poets Lee Johnson and Susan McCaslin. Tuesday, June 24 at 7:00pm, free. Peter Kaye room, lower level, Central Library, 350 West Georgia Street. More information at vpl.ca.
GEOFFREY TIGG
The Painting is the second book in the Detective Kelly O'Brian series by Geoffrey Tigg. Wednesday, June 25 at 7:00pm. Welsh Hall West, West Vancouver Memorial Library, 1950 Marine Drive, West Vancouver. More information at westvanlibrary.ca.
MOIRA YOUNG
Reading, Q&A and book Signing by the author of Raging Star. Thursday, June 26 at 7:00pm. Book Warehouse, 4118 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at 604-879-7737.
BOOK LAUNCH
C.C. Humphreys launches his new novel, Plague. Monday, July 14 at 5:00pm. The Fringe Cafe, 3124 West Broadway. More information at 604-738-6977.
KATIE CROUCH
Author reads from her new book Abroad. Thursday, July 17 at 7:00pm. Book Warehouse, 4118 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at 604-879-7737.
Thursday, June 5, 2014
Book News Vol. 9 No. 14
BOOK NEWS
AWARDS & LISTS
The Lambda Literary Awards, which honour the best lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender books of the previous year, have been announced. Canadian playwright Michel Marc Bouchard won for his LGBT drama Tom at the Farm (recently adapted into a prize-winning film by Xavier Dolan.)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/style-blog/wp/2014/06/02/lambda-literary-awards/
First-time novelist Eimear McBride is the winner of the 2014 Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (formerly the Orange Prize for her book A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing). One judge commented that "this an extraordinary new voice-this novel will move and astonish the reader."
http://www.womensprizeforfiction.co.uk/2014/eimear-mcbride-wins-the-2014-baileys-womens-prize-for-fiction
YOUNG READERS
Do you prefer your books in 3D? Here's a list of ten great pop-up children's books!
http://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2014/jun/01/top-10-pop-up-books-robert-sabuda
NEWS & FEATURES
"Goodbye, Steinbeck; All Hail, Shelley!" The British government has released a new syllabus that eliminates several American literary classics, including To Kill a Mockingbird, The Crucible, and Of Mice and Men.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/31/books/goodbye-steinbeck-all-hail-shelley.html
The tributes for Maya Angelou have begun to pour in. In our age of instant communication, that means that many of them were via social media. Check out some of the most significant tweets, facebook tributes and instagram posts, here:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/life-is-pure-adventure-tributes-pour-in-for-maya-angelou/article18883974/
For something more lengthy, here's a tribute written by her editor Lennie Goodings, who describes Angelou as her "hero."
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/may/29/my-hero-maya-angelou-by-lennie-goodings
Mountains have often inspired literary inspiration, especially among the Beat Poets. Here's a celebration of Gary Snyder's poem Meeting the Mountains, and a link to recently unpublished photos of "poets on the peaks."
http://www.blogcitylights.com/2014/06/02/poetry-on-a-monday-poets-on-the-peaks/
Is poetry inaccessible? A British television presenter and poetry prize judge recently made this claim, stating that there was a need for an "inquisition" in which "poets [would be] called to account for their poetry!"
http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2014/jun/02/is-jeremy-paxman-right-new-poetry-inaccessibilty
What's the best "bad" book that you have ever read? Leslie Jamison (novelist and non-fiction writer) and James Parker (contributing editor at The Atlantic) discuss.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/01/books/review/whats-the-best-bad-book-youve-ever-read.html
"It's Too Late. Exclamation Marks Are Unstoppable Now!" Or so claims New York Magazine, in this piece on the current "tidal shift in grammatical norms."
http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2014/05/even-grammarians-are-misusing-exclamation-marks.html
What are the best literary putdowns? From The Murder on the Orient Express to Revolutionary Road, here are twelve books that feature insults intended to make you weep!
http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/gallery/2014/jun/02/-12-literary-insults-to-make-you-weep
A cache of Marcel Proust's letters was recently discovered, containing notes he sent to his noisy upstairs neighbours from 1906-1919. "Proust, we now realize, was, along with everything else, a neighbor, too. We who toss and turn, fantasizing about the exquisitely cutting emails we'll never have the guts to send to the invisible others keeping us awake, are happy to have him on our team."
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2014/06/the-sympathetic-spy-downstairs.html
Do bookshops need rethinking for the electronic age? Four firms of architects and designers were asked to create the bookshop of their dreams. Here's how they responded:
http://moreintelligentlife.com/content/lifestyle/rosanna-de-lisle/bookshop-design
BOOKS & WRITERS
What are some newly released books worth checking out? Here's the New York Times' roundup:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/29/books/smith-hendersons-fourth-of-july-creek-and-more.html
"In the decades between the two world wars, no writer was more widely translated or read than the Austrian novelist Stefan Zweig, and in the years after, few writers fell more precipitously into obscurity, at least in the English-speaking world." Thanks to the success of Wes Anderson's latest film, Zweig is set to rise again.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/29/books/stefan-zweig-austrian-novelist-rises-again.html
Patricia Lockwood's new collection of poetry, Motherland Fatherland Homelandsexuals, has been described as "surreal and mostly sublime", with poems that "scatter lightning and lawn debris across your psyche." But be warned: this collection contains a lot of "zoombinating."
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/29/books/patricia-lockwoods-motherland-fatherland-homelandsexuals.html
Chinese ex-pat and Writers Fest author Xiaolu Guo is releasing her new book, I am China, to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre. In this interview, she discusses the historical events of that day, how they affected her writing, notions of political martyrdom, and what it means to live outside China.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/may/30/xiaolu-guo-communist-china-interview
Helen Oyeyemi was recently featured on CBC's Writers and Company. Her new book Boy, Snow, Bird is a rewriting of the fairy tale Snow White. You can listen to the interview here:
http://www.cbc.ca/books/2014/06/helen-oyeyemi-on-her-new-novel-boy-snow-bird.html
Tove Jansson should have won the Nobel Prize for literature, claims Philip Pullman of His Dark Materials fame. The Finnish writer and artist, who died in 2001, "responded to the world with a freshness and originality that have hardly ever been matched in the field of children's books."
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jun/02/tove-jansson-nobel-prize-philip-pullman
COMMUNITY EVENTS
KELLEY ARMSTRONG
Meet the author of the teen series Darkest Powers and Darkness Rising. Friday, June 6 at 1:00pm. Cloverdale Library, 5642 - 176A Street, Surrey. More information at surreylibraries.ca.
PAULA WILD
Author presents her latest book, The Cougar: Beautiful, Wild and Dangerous. Saturday, June 7 at 7:00pm, free. Village Books, 1200 11th Street, Bellingham. More information at villagebooks.com.
A GATHERING OF POETS
The winner and finalist for the 2014 Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize read from their nominated works. The evening will be hosted by Heidi Greco, Surrey's 2012 Resident Poet. Monday, June 9 at 7:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 West Georgia Street. More information at vpl.ca.
KATE PULLINGER
Reading, Q&A and book signing by the author of Landing Gear. Tuesday, June 10 at 7:00pm. Book Warehouse, 4118 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at 604-879-7737.
TWISTED POETS LITERARY SALON
Features poets Yvonne Blomer and Onjana Yownghwe plus open Mic. Wednesday, June 11, 7-9:30pm, at The Cottage Bistro, 4468 Main Street, Vancouver. Suggested donation at the door: $5. Sign up for open mic at 7pm. More information at www.pandorascollective.com.
DIANE TUCKER
The Burnaby Writers' Society presents a special poetry workshop evening. Thursday, June 12 at 7:30pm. By donation. Studio 104, Shadbolt Centre for the Arts.
VANCOUVER INTERNATIONAL STORYTELLING FESTIVAL
A weekend of enlivening encounters with many passionate storytellers, including Naveen Girn, Naomi Steinberg, Todd Wong, Lizzy Karp, Victor Guerin, Magpie Ulysses and Deborah Williams. June 13-15, 2014. Various locations. Compete details at vancouverstorytelling.org.
Upcoming
LUNCH POEMS AT SFU
Featuring Billeh Nickerson and Heather Haley. Wednesday, June 18 at 12:00 noon, free. Teck Gallery in SFU's Harbour Centre, 515 West Hastings Street, Vancouver. More information at sfu.ca/publicsquare/lunchpoems.
A SPECIAL NIGHT FOR A SPECIAL MAN
On Wednesday, June 18, 2014, Pandora's Collective Presents A Special Night for A Special Man Benefit for Timothy Shay at The Cottage Bistro 4468 Main St, Vancouver. Doors open at 6pm-11pm. $10 suggested donation. Host: RC Weslowski. More information at pandorascollective.com.
GEORGE WOODCOCK LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
A Proclamation and Reading honoring Jean Barman, B.C.'s most active historian, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, as the 21st recipient of the George Woodcock Lifetime Achievement Award. Thursday, June 19 at 7:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 West Georgia Street. More information at vpl.ca.
EUROPEAN BOOK CLUB
Features Portuguese novel The True Actor (O verdadeiro ator) by Jacinto Lucas Pires. Saturday, June 21 at 4:00pm. Free but register at eubookclub.vancouver@shaw.ca. Istituto Italiano di Cultura, 500-510 West Hastings Street, Vancouver. More information at www.alliancefrancaise.ca.
POETIC FORM AND THE MYSTICAL MUSE
Readings by poets Lee Johnson and Susan McCaslin. Tuesday, June 24 at 7:00pm, free. Peter Kaye room, lower level, Central Library, 350 West Georgia Street. More information at vpl.ca.
GEOFFREY TIGG
The Painting is the second book in the Detective Kelly O'Brian series by Geoffrey Tigg. Wednesday, June 25 at 7:00pm. Welsh Hall West, West Vancouver Memorial Library, 1950 Marine Drive, West Vancouver. More information at westvanlibrary.ca.
MOIRA YOUNG
Reading, Q&A and book Signing by the author of Raging Star. Thursday, June 26 at 7:00pm. Book Warehouse, 4118 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at 604-879-7737.
AWARDS & LISTS
The Lambda Literary Awards, which honour the best lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender books of the previous year, have been announced. Canadian playwright Michel Marc Bouchard won for his LGBT drama Tom at the Farm (recently adapted into a prize-winning film by Xavier Dolan.)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/style-blog/wp/2014/06/02/lambda-literary-awards/
First-time novelist Eimear McBride is the winner of the 2014 Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (formerly the Orange Prize for her book A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing). One judge commented that "this an extraordinary new voice-this novel will move and astonish the reader."
http://www.womensprizeforfiction.co.uk/2014/eimear-mcbride-wins-the-2014-baileys-womens-prize-for-fiction
YOUNG READERS
Do you prefer your books in 3D? Here's a list of ten great pop-up children's books!
http://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2014/jun/01/top-10-pop-up-books-robert-sabuda
NEWS & FEATURES
"Goodbye, Steinbeck; All Hail, Shelley!" The British government has released a new syllabus that eliminates several American literary classics, including To Kill a Mockingbird, The Crucible, and Of Mice and Men.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/31/books/goodbye-steinbeck-all-hail-shelley.html
The tributes for Maya Angelou have begun to pour in. In our age of instant communication, that means that many of them were via social media. Check out some of the most significant tweets, facebook tributes and instagram posts, here:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/life-is-pure-adventure-tributes-pour-in-for-maya-angelou/article18883974/
For something more lengthy, here's a tribute written by her editor Lennie Goodings, who describes Angelou as her "hero."
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/may/29/my-hero-maya-angelou-by-lennie-goodings
Mountains have often inspired literary inspiration, especially among the Beat Poets. Here's a celebration of Gary Snyder's poem Meeting the Mountains, and a link to recently unpublished photos of "poets on the peaks."
http://www.blogcitylights.com/2014/06/02/poetry-on-a-monday-poets-on-the-peaks/
Is poetry inaccessible? A British television presenter and poetry prize judge recently made this claim, stating that there was a need for an "inquisition" in which "poets [would be] called to account for their poetry!"
http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2014/jun/02/is-jeremy-paxman-right-new-poetry-inaccessibilty
What's the best "bad" book that you have ever read? Leslie Jamison (novelist and non-fiction writer) and James Parker (contributing editor at The Atlantic) discuss.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/01/books/review/whats-the-best-bad-book-youve-ever-read.html
"It's Too Late. Exclamation Marks Are Unstoppable Now!" Or so claims New York Magazine, in this piece on the current "tidal shift in grammatical norms."
http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2014/05/even-grammarians-are-misusing-exclamation-marks.html
What are the best literary putdowns? From The Murder on the Orient Express to Revolutionary Road, here are twelve books that feature insults intended to make you weep!
http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/gallery/2014/jun/02/-12-literary-insults-to-make-you-weep
A cache of Marcel Proust's letters was recently discovered, containing notes he sent to his noisy upstairs neighbours from 1906-1919. "Proust, we now realize, was, along with everything else, a neighbor, too. We who toss and turn, fantasizing about the exquisitely cutting emails we'll never have the guts to send to the invisible others keeping us awake, are happy to have him on our team."
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2014/06/the-sympathetic-spy-downstairs.html
Do bookshops need rethinking for the electronic age? Four firms of architects and designers were asked to create the bookshop of their dreams. Here's how they responded:
http://moreintelligentlife.com/content/lifestyle/rosanna-de-lisle/bookshop-design
BOOKS & WRITERS
What are some newly released books worth checking out? Here's the New York Times' roundup:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/29/books/smith-hendersons-fourth-of-july-creek-and-more.html
"In the decades between the two world wars, no writer was more widely translated or read than the Austrian novelist Stefan Zweig, and in the years after, few writers fell more precipitously into obscurity, at least in the English-speaking world." Thanks to the success of Wes Anderson's latest film, Zweig is set to rise again.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/29/books/stefan-zweig-austrian-novelist-rises-again.html
Patricia Lockwood's new collection of poetry, Motherland Fatherland Homelandsexuals, has been described as "surreal and mostly sublime", with poems that "scatter lightning and lawn debris across your psyche." But be warned: this collection contains a lot of "zoombinating."
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/29/books/patricia-lockwoods-motherland-fatherland-homelandsexuals.html
Chinese ex-pat and Writers Fest author Xiaolu Guo is releasing her new book, I am China, to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre. In this interview, she discusses the historical events of that day, how they affected her writing, notions of political martyrdom, and what it means to live outside China.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/may/30/xiaolu-guo-communist-china-interview
Helen Oyeyemi was recently featured on CBC's Writers and Company. Her new book Boy, Snow, Bird is a rewriting of the fairy tale Snow White. You can listen to the interview here:
http://www.cbc.ca/books/2014/06/helen-oyeyemi-on-her-new-novel-boy-snow-bird.html
Tove Jansson should have won the Nobel Prize for literature, claims Philip Pullman of His Dark Materials fame. The Finnish writer and artist, who died in 2001, "responded to the world with a freshness and originality that have hardly ever been matched in the field of children's books."
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jun/02/tove-jansson-nobel-prize-philip-pullman
COMMUNITY EVENTS
KELLEY ARMSTRONG
Meet the author of the teen series Darkest Powers and Darkness Rising. Friday, June 6 at 1:00pm. Cloverdale Library, 5642 - 176A Street, Surrey. More information at surreylibraries.ca.
PAULA WILD
Author presents her latest book, The Cougar: Beautiful, Wild and Dangerous. Saturday, June 7 at 7:00pm, free. Village Books, 1200 11th Street, Bellingham. More information at villagebooks.com.
A GATHERING OF POETS
The winner and finalist for the 2014 Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize read from their nominated works. The evening will be hosted by Heidi Greco, Surrey's 2012 Resident Poet. Monday, June 9 at 7:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 West Georgia Street. More information at vpl.ca.
KATE PULLINGER
Reading, Q&A and book signing by the author of Landing Gear. Tuesday, June 10 at 7:00pm. Book Warehouse, 4118 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at 604-879-7737.
TWISTED POETS LITERARY SALON
Features poets Yvonne Blomer and Onjana Yownghwe plus open Mic. Wednesday, June 11, 7-9:30pm, at The Cottage Bistro, 4468 Main Street, Vancouver. Suggested donation at the door: $5. Sign up for open mic at 7pm. More information at www.pandorascollective.com.
DIANE TUCKER
The Burnaby Writers' Society presents a special poetry workshop evening. Thursday, June 12 at 7:30pm. By donation. Studio 104, Shadbolt Centre for the Arts.
VANCOUVER INTERNATIONAL STORYTELLING FESTIVAL
A weekend of enlivening encounters with many passionate storytellers, including Naveen Girn, Naomi Steinberg, Todd Wong, Lizzy Karp, Victor Guerin, Magpie Ulysses and Deborah Williams. June 13-15, 2014. Various locations. Compete details at vancouverstorytelling.org.
Upcoming
LUNCH POEMS AT SFU
Featuring Billeh Nickerson and Heather Haley. Wednesday, June 18 at 12:00 noon, free. Teck Gallery in SFU's Harbour Centre, 515 West Hastings Street, Vancouver. More information at sfu.ca/publicsquare/lunchpoems.
A SPECIAL NIGHT FOR A SPECIAL MAN
On Wednesday, June 18, 2014, Pandora's Collective Presents A Special Night for A Special Man Benefit for Timothy Shay at The Cottage Bistro 4468 Main St, Vancouver. Doors open at 6pm-11pm. $10 suggested donation. Host: RC Weslowski. More information at pandorascollective.com.
GEORGE WOODCOCK LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
A Proclamation and Reading honoring Jean Barman, B.C.'s most active historian, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, as the 21st recipient of the George Woodcock Lifetime Achievement Award. Thursday, June 19 at 7:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 West Georgia Street. More information at vpl.ca.
EUROPEAN BOOK CLUB
Features Portuguese novel The True Actor (O verdadeiro ator) by Jacinto Lucas Pires. Saturday, June 21 at 4:00pm. Free but register at eubookclub.vancouver@shaw.ca. Istituto Italiano di Cultura, 500-510 West Hastings Street, Vancouver. More information at www.alliancefrancaise.ca.
POETIC FORM AND THE MYSTICAL MUSE
Readings by poets Lee Johnson and Susan McCaslin. Tuesday, June 24 at 7:00pm, free. Peter Kaye room, lower level, Central Library, 350 West Georgia Street. More information at vpl.ca.
GEOFFREY TIGG
The Painting is the second book in the Detective Kelly O'Brian series by Geoffrey Tigg. Wednesday, June 25 at 7:00pm. Welsh Hall West, West Vancouver Memorial Library, 1950 Marine Drive, West Vancouver. More information at westvanlibrary.ca.
MOIRA YOUNG
Reading, Q&A and book Signing by the author of Raging Star. Thursday, June 26 at 7:00pm. Book Warehouse, 4118 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at 604-879-7737.
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