Book News Vol. 10 No. 8

BOOK NEWS

A Dram Come True

A Dram Come True, the VWF's signature scotch tasting fundraiser, captures the spirit of World Whisky Day (May 16) with a celebration of the pleasures of uisge beatha (the water of life).

A Dram Come True is Vancouver's best single malt scotch event-we've just confirmed that there will be 35 select and rare malts poured. Click here, https://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/dram-tasting-menu, for a sneak peek at the 2015 tasting menu.

Your ticket gets you full access to the single malt tasting, plus the Tinhorn Creek wine bar, chocolate pairing by Chocolate Arts and appetizers by Emelle's, in the elegant surroundings of Hycroft.

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
Three seasoned voices of CanLit: Guy Vanderhaeghe (Daddy Lenin and Other Stories), Mark Anthony Jarman (Knife Party at the Hotel Europa), and Joan Thomas (The Opening Sky). Details: https://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/incite.

FREE!
7:30pm, May 20
Alice MacKay room, VPL Central Library
Click here for details: https://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/incite

AWARDS & LISTS

Margaret Atwood has been named a foreign honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. "The academy is an honour society based in New York and founded in 1898, with members over the years ranging from James Baldwin and William Faulkner to Leonard Bernstein and Jasper Johns."
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/entertainment/arts/atwood-named-member-of-american-arts-academy-303035941.html

Canadian novelist Emily St. John Mandel has won the U.K.'s Arthur C. Clark Award for Science-fiction for her dystopian novel Station Eleven. The novel was also shortlisted for the PEN-Faulkner Award and longlisted for the Baileys Women's Prize.
http://www.quillandquire.com/awards/2015/05/07/emily-st-john-mandel-wins-arthur-c-clarke-award-for-science-fiction/

Neel Mikherjee's The Lives of Others has been awarded the Encore Prize. "The 'ambition and depth' of the Booker-shortlisted novel secures £10,000 award for the best second novel of the year."
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/may/12/neel-mukherjees-the-lives-of-others-wins-encore-prize

Paul Kingsnorth's crowdfunded novel, The Wake, has won Bookseller Magazine's Book of the Year award. The novel was written in an invented form of Old English.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/may/12/paul-kingsnorth-crowdfunded-novel-the-wake-wins-book-of-the-year-award

YOUNG READERS

A new children's book is taking environmentalism to a whole new level—hand-stitched and made from acid-free paper, ecological ink and jacaranda seeds; after reading the story, kids can plant the book in soil and it will grow into a tree!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/11/plantable-book-tree_n_7244060.html

NEWS & FEATURES

A 52,438-word dissertation by a UBC Ph.D. candidate has made headlines for eschewing almost all punctuation. The student "wanted to make a point about aboriginal culture, colonialism, and 'the blind acceptance of English language conventions in academia.'"
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/ubc-student-writes-52438-word-architecture-dissertation-with-no-punctuation-not-everyone-loved-it

What's in a name? That's the question being explored in this new infographic, called 'A History of Pen Names!' "The image features several literary icons including Alice in Wonderland author Lewis Carroll, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer author Mark Twain, and Jane Eyre author Charlotte Brontë"
http://www.adweek.com/galleycat/the-pseudonyms-of-icons-infographic/103203

Does typeface still matter in our digital age? A new typeface used to take years to create, and now "thousands are available at the click of a drop-down menu. So why do most of us still rely on the old classics?"
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/they-came-in-with-william-caxtons-printing-press-but-typefaces-still-matter-in-the-digital-age-10230301.html

Is Twitter a useful platform for short fiction? Earnest Hemingway's famous six-word story "For Sale: Baby shoes, never worn" would have been "the perfect candidate for this year's #TwitterFiction Festival, where writers such as Margaret Atwood and Celeste Ng will practice crafting very brief tales online, beginning on May 11."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/07/twitter-fiction_n_7205686.html

What do Anthony Doerr, Joyce Carol Oates and Elissa Schapell all have in common? They've all published work in the same magazine! "It wasn't one of the usual literary outlets, like Tin House, The Paris Review or The New Yorker. It was Rhapsody, an in-flight magazine for United Airlines."
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/04/business/media/rhapsody-the-in-flight-magazine-is-becoming-a-first-class-literary-journal.html

If you're living in the United States, here's a fact you might not know: "your local library is on the front lines against government surveillance!"
http://www.thenation.com/article/206561/librarians-versus-nsa

What do we want from writing? "It's time to rethink everything. Everything. What it means to write and what it means to write for a public—and which public."
http://flavorwire.com/517331/what-do-we-want-from-writing-money-a-career-recognition

BOOKS & WRITERS

Anne Enright's new novel, The Green Road, was partially written on the dramatic west coast of Ireland. "Over the years I had avoided what I call 'the landscape solution' in Irish prose...But there I was myself, getting fixed on the green road, and it seemed to me that this was something I should allow myself to write about now."
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/may/09/return-western-shore-anne-enright-yielding-irish-tradition

In David Gates' new collection, A Hand Reached Down to Guide Me, each character "has an arsenal just special enough to make the damage he or she wreaks distinctive." Most of the stories have already been published, but "their cumulative effect is still powerful."
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/11/books/review-david-gates-delivers-more-havoc-in-a-hand-reached-down-to-guide-me.html

Look Who's Back, a German book that satirizes Hitler, has been an extraordinary success. It's "evidence of a generational shift, a sense that 70 years after the Nazis, it's time to use dark humor to address Germany's past."
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/05/books/look-whos-back-germans-reflect-on-the-success-of-a-satire-about-hitler.html

Tina Packer's Women of Will takes a "look at Shakespeare's feminine side," taking a detailed look at his literary heroines. Packer knows the territory well—she's the founding artistic director of Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, Massachusetts.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/05/books/review-women-of-will-by-tina-packer-a-look-at-shakespeares-feminine-side.html

In his new collection, Confidence, Russell Smith "plumbs the psyches of the seemingly superficial in frequently funny prose that exudes an understanding of their anxieties about ambition, class, stature and their own desirability." The book walks the fine line between satire and humanity, balancing "contempt and compassion."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/book-reviews/as-an-anthropologist-of-the-urbane-russell-smith-plumbs-the-psyches-of-the-seemingly-superficial-in-confidence/article24337359/

COMMUNITY EVENTS

SOUTHBANK WRITERS READING SERIES
Featuring Surrey-based poet Phinder Dulai, author of dream / arteries, Ragas from the Periphery, and Basmati Brown. Thursday, May 14 at 6:00pm, free. City Centre Library, Surrey. More information at surreylibraries.ca.

EE COOPER
Book signing and launch party for the author's latest YA book, Vanished. Sunday, May 17 at 2:00pm. Chapters/Indigo, 1025 Marine Drive, North Vancouver.

VAN SLAM
Featuring San Jose-based stand-up poet Mike McGee. Monday, May 18 at 7:00pm. Cafe Deux Soleils, 2096 Commercial Drive, Vancouver. More information at vancouverpoetryhouse.com.

W.P. KINSELLA
Author will read from his new book The Essential W.P. Kinsella. Tuesday, May 19 at 6:30pm. Hope Library, More information at fvrl.bc.ca.

SPOKEN INK
Kayla Czaga reads from her first poetry collection For Your Safety Please Hold On. Tuesday, May 19 at 8:00pm. La Fontana Caffe, 101-3701 East Hastings Street, Burnaby. More information at burnabywritersnews.blogspot.ca.

LUNCH POEMS AT SFU
Featuring Chelene Knight and Dina Del Bucchia. Wednesday, May 20 at 12:00 noon. Teck Gallery, SFU Harbour Centre, 515 West Hastings Street, Vancouver. More information at sfu.ca.

NVCL LOCAL AUTHOR SERIES
Featuring Janie Chang, Carol M. Cram and Marie Sadro. Wednesday, May 20 at 7:00pm. 3rd floor program room, North Van City Library, 120 14th Street W., North Vancouver.

THE EXILES' GALLERY
Reading in honour of poet Elise Partridge. Featuring Jordan Abel, Caroline Adderson, Elizabeth Bachinsky, Elee Kraljii Gardiner, Aislinn Hunter, Gillian Jerome, Fiona Tinwei Lam, George McWhirter, Barbara Nickel, Christopher Patton, Miranda Pearson, Rob Taylor, and Rhea Tregebov. Thursday, May 21 at 7:00pm, free. Heartwood Cafe, 317 Broadway E., Vancouver. More information at heartwoodcc.ca.

MEET THE AUTHOR
BC Book Prize nominee, Brian Payton, discusses his novel The Wind is Not a River. Thursday, May 21 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.

MEGA FAUNA
Launch of Cloudscape Comics' latest anthology. Friday, May 22 at 6:00pm, free. Cloudscape Studio, 5955 Ross, Vancouver. More information at cloudscapecomics.com.

SHAWN CURTIS STIBBARDS
Launch of the author's debut novel, The Video Watcher. Friday, May 22 at 7:00pm, free. Pulpfiction Books, 2422 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at biblioasis.com.

VANCOUVER COMIC ARTS FESTIVAL
Weekend-long celebration of comics, with readings, panels and workshops. May 23-24, 2015. Roundhouse Mews, Vancouver. More information at vancaf.com.

DOUBLE BOOK LAUNCH
Featuring Meredith Quartermain (I, Bartleby) and Colin Browne (The Hatch). Saturday, May 23 at 2:00pm. Access Gallery, 222 East Georgia St., Vancouver. More information at talonbooks.com.

POETIC JUSTICE
Features Meagan Schlee-Bedard and Bernice Lever with host Franci Louann. Sunday, May 24 at 3:00pm. The Heritage Grill, 447 Columbia St., New Westminster. More information at poeticjustice.ca.

TWISTED POETS LITERARY SALON
Features Linda King and Anatoly Molotkov (Portland) plus open mic. Thursday, May 28, 7-9:30pm, at 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.

THE FLOUR PEDDLER
Authors Chris Hergesheimer and Josh Hergesheimer discuss and sign on their new book, The Flour Peddler: A Global Journey into Local Food from Canada to South Sudan. Friday, May 29 at 7:00pm. Bolen Books, 11-1644 Hillside Ave., Victoria. More information at caitlin-press.com.

NEIL MCKINNON
Award winning author and Stephen Leacock Medal finalist will read from his latest novel, The Greatest Lover of Last Tuesday. Saturday, May 30 at 3:00pm. New Westminster Public Library, 716 6th Ave., New Westminster. Register at 604-527-4667 or listener@nwpl.ca.

Upcoming

WRITERS ADVENTURE CAMP
Join award-winning authors in Whistler, BC for a fun and immersive weekend designed for both published and emerging writers. Deadline to register is May 22, 2015. Dates are June 6-7, 2015. Complete information at thepointartists.com.

OWEN LAUKKANEN
Best-selling thriller author presents his latest work, The Stolen Ones. Tuesday, June 2 at 7:00pm. Vancouver Public Library, 350 W. Georgia St., Vancouver. More information at vpl.ca.

MELIA MCCLURE
Author reads from her book The Delphi Room. Wednesday, June 4 at 7:00pm. Vancouver Public Library, 350 W. Georgia St., Vancouver. More information at vpl.ca.

JANIE CHANG
Reading by the author from her new book Three Souls. Tuesday, June 9 at 7:00pm, Bob Prittie Metrotown. More information at bpl.bc.ca.

JOHN VAILLANT
Local, best-selling author reads from his latest book The Jaguar's Children. Wednesday, June 10 at 6:30pm. Carnegie Reading Room, 401 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at vpl.ca.

W. RUTH KOZAK
Canadian travel journalist and local author reads from her novel Shadow of the Lion. Wednesday, June 10 at 7:00pm. Vancouver Public Library, 350 W. Georgia St., Vancouver. More information at vpl.ca.

AIR INDIA MEDITATIONS
Award winning poet Renee Saklikar and renowned composer John Oliver present the Vancouver premiere of Air India Meditations-a sequence of soundscapes interwoven with poems from Children of Air India, about the bombing of Air India Flight 182. Saturday, June 13 at 1:00pm. Vancouver Public Library, 350 W. Georgia St., Vancouver. More information at vpl.ca.

ELIZABETH RENZETTI
National columnist with The Globe and Mail, presents her debut novel, Based on A True Story. Monday, June 15 at 7:00pm. Vancouver Public Library, 350 W. Georgia St., Vancouver. More information at vpl.ca.

DEE HOBSBAWN-SMITH
Author reads from her first collection of short fiction, What Can't Be Undone. Tuesday, June 16 at 7:00pm, White Rock Library. More information at fvrl.bc.ca.

SPOKEN INK
Melia McClure reads from her debut novel, The Delphi Room. Tuesday, June 16 at 8:00pm. La Fontana Caffe, 101-3701 East Hastings Street, Burnaby. More information at burnabywritersnews.blogspot.ca.

LUNCH POEMS @ SFU
Featuring Kevin Spenst and Louis Cabri. Wednesday, June 17 at 12:00 noon. Teck Gallery, SFU Harbour Centre, 515 West Hastings Street, Vancouver. More information at sfu.ca.

NOVEL NIGHTS
BC Book Prize winner Aislinn Hunter in discussion of her award-winning novel The World Before Us. Wednesday, June 17 at 7:00pm. Book Warehouse, 4118 Main Street. For further details please call 604 879-7737.