Book News Vol. 9 No. 48

BOOK NEWS

A Dram Come True
Join us for A Dram Come True, a whisky tasting fundraiser in support of the Vancouver Writers Fest. A Dram Come True has been the best kept secret of the local single malt scotch scene for 13 years—eagerly anticipated by local scotch aficionados, and a delight for those newly initiated to the world of whisky.

7:30pm, June 5
Hycroft
Details and to purchase tickets here, http://writersfest.bc.ca/events/dram-come-true.

Emma Donoghue and Sarah Waters in Conversation Podcast
Annabel Lyon's interview with Emma Donoghue and Sarah Waters at the 2014 Vancouver Writers Fest was lively, intimate and very funny. You can listen to their conversation here, http://writersfest.bc.ca/audio-archives/emma-donoghue-and-sarah-waters-conversation.

Incite 2015
An exploration of the human condition: Susan Juby (Republic of Dirt), Julie Paul (The Pull of the Moon), and Marguerite Pigeon (Some Extremely Boring Drives). Details: https://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/incite.

The Other Press interviewed Susan, Julie and Marguerite earlier this week, http://theotherpress.ca/local-writers-offer-incite-ful-readings-at-vancouver-writers-fest-event/.

FREE!
7:30pm, February 25
Alice MacKay room, VPL Central Library
Click here for details: https://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/incite

In the Community
Compagnie Marie Chouinard (Montreal): Canada's Reigning Queen of dance returns to the DanceHouse stage with two works; Gymnopédies–set to the music of Eric Satie, and Henri Michaux: Mouvements–inspired by the 1951 book of abstract illustrations by the French artist Michaux. February 27 and 28. Details (http://dancehouse.ca/event/compagnie-marie-chouinard/) and tickets (https://tickets.dancehouse.ca/TheatreManager/1/login&event=53). Use this code to access a special $10-off rate on premium and regular tickets: WRITER.

AWARDS & LISTS

Karyn Freedman has won the BC National Award for non-fiction for her "harrowing" memoir, One Hour in Paris: A True Story of Rape and Recovery. Freedman stated that she "hopes the prize brings more attention to the issue–and spurs government action."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/awards-and-festivals/karyn-freedman-wins-bc-national-award-for-non-fiction/article22990122/

The shortlist for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction has been released. This year, the so-called 'Arabic Booker' shortlist has sidestepped "senior novelists for young and unknown writers from six countries."
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/feb/16/international-prize-for-arabic-fiction-2015-shortlist-announced

YOUNG READERS

It's Chinese New Year on Sunday! Chinese Fairy Tale Feasts, by Paul Yee, is an "enchanting collection of fairy tales including original stories and interpretations of Chinese folklore." As a bonus, a simple recipe for a traditional Chinese dish follows each tale.
http://www.bookcentre.ca/library/blogs/meghan/kung_hei_fat_choy_chinese_new_year_2015

NEWS & FEATURES

The Writers Trust of Canada is one of six arts organizations in a competition to win a $25,000 grant from RBC to support programs for emerging artists. If you’d like to help new writers get their careers underway, you can vote here:
http://vote.pollstream.com/PollPopupContent.php?short_link=2959&cb=c3ed45ab4461a1df2cd89b185d7862c5

Margaret Atwood, Jackie Collins, Lemony Snicket and Chuck Wendig are among many authors participating in this year's Twitter Fiction Festival, happening May 11-15, 2015.
http://www.adweek.com/galleycat/twitter-fiction-festival-attracts-big-authors/99354

The International Publishers Association has condemned last week's shootings in Copenhagen. IPA president Richard Charkin stated "we must stand together in our support for freedom of expression. The horrors of Paris and now Copenhagen must not be allowed to silence opinion, creativity, and debate."
http://www.thebookseller.com/news/publishers-condemn-denmark-shootings

Former US Poet Laureate Philip Levine passed away on Valentine's Day. "Mr. Levine's death is a serious blow for American poetry, in part because he so vividly evoked the drudgery and hardships of working-class life in America, and in part because this didn't pull his poetry down into brackishness."
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/16/books/an-appraisal-the-poet-philip-levine-an-outsider-archiving-the-forgotten.html

Assia Djebar, "a writer and filmmaker who explored the plight of women in the male-centric Arab World", has also died. "I am not a symbol," Djebar once stated. "My only activity consists of writing." She added, "Like many writers, I use my culture and I collect several imaginary worlds."
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/14/books/assia-djebar-novelist-who-wrote-about-oppression-of-arab-women-dies-at-78.html

Research in the UK has revealed that the top three most desirable jobs are book-related. Can you guess what they are? Author, librarian and academic!
https://yougov.co.uk/news/2015/02/15/bookish-britain-academic-jobs-are-most-desired/

"In the time of Twitter and Internet comments, it's not hard to find language being used for evil. People take the remarkable human capacity for communication and wield it like a big dumb ax, hacking into anything and anyone they don't like." Wonderfully enough, however, a new study has determined that languages are mostly made of "happy words."
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/02/language-is-biased-toward-happiness/385348/

What does Jon Stewart's departure from The Daily Show mean for the book business? Stewart "made time for books in an era when people were making less time for books than ever before and, more importantly, when it was becoming abundantly clear that most media organizations did not see book coverage—or arts coverage in general—as a priority."
http://www.mhpbooks.com/there-are-no-home-runs-left-what-jon-stewarts-departure-from-the-daily-show-may-mean-for-the-publishing-industry/

Have you ever heard of a library hotel? From the Taj Falknuma Palace in Hyderabad (which houses rare manuscript first editions) to Britain's Gladstone's Library (with 26 bedrooms decorated with literary-themed wallpaper), here's a list of some of the best.
http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/hotels/national-libraries-day-from-koh-samui-to-flintshire-the-best-library-hotels-10028170.html

Speaking of libraries, Princeton University's one has inherited a rare book collection worth $300 million. The collection includes a 1455 Gutenberg Bible, an original printing of the Declaration of Independence, a number of musical manuscripts as well as music sketchbooks from Beethoven, Bach, Mozart, Schubert and Wagner.
http://www.adweek.com/galleycat/princeton-inherits-300m-worth-of-rare-books/99190

Scholars have unearthed two letters relating to Jane Austen. They were written by Jane's brother Charles, and are believed to "shed a suggestive and unexpectedly saucy light on the ways her literary reputation was kept alive in the decades after her death in 1817."
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/02/10/pride-prejudice-prostitutes-and-pickles-scholars-identify-two-new-letters-relating-to-jane-austen/

BOOKS & WRITERS

Haruki Murakami has published a new story in The New Yorker. It's called Kino, and you can read it here:
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/02/23/kino

In Elliot Ackerman's debut novel, Green on Blue, an Afghan Boy narrates a story of war. It's a fitting subject for Mr. Ackerman, a "decorated veteran who served five tours of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq."
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/16/books/review-in-green-on-blue-an-afghan-boy-narrates-story-of-war.html

Laura van den Berg's debut novel, Find Me, has been earning "deserved comparisons" to Kazuo Ishiguro and Margaret Atwood. Is she "the best young writer in America?" The literary website Salon thinks so.
http://www.salon.com/2015/02/17/laura_van_den_berg_is_the_best_young_writer_in_america/

"Will Daniel Galera's Blood-Drenched Beard be a breakout moment for Brazilian literature?" That's the question the Globe and Mail is asking in this review of Galera's English-language debut, which tackles prosopagnosia, also known as "face blindness."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/book-reviews/will-daniel-galeras-blood-drenched-beard-prove-to-be-a-breakout-moment-for-brazilian-literature/article22835405/

"There is something helpless in being a witness," states 2014 Festival author Lee Maracle in the opening line of her moving new novel, Celia's Song. The book is a "magisterial blend of gritty social realism, First Nations myth, lyrical prose and a commitment to the healing to be found in story and song."
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/books/Maracle+Celia+Song+well+worth+hearing/10812459/story.html

COMMUNITY EVENTS

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.

MARK FORSYTHE
The White Rock History Club is hosting the co-author of From the West Coast to the Western Front. Monday, February 23 at 7:00pm. White Rock Library, 15342 Buena Vista, White Rock. More information at 604-541-2201.

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 HETHERINGTON
Michael Hetherington's latest novel Hooked tells the story of 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.

TWISTED POETS LITERARY SALON
Features Rob Taylor and Ruth Kozak with open mic. Thursday, February 26, 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.

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.

Upcoming

SERENDIPITY 2015
The Vancouver Children's Literature Roundtable invites you to an Edgy, Eerie, Exceptional Serendipity 2015 with Holly Black, Andrew Smith, Mariko Tamaki, Molly Idle, and Kelli Chipponeri. March 7, 2015 at the University of British Columbia, 8:00am to 3:30pm, breakfast and lunch included. Register now to take advantage of the early bird rates. More information at www.vclr.ca.

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/.

MYSTERY AND CRIME
Hear writers E.R. Brown, Robin Spano, Dietrich Kalteis and Sam Wiebe share their experience on writing mystery and crime stories. Featuring. Saturday, March 7 at 11:45am. Fleetwood Library, Surrey.

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.

MIRIAM TOEWS
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.