Book News Vol. 10 No. 2

BOOK NEWS

I’ve been on the road recently, on the hunt for writers to bring to the Festival in October. As a result I missed a significant milestone in Festival history. Although the exact date is lost in the mists of time, this is the tenth anniversary of the beginning of Book News. It has evolved in form and content over the years, but the main purpose—to connect our readers with the larger literary world as well as to promote local events of interest—has remained the same. Huge thanks to all the people at the Festival who have helped make Book News indispensable for many readers. And if you are one of those readers and feel like showing your appreciation and support for the VWF's programs, a donation of any amount would be greatly appreciated. Click here to donate, http://writersfest.bc.ca/donate.

Karl Ove Knausgaard in Conversation with John Freeman Podcast
Norwegian literary sensation Karl Ove Knausgaard appeared in three sold out events at the 2014 Vancouver Writers Fest. Speaking of the toll the publication of his magnum opus My Struggle took, he commented, "I will never do anything like this again. I have given away my soul." Hear his fascinating conversation with John Freeman here, http://writersfest.bc.ca/audio-archives/karl-ove-knausgaard-conversation-john-freeman.

A Dram Come True
A whisky tasting fundraiser in support of the Vancouver Writers Fest.

We asked Dave Mason, President of the West Coast Whisky Society and curator of the whisky selection at A Dram Come True-is A Dram Come True for scotch aficionados only?

"I believe A Dram Come True is a brilliant introduction for the Whisky-rookie, or for those who enjoy whisky, but have rarely delved deep into the many different styles, ages, finishes and distillery characteristics available. With the added guidance of our "Whisky Experts" there's plenty to learn."

Tickets: $120
Preview Tasting Tickets (access to bars 45 minutes early): Add $40
7:30pm, June 5 at Hycroft
Details and to purchase tickets here, http://writersfest.bc.ca/events/dram-come-true.

Incite 2015
Through personal experience and story, Deni Béchard (The Last Bonobo), Lisa J. Shannon (Mama Koko and the Hundred Gunmen) and Michael Wuitchik (My Heart Is Not My Own) take us inside conflicts in Congo and Sierra Leone. Details: https://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/incite.

FREE!
7:30pm, April 8
Alice MacKay room, VPL Central Library
Click here for details: https://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/incite

AWARDS & LISTS

The shortlist for the 2015 Wodehouse Prize for comic fiction has been announced. Alexander McCall Smith, Irvine Welsh and Caitlin Moran are among the six selected.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/mar/31/wodehouse-prize-comic-fiction-2015-shortlist

The longlist for the Miles Franklin Award, Australia's foremost literary prize, has been revealed. The list includes three debut novelists, eight women and a rapper.
http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2015/mar/31/miles-franklin-award-longlist-2015

YOUNG READERS

"No one does cranky with quite as much panache as the French. Two picture books about bad moods, both written by Francophone authors and offered in English translations for the first time, demonstrate what may be the secret." They're Prickly Jenny and Edgar Wants to Be Alone, and are reviewed in The New York Times, here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/18/books/review/prickly-jenny-and-edgar-wants-to-be-alone.html

NEWS & FEATURES

What does judging a literary prize tell us about fiction? Here's Rachel Cooke's take on the matter.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/mar/30/pleasure-pain-picking-folio-prize-winner

A book club in Boston has been debating Finnegan's Wake for 18 years. "There's no reading this book alone; it's too daunting, too dense, too lonely an enterprise. 'We've all tried it,' said Richard Cosma, an engineer and cofounder of the group. 'It doesn't work,' he said, of tackling the text solo."
http://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/2015/03/23/one-book-group-one-book-finnegans-wake-years/6r8rU4y78oZIjXtKZOHuOP/story.html

What accounts for Jane Austen's amazing posthumous success? "Tolstoy, Dickens and Proust are all remembered, and still read, but they do not have countless fans throughout the world who reread their books each year, who eagerly await the latest television or movie adaptation, who attend conventions in period costume, and who no doubt dream about the heroes and heroines of their novels."
http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-secret-of-the-jane-austen-industry-1427473889

Buying an e-reader in Canada has just gotten harder, thanks to the shuttering of 66 Future Shop locations. "This is a blow to smaller companies that depended on Future Shop for distribution such as Aluratek and the Boogieboard writing tablet."
http://goodereader.com/blog/electronic-readers/buying-an-ereader-in-canada-just-got-harder

What are litotes? The most common rhetorical device you've never heard of, apparently! "It's the rhetorical equivalent of having your cake and eating it. No wonder politicians love it."
http://www.theguardian.com/media/mind-your-language/2015/mar/26/litotes-the-most-common-rhetorical-device-youve-never-heard-of

What's more important to a writer: the initial rush of prose or the self-editing and revision that follow? Thomas Mallon and Cheryl Strayed tackle that question in this week's edition of The New York Times' Bookends.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/29/books/review/whats-more-important-to-you-the-initial-rush-of-prose-or-the-self-editing-and-revision-that-come-after-it.html

BOOKS & WRITERS

Tom McCarthy is "one of the most inventive and unorthodox writers working today." His new book, Satin Island, features a "a talented and uneasy figure" who is "pimping his skills to an elite consultancy in contemporary London." McCarthy is interviewed here:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/author-tom-mccarthy-on-the-best-advice-hes-received-and-the-classic-novelist-he-cant-stand/article23669405/

Neil Gaiman's new novel, Trigger Warning, "reminds us why he's a phenomenon...It's likely trite to say, but unavoidable: Neil Gaiman is probably the closest the writing world gets to a rock star."
http://www.straight.com/life/416946/neil-gaiman-reminds-us-why-hes-phenomenon-trigger-warning

In Kim Echlin's Under the Visible Life, two women from wildly different backgrounds are brought together by a love of music, resulting in a powerful friendship. The novel is Echlin's first since The Disappeared, which was shortlisted for the Giller Prize.
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/2015/03/07/under-the-visible-life-by-kim-echlin-review.html

"Susan Howe and R.H. Quaytman are mother and daughter, a poet and a painter, both widely admired and fiercely cerebral and quietly a lot of fun." They recently collaborated on Tom Tit Tot, a book inspired by gruesome fairy tales, produced by the Museum of Modern Art.
http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/03/24/susan-howe-rh-quaytman-mother-daughter-interview/

The Room, by Jonas Karlsson is a novel that takes an "'exhilarating' look at the strange relationship between conformity, power, chaos and alienation in the modern workplace." It adds "another meaningful and insightful contribution to this literary genre one might label 'office literature.'"
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/2015/03/21/the-room-by-jonas-karlsson-review.html

The Strange Case of Rachel K, by Rachel Kushner, is a slim collection of short stories that will appeal to devoted fans "hungry for origin stories." Two of the stories are early versions of parts of Telex from Cuba, Kushner's 2008 novel which told the tale of United Fruit Company workers in the days leading up to the Cuban Revolution.
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/2015/03/20/the-strange-case-of-rachel-k-by-rachel-kushner-review.html

Poet Terrance Hays was recently profiled in The New York Times. "When college students read Hayes, they talk about the underlying seriousness of poems about lynchings, fistfights or rape. But when poets talk about Hayes, they tend to address his invented forms: poems based on anagrams, on the Japanese slide shows called pechakucha and on puzzles."
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/29/magazine/galaxies-inside-his-head-poet-terrance-hayes.html

Sarah Hall's new novel, The Wolf Border, is the story of a nomadic zoologist who returns home to northern England in order to reintroduce the grey wolf to her native country. In this interview, Hall discusses the book, along with "how motherhood has affected her work and why avoiding politics in fiction is juvenile."
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/mar/28/sarah-hall-books-interview-the-wolf-border

It was April Fool's Day on Wednesday. How appropriate, then, that The Guardian's Poem of the week is April Fools' Day by Elaine Feinstein. Check it out here:
http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2015/mar/30/poem-of-the-week-april-fools-day-by-elaine-feinstein

Carellin Brooks' One Hundred Days of Rain "is not a novel of character; it's a novel of mood, of internal workings, a novel noir, so to speak, in which rain represents 100 shades of negation." The title is a reference to Vancouver's annual rainfall and the depression that take place inside the narrator's head.
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/books/Novel+deluge+depression/10925803/story.html

COMMUNITY EVENTS

BOOK SALE IN MAY AT THE CENTRAL LIBRARY
SPRING CLEANING? WANTED: Used books, CDs, DVDs and LP donations for the Friends of the Vancouver Public Library book sale. Collection period ends April 15. For information and drop off locations please call 604 331-4049
or go to www.friendsofthevpl.ca. Book sale is in May at the Central Library.

BC BOOK PRIZES SOIREE 2015
Mix and mingle with the nominees, BC's vibrant literary community, and support the BC Book Prizes/On Tour/program. Thursday, April 2 at 6:00pm, free. Joe's Apartment, 919 Granville St., Vancouver. More information at bcbookprizes.ca.

TWS READING SERIES
The Writer's Studio of SFU presents Leah Horlick, 2012 Lambda Literary Fellow in Poetry and author of Riot Lung.
Thursday, April 2 at 8:00pm. Cottage Bistro, 4470 Main St., Vancouver.

NATIONAL POETRY MONTH
Readings from Candice James, New Westminster's Poet Laureate and George Fetherling, author of many books of poetry, fiction and non-fiction. Tuesday, April 7 at 6:30pm. New Westminster Public Library, New Westminster. More information and registration at 604-527-4667.

TWISTED POETS LITERARY SALON
Features Chelene Knight and Ursula Vaira plus open mic. April 8 at 7:00pm. 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.

POETRY
Canadian Authors Vancouver presents a poetry reading and workshop, hosted by Dennis E. Bolen, featuring Mariner Janes, Bernice Lever, Kevin Spenst, and Christopher Levenson. Wednesday, April 8 at 7:00pm, admission charged. Alliance for Arts and Culture, 938 Howe Street. More information at 604-739-9565.

HARRY POTTER TRIVIA NIGHT
Teams of up to six players will compete for the grand prize as well as bragging rights as Vancouver's ultimate Potterheads. There will also be prizes for the winners of each round as well as a door prize and a costume contest. Wednesday, April 8 at 7:30pm. Tickets: $5. Sunset Grill, 2204 York Ave., Vancouver. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/1381397.

POETRY WITHOUT BORDERS
Poets Patrick Friesen, Rhona McAdam, Inge Israel and Beth Kope present an evening of readings and conversation. Wednesday, April 8 at 7:30pm, free. Munro's Books, 1108 Government St., Victoria.

ZERO - 360 OPEN MIC
Meet other writers and share your work at this casual open mic series the second Thursday of the month. Readers are limited to 6 minutes; sign up begins at 7:05. In recognition of National Poetry Month, April 9 is poetry only. Pelican Rouge Coffee, 15142 North Bluff Rd., White Rock. Presented by Semiahmoo Arts.

AN EVOLVING CITY
Event featuring George Bowering and Wayde Compton. Thursday, April 9 at 7:30pm, free. Pulp Fiction, 2422 Main Street, Vancouver.

UNHANGED AUTHOR
Free workshop for writers thinking of entering the 2015 Arthur Ellis Unhanged Author competition. Saturday, April 11 from 10am to 5pm. VPL Central branch, 350 W. Georgia Street, Vancouver. Complete details at crimewriterscanada.com.

POETRY READING
Featuring Arleen Pare, Cathy Ford, Chelene Knight, Stephen Collis, and Christopher Levenson. Sunday, April 12 at 7:00pm. Shadbolt Centre for the Arts, 6450 Deer Lake Ave., Burnaby. More information at 604-739-9565.

NEIL MCKINNON
Author reads from his new book The Greatest Lover of Last Tuesday. Tuesday, April 14 at 7:00pm, free. VPL Central Branch, 350 W. Georgia St., Vancouver. More information at vpl.ca.

LUNCH POEMS AT SFU
Catriona Strang and Michael Turner are the featured poets. Wednesday, April 15 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
Vancouver author Roberta Rich in discussion of her novel The Harem Midwife. Wednesday, April 15 at 7:00pm. Book Warehouse, 4118 Main Street. For further details, please call 604-879-7737.

MAGGIE DE VRIES
Author reads from her children's book, Fraser Bear. Thursday, April 16 at 1:30pm. Oakridge branch library, 191-650 41st Ave. W., Vancouver. Information at vpl.ca.

POETRY GABRIOLA SOCIETY READING SERIES
Featuring Susan McCaslin and Pam Galloway with host Lisa Webster-Gibson. Thursday, April 16 at 7:00pm, by donation. Old Crow Café, 575 N. Road, Gabriola Island. More information at poetrygabriola.com.

FEAST!
Jennica Harper and Kevin Spenst blend, spice and sauté measured words into poems that sizzle and satisfy. April 16 at 7:30 pm, free. Pelican Rouge Coffee, 15142 North Bluff Rd., White Rock. Presented by Semiahmoo Arts.

LILLIAN BORAKS-NEMETZ
Children's author reads from her Sheila A. Egoff Prize winning book, The Old Brown Suitcase. Friday, April 17 at 1:30pm. Kensington branch, 1428 Cedar Cottage Mews, Vancouver. More information at vpl.ca.

NORTH SHORE WRITERS FESTIVAL
This year's festival features a host of Canadian literary stars, including John Vaillant, Aislinn Hunter, Doretta Lau, Zsuzsi Gartner and Heather O'Neill. workshops, panel discussions and readings, there's something for everyone at this jam-packed literary weekend. April 17-18, 2015. West Vancouver Memorial Library, 1950 Marine Drive, West Vancouver. Complete details at northshorewritersfestival.com.

Upcoming

ARTHUR ELLIS SHORTLIST EVENT
Cathy Ace will be grilling a panel of her fellow BC crime writers including Don Hauka, Owen Laukkanen, Kay Stewart and Sam Wiebe about their latest, and forthcoming, works, as well as their writing styles and habits. Thursday, April 23 at 7:00pm, free but registration required. Bob Prittie Metrotown branch, Burnaby Public Library. Information and registration at 604-436-5410.

MEET THE AUTHOR: JOHN VAILLANT
John Vaillant discuses his novel, The Jaguar's Children. Thursday, April 23 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.

LITFEST NEW WEST
The Arts council of New Westminster, in partnership with Douglas College, New Westminster Public Library and Royal City Literary Arts Society, presents the 5th Annual LitFest New West. April 24-25, 2015. Details at artscouncilnewwest.org/litfest.

A FEAST OF POETRY
Readings from five local poets, including Vancouver's Poet Laureate, Rachel Rose, Governor General's Award-winner David Zieroth, as well as Raoul Fernandes, Pam Galloway and Rob Taylor. Appetizers available; cash bar. Friday, April 24 at 7:00pm. North Vancouver City Library, 120 W. 14th St., West Vancouver. Details and registration at nvcl.ca.

JABBERING WITH BC
Canadian poets Kevin Spenst, Raoul Fernandes and Elena E. Johnson read from their recent works, discuss their writing processes, and take questions about poetry and writing. Saturday, April 25 at 3:00pm. Central branch, 350 W. Georgia St., Vancouver. More information at vpl.ca.

RACHEL HARTMAN
Author of Seraphina reads from her latest book, Shadow Scale. Tuesday, April 28 at 7:00pm, free but registration required. McGill branch, Burnaby Public Library. Information and registration at 604-299-8955.

TEEN POETRY SLAM
Teens in grades 8 through 12 perform an original poem in front of an audience, including a panel of judges. April 29 at 7:00pm. City Centre branch, Coquilam Public Library. For information and registration, phone 604-554-7339.

CASCADIA POETRY FESTIVAL
Features more than forty poets from across Cascadia, a bioregion that stretches from California to Alaska, including Sam Hamill, Brenda Hillman, Robert Bringhurst, Susan Musgrave, Sharon Thesen, Joanne Arnott, and Stephen Collis. April 30-May 3, 2015 in Nanaimo, BC. Complete details at cascadiapoetryfestival.org.

PAUL YEE
Meet the author of Dead Man's Gold and Ghost Train. April 30 at 10:00am. Newton Library meeting room, Newton Library, Surrey. More information at 604-598-7408.