Book News Vol. 9 No. 45

BOOK NEWS

Tim Winton Podcast
Tim Winton's appearance at the 2014 Festival was a highlight and received rave reviews. Listen to a recording of his interview with Hal Wake. Details here, http://writersfest.bc.ca/audio-archives/tim-winton.

Incite 2015
New fiction from John Vaillant (The Jaguar's Children), Marianne Apostolides (Sophrosyne) and Alix Halwey (All True Not a Lie in It). Details: https://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/incite.

FREE!
7:30pm, February 11
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

The winners of the 2014 ReLit Award have been announced. The awards honour the best titles released by Canadian indie publishers.
http://www.quillandquire.com/awards/2015/01/27/relit-award-winners-announced/

Helen Macdonald has won the 2014 Costa book award for H is for Hawk, a "haunting" book that explores grief, love and nature. It tells the story of a Cambridge historian, illustrator and naturalist who tries to overcome her grief by training "the most untameable of raptors, the goshawk."
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jan/27/costa-book-award-helen-macdonald-h-is-for-hawk-win

The finalists for the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize have been named. The prize celebrates political writing.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/shaughnessy-cohen-prize-finalists-announced/article22648737/

YOUNG READERS

January 27th was Family Literacy Day. In honour of this, the CBC released a wonderful list of fifteen kids' books to watch out for in 2015. Check it out here,
http://www.cbc.ca/books/2015/01/15-kids-books-top-watch-out-for-in-2015.html

Here are three young adult books also worth a read. The first is fantastical, the second political (set against the backdrop of the Oka Crisis), and the third one "a story that can't be told enough times."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/three-young-adult-books-worth-a-read/article22606778

NEWS & FEATURES

Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes at the world's most iconic bookstores? In this interview, Stacey Lewis talks about City Lights, the San Francisco landmark.
http://entropymag.org/city-lights-books/

Nevermind bookstores. What about book clubs? Here's how to be the best book club member!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/26/book-club-etiquette_n_6534016.html

A copyright quirk has left James Bond up for grabs in Canada. "As of Jan. 1, the original writings of Fleming, a former British naval intelligence agent who published 12 novels and nine stories featuring 007 between 1952 and 1966, have entered the public domain. That's because Canada's view of copyright is that it extends for 50 years after the death of a writer."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/copyright-change-leaves-james-bond-up-for-grabs-in-canada/article22606770/

How much is a book worth? For $294,038 you can get one that self-destructs in 24 hours...plus dinner with the author James Patterson. It's apparently "an experience that will blow your mind. Hopefully, not literally."
http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-james-patterson-exploding-book-20150121-story.html

Women are "in danger of being over-identified with the sex in their books" stated Sarah Waters recently at the Jaipur Literature Festival. She appeared alongside Nicholson Baker, Deepti Kapoor and Hanif Kuerishi to discuss "contemporary writers' struggles with sex, and radical Islam's obsession with pleasure."
http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2015/jan/23/sex-a-political-issue-at-the-jaipur-literature-festival

Speaking of women and writing, here are a few reasons why Virginia Woolf "should be your feminist role model."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/25/virginia-woolf-feminist_n_6534258.html?ncid=tweetlnkushpmg00000031=

BOOKS & WRITERS

In his new collection, The Second Sex, Michael Robbins "refuses to represent the poet's world as a cloistered private library." In this interview, he talks to Anahid Nersessian, whose forthcoming work of literary philosophy, Utopia, Limited: Romanticism and Adjustment, provides for great conversation.
http://lareviewofbooks.org/interview/conversation-friends

John Vaillant's The Jaguar's Children is an intense and sharply focused story about the dangers of illegal border crossings. It's also Vaillant's first novel after publishing several very-well received nonfiction books.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/a-novel-debut-for-john-vaillant/article22555331/

Does making art have to be lonely? No, says Lena Dunham in this interview with the LA Review of Books. Dunham is the creator of the TV series Girls (whose protagonist is currently attending the Iowa Writers Workshop), as well as the author of Not That Kind of Girl, a memoir.
http://lareviewofbooks.org/interview/ongoing-autobiography-slightly-younger-self/

If you live anywhere east or north of Vancouver, here's a good list for you: Best Snow Day Reads, featuring nineteen page-turners to enjoy while snowed in.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/26/best-snow-day-reads_n_6550272.html

Raziel Reid's first novel, When Everything Feels like the Movies, is currently up for Canada Reads (and won a Governor General's Literary Award last November). However, "more than sixteen hundred people-including some well known writers-are petitioning to have the award revoked, calling the book, which is written for a young adult audience, "vulgar, offensive and graphic." Reid defends his book here,
http://www.cbc.ca/asithappens/features/2015/01/26/author-raziel-reid-defend-his-edgy-debut-novel-from-critics-who-want-him-stripped-of-gg-award/

Family Furnishings: Selected Stories, 1995-2014 is a collection that gathers the best of Alice Munro's more recent writing. The book is a "fine and timely follow-up to Alice Munro's winning of the 2013 Nobel Prize," as well as a sequel of sorts to 1996's Selected Stories.
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2015/feb/05/alice-munros-magic/

Peter Carey's new book, Amnesia, "thrives in its relentless political inquiry." It's a tale that "does sometimes dwell in the dark corners of the Web, it is ultimately less concerned with computer codes than their moral counterparts…it isn't really a story about hackers, but rather one about politics and the complicated legacies left for the children of the Internet by their boomer forebears."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/book-reviews/peter-carey-takes-a-look-at-the-dark-recesses-of-the-web/article22603763/

COMMUNITY EVENTS

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.

CAROL SHABEN
Author reads from her book, Into The Abyss, a dramatic account of a plane crash with only four survivors. Tuesday, February 3 at 7:00pm. New Westminster Public Library. For more information and to register, phone 604-527-4667.

WAYDE COMPTON
Reading by Vancouver poet, fiction writer, critic, editor and teacher. Wednesday, February 4 at 12:30pm, free. Room 7100, Special Collections, WAC Bennett Library, SFU Burnaby. More information at http://www.lib.sfu.ca/node/13053.

THE WRITER'S STUDIO READING SERIES
Readings by Candie Tanaka, Graham J. Darling, Kelly Ryan, Yaana Dancer, Alyson Quinn, Meharoona Ghani, Joanne Betzler, and Carleigh Baker. Thursday, February 5 at 8:00pm, admission by donation. Cottage Bistro, 4470 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at 778-782-8000.

RED BRICK READINGS
Features Lorna Crozier and Patrick Lane. Friday, February 13 at 7:00pm. Tickets: $10. Red Brick Cafe, Sidney. More information at sidneyliteraryfestival.ca.

Upcoming

PAINFUL JOURNEY
The remarkable story of Burnaby resident Jerry Gbardy, author of Painful Journey-A Story of Escape and Survival. Tuesday, February 17 at 7:00pm. Free but register at 604-522-3971. Tommy Douglas branch, Burnaby Public Library.

SPOKEN INK
Reading by mystery writer Debra Purdy Kong. Tuesday, February 17 at 8:00pm. La Fontana Caffe, 101-3701 East Hastings, Burnaby. More information at bwscafe@gmail.com.

LUNCH POEMS AT SFU
Alex Leslie and Roy Miki are the featured poets. Wednesday, February 18 at 12:00 noon, free. SFU Harbour Centre's Teck Gallery, 515 W Hastings St. For more information visit www.sfu.ca/publicsquare/lunchpoems.

JEAN BARMAN
Author presents an illustrated talk of her book French Canadians, Furs, and Indigenous Women in the Making of the Pacific Northwest. Wednesday, February 18 at 7:00pm. Central branch, VPL. More information at 604-331-3603.

RUTH DERKSEN SIEMENS
Reading by the author of Daughters in the City, about the lives of young Mennonite women working as domestic servants in Vancouver from 1930 to 1960. Saturday, February 21 at 2:00pm. Registration required. Clearbrook Library, Abbotsford. More information at 604-859-7814.

JOSEPH BOYDEN
Author of Three Day Road, Through Black Spruce, and The Orenda discusses writing and approaching First Nation issues in Canada. Saturday, February 21 at 8:15pm. Lecture Hall No. 2, Woodward Instructional Resources Centre, 2194 Health Sciences Mall, UBC. More information at greencollege.ubc.ca.

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

ELSIE PAUL
Author talks about her book Written as I Remember It. Tuesday, February 24 at 7:00pm. Central Branch, VPL. More information at vpl.com.

MICHAEL HEATHERINGTON
Michael Hetherington's latest novel Hooked tells the story of Adrian, an innocent schoolteacher whose life becomes a nightmare after a chance encounter with a woman and a fish hook. Wednesday, February 25 at 7:00pm. Welsh Hall West, West Vancouver Memorial Library. More information at 604-925-7403.

ANN ERIKSSON
Author reads from her novel High Clear Bell of Morning. Thursday, February 26 at 7:00pm. Christianne's Lyceum, 3696 8th Ave. W.

CEA SUNRISE PERSON
Author talks about her memoir, North of Normal: A Memoir of My Wilderness Childhood, My Counterculture Family, and How I Survived Both. Wednesday, March 4 at 7:00pm. Central Branch, VPL. More information at vpl.ca.

JANE EATON HAMILTON
Author reads from her book love will burst into a thousand shapes. Thursday, March 5 at 8:00pm. Cottage Bistro, 4470 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at 604-876-6138.

MISSION WRITERS & READERS FESTIVAL
Features Evelyn Lau, Daniel Elza, Lois Peterson, Chris Gilpin, and John Carroll. Saturday, March 7 at Heritage Park Centre, 33700 Prentis Avenue, Mission. Details at http://www.lifetimelearningcentre.org/uncategorized/8th-annual-mission-writers-and-readers-festival-linking-generations/.

HEART OF A HOOFBEAT
Margaret Evans will take you on a journey that begins 35,000 years ago in southern France to tell the fascinating story of the evolution of the horse. Saturday, March 7 at 1:00pm. Yarrow Library, Chilliwack. More information at 604-823-4664.

ALL MY PUNY SORROWS
Vancouver Institute lecture featuring Governor General's Award for Fiction winner Miriam Toews. Saturday, March 7 at 8:15pm. Lecture Hall No. 2, Woodward Instructional Resources Centre, 2194 Health Sciences Mall, UBC. More information at greencollege.ubc.ca.

A CELEBRATION OF GAIA AS A MUSE
North Vancouver based poet, librettist and non-fiction writer Elaine Woo reads from her debut poetry collection Cycling With The Dragon. Saturday, March 14 at 1:00pm. Brittania branch, VPL, 1661 Napier Street, Vancouver. More information at nightwoodeditions.com.

PEN AND SWORD
Authors C.C. Humphreys, Sebastien de Castell and Kris Sayer will discuss their personal journeys studying swordplay to enrich their writing, characters and stories. Monday, March 23 at 7:00pm. Central Branch, VPL. More information at 604-331-3603.