Book News Vol. 9 No. 43

BOOK NEWS

Incite 2015
Join us for an evening of dazzling prose and dramatic tension with Linden MacIntyre (Punishment) and Michael Christie (If I Fall, If I Die).

FREE!
7:30pm, January 28
Alice MacKay room, VPL Central Library
Click here for details: https://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/incite

Festivals Around Town

PuSh Festival January 20-February 8

PuSh presents groundbreaking work in the live performing arts, featuring artists from around the world. Vancouver-based Fight with a Stick makes its debut at PuSh with Steppenwolf, inspired by Herman Hesse's 1927 novel of self-reflection and transformation. Tickets/info: http://pushfestival.ca/shows/steppenwolf/

AWARDS & LISTS

David Harsent has won the TS Eliot prize for poetry. His collection, Fire Songs, "plumbs language and emotion with technical brilliance and prophetic power." The £20,000 prize is awarded by the UK's Poetry Book Society to the best collection of new verse in English first published in the UK or Republic of Ireland.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jan/12/david-harsent-wins-ts-eliot-prize-poetry-fire-songs

The shortlist for the RBC Taylor Prize has been announced.
http://www.rbctaylorprize.ca/2015/finalists_15.asp

YOUNG READERS

Philip Pullman has released a new audio-only story that draws from the world of the His Dark Materials trilogy. Lovers of the Golden Compass will enjoy this tale about two art collectors in the 1970s coming into contact with a young Marisa Coulter.
http://www.salon.com/2015/01/12/exclusive_excerpt_listen_to_a_new_golden_compass_story_from_phillip_pullman/

NEWS & FEATURES

This past week's Charlie Hebdo slayings have brought up many questions about free speech and tolerance. In this piece for The New Yorker, the novelist Teju Cole responds.
http://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/unmournable-bodies

Thankfully we won’t have to wait long for David Mitchell’s next book. Slade House, which began as a 280 tweet story, has turned into a fully-fledged novel and will be published this October.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jan/14/david-mitchell-new-novel-slade-house-autumn

Margaret Atwood is just one of many famous authors protesting changes to the Oxford Junior Dictionary. So-called "natural" words have been replaced with 21st-century terms, with the dropping of "'acorn' and 'buttercup' in favour of 'broadband' and 'cut and paste'" as prime examples.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jan/13/oxford-junior-dictionary-replacement-natural-words

The Man Booker Prize has modified its longlist availability rules. It has abandoned its former rule "on the availability of print books following the longlist announcement, placing time limits on the eligibility of titles published outside the UK, and defining the term 'publisher' more closely."
http://thebookseller.com/news/man-booker-prize-modifies-longlist-availability-rules

Sales of printed books have fallen by more than 200 million dollars in the last five years. Nielsen BookScan has released new figures that show continuing decline as more and more readers move to ebooks.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jan/13/sales-printed-books-fell-150m--five-years

Why do we hate clichés? "Clichés are like the old talismans dug up at an archaeological site. They often endure even when the times and places that produced them have passed on." Rivka Galchen and Leslie Jamison discuss, here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/11/books/review/why-do-we-hate-clich.html

Speaking of clichés, our "national" literature can quite often be full of them. In this piece, Pasha Malla presents "27 Thoughts About CanLit," with comments on the Canada Council for the Arts, among other things.
http://www.winnipegreview.com/wp/2015/01/27-thoughts-about-canlit/

Is the Internet killing culture? No, "it's always been hard to make a living in the arts. It still is."
http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2015/01/culture_crash_the_killing_of_the_creative_class_reviewed.html

The publishing industry has always played an intermediary role between writers and their readers, navigating the precarious balance between creativity and money. With companies such as Amazon attempting to eliminate these so-called "gatekeepers," here's a piece in praise of publishers who "move units and readers."
http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2015/01/longtime_book_editor_daniel_menaker_on_amazon_authors_united_and_the_future.html

BOOKS & WRITERS

Miranda July's novel, The First Bad Man, "is like one of those strange mythological creatures that are part one thing, part another—a griffin or a chimera, perhaps, or a sphinx," as well as "an immensely moving portrait of motherhood and what it means to take care of a child." The First Bad Man is July's first novel (she is also a filmmaker and an artist.)
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/12/books/miranda-julys-the-first-bad-man.html

Rachel Cusk recently stated that conventional fiction is "fake and embarrassing." Her new novel, Outline, is a sharp break from what she's written before, "a poised and cerebral novel that has little in the way of straightforward plot yet is transfixing in its unruffled awareness of the ways we love and leave each other, and of what it means to listen to other people."
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/07/books/outline-rachel-cusks-new-novel.html

What gets lost when English becomes the lingua franca of the Internet, as well as the world? Minae Mizumura's The Fall of Language in the Age of English tackles the subject, and has just been translated into our "tuneless, careless juggernaut" of a language, English.
http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2015/01/minae_mizumura_s_the_fall_of_language_in_the_age_of_english_reviewed.html

Jeet Heer's so-called 'Twitter essays' are "multipart riffs on culture, politics and the many unlikely connections between the two." His new book, Sweet Lechery, shows us why he's one of Canada's leading public intellectuals.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/book-reviews/sweet-lechery-shows-us-how-jeet-heer-used-twitter-to-become-one-of-canadas-leading-public-intellectuals/article22380667/

Matt Rader's first collection of short stories, What I Want to Tell Goes Like This, is an exploration, largely, of Vancouver Island's Comox Valley, where the author grew up. It explores its vibrant past through the placement of "historically rooted stories juxtaposed against frequently open-ended contemporary fictions."
http://www.straight.com/life/800266/matt-raders-what-i-want-tell-goes-layered-vibrant-history

Jaguar's Children, by Vancouver author John Vaillant, is "a heavy-duty, appalling saga of Mexico," as well as the author's first novel. Vaillant is already known for The Golden Spruce and The Tiger, both lauded non-fiction books.
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/books/Jaguar+Children+unsettling+tale+Mexico+illegals/10716387/story.html

Getting a book published is an arduous path for any author...and a decade-long struggle for more than a few. Here's a new infographic that explores the careers of the world's most successful authors.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/14/author-career-infographic_n_6465328.html

COMMUNITY EVENTS

THE CRESCENT MOON PROJECT
Join novelist Mark Boyter and singer/songwriter Glenn Chatten for an evening of readings from Mark's newly released book Crescent Moon Over Laos and Glenn's latest CD. Books and CDs will be available for sale. Thursday, January 15 at 7:00pm, free. The Chapel, St. Andrew's-Wesley United Church, Nelson and Burrard. For more information, email mjboyter@yahoo.ca or gchatten@gmail.com.

BEN NUTTALL-SMITH
Author launches his latest book Flying with White Eagle. Thursday, January 15 at 7:30pm. Pelican Rouge Coffee House, 15142 North Bluff Road, White Rock.

THE DAY THAT...
Celebrate Rain City Chronicles 5th birthday party with a fantastic roster of Vancouverites sharing true tales about days that changed their lives. Friday, January 16 at 6:30pm. Tickets: $28. Grandview Legion Hall, 2205 Commercial Drive, Vancouver. More information at raincitychronicles.com.

INTERIOR PASSAGES
Vancouver Launch of Susan McCaslin's memoir, Into the Mystic: My Years with Olga, and Pam Galloway's volume of poetry, Passing Stranger (both Inanna Publications), Canadian Memorial Centre for Peace, the Great Hall, 1825 W. 16th Ave., Vancouver, BC, Sat. Jan. 17, 3:30-5:30pm. Refreshments, cello music, emcee Diane Tucker. Free and open to the public.

KRISTI CHARISH
Local debut author Kristi Charish launches her new book Owl and the Japanese Circus. Monday, January 19 at 7:00pm. Central branch, 350 W. Georgia Street, Vancouver. More information at 604-331-3603.

VAN SLAM
Featuring spoken word poet and rapper C-Command. Monday, January 19 at 7:00pm.Cost: $6-$10. Cafe Deux Soleils, 2096 Commercial Drive, Vancouver. More information at vancouverpoetryhouse.com.

PAM GALLOWAY AND SUSAN MCCASLIN
Poets reading from their new works (Inanna Publications): Pam's volume of poems, Passing Stranger, and Susan's memoir (Into the Mystic) at the Spoken Ink Series, Burnaby Writers' Society, La Fontana Cafe, 101-3701 East Hastings, Burnaby, Tues. Jan. 20, open mic sign up, 7:30p.m., reading at 8pm. Info: bwscafe@gmail.com.

LUNCH POEMS AT SFU
Kate Braid and Amber Dawn are the featured poets. Wednesday, January 21 at 12:00 noon, free. SFU Harbour Centre's Teck Gallery, 515 W Hastings St. For more information visit www.sfu.ca/publicsquare/lunchpoems.

NOVEL NIGHTS WITH CAROLINE ADDERSON
Book Warehouse hosts their first book club meeting of 2015! Author Caroline Adderson will discuss her latest novel Ellen in Pieces. Wednesday, January 21 at 7:00pm. Book Warehouse, 4118 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at 604-879-7737.

A CELEBRATION OF CHILDREN'S LITERATURE
Featuring award winning B.C. authors and illustrators with guest speaker Kit Pearson winner of the 2014 Lieutenant Governor's Award for Literary Excellence. A wine and cheese event on January 21 from 7-9pm at Creekside Community Centre. More information at www.vclr.ca.

NANCY LEE
Nancy Lee discuses her latest novel, The Age. Thursday, January 22 at 7:00 PM. Christianne's Lyceum. 3696 W. 8th Ave. $22 (includes refreshments). To reserve your space call 604.733.1356 or email lyceum@christiannehayward.com. More information at www.christiannehayward.com.

TO BUILD A FIRE
A dynamic interdisciplinary performance in which piano, cello, and ukulele music compliments and responds to vital, eclectic literary works. Featuring Christine Fellows, Miriam Toews, and Erik Rutherford. Friday, January 23 at 7:00pm. Gessler Hall, UBC School of Music, 6361 Memorial Road.

HALF OF A YELLOW SUN
The film adaption of Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Orange Prize-winning novel, set during Nigeria's bloody Biafran civil war of the late 1960s, makes its Vancouver premiere this month: http://www.thecinematheque.ca/half-of-a-yellow-sun.

Upcoming

POETIC JUSTICE
Features Kennedy Arbor and Jenni Madison with host Franci Louann. Sunday, January 25 at 3:00pm. The Heritage Grill.

YOUTH SLAM
Featuring 2014 Youth Slam Grand Slam champion Sebastian Wen. Monday, January 26 at 7:00pm. Cost: $4-$10. Cafe Deux Soleils, 2096 Commercial Drive, Vancouver. More information at vancouverpoetryhouse.com.

ERIN MOURE
Author reads from her work. Tuesday, January 27 at 5:00pm. Coach House, Green College, UBC.

A NOVEL IDEA
Janine Alyson Young, author of Hideout Hotel, will be joined by former Caitlin Press publicist, Rebecca Hendry. Wednesday, January 28 at 6:00pm. Gibsons Library, 470 Fletcher Rd. S., Gibsons, BC. More information at 604-886-2130.

SOME SORT OF LIFE
Naomi Waken, Nanaimo's first Poet Laureate, shares her latest novel, Some Sort of Life. Wednesday, January 28 at 7:00pm. Welsh Hall, West Vancouver Memorial Library.

EVANGELINE LILLY
Meet Evangeline Lilly as she reads and signs her new book, The Squickerwonkers. Thursday, January 29 at 7:00pm. Chapters Robson, Vancouver. More information at chapters.indigo.com.

IF I FALL, IF I DIE
Launch of Michael Christie's new novel. Thursday, January 29 at 7:00pm. Antisocial, 2337 Main Street, Vancouver. For more information and to RSVP, email pkells@penguinrandomhouse.com.

TWISTED POETS LITERARY SALON
Features Leah Horlick and Heather Haley with open mic. Thursday, January 29 at 7:00pm. 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.

GALIANO LITERARY FESTIVAL
6th annual festival featuring Theodora Armstrong, George Bowering, Bill Gaston, Elizabeth May, Spider Robinson and others. February 20-22, 2015. Complete details at galianoliteraryfestival.com.