Book News Vol. 10 No. 31

BOOK NEWS

Thank you to all our Book News readers who attended the Vancouver Writers Fest last week and helped make it so great! Your support and enthusiasm for the Festival is so important.

If you're already in Festival withdrawal like us, make sure you've got your ticket for to see John Irving at the Vancouver Playhouse on December 1. Irving will be talking to Hal Wake about his new book, Avenue of Mysteries, which Booklist called, “An empathically imagined, masterfully told, and utterly transporting tale of transcendent sacrifice and perseverance, unlikely love, and profound mysteries." You can find more details here, http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/john-irving.

AWARDS & LISTS

Rachel and Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley have won the 2015 Burt Award for First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Literature. "The husband-and-wife duo was recognized for their novel Skraelings: Arctic Moon Magick, Book 1 (Inhabit Media), the story of a young Inuit man prejudiced against an elusive Arctic tribe for which he gains respect in the process of helping save."
http://www.quillandquire.com/awards/2015/10/26/rachel-and-sean-qitsualik-tinsley-win-2015-burt-award/

YOUNG READERS

Frank Viva is the featured artist on the cover of this month's Quill & Quire Magazine. He's also an accomplished children's author and illustrator whose upcoming book is called Sea Change.
http://www.quillandquire.com/childrens-publishing/2015/10/22/kidlit-spotlight-qq-cover-artist-frank-viva/

The Globe and Mail has a whole new crop of Young Adult fiction reviews. Check them out here:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/book-reviews/review-new-ya-fiction-from-kelley-armstrong-mikaela-everett-vicki-grant-cammie-mcgovern-steve-sheinkin-and-emil-sher/article26845569/

NEWS & FEATURES

Google's book-scanning project has been deemed legal. "Google has scanned more than 20 million books since 2004 without the permission of the authors. The company allows users to search for specific terms and provides excerpts and links to where people can buy or borrow a book."
http://goodereader.com/blog/e-book-news/google-book-scanning-project-ruled-legal-by-an-appeals-court

Man Booker Prize-winner (and Writers Fest author) Marlon James was rejected 78 times before getting published. Sadly, "his long search for recognition is not unique." Here's a quiz about great books that were initially rejected by publishers.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/oct/15/great-books-that-publishers-rejected-quiz-marlon-james-man-booker

"In the computer age, we're all typesetters, whether composing an email or a novel. Time to get good at it." Here's an infographic primer to help you decode "the secret lives of typefaces."
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/10/22/decoding-the-secret-lives-of-typefaces.html

How do professional readers read for pleasure? In this piece, editors, reviewers and publicists talk about the difficulties of disconnecting completely from professional habits.
http://lithub.com/how-professional-readers-read-for-pleasure/

"Old-timey" words are creeping back into the lexicon. How did "bespoke, peruse, smitten and dapper" become popular again? You'll never guess the answer...hipsters.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/four-graphs-that-show-how-hipsters-are-bringing-back-vintage-language-a6702576.html

The French city of Grenoble is installing free short story dispensers around the city. The project intends to battle cell phone addiction. "We said to ourselves that we could do the same thing with good quality popular literature to occupy these little unproductive moments," stated the project's founder.
http://www.cbc.ca/books/2015/10/french-city-installing-free-short-story-dispensers.html

An American professor believes that he has found the earliest known draft of the King James Bible. "Experts who have reviewed Professor Miller's research called it perhaps the most significant archival find relating to the King James Bible in decades."
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/15/books/earliest-known-draft-of-king-james-bible-is-found-scholar-says.html

The University of Texas has opened up its Gabriel García Márquez archive. "Sixty years' worth of the Nobel prize-winning Colombian author's manuscripts, photographs, letters and other material are now available for researchers."
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/oct/21/gabriel-garcia-marquez-archives-open-for-research-at-texas-university

JRR Tolkien's annotated map of Middle-earth has been discovered inside a copy of The Lord of the Rings. The map reveals that "Hobbiton is on the same latitude as Oxford, and implies that the Italian city of Ravenna could be the inspiration behind the fictional city of Minas Tirith."
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/oct/23/jrr-tolkien-middle-earth-annotated-map-blackwells-lord-of-the-rings

BOOKS & WRITERS

This interview, featuring none other than Canadian icon Margaret Atwood, is a "walking conversation," partially inspired by the "outdoorsy spirit of the Future Library," a project to which Atwood is contributing a book (not to be opened for 100 years!) Among other things, the interview features Atwood's favourite Toronto landmarks, discusses the important of science in her life, along with her writing.
http://lithub.com/margaret-atwood-on-vampires-gene-splicing-and-talking-turnips/

Nick Thran's Mayor Snow is "a cool and mature collection" of poetry. Another book of poetry, by the duo of Daniel Zomparelli and Dina Del Bucchia, tackles romantic comedy: "it's an in-depth exploration of a skin-deep genre that's whip-smart and extremely fun to read." Both are reviewed here:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/book-reviews/review-nick-thrans-mayor-snow-a-cool-and-mature-collection/article26949878/

Robertson Davies kept diaries all his life. Now, a selection of them, covering the years before he wrote his most famous novels, have been turned into a "delightful" book called A Celtic Temperament: Robertson Davies as Diarist.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/book-reviews/review-robertson-daviess-delightful-diaries-published-in-a-celtic-temperament/article26950171/

Has the internet given readers a "false sense of entitlement?" Author Joanne Harris thinks so, stating that the digital age has "blurred the line between readers and writers almost to invisibility." She's interviewed here:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/media/11941486/Internet-gives-readers-false-sense-of-entitlement-Joanne-Harris-says.html

Bill Richardson's new book of poetry, The First Little Bastard to Call Me Gramps: Poems of the Late Middle Ages, began as a way to "absolve the guilt of all those wasted social-media hours." Instead, he began writing "lighthearted narrative rhymes that dealt with a topic he was beginning to know intimately: life in the golden years."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/bill-richardson-turns-social-media-guilt-into-lighthearted-poetry/article26869791/

From time to time, The Guardian newspaper publishes articles on "reading cities," giving suggestions about what books to read in order to understand a particular city. This week's city is Vancouver! If you haven't read them already, here are many books for better understanding Vancouver.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2015/oct/22/reading-cities-books-about-vancouver

COMMUNITY EVENTS

The Active Fiction Project on Granville Island – on until November 1
Ever wondered what it would be like to take a walk through your favourite novel? The Active Fiction Project creates short, fictional 'choose your own adventure'-style stories that take place in a Vancouver neighbourhood. This week, explore Granville Island using a short, funny story by local authors Dina Del Bucchia and Daniel Zomparelli as your guide. It's free and open to everyone. To begin, find the first chapter near Off the Tracks café and see where the story takes you. To learn more about the Active Fiction Project, please visit www.activefictionproject.com.

TWISTED POETS LITERARY SALON
Features Ray Hsu and Wilhelmina Salmi plus open mic. Thursday, October 29th, 7-9:30pm, at The Cottage Bistro, 4468 Main Street, Vancouver. Sign up for open mic at 7pm. Suggested donation at the door: $5. More information at
www.pandorascollective.com.

FRED WAH
Launch of authors latest book. Scree: The Collected Earlier Poems, 1962-1991. Thursday, October 29 at 8:00pm. Western Front, 303 8th Ave. E. More information at talonbooks.com.

WAYZGOOSE
Alcuin Society event features the work of local book artists, printers, bookbinders, and paper artists. Saturday, October 31 from 10am to 4pm. Vancouver Public Library, 350 W. Georgia St., Vancouver. More information at alcuinsociety.com.

TRIPLE THREAT
Crime Writers of Canada presents three BC mystery authors: Cathy Ace, Allan J. Emerson, Debra Purdy Kong. Saturday, October 31 at 1:00pm, free. Chapters Strawberry Hill Centre, 100-12107 72 Ave., Surrey. More information at 604-501-2877.

NIGHTWOOD EDITIONS FALL BOOK LAUNCH
This fall, Nightwood Editions is releasing new collections by talented poets: Joe Denham, Nick Thran, Sheryda Warrener and Rita Wong (with illustrator Cindy Mochizuki). Join the authors as they celebrate with a book launch in Vancouver on Sunday, November 1st at 7pm at the Lost + Found Cafe (33 W Hastings St). Admission is free and all are welcome.

BOOK CLUB
Inaugural event featuring The Corpse with the Platinum Hair by Cathy Ace. Presented by Vancouver Public Library and Crime Writers of Canada. Monday, November 2 at 6:30pm, free. Central branch, VPL, 350 W. Georgia St., Vancouver. More information at cathyace.com/events.

CAROL M. CRAM
Author launches her latest book A Woman of Note. Wednesday, November 4 at 7:00pm. Central branch, VPL, 350 W. Georgia St., Vancouver. More information at vpl.ca.

LIVE SOULS
Author Serge Alternês as he presents the b&w photographs that Alec Wainman took as a medical volunteer in the Spanish Civil War (1936—1939). Thursday, November 5 at 7:00pm, free. St. Anselm's Church, 5210 University Blvd., Vancouver. More information at 604-738-4688.

MICHAEL CHRISTIE
Author reads from his latest book If I Fall, If I Die. Thursday, November 5 at 7:30pm. Smilin' Buddha Restaurant, 109 East Hastings, Vancouver. More information at vpl.ca.

OPEN CITY
SFU Library is pleased to announce a special event at SFU Vancouver as part of SFU's 50th anniversary celebrations. Open City: One Book, One SFU will feature author Teju Cole in conversation with CBC Radio's Eleanor Wachtel. This free event will be held on Thursday, November 5th at 7PM in the Goldcorp Centre for the Arts at SFU Vancouver. For more details about this event and to book your ticket, visit: http://www.lib.sfu.ca/onebookonesfu.

DEAD POETS READING SERIES
Five poets/poetry-lovers/readers/writers bring to life the works of their favourite deceased poets. Sunday, November 8 at 3:00pm. Central branch, VPL, 350 W. Georgia St., Vancouver. More information at deadpoetslive.com.

TWISTED POETS LITERARY SALON
Features Harold Rhenisch and Joe Denham plus open mic. Wednesday, November 11th, 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.

Upcoming

IAN RANKIN
Cuffed, the Vancouver International Crime Fiction Festival, presents a special event with Ian Rankin. Monday, November 16 at 7:30pm. Tickets: $24 plus service charges. St. Andrew's-Wesley United Church, Burrard and Nelson, Vancouver. Tickets and more information at https://ticketstonight.ticketforce.com/eventperformances.asp?evt=3021.

JCC JEWISH BOOK FESTIVAL
A week of literary events including meet-the-author opportunities, readings and panel discussions and more. November 21-26, 2015. For complete details, visit jccgv.com/content/jewish-book-fest.

CRIME WRITERS OF CANADA
Crime writers Cathy Ace. Allan J. Emerson and Don Hauka will do readings from their work, and answer questions about their experiences finding agents and publishers, online resources for writers, local writing groups, and writers’ conventions. Thursday, December 3 at 7:00pm. Poirier branch, Coquitlam Public Library. More information at coqlibrary.ca.