Book News Vol. 9 No. 27

BOOK NEWS

Vancouver Writers Fest Tickets on sale September 8

The buzz is mounting-tickets go on sale soon for the 2014 Vancouver Writers Fest. Get your tickets for events with acclaimed writers from Canada and around the world including Norwegian literary sensation Karl Ove Knausgaard, Icelandic novelist and Bjork collaborator Sjon, antipodeans Tim Winton, Anne Kennedy and Christos Tsiolkas, UK authors Kate Pullinger, Tom Rachman, Sarah Waters, Louise Welsh, Esther Freud and Eimear
McBride, Canadians Michael Cummey, Cory Doctorow, Miriam Toews, Ann-Marie MacDonald, Justin Trudeau, Steven Galloway, Ian Weir, Aislinn Hunter and Richard Wagamese and many more. Pick up the Festival program guide at
bookstores in the Lower Mainland, or check the Festival website for full details, http:/www.writersfest.bc.ca.

Special event tickets are on sale now, http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events.


Volunteer

Volunteer registration is now open for our 2014 festival, a full six days of 86 amazing events running 21-26 October! Up to 350 volunteers will be needed...the greater your availability-and the greater your flexibility about what you will do as a volunteer-the greater the likelihood we can fit you in! For more info, visit the volunteer pages of our website, http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/get-involved/volunteer.

Calling 'Gen Y' Readers

The Vancouver Writers Fest is recruiting for focus group participants. We are specifically interested in talking to Generation Y readers (born 1980 to 1995). If you, or someone you know, would consider participating in a focus group discussion in the future, please sign up, and we will be in touch, http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/get-involved/focusgroup.

AWARDS & LISTS

The winner of the inaugural Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Student Nonfiction Writing Contest has been chosen. Toronto student Ashley Ash was selected for her essay No One's Girl, about being a foster child.
http://www.cbc.ca/asithappens/features/2014/09/01/reading-ashley-ash-winner-of-inaugural-writers-trust-student-nonfiction-writing-contest/

Here is the 2014 Samuel Johnson prize longlist...in pictures! "Two surgeons, an 'accidental professor' and a songwriter are among the contenders for the UK's most prestigious award for nonfiction."
http://www.theguardian.com/books/gallery/2014/sep/02/2014-samuel-johnson-prize-longlist-in-pictures

YOUNG READERS

Fans of Reading Rainbow will be excited to hear this bit of news: LeVar Burton's first children's book will be coming out this fall. The Rhino Who Swallowed a Storm combines prose and rhyme to create "a story designed for parents and kids to read together when facing stressful or difficult situations."
http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-levar-burton-first-childrens-book-coming-this-fall-20140902-story.html

NEWS & FEATURES

With Labour Day celebrations this past weekend, the question begs to be asked: what kind of worker is a writer? In this piece, The New Yorker reflects on Tillie Olsen, a writer whose work lent a heartfelt voice to the struggles of working-class people.
http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/kind-worker-writer

On the other hand, much of the work in the book world is not done by writers, but rather by those who are "mostly invisible" to people outside their industries. Happy Labour Day to the editors, proofreaders, book designers, press operators and distributors, without whom many a writer would be lost!
http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-for-labor-day-an-appreciation-of-unheralded-literary-labor-20140829-story.html

On a final Labour Day-related note, here's chance to learn about the bizarre day jobs of 20 famous authors! From an exterminator to an apothecaries' assistant, this certainly was an eclectic bunch!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-anthony-jones/famous-author-day-jobs_b_5724482.html

If Shakespeare wrote Pop songs, what would they sound like? "As the debate wages on about the Bard's relatability—and whether or not relatability matters to begin with—a hilarious Tumblr has surfaced that translates modern-day pop songs into Shakespearean sonnets."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/27/pop-sonnets-shakespeare_n_5718453.html

Don't judge a (classic) book by its cover! As the new school year begins, a mother (and writer) reflects on "approaching the classics with dread, fearing irrelevant, dull stories written in archaic styles," and overcoming that fear to find the gold within.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-fuller/classic-book-stereotypes_b_5698261.html

Speaking of classics, a previously unpublished chapter of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has emerged. Called Fudge Mountain, you can read it here, along with a new illustration by Quentin Blake.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/aug/30/roald-dahl-extract-unpublished-chapter-charlie-and-the-chocolate-factory

Would you buy a waterproof eReader? It seems like a logical consideration for us Vancouverites, whether reading in the winter rain, in the bath, or by the beach in summer.
http://www.cbc.ca/books/2014/08/kobo-reveals-new-waterproof-ereader.html

Grades aren't everything! Award-winning writer Kim Thúy once got two zeros at mid-term in a university creative writing class. She discusses her academic career, sex, and the afterlife, here:
http://www.cbc.ca/books/canadawrites/2014/09/gg-winner-kim-thuy-on-the-zeros-she-got-in-creative-writing-class.html

A teacher in Maryland was recently placed on administrative leave after it was discovered that he had published two novels, one of which featured school shootings in a futurist setting. A University of California professor comes to his defence, here:
http://blog.lareviewofbooks.org/essays/letter-dorchester-county-board-education-regarding-patrick-mclaw/

Eleanor Catton is using her recent award money (for The Luminaries) in an innovative way. She has decided to set up a grant that will give writers "time to read", "the first step" to good writing.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/sep/02/eleanor-catton-grant-time-to-read-the-luminaries

BOOKS & WRITERS

No Man's Land: Fiction From a World at War 1914-1918 is a new anthology that sets out to fill the gaps in our knowledge of the First World War. "Mr. Ayrton has captured the global sweep of the conflict by not awarding undue emphasis to the Western Front already so familiar to us from films and books."
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/01/books/no-mans-land-unfamiliar-writing-about-world-war-i.html

"There is a certain kind of bad writing that occurs when you are between the ages of 16 and 24 and have an audience of one." Drivel: Deliciously Bad Writing by Your Favorite Authors is a new humor collection that "conveys the real meaning of a work-in-progress," featuring work by Mary Roach, Chuck Palahniuk, Amy Tan and Dave Eggers, among others.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/julia-scott/confessions-of-a-bad-writ_b_5698207.html

The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell dazzles with "narrative fireworks," says Ursula Le Guin in this book review. A novel of epic proportions, it "spans the Iraq war, the Eternal Battle of Good and Evil and the downfall of civilization."
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/sep/02/the-bone-clocks-david-mitchell-review-novel

In Ben Lerner's newest novel, 10:04, New York is more than a mere backdrop. It's a character! The author is "a walker in the city in conscious league with Walt Whitman, but also with writers up through Teju Cole, whose protagonists are wide-awake flâneurs."
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/03/books/in-ben-lerners-1004-new-york-is-a-character.html

When Michael Crummey confronted the economic facts of two children in university (not to mention long days—"there's only so much laundry a man can fold, only so many times a lawn needs mowing"), he realized that something had to be done: either write a new book or work at Marie's Mini-Mart.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/newfoundland-author-michael-crummey-on-career-options-write-a-new-book-or-work-at-maries-mini-mart/article20278718/

Bill Gaston's latest short-story collection, Juliet Was a Surprise, is filled with CanLit themes, twisted and made new. "Through some mysterious alchemy, Gaston has managed to wring a quiet kind of horror from components that could easily collapse into a pile of creative-writing-class clichés."
http://www.straight.com/life/714861/bill-gastons-juliet-was-surprise-twists-canlit-conventions-skill

COMMUNITY EVENTS

SEBASTIEN DE CASTELL
Fantasy author reads from his swashbuckling adventure novel Traitor's Blade and gives a talk on the use of swordplay in fantasy and historical literature. Thursday, September 4 at 7:00pm, free. Peter Kaye room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.

The TWS READING SERIES
The Writer's Studio September readers will be Ingrid Rose, Angela Kenyon, D.N. Simmers, Diana Joy, Sheila Galati, Jude Neale, and Dhana Musil. Our feature author will be poet Daniela Elza. Hosts: Ivan Antoniw and Romney Grant.Thursday, September 4 at 8:00pm. Cottage Bistro, 4470 Main Street, Vancouver.

DOUBLE ENTENDRE
An evening of fiction and poetry with Ann Eriksson reading from her new novel, High Clear Bell of Morning, and Gary Geddes reading selected poems from, What Does a House Want? Monday, September 8 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.

ELLEN IN PIECES
Launch of Caroline Adderson's new book. Tuesday, September 9 at 7:00pm. Book Warehouse, 4118 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at blackbondbooks.com.

RONSDALE'S FALL POETRY
An evening of poetry with three award-winning B.C. poets: Garry Gottfriedson, Pamela Porter and Henry Rappaport—all with new collections to showcase. Wednesday, September 10 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia. More information at vpl.ca.

TWISTED POETS LITERARY SALON
Features Cynthia Flood and Elise Partridge plus open mic. Wednesday, September 10 at 7:00pm. Suggested donation at the door: $5. The Cottage Bistro, 4468 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at pandorascollective.com.

Upcoming

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, September 14 at 3:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.

SPOKEN INK READING SERIES
Diane Tucker reads from her new poetry collection, Bonsai Love. Tuesday, September 16 at 7:30pm, free. la Fontana Caffe, 101-3701 East Hastings Street, Burnaby. More information at burnabywritersnews.blogspot.ca.

ALICIA PRIEST
Local Victoria-based author launches her new book A Rock Fell on the Moon, Dad and the Great Yukon Silver Ore Heist. Wednesday, September 17 at 7:30pm. Bard & Banker Pub, 1022 Government Street, Victoria. More information by calling Munro's Books, 250-382-2464.

BIRTH OF A RARE BOOK
Christopher Levenson, poet and author, will present with Peter Braun, Master Printer of New Leaf Editions, and Sigrid Albert, graphic artist, a discussion about the genesis of producing a rare book of poetry and etchings. Sunday, September 21 at 3:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.

VANCOUVER IS ASHES
Vancouver Is Ashes is the first detailed exploration of a landmark, yet seldom revisited event in Vancouver's history. Lisa Anne Smith uses eye-witness accounts to investigate events of that pivotal day. Monday, September 22 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.

WORD VANCOUVER
Festival promoting books and authors with free exhibits, performances, and hands-on activities for a wide range of ages and interests. September 24-28, 2014. Complete details at wordvancouver.ca.

TWISTED POETS LITERARY SALON
Pandora's Collective in conjunction with Word Vancouver features Rita Wong, Jami Macarty, Lilija Valis & Kevin Spenst plus open mic. Thursday, September 25 at 7:00pm. Suggested donation at the door: $5. The Cottage Bistro, 4468 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at pandorascollective.com.

THANKS A LOT EXPRESS-OH!
North Shore Writers' Association invite community & cultural co-creators: writers, dancers, musicians and artists, to join in this fun activity of giving thanks in this 2-hour workshop to expand upon and play with word prompts. Saturday, September 27 at 10:00am, free. North Vancouver City Library, 120 14th St. W., North Vancouver. More information at culturedays.ca.

BOOK SOME TIME FOR CRIME
an afternoon on the edge of your seat with four local mystery authors, Sam Wiebe, E.R. Brown, Robin Spano and Owen Laukkanen. Listen as they share their latest novels, then book a one-on-one session for answers to any of your burning mystery questions. Saturday, September 27 at 1:00pm, free. West Vancouver Memorial Library, 1950 Marine Drive, West Vancouver. More information at culturedays.ca.

THE TOWN SLUT'S DAUGHTER
Canadian poet Heather Haley launches her debut novel. Thursday, October 2 at 7:30pm. Slickity Jim's, 3469 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at howesoundpublishing@gmail.com.