Book News Vol. 10 No. 9

BOOK NEWS

A Dram Come True

Single cask whisky and locally distilled spirits at A Dram Come True

The 13th annual Dram Come True highlights single cask whiskies. Tasting whisky from a single cask is a rare opportunity made even more special by the fact that once it's all been drunk, it's gone for good. This year, the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, which bottles some of the finest single cask whisky in the world, will be pouring seven of their latest bottlings-a privilege usually reserved solely for society members.

Your ticket gets you full access to the whisky tasting, access to the Tinhorn Creek wine bar, spirits from Odd Society Spirits, chocolate pairing by Chocolate Arts and appetizers from Emelle's catering. Don't wait to purchase your tickets-this event sold out last year!

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.

AWARDS & LISTS

Hungarian author Laszlo Krasznahorkai, the author of Satantango and The Melancholy of Resistance, among others, has won this year's Man Booker International Prize.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/laszlo-krasznahorkai-wins-man-booker-international-prize-1.3079381

Debut novelist Christine Piper is among five selected for the Miles Franklin Prize's 2015 shortlist. The award is Australia’s most prestigious literary prize.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/may/18/debut-novelist-christine-piper-joins-shortlist-for-2015-miles-franklin-prize

The 2015 Atlantic Book Awards winners were announced, and included Linden MacIntyre for Punishment.
http://www.quillandquire.com/awards/2015/05/19/2015-atlantic-book-awards-winners-revealed/

YOUNG READERS

What children's stories inspired today's leading authors? "From sinister water-babies to Chinese warlords, Norse gods to star-crossed lovers...In a new edition of a volume first published in 1992, writers recall the tales that shaped their imaginations."
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/may/09/writers-books-inspired-young-the-pleasures-of-reading-edited-antonia-fraser

Amazon has launched a Young Adult book club. The first book is I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson. Participants can submit questions for Nelson from now until May 30.
http://www.adweek.com/galleycat/amazon-editors-launch-a-young-adult-book-club/103360

NEWS & FEATURES

What city has more bookstores per capita than any other? You might be surprised by the answer: Buenos Aires!
http://publishingperspectives.com/2015/05/what-city-has-more-bookstores-per-capita-than-any-other/

If you're traveling through Toronto instead of Buenos Aires, you may not need to worry about the lack of bookstores. Free ebooks are now available at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport.
http://www.quillandquire.com/book-links/2015/05/13/toronto-airport-to-offer-free-harpercollins-ebooks-atwood-honoured-by-american-academy-of-arts-and-letters-and-more/

Have you ever made yourself read a book you didn't like? Believe it or not, there might be some benefits to the deed.
http://bookriot.com/2015/05/13/benefits-reading-book-dont-like/

Project Bookmark Canada, "which erects textual markers from stories and poems in the places where literary scenes are set," has announced that it will unveil a Cape Breton bookmark for Alistair MacLeod’s novel No Great Mischief. MacLeod died last year at 77.
http://www.quillandquire.com/authors/2015/05/12/cape-breton-bookmark-site-to-honour-alistair-macleod/

What's the state of digital publishing in Canada? This infographic provides some interesting facts.
http://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2015/5/11/infographic-state-of-digital-publishing-in-canada-2014.html

Hong Kong is "clamping down" on creative writing. In this piece, Madeleine Thien discusses the closure of a major university's MFA program. "The decision to close City University’s MFA programme is plainly intended to limit free expression–showing just how vital it is."
http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2015/may/18/why-hong-kong-is-clamping-down-on-creative-writing

What's the future of reading? "There’s no mystery about it. Walter Mosley, best-selling author of the Easy Rawlins series, has good news for those who love to read."
http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-future-of-reading-theres-no-mystery-about-it-1430104991

BOOKS & WRITERS

Elizabeth Day's third novel, Paradise City, features four characters, the most interesting of which is a Ugandan asylum seeker. Day’s third novel is "her most accomplished yet," possessing " a propulsion that her earlier novels, for all their emotional courage, lacked."
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/may/16/paradise-city-elizabeth-day-review-novel

Michael V. Smith's new memoir, My Body is Yours, contains themes for which he's well known: "small towns, sexual orientation and familial ties." His first two novels cover similar territory, though they don't reach as far in terms of graphically capturing "the complicated relationships Smith has had with his father, addiction, sex, and his own body." Smith is interviewed here:
http://www.quillandquire.com/authors/2015/05/15/qa-michael-v-smith-on-public-persona-gender-in-memoir-and-writing-with-vulnerability/

Giving Up, by Mike Steeves, is a "profound and hilarious" book. The novel’s main theme is faith, "from the interpersonal trust required in romantic relationships to the surrogate systems and signifiers to which we assign meaning in a secular age."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/book-reviews/not-your-traditional-book-review-giving-up-is-profound-and-hilarious-it-was-also-written-by-my-friend/article24453666/

Bahiyyih Nakhjavani's The Woman Who Read Too Much is "a haunting, complex portrait" of an 18th-century Persian mystic, "one of the most powerfully convincing characters in recent historical fiction." Alberto Manguel reviews the book, here:
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/may/16/woman-read-too-much-bahiyyih-nakhjavani-review

Kate Atkinson’s A God in Ruins is a "gorgeous novel" that visits a family changed by the Second World War. It tells the story of Edward "Teddy" Todd, an RAF wing commander who's life is defined by the paradox of combat: "to feel so alive in the midst of carnage."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/book-reviews/kate-atkinsons-a-god-in-ruins-is-a-gorgeous-novel-that-visits-a-family-changed-by-war/article24434278/

The Gracekeepers, by Kirsty Logan, is "a watery dystopia" in which rising waters swallow the soil and survivors cluster on boats and islands. "Like Emily St John Mandel’s Station Eleven, The Gracekeepers circles the peculiar business of the culture humans make, and tries to understand why we would persist in the direst circumstances."
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/may/15/the-gracekeepers-kirsty-logan-watery-dystopia

COMMUNITY EVENTS

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.