Book News Vol. 10 No. 17

BOOK NEWS

Special Event

Louise Penny in conversation with Hal Wake

Count down the days to our event with Louise Penny with 'The Real Places of Three Pines' (gamacheseries.com), a series of bi-monthly blog posts about locations from each of the Inspector Gamache novels. Discover the inspiration behind the Hadley House from A Fatal Grace, the general store from The Brutal Telling, the monastery of Saint-Gilbert-Entre-les-Loups from The Beautiful Mystery and more!

After you've explored Three Pines, head on over to our website to purchase a ticket for our event so you can be among the first to hear Louise discuss her latest book, The Nature of the Beast, with Hal Wake on August 24th.

Monday, August 24 at 7:30pm
Vancouver Playhouse
600 Hamilton Street
Details and to purchase tickets, https://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/louise-penny.

Poetry and Short Story Contest
The 17th Vancouver Writers Fest Poetry and Short Story Contest is now open! Entries will be accepted until October 25th, so get writing or start polishing up your best work. The contest is open to all writers, so this could be the perfect opportunity for you to get published for the first time, kick start your writing career or add to your already impressive resume. First place winners will receive $500 and be published in subTERRAIN Magazine. Details and to enter: http://writersfest.bc.ca/writingcontest

Know a young writer? Tell them about our writing contest for BC grades 8-12 students, http://writersfest.bc.ca/youthwritingcontest.

FESTIVALS

Indian Summer Festival's #ISFIdeas Series presents a hot double bill: 5x15 features five brilliant local and international storytellers (Naresh Fernandes, Amber Dawn, Meeru Dhalwala, Patrick Stewart and Jagdeep Mangat) and Taj Mahal Foxtrot evokes 1930s Bombay, when American jazz musicians met Indian artists, and brought swing to the streets of India. Details at indiansummerfest.ca.

Sunshine Coast Festival of the Written Arts
Join Canada's longest running summer gathering of Canadian writers and readers, featuring established literary stars and exciting, new voices... with opportunities for writers and readers to mingle amidst Rockwood's heritage gardens. August 13-16, 2015. Sechelt, BC. Information at writersfestival.ca.

AWARDS & LISTS

Emily Carroll and Jillian and Mariko Tamaki have won the 2015 Eisner Awards. The former for best short story, while the latter two were awarded the prize for best graphic novel.
http://www.quillandquire.com/book-news/2015/07/14/jillian-and-mariko-tamaki-emily-carroll-win-2015-eisner-awards/

YOUNG READERS

Here are three new picture books worth checking out: The Princess and the Pony, by Kate Beaton, Float, by Daniel Miyares, and InvisiBill, by Maureen Fergus. The first turns the idea of "cute" on its head, the second is a celebration of "play," and the last is about how family can make you invisible.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/book-reviews/review-a-trio-of-new-picture-books-by-kate-beaton-daniel-miyares-and-maureen-fergus/article25251312/

NEWS & FEATURES

Nominations are still open for the 2015 City of Vancouver Mayor's Arts Awards. Deadline has been extended to Friday, July 17.
http://www.allianceforarts.com/blog/2015/5/29/nominations-open-for-the-2015-city-of-vancouver-mayors-arts-awards

Harper Lee is all over the news this week, with her new (old) novel Go Set a Watchman finally being released. Now, her lawyer is suggesting that she may have written a third novel.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jul/13/harper-lee-third-novel-lawyer-tonja-carter

When is a bestseller not a bestseller? The New York Times had omitted Ted Cruz's colouring book from its bestseller list after accusations of bulk purchasing.
http://publishingperspectives.com/2015/07/when-is-a-bestseller-not-a-bestseller-when-the-nyt-says-so/

The mayor of Venice has officially banned books in schools that "include themes of homosexuality and disability." As a result, Venetian libraries are up in arms, with many librarians encouraging people to read banned titles.
http://www.mhpbooks.com/mayor-of-venice-bans-gay-friendly-childrens-books/

Chris Hadfield has penned an ode to the "delightful impossibility" of Ray Bradbury's Martian Chronicles. Check it out, here:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/book-reviews/chris-hadfield-pens-an-ode-to-the-delightful-impossibility-of-ray-bradburys-martian-chronicles/article25414257/

Do you re-read books? Nabokov once claimed that "there is no reading, only rereading!" Here's Tim Parks' take on the matter.
http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2015/jul/11/rereading-unlocking-the-mind/

Charles Dickens' notes have revealed previously unknown identities of short-story authors, including Wilkie Collins and Lewis Carroll. "The find also gives insight into Dickens' nepotism, showing that he used his weekly magazine All the Year Round to publish three articles of dubious quality by his then teenage sons, Frank and Sydney."
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/charles-dickens-notes-solve-the-mystery-of-unidentified-victorian-authors-10384128.html

Is the author pseudonym passé? "It's two years since JK Rowling's 'Robert Galbraith' revelation, yet the only literary disguise of late has been Erika Leonard masquerading as EL James. Could the nom de plume be a thing of the past?"
http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2015/jul/10/demise-pseudonyms-books?CMP=twt_books-gdnbooks

The U.S. Authors Guild is fighting low ebook royalties. "As authors struggle with ever-diminishing profits on their work, the Guild said the time has come for publishers to change their e-book royalty rate."
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/digital/content-and-e-books/article/67433-authors-guild-slams-inadequate-e-book-royalty.html

What are the consequences of our cultural obsession with newness? That's the question asked in this week's New York Times' Bookends. Siddhartha Deb and Anna Holmes discuss.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/19/books/review/what-are-the-consequences-of-our-cultural-obsession-with-newness.html

BOOKS & WRITERS

The first reviews of Go Set a Watchman, Harper Lee's second novel, have come out. Here's The Guardian's take on the book, which they call "more complex" than To Kill a Mockbird, but "less compelling."
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jul/12/go-set-a-watchman-review-harper-lee-to-kill-a-mockingbird

Canada's largest public art project has been documented in a new book called Art for War and Peace. The Sampson-Matthews silkscreen project was "a patriotic endeavor during WWII," spurring the printing of paintings that featured Canadian landscapes by the likes of Emily Carr and the Group of Seven.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/canada-s-largest-public-art-project-documented-in-new-book-art-for-war-and-peace-1.3140814

A new book, Meanwhile There Are Letters, is about mutual reawakening. In this case, the reawakening was between two famous authors: Eudora Welty, maven of Southern letters, and Ross Macdonald, a best-selling crime writer!
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/14/books/review-eudora-welty-and-ross-macdonald-conjoined-by-a-torrent-of-words.html

Despite what its title might imply, Poetry is Useless, by Anders Nilsen, isn't anti-poetry. Along with Marc Bell's Stroppy (also reviewed here), it's a book of cartoons with a very literary (and poetic) bent!
http://www.straight.com/life/487776/marc-bell-and-anders-nilsen-poetry-and-world-making

In this piece, Jade Colbert looks at new work by Martine Delvaux, Jocelyn Saucier and Suzanne Leblanc. Among the subjects tackled: female coming-of-age stories, familial love, growing up in Quebec, and what it might be like to be the sister of a 19th-century philosopher.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/book-reviews/review-jade-colbert-looks-at-new-work-by-martine-delvaux-jocelyne-saucier-and-suzanne-leblanc/article25414158/

COMMUNITY EVENTS

DRUNK DIAL
Open Circles presents a night of poetry and other performances. Featuring Sydney McNeill, Kristel Saan, Ole Vezina, Curtis Aucoin and Cara Seccafien. Open mic sign up still available by emailing iamresonantbellworld@gmail.com. Sunday, July 19 at 8:00pm. The Media Club, 695 Cambie Street, Vancouver.

KATHERINE FAWCETT
Author reads from Little Washer of Sorrows. Thursday, July 23 at 5:00pm. Salt Spring Island Public Library, 129 Mc Phillips Ave., Salt Spring Island.

TWISTED POETS LITERARY SALON
Features Steve Noyes, Bren Simmers and Carmelo Militano plus open mic. Thursday, July 23 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.

MASHED POETICS
A night of spoken word and music mash-up where we pick a music album, form a cover band, and get poets to write new poems based on the music. Friday, July 24 at 9:00pm. Tickets: $10. 7 Dining Lounge, 53 West Broadway, Vancouver. More information at talonbooks.com.

intergen(d)erational call & response
Spoken word performances that challenge and inspire. A collaborative project of Quirk-e (Queer Imaging and Riting Kollective for Elders) and Youth 4 A Change. Monday, July 27 at 7:00pm. Central Branch, 350 W. Georgia St., Vancouver. More information at vpl.ca.

KARA STANLEY
Author reads from her acclaimed new memoir, "Fallen: A Trauma, A Marriage, and the Transformative Power of Music." Followed by live music by her husband, Simon Paradis, performing with Joe Stanton as roots duo Stanton Paradis. Tuesday, July 28 at 7:00pm. Central Branch, Greater Victoria Public Library. More information at gvpl.ca.

Upcoming

RICHARD GOODFELLOW
Vancouver author signs his debut thriller novel, Collector of Secrets. Saturday, August 15 at 2:00pm. Chapters Metrotown, 4700 Kingsway, Burnaby.

KOOTENAY BOOKWEEKEND
The Kootenay Bookweekend will be hosting passionate page-tuners reading and discussing The Inconvenient Indian by Thomas King, Daughters of the Witching Hill by Mary Sharratt, Local Customs by Audrey Thomas and our guest author, Arno Kopecky's book The Oil Man and the Sea. September 18-20, 2015 in Nelson, BC. Registration forms and information at kootenaybookweekend.ca.