BOOK NEWS
We are pleased to announce the addition of a solo event with Australian author Tim Winton in conversation with VWF Artistic Director Hal Wake at 8 pm on Monday, October 20, http://writersfest.bc.ca/2014/events/87-tim-winton-conversation-hal-wake.
The Vancouver Writers Fest presents 104 international writers in 87 events including Waking from the American Dream (Joshua Ferris, Cristina Enriquez, Matthew Thomas), An Evening with James Ellroy, The Hook (Aislinn Hunter, Eric McCormack, Sarah Waters, Ian Weir), Rooted and Riveting (Rabih Alameddine, Michael Crummey, Heather O’Neill) and Rules of Engagement (Dionne Brand, Thomas King, Lee Maracle, Christos Tsiolkas) and many others. Pick up the Festival program guide at in the Lower Mainland bookstores and libraries, or check the Festival website for full details, http:/www.writersfest.bc.ca.
"David Mitchell is a superb storyteller." The New Yorker
The captivating David Mitchell talks to Hal Wake about his much-lauded new novel, The Bone Clocks, at St. Andrew's-Wesley United at 7:30 pm, Saturday, September 27.
Special event tickets are also on sale for Bruce Cockburn (Nov 10), Alan Doyle (Nov 13) and Conrad Black (Nov 13).
More information at http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events.
Festival Contest
Are you an avid reader who can't wait for the 2014 Vancouver Writers Fest? Show our Festival authors how much you are looking forward to seeing them in Vancouver this fall, show your friends how much you love to read AND be entered to win $50 to Book Warehouse (to buy more books!) with our #Shelfie contest. Click here for details on how to enter, http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/prefaces/tavia/shelfie-contest.
Calling 'Gen Y' Readers
The Vancouver Writers Fest is recruiting for focus group participants. We are specifically interested in talking to Generation Y readers (born 1980 to 1995). If you, or someone you know, would consider participating in a focus group discussion in the future, please sign up, and we will be in touch, http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/get-involved/focusgroup.
FESTIVAL AUTHORS
The inspiration for Aislinn Hunter's The World Before Us came from "the past, namely a bizarre encounter between two escaped asylum patients and a famous 19th-century poet." Hunter was recently interviewed by Shelagh Rogers. The full interview will air on September 22nd, but you can catch a sneak peak (or "sneak listen") here:
http://www.cbc.ca/thenextchapter/2014/09/15/tnc-sneak-listen-shelaghs-conversation-with-aislinn-hunter/
The fact that Joshua Ferris' To Rise Again at a Decent Hour was shortlisted for the Booker Prize is only one of several things that make it notable. It also "hits a high-water mark in the literature of dentistry, however limited that may be!"
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/16/books/joshua-ferriss-to-rise-again-at-a-decent-hour.html
James Ellroy is a crime writer with a very unique pedigree: his mother was murdered when he was a child, and the case has never been solved. "You could say his writing career has been a protracted grief reaction." Ellroy's new novel is called Perfidia.
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/09/perfidia-james-ellroys-furious-new-novel/379123/
What is the purpose of writing historical fiction? According to Ian Weir, it is "not to make things up, but to believe the world you are creating."
http://www.quillandquire.com/authors/2014/09/11/ian-weir-on-scaling-the-mountain/
Damon Galgut's new novel, Arctic Summer, shares its title with a book E.M. Forster began in 1909 and never finished. In fact, the author is the centerpiece of the novel.
http://arts.nationalpost.com/2014/08/13/the-afterword-reading-society-arctic-summer-by-damon-galgut/
Who's your favourite writer? Which fictional character most resembles you? Esther Freud answers these questions, and more, here:
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/esther-freud-novelist-i-love-tobias-wolff-for-his-elegance-thoughtfulness-and-inventiveness-9726438.html
"Namby-pamby protagonists, step aside!" says Caroline Adderson, author of Ellen in Pieces. Her latest novel marks a departure in format, with a protagonist who is "feisty and earthy and imperfect, and life has dealt her all kinds of blows."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/ellen-in-pieces-namby-pamby-protagonists-step-aside/article20279787/
Angie Abdou's new novel, Between, is her fourth book in eight years. It's also a "conversation starter, especially when it comes to the debate on foreign workers in Canada, as well as women's roles in society and the home."
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/Elizabeth+Withey+Angie+Abdou+novel+conversation+starter/10195194/story.html
Eimear McBride's A Girl Is A Half-formed Thing "is a shockingly honest, devastatingly beautiful debut novel." Self-destruction and loss are two of the novel's main themes, a portrait of a young woman who is a still a child, as the title implies.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/book-reviews/a-girl-is-a-half-formed-thing-is-a-shockingly-honest-devastatingly-beautiful-debut-novel/article20577027/
AWARDS & LISTS
The Giller Prize longlist is out, "along with the unexpected news that its purse has doubled, immediately vaulting the literary award to among the richest in the English language." 2014 Vancouver Writers Fest authors Miriam Toews, Shani Mootoo, Arjun Basu and Heather O'Neill made the cut.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/giller-prize-unveils-long-list/article20614335/
Young Adult literature has come a long way, as proved by the amazing range in this year's National Book Award longlist. "The ten books, written by five men and five women, demonstrate the wide diversity of content and genre contained within teen and middle-grade literature, ranging from contemporary novels to historical fiction to narrative nonfiction to memoir-by-poetry."
http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2014/sep/15/national-book-award-longlist-young-adult-literature
YOUNG READERS
Two new picture books are reminiscent of out-of-time folk tales, as well as having a sweet, rustic appeal. They're Give and Take by Christ Raschka and Findus Disappears! by Sven Nordqvist.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/10/books/give-and-take-and-findus-disappears.html
NEWS & FEATURES
The European Union Court of Justice has ruled that European libraries can legally scan books without permission, and also make electronic copies available to patrons. Even more interestingly, "it gives libraries legal backing for creating their own electronic editions even when an e-book edition is available."
http://www.mhpbooks.com/german-technical-university-defies-german-textbook-publisher-in-a-case-with-a-surprising-amount-of-drama/
Where's the "magic building" where English majors go to work? In this piece, Cathy Day makes sense of Creative Writing's "job problem".
http://www.themillions.com/2014/09/the-magic-building-where-english-majors-work-making-sense-of-creative-writings-job-problem.html
"When John Ashbery, the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, first learned that the digital editions of his poetry looked nothing like the print version, he was stunned. There were no line breaks, and the stanzas had been jammed together into a block of text that looked like prose." Thankfully, new innovations have made e-books more poet-friendly!
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/15/arts/artsspecial/line-by-line-e-books-turn-poet-friendly.html
The Amazon-Hachette struggle continues. This week, Hachette's authors are trying a "new tactic to get their work unshackled." They're targeting the Internet giant's board.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/15/technology/in-latest-volley-against-amazon-hachettes-writers-target-its-board.html
BOOKS & WRITERS
Autumn is almost here, heralding the arrival of colder temperatures and turning leaves. But for eager readers, there's something even more exciting coming: the fall book season! In this preview, authors tell us which books they can't wait to read.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/fall-preview/article20578330/
Roddy Doyle has a new book out. Called Two More Pints, it's a "savagely funny" follow-up to his 2011 novel of a very similar name: Two Pints. They're both dialogue-driven, written like a conversation between two old men in a Dublin pub. "They seem part mouthpiece for Doyle himself, part living social history."
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/sep/16/two-more-pints-roddy-doyle-review-novel
Nigerian fiction has been more and more in the news these days, thanks to up-and-coming writers like Teju Cole. But he's just one of many great writers to emerge from the West African nation. Here's a list of the top ten books about Nigeria.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/sep/10/top-10-books-about-nigeria-barnaby-phillips
Speaking of top ten lists, here's another: the top ten fictitious biographies. "From Nabokov to Woolf to Coetzee, novelist Jonathan Gibbs selects the best imaginary lives presented as the real thing."
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/aug/27/top-10-fictitious-biographis-jonathan-gibbs-nabokov
Victor Lodato's Jack, July is the featured story in this week's New Yorker. Its protagonist, Jack, is a twenty-two-year-old who's "coming down from a meth high on a hot July 4th in Tucson."
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/09/22/jack-july
Lodato also discusses the story, here:
http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/week-fiction-victor-lodato
COMMUNITY EVENTS
BIRTH OF A RARE BOOK
Christopher Levenson, poet and author, will present with Peter Braun, Master Printer of New Leaf Editions, and Sigrid Albert, graphic artist, a discussion about the genesis of producing a rare book of poetry and etchings. Sunday, September 21 at 3:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
BOOK LAUNCH
Book launch of Vancouver Confidential. Sunday, September 21 at 6:00pm. The Emerald Supper Club, 555 Gore St., Vancouver.
A SILENCE OF ECHOES
Book launch and signing of A Silence of Echoes by Candice James, Poet Laureate, New Westminster. With guest readers Renee Saklikar and Dennis E. Bolen. Wednesday, September 24 at 6:30pm. New Westminster Public Library Auditorium, 716-6th Ave, New Westminster.
VANCOUVER IS ASHES
Vancouver Is Ashes is the first detailed exploration of a landmark, yet seldom revisited event in Vancouver's history. Lisa Anne Smith uses eye-witness accounts to investigate events of that pivotal day. Monday, September 22 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
WORD VANCOUVER
Festival promoting books and authors with free exhibits, performances, and hands-on activities for a wide range of ages and interests. September 24-28, 2014. Complete details at wordvancouver.ca.
TWISTED POETS LITERARY SALON
Pandora's Collective in conjunction with Word Vancouver features Rita Wong, Jami Macarty, Lilija Valis & Kevin Spenst plus open mic. Thursday, September 25 at 7:00pm. Suggested donation at the door: $5. The Cottage Bistro, 4468 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at pandorascollective.com.
THANKS A LOT EXPRESS-OH!
North Shore Writers' Association invite community & cultural co-creators: writers, dancers, musicians and artists, to join in this fun activity of giving thanks in this 2-hour workshop to expand upon and play with word prompts. Saturday, September 27 at 10:00am, free. North Vancouver City Library, 120 14th St. W., North Vancouver. More information at culturedays.ca.
BOOK SOME TIME FOR CRIME
an afternoon on the edge of your seat with four local mystery authors, Sam Wiebe, E.R. Brown, Robin Spano and Owen Laukkanen. Listen as they share their latest novels, then book a one-on-one session for answers to any of your burning mystery questions. Saturday, September 27 at 1:00pm, free. West Vancouver Memorial Library, 1950 Marine Drive, West Vancouver. More information at culturedays.ca.
Upcoming
THE TOWN SLUT'S DAUGHTER
Canadian poet Heather Haley launches her debut novel. Thursday, October 2 at 7:30pm. Slickity Jim's, 3469 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at howesoundpublishing@gmail.com.
LAST OF THE INDEPENDENTS
Vancouver writer Sam Wiebe reads from his latest book. Friday, October 10 at 7:00pm. Pulp Fiction Books, Main street.
EMERGE 14
Emerge 14, the annual anthology from The Writer's Studio at Simon Fraser University, thirty-five emerging writers explore love, creation, death, regret, discovery and terror will be launched in a special gala. Thursday, October 16 at 6pm. SFU Downtown Campus, Harbour Centre. More information at cormac_oreilly@hotmail.com.
JANE EATON HAMILTON
Author reads from her new book Love Will Burst Into A Thousand Shapes. Thursday, October 23 at 7:00pm. Cottage Bistro, 4470 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at http://caitlin-press.com/event/vancouver-book-reading-jane-eaton-hamilton-love-will-burst-into-a-thousand-shapes/.
Thursday, September 18, 2014
Thursday, September 11, 2014
Book News Vol. 9 No. 28
BOOK NEWS
Vancouver Writers Fest Tickets on sale
Tickets for the 2014 Vancouver Writers Fest are selling briskly and several events are already sold out. There are still tickets available for many more events with remarkable writers from around the globe including L.A. Confidential author James Elroy, Norwegian literary sensation Karl Ove Knausgaard, 2014 Man Booker Prize shortlisted author Joshua Ferris, Scottish crime fiction The Slap author Christos Tsiolkas, Legend fantasy trilogy
author Marie Lu, Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction winner Eimear McBride, technogeek Cory Doctorow and many more. Pick up the Festival program guide at in the Lower Mainland bookstores and libraries, or check the Festival website for full details, http:/www.writersfest.bc.ca.
Special event tickets are also on sale for David Mitchell (Sept 27), Bruce Cockburn (Nov 10), Alan Doyle (Nov 13) and Conrad Black (Nov 13). More information at http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events.
Calling 'Gen Y' Readers
The Vancouver Writers Fest is recruiting for focus group participants. We are specifically interested in talking to Generation Y readers (born 1980 to 1995). If you, or someone you know, would consider participating in a focus group discussion in the future, please sign up, and we will be in touch, http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/get-involved/focusgroup.
Volunteers
September 14 is the deadline for NEW volunteers to register for 2014. Prospective volunteers who have lots of availability and flexibility about what they will do have the greatest chance of being scheduled. We especially need people with daytime availability during the work week, volunteers fluent in French as well as comfort with cash handling and able to lift, carry and patient enough to 'hurry up and wait'. For more info and on-line registration, click here, http://writersfest.bc.ca/get-involved/volunteer.
FESTIVAL AUTHORS
Martha Baillie's new novel, The Search for Heinrich Schlögel, is filled with wonderful "bits of ephemera—there are letters, journal entries, a map, a newspaper clipping." Her narrator's life is pieced together by all these things. He's European, but also "primitive,' a potential object of scrutiny, someone considered out of sync with the flow of time." Baillie discusses her inspiration, here:
https://www.tinhouse.com/blog/36231/an-interview-with-martha-baillie-author-of-the-search-for-heinrich-schlogel.html
Michael Cho's Shoplifter is a graphic novel with a setting reminiscent of Toronto. In it, the city "becomes something of a character, lonely but also full of possibility. This, along with his at times sparing use of language, gives the graphic novel an air of quiet desperation, of a decision about to be made."
http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-michael-cho-graphic-novel-shoplifter-20140902-story.html
Cities are important for crime writer James Ellroy too, whose Los Angeles is both corrupt and complicated. His new novel, Perfidia, marks the beginning of a new literary quartet set in the City of Angels (he's already written one!), which takes place during the Second World War.
http://www.avclub.com/review/james-ellroy-begins-his-second-l-quartet-perfidia-208662
Sarah Waters' new novel is also set in the early 20th century, albeit a few years before Ellroy's The Paying Guests is an inter-war story of love between two women, who battle not only the prejudices of sexuality, but also gender and class.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/sarah-waters-interview-i-pay-attention-to-womens-secret-history-and-lives-9715463.html
Kathleen Winter's new book also features a strong female lead...herself! A work of narrative non-fiction, Boundless is the story of a year though the Northwest Passage. "Boundless not only chronicles that outward journey, but the inward journey which resulted for Winter, blending travel account with memoir, history with nature writing, a strong narrative with a keen meditative sense."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/book-reviews/in-traversing-the-northwest-passage-kathleen-winter-finds-a-route-into-herself/article20369423/
"There are few writers who embrace Faulkner's credo that 'the past is never dead. It isn't even past' quite so wholeheartedly, and skillfully, as Michael Crummey." His new novel, Sweetland, "is a thing of beauty, one of the finest novels we are likely to encounter this year."
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Michael+Crummey+Love+song+life+elegy+ending/10178759/story.html#ixzz3CjxjogLc
Sometimes abandoning one novel can lead to another, or at least so it was for Esther Freud. Her new book, Mr Mac and Me, is a fictional account of the artist Charles Rennie Mackintosh, who was accidentally taken for a spy during the first World War.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/aug/31/esther-freud-author-interview-mr-mac-and-me
Some writers abandon their work, others take detours. For Carrie Snyder, it was more a case of "almost-was." Last year, she almost gave up her career as a writer in order to become a midwife. Then, her new novel, Girl Runner, was accepted for publication.
http://arts.nationalpost.com/2014/09/03/carrie-snyder-going-the-distance/
Matthew Thomas is another writer with a second job: teacher. He has been dubbed the "new Jonathan Franzen," and is interviewed by The Guardian about his debut novel, We Are Not Ourselves, here:
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/aug/17/matthew-thomas-we-are-not-ourselves-interview
Aislinn Hunter's second novel "is a richly layered narrative harmonizing the past and present, dissolving the boundaries of time frames and showing the possible connections between people and places and objects." The World Before Us is a book is about the connection between two missing people.
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Aislinn+Hunter+Delving+into+mysteries+time/10178745/story.html#ixzz3CkAE6KSA
Thomas King has written his first literary novel in 15 years, called The Back of The Turtle. In this interview with the CBC, he discusses how he tackles historic injustice with humour, aboriginal reconciliation, and the fraught relationship between humanity and nature.
http://www.cbc.ca/q/blog/2014/09/03/thomas-king-the-back-of-the-turtle/
When Alison Pick was a teenager, she made a shocking discovery: her father, who claimed to be a Christian, was actually Jewish, from a family of Czech Holocaust refugees. Pick's new memoir, Between Gods, is an account of her conversion to Judaism. She recently did an audio interview with the CBC, and you can listen to the recording, here:
http://www.cbc.ca/books/2014/09/between-gods-a-memoir.html
The CBC also recently interviewed British author Tom Rachman, author of The Rise and Fall of Great Powers. The novel begins in the most literary of places–an old, dusty bookshop.
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19104786-the-rise-fall-of-great-powers
Wallflowers might be Eliza Robertson's debut short fiction collection, but she's already an accomplished journeyman of the craft, with prizes galore under her belt. In this interview with the Globe and Mail, she discusses her book, the best advice she's ever received, and more.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/eliza-robertson-on-her-new-book-the-best-advice-shes-received-and-more/article20364839/
The National Post asks its readers to respond to a new novel each Tuesday. Last week it was Kim Thúy's Mãn. Read their questions and her answers, here:
http://arts.nationalpost.com/2014/09/03/the-afterword-reading-society-man-by-kim-thuy/
AWARDS & LISTS
The Man Booker shortlist is out, and it includes two American authors for the very first time. It's looking to be a mostly transatlantic battle (with a quick diversion across the Pacific) as Joshua Ferris and Karen Joy Fowler square off against three Britons and one Australian.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/sep/09/man-booker-prize-2014-shortlist
The shortlist for the International Dylan Thomas prize has also been unveiled. Two authors who will be appearing at the 2014 Vancouver Writers Fest, Eimear McBride and Joshua Ferris, made the cut. The award goes to the "best literary work in the English language, written by an author aged 39 or under."
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/sep/05/international-dylan-thomas-prize-shortlist
Louise Erdrich has won the 2014 PEN/Saul Bellow Award for Achievement in American Fiction. The $25,000 award is presented every other year to a living American author whose "scale of achievement in fiction, over a sustained career, places him or her in the highest rank of American literature."
http://www.pen.org/blog/louise-erdrich-wins-pensaul-bellow-award
Science fiction-fantasy legend Ursula K. Le Guin will be awarded the National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.
http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-ursula-k-le-guin-will-receive-national-book-foundation-award-20140910-story.html
YOUNG READERS
Here are three new pictures books worth a read. The first is a translation from French, featuring a "superhero bunny with a style fixation." The second is metafiction, and the third is "more a meditation than a narrative," a day in the life of a whale.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/three-new-picture-books-worth-a-read/article20365332/
NEWS & FEATURES
Are you a fan of footnotes, or do you consider them "like as gratuitous dressing—the literary equivalent of purple kale leaves at the edges of the crudités platter?" The New Yorker makes an argument for the footnote, here:
http://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/save-footnotes
How about metaphors, then? Neuroscientists have tested the theory that your body shapes your ideas. Here's "your brain on metaphors!"
http://chronicle.com/article/Your-Brain-on-Metaphors/148495/
Here's one way of arguing for the necessity of print: "Rather than stand on a street corner yelling, 'Literature is not commodity!' I decided to inflict a series of physical experiments on my published work."
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/authors/interviews/article/63611-the-novel-as-core-sample-installation-art-and-the-novel-martha-baillie.html
Can a book change a reader's life for the worse? That's the question being asked in this week's New York Times' 'Bookends' section. Leslie Jamison and Francine Prose discuss.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/14/books/review/can-a-book-ever-change-a-readers-life-for-the-worse.html
BOOKS & WRITERS
Margaret Atwood has a new short story collection out called Stone Mattress. In this interview, she discusses her nine new tales, guilty (or not-so-guilty) pleasures, and writing bestsellers "not on purpose."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/qa-margaret-atwood-on-her-new-collection-stone-mattress-maddaddam-and-how-to-kill-a-man-in-the-arctic/article20375640/
Journalist Mireille Silcoff has also released a nine story collection, her debut. She began writing Chez l'arabe during the several years when "she was left 'deeply bedridden' and immobile with an alarming neurological condition...Silcoff unleashed the world that had evolved in her head (her condition meant that her brain was often unsuspended) through daily, 15-minute writing sessions."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/book-reviews/chez-larabe-brilliantly-depicts-a-world-of-largely-cloistered-lives/article20367687/
Have you ever wanted to explore the Bodleian Library? A new book, called Marks of Genius: Masterpieces from the Collection of the Bodleian Libraries, offers a chance to catch a glimpse of some of its great treasures, including a bivalve locket containing locks of hair from Mary and Percy Bysshe Shelley, and fragments of Sappho poems.
http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-literary-treasures-from-oxford-bodleian-libraries-20140829-story.html
COMMUNITY EVENTS
DEAD POETS READING SERIES
Five poets/readers/poetry-lovers/writers with extensive public reading experience read poems from one of their favourite dead poet's work. Sunday, September 14 at 3:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
SPOKEN INK READING SERIES
Diane Tucker reads from her new poetry collection, Bonsai Love. Tuesday, September 16 at 7:30pm, free. la Fontana Caffe, 101-3701 East Hastings Street, Burnaby. More information at burnabywritersnews.blogspot.ca.
LUNCH POEMS AT SFU
Colin Browne and Catherine Owen are the featured poets. Wednesday, September 17 at 12:00 noon, free. SFU Harbour Centre's Teck Gallery, 515 W Hastings St. For more information visit www.sfu.ca/publicsquare/lunchpoems.
ALICIA PRIEST
Local Victoria-based author launches her new book A Rock Fell on the Moon, Dad and the Great Yukon Silver Ore Heist. Wednesday, September 17 at 7:30pm. Bard & Banker Pub, 1022 Government Street, Victoria. More information by calling Munro's Books, 250-382-2464.
BIRTH OF A RARE BOOK
Christopher Levenson, poet and author, will present with Peter Braun, Master Printer of New Leaf Editions, and Sigrid Albert, graphic artist, a discussion about the genesis of producing a rare book of poetry and etchings. Sunday, September 21 at 3:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
BOOK LAUNCH
Book launch of Vancouver Confidential. Sunday, September 21 at 6:00pm. The Emerald Supper Club, 555 Gore St., Vancouver.
A SILENCE OF ECHOES
Book launch and signing of A Silence of Echoes by Candice James, Poet Laureate, New Westminster. With guest readers Renee Saklikar and Dennis E. Bolen. Wednesday, September 24 at 6:30pm. New Westminster Public Library Auditorium, 716-6th Ave, New Westminster.
VANCOUVER IS ASHES
Vancouver Is Ashes is the first detailed exploration of a landmark, yet seldom revisited event in Vancouver's history. Lisa Anne Smith uses eye-witness accounts to investigate events of that pivotal day. Monday, September 22 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
Upcoming
WORD VANCOUVER
Festival promoting books and authors with free exhibits, performances, and hands-on activities for a wide range of ages and interests. September 24-28, 2014. Complete details at wordvancouver.ca.
TWISTED POETS LITERARY SALON
Pandora's Collective in conjunction with Word Vancouver features Rita Wong, Jami Macarty, Lilija Valis & Kevin Spenst plus open mic. Thursday, September 25 at 7:00pm. Suggested donation at the door: $5. The Cottage Bistro, 4468 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at pandorascollective.com.
THANKS A LOT EXPRESS-OH!
North Shore Writers' Association invite community & cultural co-creators: writers, dancers, musicians and artists, to join in this fun activity of giving thanks in this 2-hour workshop to expand upon and play with word prompts. Saturday, September 27 at 10:00am, free. North Vancouver City Library, 120 14th St. W., North Vancouver. More information at culturedays.ca.
BOOK SOME TIME FOR CRIME
an afternoon on the edge of your seat with four local mystery authors, Sam Wiebe, E.R. Brown, Robin Spano and Owen Laukkanen. Listen as they share their latest novels, then book a one-on-one session for answers to any of your burning mystery questions. Saturday, September 27 at 1:00pm, free. West Vancouver Memorial Library, 1950 Marine Drive, West Vancouver. More information at culturedays.ca.
THE TOWN SLUT'S DAUGHTER
Canadian poet Heather Haley launches her debut novel. Thursday, October 2 at 7:30pm. Slickity Jim's, 3469 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at howesoundpublishing@gmail.com.
EMERGE 14
Emerge 14, the annual anthology from The Writer's Studio at Simon Fraser University, thirty-five emerging writers explore love, creation, death, regret, discovery and terror will be launched in a special gala. Thursday, October 16 at 6pm. SFU Downtown Campus, Harbour Centre. More information at cormac_oreilly@hotmail.com.
Vancouver Writers Fest Tickets on sale
Tickets for the 2014 Vancouver Writers Fest are selling briskly and several events are already sold out. There are still tickets available for many more events with remarkable writers from around the globe including L.A. Confidential author James Elroy, Norwegian literary sensation Karl Ove Knausgaard, 2014 Man Booker Prize shortlisted author Joshua Ferris, Scottish crime fiction The Slap author Christos Tsiolkas, Legend fantasy trilogy
author Marie Lu, Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction winner Eimear McBride, technogeek Cory Doctorow and many more. Pick up the Festival program guide at in the Lower Mainland bookstores and libraries, or check the Festival website for full details, http:/www.writersfest.bc.ca.
Special event tickets are also on sale for David Mitchell (Sept 27), Bruce Cockburn (Nov 10), Alan Doyle (Nov 13) and Conrad Black (Nov 13). More information at http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events.
Calling 'Gen Y' Readers
The Vancouver Writers Fest is recruiting for focus group participants. We are specifically interested in talking to Generation Y readers (born 1980 to 1995). If you, or someone you know, would consider participating in a focus group discussion in the future, please sign up, and we will be in touch, http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/get-involved/focusgroup.
Volunteers
September 14 is the deadline for NEW volunteers to register for 2014. Prospective volunteers who have lots of availability and flexibility about what they will do have the greatest chance of being scheduled. We especially need people with daytime availability during the work week, volunteers fluent in French as well as comfort with cash handling and able to lift, carry and patient enough to 'hurry up and wait'. For more info and on-line registration, click here, http://writersfest.bc.ca/get-involved/volunteer.
FESTIVAL AUTHORS
Martha Baillie's new novel, The Search for Heinrich Schlögel, is filled with wonderful "bits of ephemera—there are letters, journal entries, a map, a newspaper clipping." Her narrator's life is pieced together by all these things. He's European, but also "primitive,' a potential object of scrutiny, someone considered out of sync with the flow of time." Baillie discusses her inspiration, here:
https://www.tinhouse.com/blog/36231/an-interview-with-martha-baillie-author-of-the-search-for-heinrich-schlogel.html
Michael Cho's Shoplifter is a graphic novel with a setting reminiscent of Toronto. In it, the city "becomes something of a character, lonely but also full of possibility. This, along with his at times sparing use of language, gives the graphic novel an air of quiet desperation, of a decision about to be made."
http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-michael-cho-graphic-novel-shoplifter-20140902-story.html
Cities are important for crime writer James Ellroy too, whose Los Angeles is both corrupt and complicated. His new novel, Perfidia, marks the beginning of a new literary quartet set in the City of Angels (he's already written one!), which takes place during the Second World War.
http://www.avclub.com/review/james-ellroy-begins-his-second-l-quartet-perfidia-208662
Sarah Waters' new novel is also set in the early 20th century, albeit a few years before Ellroy's The Paying Guests is an inter-war story of love between two women, who battle not only the prejudices of sexuality, but also gender and class.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/sarah-waters-interview-i-pay-attention-to-womens-secret-history-and-lives-9715463.html
Kathleen Winter's new book also features a strong female lead...herself! A work of narrative non-fiction, Boundless is the story of a year though the Northwest Passage. "Boundless not only chronicles that outward journey, but the inward journey which resulted for Winter, blending travel account with memoir, history with nature writing, a strong narrative with a keen meditative sense."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/book-reviews/in-traversing-the-northwest-passage-kathleen-winter-finds-a-route-into-herself/article20369423/
"There are few writers who embrace Faulkner's credo that 'the past is never dead. It isn't even past' quite so wholeheartedly, and skillfully, as Michael Crummey." His new novel, Sweetland, "is a thing of beauty, one of the finest novels we are likely to encounter this year."
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Michael+Crummey+Love+song+life+elegy+ending/10178759/story.html#ixzz3CjxjogLc
Sometimes abandoning one novel can lead to another, or at least so it was for Esther Freud. Her new book, Mr Mac and Me, is a fictional account of the artist Charles Rennie Mackintosh, who was accidentally taken for a spy during the first World War.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/aug/31/esther-freud-author-interview-mr-mac-and-me
Some writers abandon their work, others take detours. For Carrie Snyder, it was more a case of "almost-was." Last year, she almost gave up her career as a writer in order to become a midwife. Then, her new novel, Girl Runner, was accepted for publication.
http://arts.nationalpost.com/2014/09/03/carrie-snyder-going-the-distance/
Matthew Thomas is another writer with a second job: teacher. He has been dubbed the "new Jonathan Franzen," and is interviewed by The Guardian about his debut novel, We Are Not Ourselves, here:
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/aug/17/matthew-thomas-we-are-not-ourselves-interview
Aislinn Hunter's second novel "is a richly layered narrative harmonizing the past and present, dissolving the boundaries of time frames and showing the possible connections between people and places and objects." The World Before Us is a book is about the connection between two missing people.
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Aislinn+Hunter+Delving+into+mysteries+time/10178745/story.html#ixzz3CkAE6KSA
Thomas King has written his first literary novel in 15 years, called The Back of The Turtle. In this interview with the CBC, he discusses how he tackles historic injustice with humour, aboriginal reconciliation, and the fraught relationship between humanity and nature.
http://www.cbc.ca/q/blog/2014/09/03/thomas-king-the-back-of-the-turtle/
When Alison Pick was a teenager, she made a shocking discovery: her father, who claimed to be a Christian, was actually Jewish, from a family of Czech Holocaust refugees. Pick's new memoir, Between Gods, is an account of her conversion to Judaism. She recently did an audio interview with the CBC, and you can listen to the recording, here:
http://www.cbc.ca/books/2014/09/between-gods-a-memoir.html
The CBC also recently interviewed British author Tom Rachman, author of The Rise and Fall of Great Powers. The novel begins in the most literary of places–an old, dusty bookshop.
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19104786-the-rise-fall-of-great-powers
Wallflowers might be Eliza Robertson's debut short fiction collection, but she's already an accomplished journeyman of the craft, with prizes galore under her belt. In this interview with the Globe and Mail, she discusses her book, the best advice she's ever received, and more.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/eliza-robertson-on-her-new-book-the-best-advice-shes-received-and-more/article20364839/
The National Post asks its readers to respond to a new novel each Tuesday. Last week it was Kim Thúy's Mãn. Read their questions and her answers, here:
http://arts.nationalpost.com/2014/09/03/the-afterword-reading-society-man-by-kim-thuy/
AWARDS & LISTS
The Man Booker shortlist is out, and it includes two American authors for the very first time. It's looking to be a mostly transatlantic battle (with a quick diversion across the Pacific) as Joshua Ferris and Karen Joy Fowler square off against three Britons and one Australian.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/sep/09/man-booker-prize-2014-shortlist
The shortlist for the International Dylan Thomas prize has also been unveiled. Two authors who will be appearing at the 2014 Vancouver Writers Fest, Eimear McBride and Joshua Ferris, made the cut. The award goes to the "best literary work in the English language, written by an author aged 39 or under."
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/sep/05/international-dylan-thomas-prize-shortlist
Louise Erdrich has won the 2014 PEN/Saul Bellow Award for Achievement in American Fiction. The $25,000 award is presented every other year to a living American author whose "scale of achievement in fiction, over a sustained career, places him or her in the highest rank of American literature."
http://www.pen.org/blog/louise-erdrich-wins-pensaul-bellow-award
Science fiction-fantasy legend Ursula K. Le Guin will be awarded the National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.
http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-ursula-k-le-guin-will-receive-national-book-foundation-award-20140910-story.html
YOUNG READERS
Here are three new pictures books worth a read. The first is a translation from French, featuring a "superhero bunny with a style fixation." The second is metafiction, and the third is "more a meditation than a narrative," a day in the life of a whale.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/three-new-picture-books-worth-a-read/article20365332/
NEWS & FEATURES
Are you a fan of footnotes, or do you consider them "like as gratuitous dressing—the literary equivalent of purple kale leaves at the edges of the crudités platter?" The New Yorker makes an argument for the footnote, here:
http://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/save-footnotes
How about metaphors, then? Neuroscientists have tested the theory that your body shapes your ideas. Here's "your brain on metaphors!"
http://chronicle.com/article/Your-Brain-on-Metaphors/148495/
Here's one way of arguing for the necessity of print: "Rather than stand on a street corner yelling, 'Literature is not commodity!' I decided to inflict a series of physical experiments on my published work."
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/authors/interviews/article/63611-the-novel-as-core-sample-installation-art-and-the-novel-martha-baillie.html
Can a book change a reader's life for the worse? That's the question being asked in this week's New York Times' 'Bookends' section. Leslie Jamison and Francine Prose discuss.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/14/books/review/can-a-book-ever-change-a-readers-life-for-the-worse.html
BOOKS & WRITERS
Margaret Atwood has a new short story collection out called Stone Mattress. In this interview, she discusses her nine new tales, guilty (or not-so-guilty) pleasures, and writing bestsellers "not on purpose."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/qa-margaret-atwood-on-her-new-collection-stone-mattress-maddaddam-and-how-to-kill-a-man-in-the-arctic/article20375640/
Journalist Mireille Silcoff has also released a nine story collection, her debut. She began writing Chez l'arabe during the several years when "she was left 'deeply bedridden' and immobile with an alarming neurological condition...Silcoff unleashed the world that had evolved in her head (her condition meant that her brain was often unsuspended) through daily, 15-minute writing sessions."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/book-reviews/chez-larabe-brilliantly-depicts-a-world-of-largely-cloistered-lives/article20367687/
Have you ever wanted to explore the Bodleian Library? A new book, called Marks of Genius: Masterpieces from the Collection of the Bodleian Libraries, offers a chance to catch a glimpse of some of its great treasures, including a bivalve locket containing locks of hair from Mary and Percy Bysshe Shelley, and fragments of Sappho poems.
http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-literary-treasures-from-oxford-bodleian-libraries-20140829-story.html
COMMUNITY EVENTS
DEAD POETS READING SERIES
Five poets/readers/poetry-lovers/writers with extensive public reading experience read poems from one of their favourite dead poet's work. Sunday, September 14 at 3:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
SPOKEN INK READING SERIES
Diane Tucker reads from her new poetry collection, Bonsai Love. Tuesday, September 16 at 7:30pm, free. la Fontana Caffe, 101-3701 East Hastings Street, Burnaby. More information at burnabywritersnews.blogspot.ca.
LUNCH POEMS AT SFU
Colin Browne and Catherine Owen are the featured poets. Wednesday, September 17 at 12:00 noon, free. SFU Harbour Centre's Teck Gallery, 515 W Hastings St. For more information visit www.sfu.ca/publicsquare/lunchpoems.
ALICIA PRIEST
Local Victoria-based author launches her new book A Rock Fell on the Moon, Dad and the Great Yukon Silver Ore Heist. Wednesday, September 17 at 7:30pm. Bard & Banker Pub, 1022 Government Street, Victoria. More information by calling Munro's Books, 250-382-2464.
BIRTH OF A RARE BOOK
Christopher Levenson, poet and author, will present with Peter Braun, Master Printer of New Leaf Editions, and Sigrid Albert, graphic artist, a discussion about the genesis of producing a rare book of poetry and etchings. Sunday, September 21 at 3:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
BOOK LAUNCH
Book launch of Vancouver Confidential. Sunday, September 21 at 6:00pm. The Emerald Supper Club, 555 Gore St., Vancouver.
A SILENCE OF ECHOES
Book launch and signing of A Silence of Echoes by Candice James, Poet Laureate, New Westminster. With guest readers Renee Saklikar and Dennis E. Bolen. Wednesday, September 24 at 6:30pm. New Westminster Public Library Auditorium, 716-6th Ave, New Westminster.
VANCOUVER IS ASHES
Vancouver Is Ashes is the first detailed exploration of a landmark, yet seldom revisited event in Vancouver's history. Lisa Anne Smith uses eye-witness accounts to investigate events of that pivotal day. Monday, September 22 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
Upcoming
WORD VANCOUVER
Festival promoting books and authors with free exhibits, performances, and hands-on activities for a wide range of ages and interests. September 24-28, 2014. Complete details at wordvancouver.ca.
TWISTED POETS LITERARY SALON
Pandora's Collective in conjunction with Word Vancouver features Rita Wong, Jami Macarty, Lilija Valis & Kevin Spenst plus open mic. Thursday, September 25 at 7:00pm. Suggested donation at the door: $5. The Cottage Bistro, 4468 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at pandorascollective.com.
THANKS A LOT EXPRESS-OH!
North Shore Writers' Association invite community & cultural co-creators: writers, dancers, musicians and artists, to join in this fun activity of giving thanks in this 2-hour workshop to expand upon and play with word prompts. Saturday, September 27 at 10:00am, free. North Vancouver City Library, 120 14th St. W., North Vancouver. More information at culturedays.ca.
BOOK SOME TIME FOR CRIME
an afternoon on the edge of your seat with four local mystery authors, Sam Wiebe, E.R. Brown, Robin Spano and Owen Laukkanen. Listen as they share their latest novels, then book a one-on-one session for answers to any of your burning mystery questions. Saturday, September 27 at 1:00pm, free. West Vancouver Memorial Library, 1950 Marine Drive, West Vancouver. More information at culturedays.ca.
THE TOWN SLUT'S DAUGHTER
Canadian poet Heather Haley launches her debut novel. Thursday, October 2 at 7:30pm. Slickity Jim's, 3469 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at howesoundpublishing@gmail.com.
EMERGE 14
Emerge 14, the annual anthology from The Writer's Studio at Simon Fraser University, thirty-five emerging writers explore love, creation, death, regret, discovery and terror will be launched in a special gala. Thursday, October 16 at 6pm. SFU Downtown Campus, Harbour Centre. More information at cormac_oreilly@hotmail.com.
Thursday, September 4, 2014
Book News Vol. 9 No. 27
BOOK NEWS
Vancouver Writers Fest Tickets on sale September 8
The buzz is mounting-tickets go on sale soon for the 2014 Vancouver Writers Fest. Get your tickets for events with acclaimed writers from Canada and around the world including Norwegian literary sensation Karl Ove Knausgaard, Icelandic novelist and Bjork collaborator Sjon, antipodeans Tim Winton, Anne Kennedy and Christos Tsiolkas, UK authors Kate Pullinger, Tom Rachman, Sarah Waters, Louise Welsh, Esther Freud and Eimear
McBride, Canadians Michael Cummey, Cory Doctorow, Miriam Toews, Ann-Marie MacDonald, Justin Trudeau, Steven Galloway, Ian Weir, Aislinn Hunter and Richard Wagamese and many more. Pick up the Festival program guide at
bookstores in the Lower Mainland, or check the Festival website for full details, http:/www.writersfest.bc.ca.
Special event tickets are on sale now, http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events.
Volunteer
Volunteer registration is now open for our 2014 festival, a full six days of 86 amazing events running 21-26 October! Up to 350 volunteers will be needed...the greater your availability-and the greater your flexibility about what you will do as a volunteer-the greater the likelihood we can fit you in! For more info, visit the volunteer pages of our website, http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/get-involved/volunteer.
Calling 'Gen Y' Readers
The Vancouver Writers Fest is recruiting for focus group participants. We are specifically interested in talking to Generation Y readers (born 1980 to 1995). If you, or someone you know, would consider participating in a focus group discussion in the future, please sign up, and we will be in touch, http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/get-involved/focusgroup.
AWARDS & LISTS
The winner of the inaugural Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Student Nonfiction Writing Contest has been chosen. Toronto student Ashley Ash was selected for her essay No One's Girl, about being a foster child.
http://www.cbc.ca/asithappens/features/2014/09/01/reading-ashley-ash-winner-of-inaugural-writers-trust-student-nonfiction-writing-contest/
Here is the 2014 Samuel Johnson prize longlist...in pictures! "Two surgeons, an 'accidental professor' and a songwriter are among the contenders for the UK's most prestigious award for nonfiction."
http://www.theguardian.com/books/gallery/2014/sep/02/2014-samuel-johnson-prize-longlist-in-pictures
YOUNG READERS
Fans of Reading Rainbow will be excited to hear this bit of news: LeVar Burton's first children's book will be coming out this fall. The Rhino Who Swallowed a Storm combines prose and rhyme to create "a story designed for parents and kids to read together when facing stressful or difficult situations."
http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-levar-burton-first-childrens-book-coming-this-fall-20140902-story.html
NEWS & FEATURES
With Labour Day celebrations this past weekend, the question begs to be asked: what kind of worker is a writer? In this piece, The New Yorker reflects on Tillie Olsen, a writer whose work lent a heartfelt voice to the struggles of working-class people.
http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/kind-worker-writer
On the other hand, much of the work in the book world is not done by writers, but rather by those who are "mostly invisible" to people outside their industries. Happy Labour Day to the editors, proofreaders, book designers, press operators and distributors, without whom many a writer would be lost!
http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-for-labor-day-an-appreciation-of-unheralded-literary-labor-20140829-story.html
On a final Labour Day-related note, here's chance to learn about the bizarre day jobs of 20 famous authors! From an exterminator to an apothecaries' assistant, this certainly was an eclectic bunch!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-anthony-jones/famous-author-day-jobs_b_5724482.html
If Shakespeare wrote Pop songs, what would they sound like? "As the debate wages on about the Bard's relatability—and whether or not relatability matters to begin with—a hilarious Tumblr has surfaced that translates modern-day pop songs into Shakespearean sonnets."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/27/pop-sonnets-shakespeare_n_5718453.html
Don't judge a (classic) book by its cover! As the new school year begins, a mother (and writer) reflects on "approaching the classics with dread, fearing irrelevant, dull stories written in archaic styles," and overcoming that fear to find the gold within.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-fuller/classic-book-stereotypes_b_5698261.html
Speaking of classics, a previously unpublished chapter of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has emerged. Called Fudge Mountain, you can read it here, along with a new illustration by Quentin Blake.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/aug/30/roald-dahl-extract-unpublished-chapter-charlie-and-the-chocolate-factory
Would you buy a waterproof eReader? It seems like a logical consideration for us Vancouverites, whether reading in the winter rain, in the bath, or by the beach in summer.
http://www.cbc.ca/books/2014/08/kobo-reveals-new-waterproof-ereader.html
Grades aren't everything! Award-winning writer Kim Thúy once got two zeros at mid-term in a university creative writing class. She discusses her academic career, sex, and the afterlife, here:
http://www.cbc.ca/books/canadawrites/2014/09/gg-winner-kim-thuy-on-the-zeros-she-got-in-creative-writing-class.html
A teacher in Maryland was recently placed on administrative leave after it was discovered that he had published two novels, one of which featured school shootings in a futurist setting. A University of California professor comes to his defence, here:
http://blog.lareviewofbooks.org/essays/letter-dorchester-county-board-education-regarding-patrick-mclaw/
Eleanor Catton is using her recent award money (for The Luminaries) in an innovative way. She has decided to set up a grant that will give writers "time to read", "the first step" to good writing.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/sep/02/eleanor-catton-grant-time-to-read-the-luminaries
BOOKS & WRITERS
No Man's Land: Fiction From a World at War 1914-1918 is a new anthology that sets out to fill the gaps in our knowledge of the First World War. "Mr. Ayrton has captured the global sweep of the conflict by not awarding undue emphasis to the Western Front already so familiar to us from films and books."
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/01/books/no-mans-land-unfamiliar-writing-about-world-war-i.html
"There is a certain kind of bad writing that occurs when you are between the ages of 16 and 24 and have an audience of one." Drivel: Deliciously Bad Writing by Your Favorite Authors is a new humor collection that "conveys the real meaning of a work-in-progress," featuring work by Mary Roach, Chuck Palahniuk, Amy Tan and Dave Eggers, among others.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/julia-scott/confessions-of-a-bad-writ_b_5698207.html
The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell dazzles with "narrative fireworks," says Ursula Le Guin in this book review. A novel of epic proportions, it "spans the Iraq war, the Eternal Battle of Good and Evil and the downfall of civilization."
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/sep/02/the-bone-clocks-david-mitchell-review-novel
In Ben Lerner's newest novel, 10:04, New York is more than a mere backdrop. It's a character! The author is "a walker in the city in conscious league with Walt Whitman, but also with writers up through Teju Cole, whose protagonists are wide-awake flâneurs."
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/03/books/in-ben-lerners-1004-new-york-is-a-character.html
When Michael Crummey confronted the economic facts of two children in university (not to mention long days—"there's only so much laundry a man can fold, only so many times a lawn needs mowing"), he realized that something had to be done: either write a new book or work at Marie's Mini-Mart.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/newfoundland-author-michael-crummey-on-career-options-write-a-new-book-or-work-at-maries-mini-mart/article20278718/
Bill Gaston's latest short-story collection, Juliet Was a Surprise, is filled with CanLit themes, twisted and made new. "Through some mysterious alchemy, Gaston has managed to wring a quiet kind of horror from components that could easily collapse into a pile of creative-writing-class clichés."
http://www.straight.com/life/714861/bill-gastons-juliet-was-surprise-twists-canlit-conventions-skill
COMMUNITY EVENTS
SEBASTIEN DE CASTELL
Fantasy author reads from his swashbuckling adventure novel Traitor's Blade and gives a talk on the use of swordplay in fantasy and historical literature. Thursday, September 4 at 7:00pm, free. Peter Kaye room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
The TWS READING SERIES
The Writer's Studio September readers will be Ingrid Rose, Angela Kenyon, D.N. Simmers, Diana Joy, Sheila Galati, Jude Neale, and Dhana Musil. Our feature author will be poet Daniela Elza. Hosts: Ivan Antoniw and Romney Grant.Thursday, September 4 at 8:00pm. Cottage Bistro, 4470 Main Street, Vancouver.
DOUBLE ENTENDRE
An evening of fiction and poetry with Ann Eriksson reading from her new novel, High Clear Bell of Morning, and Gary Geddes reading selected poems from, What Does a House Want? Monday, September 8 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
ELLEN IN PIECES
Launch of Caroline Adderson's new book. Tuesday, September 9 at 7:00pm. Book Warehouse, 4118 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at blackbondbooks.com.
RONSDALE'S FALL POETRY
An evening of poetry with three award-winning B.C. poets: Garry Gottfriedson, Pamela Porter and Henry Rappaport—all with new collections to showcase. Wednesday, September 10 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia. More information at vpl.ca.
TWISTED POETS LITERARY SALON
Features Cynthia Flood and Elise Partridge plus open mic. Wednesday, September 10 at 7:00pm. Suggested donation at the door: $5. The Cottage Bistro, 4468 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at pandorascollective.com.
Upcoming
DEAD POETS READING SERIES
Five poets/readers/poetry-lovers/writers with extensive public reading experience read poems from one of their favourite dead poet's work. Sunday, September 14 at 3:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
SPOKEN INK READING SERIES
Diane Tucker reads from her new poetry collection, Bonsai Love. Tuesday, September 16 at 7:30pm, free. la Fontana Caffe, 101-3701 East Hastings Street, Burnaby. More information at burnabywritersnews.blogspot.ca.
ALICIA PRIEST
Local Victoria-based author launches her new book A Rock Fell on the Moon, Dad and the Great Yukon Silver Ore Heist. Wednesday, September 17 at 7:30pm. Bard & Banker Pub, 1022 Government Street, Victoria. More information by calling Munro's Books, 250-382-2464.
BIRTH OF A RARE BOOK
Christopher Levenson, poet and author, will present with Peter Braun, Master Printer of New Leaf Editions, and Sigrid Albert, graphic artist, a discussion about the genesis of producing a rare book of poetry and etchings. Sunday, September 21 at 3:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
VANCOUVER IS ASHES
Vancouver Is Ashes is the first detailed exploration of a landmark, yet seldom revisited event in Vancouver's history. Lisa Anne Smith uses eye-witness accounts to investigate events of that pivotal day. Monday, September 22 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
WORD VANCOUVER
Festival promoting books and authors with free exhibits, performances, and hands-on activities for a wide range of ages and interests. September 24-28, 2014. Complete details at wordvancouver.ca.
TWISTED POETS LITERARY SALON
Pandora's Collective in conjunction with Word Vancouver features Rita Wong, Jami Macarty, Lilija Valis & Kevin Spenst plus open mic. Thursday, September 25 at 7:00pm. Suggested donation at the door: $5. The Cottage Bistro, 4468 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at pandorascollective.com.
THANKS A LOT EXPRESS-OH!
North Shore Writers' Association invite community & cultural co-creators: writers, dancers, musicians and artists, to join in this fun activity of giving thanks in this 2-hour workshop to expand upon and play with word prompts. Saturday, September 27 at 10:00am, free. North Vancouver City Library, 120 14th St. W., North Vancouver. More information at culturedays.ca.
BOOK SOME TIME FOR CRIME
an afternoon on the edge of your seat with four local mystery authors, Sam Wiebe, E.R. Brown, Robin Spano and Owen Laukkanen. Listen as they share their latest novels, then book a one-on-one session for answers to any of your burning mystery questions. Saturday, September 27 at 1:00pm, free. West Vancouver Memorial Library, 1950 Marine Drive, West Vancouver. More information at culturedays.ca.
THE TOWN SLUT'S DAUGHTER
Canadian poet Heather Haley launches her debut novel. Thursday, October 2 at 7:30pm. Slickity Jim's, 3469 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at howesoundpublishing@gmail.com.
Vancouver Writers Fest Tickets on sale September 8
The buzz is mounting-tickets go on sale soon for the 2014 Vancouver Writers Fest. Get your tickets for events with acclaimed writers from Canada and around the world including Norwegian literary sensation Karl Ove Knausgaard, Icelandic novelist and Bjork collaborator Sjon, antipodeans Tim Winton, Anne Kennedy and Christos Tsiolkas, UK authors Kate Pullinger, Tom Rachman, Sarah Waters, Louise Welsh, Esther Freud and Eimear
McBride, Canadians Michael Cummey, Cory Doctorow, Miriam Toews, Ann-Marie MacDonald, Justin Trudeau, Steven Galloway, Ian Weir, Aislinn Hunter and Richard Wagamese and many more. Pick up the Festival program guide at
bookstores in the Lower Mainland, or check the Festival website for full details, http:/www.writersfest.bc.ca.
Special event tickets are on sale now, http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events.
Volunteer
Volunteer registration is now open for our 2014 festival, a full six days of 86 amazing events running 21-26 October! Up to 350 volunteers will be needed...the greater your availability-and the greater your flexibility about what you will do as a volunteer-the greater the likelihood we can fit you in! For more info, visit the volunteer pages of our website, http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/get-involved/volunteer.
Calling 'Gen Y' Readers
The Vancouver Writers Fest is recruiting for focus group participants. We are specifically interested in talking to Generation Y readers (born 1980 to 1995). If you, or someone you know, would consider participating in a focus group discussion in the future, please sign up, and we will be in touch, http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/get-involved/focusgroup.
AWARDS & LISTS
The winner of the inaugural Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Student Nonfiction Writing Contest has been chosen. Toronto student Ashley Ash was selected for her essay No One's Girl, about being a foster child.
http://www.cbc.ca/asithappens/features/2014/09/01/reading-ashley-ash-winner-of-inaugural-writers-trust-student-nonfiction-writing-contest/
Here is the 2014 Samuel Johnson prize longlist...in pictures! "Two surgeons, an 'accidental professor' and a songwriter are among the contenders for the UK's most prestigious award for nonfiction."
http://www.theguardian.com/books/gallery/2014/sep/02/2014-samuel-johnson-prize-longlist-in-pictures
YOUNG READERS
Fans of Reading Rainbow will be excited to hear this bit of news: LeVar Burton's first children's book will be coming out this fall. The Rhino Who Swallowed a Storm combines prose and rhyme to create "a story designed for parents and kids to read together when facing stressful or difficult situations."
http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-levar-burton-first-childrens-book-coming-this-fall-20140902-story.html
NEWS & FEATURES
With Labour Day celebrations this past weekend, the question begs to be asked: what kind of worker is a writer? In this piece, The New Yorker reflects on Tillie Olsen, a writer whose work lent a heartfelt voice to the struggles of working-class people.
http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/kind-worker-writer
On the other hand, much of the work in the book world is not done by writers, but rather by those who are "mostly invisible" to people outside their industries. Happy Labour Day to the editors, proofreaders, book designers, press operators and distributors, without whom many a writer would be lost!
http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-for-labor-day-an-appreciation-of-unheralded-literary-labor-20140829-story.html
On a final Labour Day-related note, here's chance to learn about the bizarre day jobs of 20 famous authors! From an exterminator to an apothecaries' assistant, this certainly was an eclectic bunch!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-anthony-jones/famous-author-day-jobs_b_5724482.html
If Shakespeare wrote Pop songs, what would they sound like? "As the debate wages on about the Bard's relatability—and whether or not relatability matters to begin with—a hilarious Tumblr has surfaced that translates modern-day pop songs into Shakespearean sonnets."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/27/pop-sonnets-shakespeare_n_5718453.html
Don't judge a (classic) book by its cover! As the new school year begins, a mother (and writer) reflects on "approaching the classics with dread, fearing irrelevant, dull stories written in archaic styles," and overcoming that fear to find the gold within.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-fuller/classic-book-stereotypes_b_5698261.html
Speaking of classics, a previously unpublished chapter of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has emerged. Called Fudge Mountain, you can read it here, along with a new illustration by Quentin Blake.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/aug/30/roald-dahl-extract-unpublished-chapter-charlie-and-the-chocolate-factory
Would you buy a waterproof eReader? It seems like a logical consideration for us Vancouverites, whether reading in the winter rain, in the bath, or by the beach in summer.
http://www.cbc.ca/books/2014/08/kobo-reveals-new-waterproof-ereader.html
Grades aren't everything! Award-winning writer Kim Thúy once got two zeros at mid-term in a university creative writing class. She discusses her academic career, sex, and the afterlife, here:
http://www.cbc.ca/books/canadawrites/2014/09/gg-winner-kim-thuy-on-the-zeros-she-got-in-creative-writing-class.html
A teacher in Maryland was recently placed on administrative leave after it was discovered that he had published two novels, one of which featured school shootings in a futurist setting. A University of California professor comes to his defence, here:
http://blog.lareviewofbooks.org/essays/letter-dorchester-county-board-education-regarding-patrick-mclaw/
Eleanor Catton is using her recent award money (for The Luminaries) in an innovative way. She has decided to set up a grant that will give writers "time to read", "the first step" to good writing.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/sep/02/eleanor-catton-grant-time-to-read-the-luminaries
BOOKS & WRITERS
No Man's Land: Fiction From a World at War 1914-1918 is a new anthology that sets out to fill the gaps in our knowledge of the First World War. "Mr. Ayrton has captured the global sweep of the conflict by not awarding undue emphasis to the Western Front already so familiar to us from films and books."
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/01/books/no-mans-land-unfamiliar-writing-about-world-war-i.html
"There is a certain kind of bad writing that occurs when you are between the ages of 16 and 24 and have an audience of one." Drivel: Deliciously Bad Writing by Your Favorite Authors is a new humor collection that "conveys the real meaning of a work-in-progress," featuring work by Mary Roach, Chuck Palahniuk, Amy Tan and Dave Eggers, among others.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/julia-scott/confessions-of-a-bad-writ_b_5698207.html
The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell dazzles with "narrative fireworks," says Ursula Le Guin in this book review. A novel of epic proportions, it "spans the Iraq war, the Eternal Battle of Good and Evil and the downfall of civilization."
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/sep/02/the-bone-clocks-david-mitchell-review-novel
In Ben Lerner's newest novel, 10:04, New York is more than a mere backdrop. It's a character! The author is "a walker in the city in conscious league with Walt Whitman, but also with writers up through Teju Cole, whose protagonists are wide-awake flâneurs."
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/03/books/in-ben-lerners-1004-new-york-is-a-character.html
When Michael Crummey confronted the economic facts of two children in university (not to mention long days—"there's only so much laundry a man can fold, only so many times a lawn needs mowing"), he realized that something had to be done: either write a new book or work at Marie's Mini-Mart.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/newfoundland-author-michael-crummey-on-career-options-write-a-new-book-or-work-at-maries-mini-mart/article20278718/
Bill Gaston's latest short-story collection, Juliet Was a Surprise, is filled with CanLit themes, twisted and made new. "Through some mysterious alchemy, Gaston has managed to wring a quiet kind of horror from components that could easily collapse into a pile of creative-writing-class clichés."
http://www.straight.com/life/714861/bill-gastons-juliet-was-surprise-twists-canlit-conventions-skill
COMMUNITY EVENTS
SEBASTIEN DE CASTELL
Fantasy author reads from his swashbuckling adventure novel Traitor's Blade and gives a talk on the use of swordplay in fantasy and historical literature. Thursday, September 4 at 7:00pm, free. Peter Kaye room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
The TWS READING SERIES
The Writer's Studio September readers will be Ingrid Rose, Angela Kenyon, D.N. Simmers, Diana Joy, Sheila Galati, Jude Neale, and Dhana Musil. Our feature author will be poet Daniela Elza. Hosts: Ivan Antoniw and Romney Grant.Thursday, September 4 at 8:00pm. Cottage Bistro, 4470 Main Street, Vancouver.
DOUBLE ENTENDRE
An evening of fiction and poetry with Ann Eriksson reading from her new novel, High Clear Bell of Morning, and Gary Geddes reading selected poems from, What Does a House Want? Monday, September 8 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
ELLEN IN PIECES
Launch of Caroline Adderson's new book. Tuesday, September 9 at 7:00pm. Book Warehouse, 4118 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at blackbondbooks.com.
RONSDALE'S FALL POETRY
An evening of poetry with three award-winning B.C. poets: Garry Gottfriedson, Pamela Porter and Henry Rappaport—all with new collections to showcase. Wednesday, September 10 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia. More information at vpl.ca.
TWISTED POETS LITERARY SALON
Features Cynthia Flood and Elise Partridge plus open mic. Wednesday, September 10 at 7:00pm. Suggested donation at the door: $5. The Cottage Bistro, 4468 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at pandorascollective.com.
Upcoming
DEAD POETS READING SERIES
Five poets/readers/poetry-lovers/writers with extensive public reading experience read poems from one of their favourite dead poet's work. Sunday, September 14 at 3:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
SPOKEN INK READING SERIES
Diane Tucker reads from her new poetry collection, Bonsai Love. Tuesday, September 16 at 7:30pm, free. la Fontana Caffe, 101-3701 East Hastings Street, Burnaby. More information at burnabywritersnews.blogspot.ca.
ALICIA PRIEST
Local Victoria-based author launches her new book A Rock Fell on the Moon, Dad and the Great Yukon Silver Ore Heist. Wednesday, September 17 at 7:30pm. Bard & Banker Pub, 1022 Government Street, Victoria. More information by calling Munro's Books, 250-382-2464.
BIRTH OF A RARE BOOK
Christopher Levenson, poet and author, will present with Peter Braun, Master Printer of New Leaf Editions, and Sigrid Albert, graphic artist, a discussion about the genesis of producing a rare book of poetry and etchings. Sunday, September 21 at 3:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
VANCOUVER IS ASHES
Vancouver Is Ashes is the first detailed exploration of a landmark, yet seldom revisited event in Vancouver's history. Lisa Anne Smith uses eye-witness accounts to investigate events of that pivotal day. Monday, September 22 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
WORD VANCOUVER
Festival promoting books and authors with free exhibits, performances, and hands-on activities for a wide range of ages and interests. September 24-28, 2014. Complete details at wordvancouver.ca.
TWISTED POETS LITERARY SALON
Pandora's Collective in conjunction with Word Vancouver features Rita Wong, Jami Macarty, Lilija Valis & Kevin Spenst plus open mic. Thursday, September 25 at 7:00pm. Suggested donation at the door: $5. The Cottage Bistro, 4468 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at pandorascollective.com.
THANKS A LOT EXPRESS-OH!
North Shore Writers' Association invite community & cultural co-creators: writers, dancers, musicians and artists, to join in this fun activity of giving thanks in this 2-hour workshop to expand upon and play with word prompts. Saturday, September 27 at 10:00am, free. North Vancouver City Library, 120 14th St. W., North Vancouver. More information at culturedays.ca.
BOOK SOME TIME FOR CRIME
an afternoon on the edge of your seat with four local mystery authors, Sam Wiebe, E.R. Brown, Robin Spano and Owen Laukkanen. Listen as they share their latest novels, then book a one-on-one session for answers to any of your burning mystery questions. Saturday, September 27 at 1:00pm, free. West Vancouver Memorial Library, 1950 Marine Drive, West Vancouver. More information at culturedays.ca.
THE TOWN SLUT'S DAUGHTER
Canadian poet Heather Haley launches her debut novel. Thursday, October 2 at 7:30pm. Slickity Jim's, 3469 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at howesoundpublishing@gmail.com.
Thursday, August 28, 2014
Book News Vol. 9 No. 26
BOOK NEWS
Vancouver Writers Fest Tickets on sale September 8
The buzz is mounting-tickets go on sale soon for the 2014 Vancouver Writers Fest. Get your tickets for events with acclaimed writers from Canada and around the world including Norwegian literary sensation Karl Ove Knausgaard, Icelandic novelist and Bjork collaborator Sjon, antipodeans Tim Winton, Anne Kennedy and Christos Tsiolkas, UK authors Rebecca Mead, Kate Pullinger, Tom Rachman, Sarah Waters, Louise Welsh, Esther Freud and Eimear
McBride, Canadians Michael Cummey, Cory Doctorow, Miriam Toews, Ann-Marie MacDonald, Justin Trudeau, Steven Galloway, Ian Weir, Aislinn Hunter and Richard Wagamese and many more. Pick up the Festival program guide at
bookstores in the Lower Mainland, or check the Festival website for full details, http:/www.writersfest.bc.ca.
Special event tickets are on sale now, http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events.
Volunteer
Volunteer registration is now open for our 2014 festival, a full six days of 86 amazing events running 21-26 October! Up to 350 volunteers will be needed...the greater your availability-and the greater your flexibility about what you will do as a volunteer-the greater the likelihood we can fit you in! For more info, visit the volunteer pages of our website, http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/get-involved/volunteer.
AWARDS & LISTS
The longlist for the 2014 CBC Poetry Prize has been announced. The winner will receive $6,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts, as well as publication in enRoute magazine and a writing residency at The Banff Centre.
http://www.cbc.ca/books/canadawrites/2014/08/2014-cbc-poetry-prize-longlist-announced.html
Anthony De Sa, Charlotte Gray and Shyam Selvadurai are among the finalists for the Toronto Book Awards. The awards recognize "books of literary or artistic merit that are evocative of Toronto."
http://arts.nationalpost.com/2014/08/22/anthony-de-sa-charlotte-gray-among-finalists-for-toronto-book-awards/
YOUNG READERS
"Self-awareness is such a buzzkill!" That's the underlying motto of these three children's books, which all feature dancers who prefer to practice alone (and eventually learn to share their talents with others): Frances Dean Who Loved to Dance and Dance by Birgitta Sif, Rupert Can Dance by Jules Feiffer, and Deer Dancer by Mary Lyn Ray.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/24/books/review/frances-dean-who-loved-to-dance-and-dance-and-more.html
NEWS & FEATURES
Does where you live affect how and what you write? "J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit" might have read a little differently had he been a resident of Osaka instead of Oxfordshire."
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/31/books/review/does-where-you-live-make-a-difference-in-how-and-what-you-write.html
Where you live is one thing, but how about where you eat? Here are the top ten restaurants and bars in modern literature, according to Michael Gibney, author of the upcoming book 24 Hours in the Kitchen.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/aug/20/top-10-restaurants-bars-literature-michael-gibney
British readers are "lost in translations" as sales of foreign literature have been booming across the country. Works by Scandinavian authors like Festival author Karl Ove Knausgaard, Jo Nesbø and Stieg Larsson are driving domestic demand for translated books.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/aug/24/british-readers-translations-foreign-literature-sales-boom-stieg-larsson-jo-nesbo
Technology just got a little stranger! "Welcome to the technological frontier of 2014: Dueling typewriter apps for the iPad."
http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-tale-of-the-dueling-typewriter-apps-20140826-story.html
Or, if you prefer, why not have a chat with your friendly local statue? London's statues are "finding their voice," thanks to leading writers and smartphone technology that will now allow the effigies to chat with passers-by.
http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/aug/17/london-statues-find-their-voice
Back on this side of the Atlantic Ocean, the authors of The Great Glass Sea and In The Course of Human Events have set out on a literary road trip. "What does the Great American Road trip look like in 2014?" Find out in part one on their tour diary, here:
http://www.salon.com/2014/08/22/two_guys_two_books_five_days_in_search_of_america_%E2%80%94_and_readers/
Doris Lessing has made one last gift to the world. 3,000 books from the late author's collection have been donated to a public library in Zimbabwe.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/aug/26/doris-lessing-book-collection-zimbabwe-library
BOOKS & WRITERS
Autumn is on its way. That means the end of beach reading, and the arrival of new fall titles! The Huffington Post's "Best Books For Fall 2014" includes new books by Festival authors David Mitchell, William Gibson, Colm Tóibín and Sarah Waters.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/25/best-books-2014-fall_n_5692644.html
What's your lifetime dream? For Haruki Murakami, it would be "to be sitting at the bottom of a well." He discusses his writing, domestic life, heroes and dreams here:
http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2014/aug/24/haruki-murakami-my-lifetime-dream-is-to-be-sitting-at-the-bottom-of-a-well
Tony Black's The Last Tiger is one of several books on the "Not the Booker Prize" shortlist. It is also the story of "a young immigrant to Australia who encounters the predatory creatures that were once the country's largest and most efficient killers."
http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2014/aug/25/not-the-booker-prize-shortlist-the-last-tiger-tony-black
Who was Edgar Allen Poe? Upon his death, the New York Tribune wrote that he was "a dreamer, dwelling in ideal realms, in heaven or hell, peopled with creations and accidents of his brain." In Paul Collins' Edgar Allan Poe: The Fever Called Living, the author tries to find a clearer picture.
http://lareviewofbooks.org/interview/poes-paradoxes
Timothy Taylor recently appeared at Sam Sullivan's Public Salon, where he read his story Roots and Rootlessness. If you weren't able to hear him in person, here's a video of the event:
http://vancouverisawesome.com/2014/08/26/timothy-taylor-roots-and-rootlessness/
Rachel Cusk knows controversy. In 2012, the world reacted with hostility to her account of marital breakdown. In this interview, the author of Outline (her new novel) discusses how she finally rediscovered her voice after "creative death."
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/aug/24/rachel-cusk-interview-aftermath-outline
Daniel Kehlmann's new novel, F, is "deeply philosophical and very, very funny." "Germans and humor," says the author, "it's a complex problem! Detecting humor is not our strong side." He's interviewed by Jonathan Franzen, here:
http://www.salon.com/2014/08/26/jonathan_franzen_interviews_daniel_kehlmann_germans_and_humor_its_a_complex_problem_detecting_humor_is_not_our_strong_side/
Lev and Austin Grossman are a unique pair of writers. And what makes them unique is exactly the same thing that makes them identical...they're twins! "What in Lev and Austin Grossman's upbringing led them both to make a life in writing?"
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/08/lev-and-austin-grossman-interview/375822/
Michael Crummey's new novel, Sweetland, is "all of a piece, its apparent simplicity of style, like that of its protagonist and his setting, concealing a primordial power." The novel is the tale of a man and the island he refuses to leave.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/book-reviews/michael-crummeys-sweetland-is-slow-circular-suitable-to-a-mans-contemplation-of-extinction/article20172450/
COMMUNITY EVENTS
LAST OF THE INDEPENDENTS
Author Sam Wiebe launches his latest book Last of the Independents. Tuesday, September 2 at 7:00pm. Shebeen Whiskey House, 212 Carrall Street, Vancouver.
SEBASTIEN DE CASTELL
Fantasy author reads from his swashbuckling adventure novel Traitor's Blade and gives a talk on the use of swordplay in fantasy and historical literature. Thursday, September 4 at 7:00pm, free. Peter Kaye room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
The TWS READING SERIES
The Writer's Studio September readers will be Ingrid Rose, Angela Kenyon, D.N. Simmers, Diana Joy, Sheila Galati, Jude Neale, and Dhana Musil. Our feature author will be poet Daniela Elza. Hosts: Ivan Antoniw and Romney Grant.Thursday, September 4 at 8:00pm. Cottage Bistro, 4470 Main Street, Vancouver.
DOUBLE ENTENDRE
An evening of fiction and poetry with Ann Eriksson reading from her new novel, High Clear Bell of Morning, and Gary Geddes reading selected poems from, What Does a House Want? Monday, September 8 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
ELLEN IN PIECES
Launch of Caroline Adderson's new book. Tuesday, September 9 at 7:00pm. Book Warehouse, 4118 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at blackbondbooks.com.
RONSDALE'S FALL POETRY
An evening of poetry with three award-winning B.C. poets: Garry Gottfriedson, Pamela Porter and Henry Rappaport—all with new collections to showcase. Wednesday, September 10 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia. More information at vpl.ca.
TWISTED POETS LITERARY SALON
Features Cynthia Flood and Elise Partridge plus open mic. Wednesday, September 10 at 7:00pm. Suggested donation at the door: $5. The Cottage Bistro, 4468 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at pandorascollective.com.
Upcoming
DEAD POETS READING SERIES
Five poets/readers/poetry-lovers/writers with extensive public reading experience read poems from one of their favourite dead poet's work. Sunday, September 14 at 3:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
SPOKEN INK READING SERIES
Diane Tucker reads from her new poetry collection, Bonsai Love. Tuesday, September 16 at 7:30pm, free. la Fontana Caffe, 101-3701 East Hastings Street, Burnaby. More information at burnabywritersnews.blogspot.ca.
ALICIA PRIEST
Local Victoria-based author launches her new book A Rock Fell on the Moon, Dad and the Great Yukon Silver Ore Heist. Wednesday, September 17 at 7:30pm. Bard & Banker Pub, 1022 Government Street, Victoria. More information by calling Munro's Books, 250-382-2464.
BIRTH OF A RARE BOOK
Christopher Levenson, poet and author, will present with Peter Braun, Master Printer of New Leaf Editions, and Sigrid Albert, graphic artist, a discussion about the genesis of producing a rare book of poetry and etchings. Sunday, September 21 at 3:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
VANCOUVER IS ASHES
Vancouver Is Ashes is the first detailed exploration of a landmark, yet seldom revisited event in Vancouver's history. Lisa Anne Smith uses eye-witness accounts to investigate events of that pivotal day. Monday, September 22 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
WORD VANCOUVER
Festival promoting books and authors with free exhibits, performances, and hands-on activities for a wide range of ages and interests. September 24-28, 2014. Complete details at wordvancouver.ca.
TWISTED POETS LITERARY SALON
Pandora's Collective in conjunction with Word Vancouver features Rita Wong, Jami Macarty, Lilija Valis & Kevin Spenst plus open mic. Thursday, September 25 at 7:00pm. Suggested donation at the door: $5. The Cottage Bistro, 4468 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at pandorascollective.com.
THANKS A LOT EXPRESS-OH!
North Shore Writers' Association invite community & cultural co-creators: writers, dancers, musicians and artists, to join in this fun activity of giving thanks in this 2-hour workshop to expand upon and play with word prompts. Saturday, September 27 at 10:00am, free. North Vancouver City Library, 120 14th St. W., North Vancouver. More information at culturedays.ca.
BOOK SOME TIME FOR CRIME
an afternoon on the edge of your seat with four local mystery authors, Sam Wiebe, E.R. Brown, Robin Spano and Owen Laukkanen. Listen as they share their latest novels, then book a one-on-one session for answers to any of your burning mystery questions. Saturday, September 27 at 1:00pm, free. West Vancouver Memorial Library, 1950 Marine Drive, West Vancouver. More information at culturedays.ca.
Vancouver Writers Fest Tickets on sale September 8
The buzz is mounting-tickets go on sale soon for the 2014 Vancouver Writers Fest. Get your tickets for events with acclaimed writers from Canada and around the world including Norwegian literary sensation Karl Ove Knausgaard, Icelandic novelist and Bjork collaborator Sjon, antipodeans Tim Winton, Anne Kennedy and Christos Tsiolkas, UK authors Rebecca Mead, Kate Pullinger, Tom Rachman, Sarah Waters, Louise Welsh, Esther Freud and Eimear
McBride, Canadians Michael Cummey, Cory Doctorow, Miriam Toews, Ann-Marie MacDonald, Justin Trudeau, Steven Galloway, Ian Weir, Aislinn Hunter and Richard Wagamese and many more. Pick up the Festival program guide at
bookstores in the Lower Mainland, or check the Festival website for full details, http:/www.writersfest.bc.ca.
Special event tickets are on sale now, http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events.
Volunteer
Volunteer registration is now open for our 2014 festival, a full six days of 86 amazing events running 21-26 October! Up to 350 volunteers will be needed...the greater your availability-and the greater your flexibility about what you will do as a volunteer-the greater the likelihood we can fit you in! For more info, visit the volunteer pages of our website, http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/get-involved/volunteer.
AWARDS & LISTS
The longlist for the 2014 CBC Poetry Prize has been announced. The winner will receive $6,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts, as well as publication in enRoute magazine and a writing residency at The Banff Centre.
http://www.cbc.ca/books/canadawrites/2014/08/2014-cbc-poetry-prize-longlist-announced.html
Anthony De Sa, Charlotte Gray and Shyam Selvadurai are among the finalists for the Toronto Book Awards. The awards recognize "books of literary or artistic merit that are evocative of Toronto."
http://arts.nationalpost.com/2014/08/22/anthony-de-sa-charlotte-gray-among-finalists-for-toronto-book-awards/
YOUNG READERS
"Self-awareness is such a buzzkill!" That's the underlying motto of these three children's books, which all feature dancers who prefer to practice alone (and eventually learn to share their talents with others): Frances Dean Who Loved to Dance and Dance by Birgitta Sif, Rupert Can Dance by Jules Feiffer, and Deer Dancer by Mary Lyn Ray.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/24/books/review/frances-dean-who-loved-to-dance-and-dance-and-more.html
NEWS & FEATURES
Does where you live affect how and what you write? "J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit" might have read a little differently had he been a resident of Osaka instead of Oxfordshire."
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/31/books/review/does-where-you-live-make-a-difference-in-how-and-what-you-write.html
Where you live is one thing, but how about where you eat? Here are the top ten restaurants and bars in modern literature, according to Michael Gibney, author of the upcoming book 24 Hours in the Kitchen.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/aug/20/top-10-restaurants-bars-literature-michael-gibney
British readers are "lost in translations" as sales of foreign literature have been booming across the country. Works by Scandinavian authors like Festival author Karl Ove Knausgaard, Jo Nesbø and Stieg Larsson are driving domestic demand for translated books.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/aug/24/british-readers-translations-foreign-literature-sales-boom-stieg-larsson-jo-nesbo
Technology just got a little stranger! "Welcome to the technological frontier of 2014: Dueling typewriter apps for the iPad."
http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-tale-of-the-dueling-typewriter-apps-20140826-story.html
Or, if you prefer, why not have a chat with your friendly local statue? London's statues are "finding their voice," thanks to leading writers and smartphone technology that will now allow the effigies to chat with passers-by.
http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/aug/17/london-statues-find-their-voice
Back on this side of the Atlantic Ocean, the authors of The Great Glass Sea and In The Course of Human Events have set out on a literary road trip. "What does the Great American Road trip look like in 2014?" Find out in part one on their tour diary, here:
http://www.salon.com/2014/08/22/two_guys_two_books_five_days_in_search_of_america_%E2%80%94_and_readers/
Doris Lessing has made one last gift to the world. 3,000 books from the late author's collection have been donated to a public library in Zimbabwe.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/aug/26/doris-lessing-book-collection-zimbabwe-library
BOOKS & WRITERS
Autumn is on its way. That means the end of beach reading, and the arrival of new fall titles! The Huffington Post's "Best Books For Fall 2014" includes new books by Festival authors David Mitchell, William Gibson, Colm Tóibín and Sarah Waters.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/25/best-books-2014-fall_n_5692644.html
What's your lifetime dream? For Haruki Murakami, it would be "to be sitting at the bottom of a well." He discusses his writing, domestic life, heroes and dreams here:
http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2014/aug/24/haruki-murakami-my-lifetime-dream-is-to-be-sitting-at-the-bottom-of-a-well
Tony Black's The Last Tiger is one of several books on the "Not the Booker Prize" shortlist. It is also the story of "a young immigrant to Australia who encounters the predatory creatures that were once the country's largest and most efficient killers."
http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2014/aug/25/not-the-booker-prize-shortlist-the-last-tiger-tony-black
Who was Edgar Allen Poe? Upon his death, the New York Tribune wrote that he was "a dreamer, dwelling in ideal realms, in heaven or hell, peopled with creations and accidents of his brain." In Paul Collins' Edgar Allan Poe: The Fever Called Living, the author tries to find a clearer picture.
http://lareviewofbooks.org/interview/poes-paradoxes
Timothy Taylor recently appeared at Sam Sullivan's Public Salon, where he read his story Roots and Rootlessness. If you weren't able to hear him in person, here's a video of the event:
http://vancouverisawesome.com/2014/08/26/timothy-taylor-roots-and-rootlessness/
Rachel Cusk knows controversy. In 2012, the world reacted with hostility to her account of marital breakdown. In this interview, the author of Outline (her new novel) discusses how she finally rediscovered her voice after "creative death."
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/aug/24/rachel-cusk-interview-aftermath-outline
Daniel Kehlmann's new novel, F, is "deeply philosophical and very, very funny." "Germans and humor," says the author, "it's a complex problem! Detecting humor is not our strong side." He's interviewed by Jonathan Franzen, here:
http://www.salon.com/2014/08/26/jonathan_franzen_interviews_daniel_kehlmann_germans_and_humor_its_a_complex_problem_detecting_humor_is_not_our_strong_side/
Lev and Austin Grossman are a unique pair of writers. And what makes them unique is exactly the same thing that makes them identical...they're twins! "What in Lev and Austin Grossman's upbringing led them both to make a life in writing?"
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/08/lev-and-austin-grossman-interview/375822/
Michael Crummey's new novel, Sweetland, is "all of a piece, its apparent simplicity of style, like that of its protagonist and his setting, concealing a primordial power." The novel is the tale of a man and the island he refuses to leave.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/book-reviews/michael-crummeys-sweetland-is-slow-circular-suitable-to-a-mans-contemplation-of-extinction/article20172450/
COMMUNITY EVENTS
LAST OF THE INDEPENDENTS
Author Sam Wiebe launches his latest book Last of the Independents. Tuesday, September 2 at 7:00pm. Shebeen Whiskey House, 212 Carrall Street, Vancouver.
SEBASTIEN DE CASTELL
Fantasy author reads from his swashbuckling adventure novel Traitor's Blade and gives a talk on the use of swordplay in fantasy and historical literature. Thursday, September 4 at 7:00pm, free. Peter Kaye room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
The TWS READING SERIES
The Writer's Studio September readers will be Ingrid Rose, Angela Kenyon, D.N. Simmers, Diana Joy, Sheila Galati, Jude Neale, and Dhana Musil. Our feature author will be poet Daniela Elza. Hosts: Ivan Antoniw and Romney Grant.Thursday, September 4 at 8:00pm. Cottage Bistro, 4470 Main Street, Vancouver.
DOUBLE ENTENDRE
An evening of fiction and poetry with Ann Eriksson reading from her new novel, High Clear Bell of Morning, and Gary Geddes reading selected poems from, What Does a House Want? Monday, September 8 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
ELLEN IN PIECES
Launch of Caroline Adderson's new book. Tuesday, September 9 at 7:00pm. Book Warehouse, 4118 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at blackbondbooks.com.
RONSDALE'S FALL POETRY
An evening of poetry with three award-winning B.C. poets: Garry Gottfriedson, Pamela Porter and Henry Rappaport—all with new collections to showcase. Wednesday, September 10 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia. More information at vpl.ca.
TWISTED POETS LITERARY SALON
Features Cynthia Flood and Elise Partridge plus open mic. Wednesday, September 10 at 7:00pm. Suggested donation at the door: $5. The Cottage Bistro, 4468 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at pandorascollective.com.
Upcoming
DEAD POETS READING SERIES
Five poets/readers/poetry-lovers/writers with extensive public reading experience read poems from one of their favourite dead poet's work. Sunday, September 14 at 3:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
SPOKEN INK READING SERIES
Diane Tucker reads from her new poetry collection, Bonsai Love. Tuesday, September 16 at 7:30pm, free. la Fontana Caffe, 101-3701 East Hastings Street, Burnaby. More information at burnabywritersnews.blogspot.ca.
ALICIA PRIEST
Local Victoria-based author launches her new book A Rock Fell on the Moon, Dad and the Great Yukon Silver Ore Heist. Wednesday, September 17 at 7:30pm. Bard & Banker Pub, 1022 Government Street, Victoria. More information by calling Munro's Books, 250-382-2464.
BIRTH OF A RARE BOOK
Christopher Levenson, poet and author, will present with Peter Braun, Master Printer of New Leaf Editions, and Sigrid Albert, graphic artist, a discussion about the genesis of producing a rare book of poetry and etchings. Sunday, September 21 at 3:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
VANCOUVER IS ASHES
Vancouver Is Ashes is the first detailed exploration of a landmark, yet seldom revisited event in Vancouver's history. Lisa Anne Smith uses eye-witness accounts to investigate events of that pivotal day. Monday, September 22 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
WORD VANCOUVER
Festival promoting books and authors with free exhibits, performances, and hands-on activities for a wide range of ages and interests. September 24-28, 2014. Complete details at wordvancouver.ca.
TWISTED POETS LITERARY SALON
Pandora's Collective in conjunction with Word Vancouver features Rita Wong, Jami Macarty, Lilija Valis & Kevin Spenst plus open mic. Thursday, September 25 at 7:00pm. Suggested donation at the door: $5. The Cottage Bistro, 4468 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at pandorascollective.com.
THANKS A LOT EXPRESS-OH!
North Shore Writers' Association invite community & cultural co-creators: writers, dancers, musicians and artists, to join in this fun activity of giving thanks in this 2-hour workshop to expand upon and play with word prompts. Saturday, September 27 at 10:00am, free. North Vancouver City Library, 120 14th St. W., North Vancouver. More information at culturedays.ca.
BOOK SOME TIME FOR CRIME
an afternoon on the edge of your seat with four local mystery authors, Sam Wiebe, E.R. Brown, Robin Spano and Owen Laukkanen. Listen as they share their latest novels, then book a one-on-one session for answers to any of your burning mystery questions. Saturday, September 27 at 1:00pm, free. West Vancouver Memorial Library, 1950 Marine Drive, West Vancouver. More information at culturedays.ca.
Thursday, August 21, 2014
Book News Vol. 9 No. 25
BOOK NEWS
Vancouver Writers Fest Tickets on sale September 8
Cory Doctorow, Emma Donoghue, William Gibson, Karl Ove Knausgaard, Herman Koch, Ann-Marie MacDonald, Jane Smiley, Miriam Toews Sarah Waters and Tim Winton are just a few of the 100 notable writers from around the world appearing in 86 events at this fall's Vancouver Writers Fest. Pick up the Festival program guide at bookstores in the Lower Mainland, or check the Festival website for full details, http:/www.writersfest.bc.ca.
Festival ticket sales start September 8 (September 2 for members).
Special event tickets are on sale now, http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events.
AWARDS & LISTS
Niall Campbell has won the UK's richest poetry prize for his debut collection, Moontide. The collection is a "joyous" evocation of the Scottish island landscape.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/aug/17/hebridean-poet-wins-uks-richest-poetry-prize-with-debut-collection
Louise Erdrich has won the Dayton Literary Peace Prize's achievement award for her work chronicling contemporary Native American life. "The Dayton prizes are meant to recognize literature's power to foster peace, social justice and global understanding, and the distinguished achievement award is given for body of work."
http://www.cbc.ca/news/aboriginal/louise-erdrich-wins-dayton-literary-peace-prize-s-achievement-award-1.2739805
YOUNG READERS
Where do you find wildly creative people these days? According to two new picture books, Tiny Creatures: The World of Microbes and If...: A Mind-Bending New Way of Looking at Big Ideas and Numbers, they're in "fields that have to do with science, math and technology."
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/13/books/tiny-creatures-and-if.html
Lois Lowry just might be the "the godmother of dystopian YA fiction." In fact, she pretty much invented the genre when she wrote The Giver twenty-one years ago. But now, she says that the genre is "passé!"
http://variety.com/2014/film/news/giver-author-lois-lowry-dystopian-ya-novels-1201278835/
NEWS & FEATURES
Simin Behbahani—poet, women's rights advocate and the "lioness of Iran" has died. In her lifetime, she was nominated twice for the Nobel Prize in literature.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/19/simin-behbahani-iran-poet-dies
The Middle East's borders seem to be dissolving in more ways than one, especially when it comes to Syria, Iraq and poetry. Their borders were created out of "substantial things—the tangled thickets of communal memory, landscapes drawn in poetry and prose, and centuries of political culture memorialized in chronicles, oral epics, and biographies."
http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/iraq-syria-poetic-imagination
A new study has found that readers absorb less reading on Kindles than on paper. Research suggests that "the haptic and tactile feedback of a Kindle does not provide the same support for mental reconstruction of a story as a print pocket book does."
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/aug/19/readers-absorb-less-kindles-paper-study-plot-ereader-digitisation
It's been asked before, but it's worth considering again: can writing be taught? Rivka Galchen and Zoë Heller discuss.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/24/books/review/can-writing-be-taught.html
What do menu descriptions tell us about our culture? "You needn't be a linguist to note changes in the language of menus!" Here's The Atlantic's take on "menu speak," and how it reveals status anxiety.
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/09/menu-speak/375073/
Are you a grammar fanatic? Here are ten grammar rules that might just be ok to break (sometimes).
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/aug/15/steven-pinker-10-grammar-rules-break
BOOKS & WRITERS
As Britain's "most controversial and outspoken novelist," Martin Amis often finds himself in combat stance, a "position he has occupied for as long as most of us can remember." With a new comic novel on the way (set in Auschwitz of all places), one can't help but understand the controversy.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/aug/15/love-to-hate-martin-amis
Catherine Lacey's debut novel, Nobody Is Ever Missing, is "an unlikely page-turner, since it takes place almost entirely in the narrator's head." A "postmodern existential novel," it details the journey of a "post-wounded woman" around New Zealand, after fleeing her life in New York City.
http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/novel-post-wounded-woman
Speaking of travel, it's already high summer, that season of road trips and hotel rooms. Here are the top ten hotel novels, as decided by Mark Watson.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/aug/13/top-10-hotel-novels-mark-watson
Teju Cole, who will be coming to the Writers Fest this October, is more than just an author. He's also an excellent interviewer, and long-time admirer of photography. In this piece, he interviews photographers Rebeca Norris Webb and Alex Webb to discuss their two jointly-authored books.
http://www.newyorker.com/culture/photo-booth/slant-rhymes-alex-webb-rebecca-norris-webb-memory-city
Teju Cole has also written a piece in The New Yorker all about rediscovering James Baldwin. He travels to Leukerbad, Switzerland, where Baldwin wrote much of Go Tell It On The Mountain as well as an essay called Stranger in the Village.
http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/black-body-re-reading-james-baldwins-stranger-village
"Horror can be contained within a book, given form and meaning," says the hero of Richard Flanagan's new novel, The Narrow Road to the Deep North. "But in life horror has no more form than it does meaning. Horror just is." Flanagan's novel is set in an Australian prisoner-of-war camp in World War Two.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/18/books/the-narrow-road-to-the-deep-north-by-richard-flanagan.html
Alan Warner's Their Lips Talk of Mischief "is a boisterous comedy of chemical and other adventures in Thatcherite slumland." But it's serious too—"a winningly nostalgic novel" that is also "a story of lost illusions," as it tells the story of two aspiring writers in the 1980s.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/aug/15/lips-talk-of-mischeif-alan-warner-review-boisterous-crafted-comedy
If you're interested in small press publishers, here are three books to check out right now: Hysteric by Nelly Arcan, I'm Not Scared of You or Anything by Jon Paul Fiorentino, and God Telling a Joke by Dave Margoshes.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/the-best-in-small-press-three-books-to-check-out-now/article19974645/
COMMUNITY EVENTS
POETRY READING
Iain S. Thomas, author of I Wrote This For You, will be reading on Monday, August 25 at 7:00pm. Seating is limited. Y's Books, 4307 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at ysbookstore.blogspot.ca.
LAST OF THE INDEPENDENTS
Author Sam Wiebe launches his latest book Last of the Independents. Tuesday, September 2 at 7:00pm. Shebeen Whiskey House, 212 Carrall Street, Vancouver.
SEBASTIEN DE CASTELL
Fantasy author reads from his swashbuckling adventure novel Traitor's Blade and gives a talk on the use of swordplay in fantasy and historical literature. Thursday, September 4 at 7:00pm, free. Peter Kaye room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
The TWS READING SERIES
The Writer's Studio September readers will be Ingrid Rose, Angela Kenyon, D.N. Simmers, Diana Joy, Sheila Galati, Jude Neale, and Dhana Musil. Our feature author will be poet Daniela Elza. Hosts: Ivan Antoniw and Romney Grant.Thursday, September 4 at 8:00pm. Cottage Bistro, 4470 Main Street, Vancouver.
DOUBLE ENTENDRE
An evening of fiction and poetry with Ann Eriksson reading from her new novel, High Clear Bell of Morning, and Gary Geddes reading selected poems from, What Does a House Want? Monday, September 8 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
ELLEN IN PIECES
Launch of Caroline Adderson's new book. Tuesday, September 9 at 7:00pm. Book Warehouse, 4118 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at blackbondbooks.com.
RONSDALE'S FALL POETRY
An evening of poetry with three award-winning B.C. poets: Garry Gottfriedson, Pamela Porter and Henry Rappaport—all with new collections to showcase. Wednesday, September 10 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia. More information at vpl.ca.
TWISTED POETS LITERARY SALON
Features Cynthia Flood and Elise Partridge plus open mic. Wednesday, September 10 at 7:00pm. Suggested donation at the door: $5. The Cottage Bistro, 4468 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at pandorascollective.com.
Upcoming
DEAD POETS READING SERIES
Five poets/readers/poetry-lovers/writers with extensive public reading experience read poems from one of their favourite dead poet's work. Sunday, September 14 at 3:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
SPOKEN INK READING SERIES
Diane Tucker reads from her new poetry collection, Bonsai Love. Tuesday, September 16 at 7:30pm, free. la Fontana Caffe, 101-3701 East Hastings Street, Burnaby. More information at burnabywritersnews.blogspot.ca.
ALICIA PRIEST
Local Victoria-based author launches her new book A Rock Fell on the Moon, Dad and the Great Yukon Silver Ore Heist. Wednesday, September 17 at 7:30pm. Bard & Banker Pub, 1022 Government Street, Victoria. More information by calling Munro's Books, 250-382-2464.
BIRTH OF A RARE BOOK
Christopher Levenson, poet and author, will present with Peter Braun, Master Printer of New Leaf Editions, and Sigrid Albert, graphic artist, a discussion about the genesis of producing a rare book of poetry and etchings. Sunday, September 21 at 3:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
VANCOUVER IS ASHES
Vancouver Is Ashes is the first detailed exploration of a landmark, yet seldom revisited event in Vancouver's history. Lisa Anne Smith uses eye-witness accounts to investigate events of that pivotal day. Monday, September 22 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
WORD VANCOUVER
Festival promoting books and authors with free exhibits, performances, and hands-on activities for a wide range of ages and interests. September 24-28, 2014. Complete details at wordvancouver.ca.
TWISTED POETS LITERARY SALON
Pandora's Collective in conjunction with Word Vancouver features Rita Wong, Jami Macarty, Lilija Valis & Kevin Spenst plus open mic. Thursday, September 25 at 7:00pm. Suggested donation at the door: $5. The Cottage Bistro, 4468 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at pandorascollective.com.
THANKS A LOT EXPRESS-OH!
North Shore Writers' Association invite community & cultural co-creators: writers, dancers, musicians and artists, to join in this fun activity of giving thanks in this 2-hour workshop to expand upon and play with word prompts. Saturday, September 27 at 10:00am, free. North Vancouver City Library, 120 14th St. W., North Vancouver. More information at culturedays.ca.
BOOK SOME TIME FOR CRIME
an afternoon on the edge of your seat with four local mystery authors, Sam Wiebe, E.R. Brown, Robin Spano and Owen Laukkanen. Listen as they share their latest novels, then book a one-on-one session for answers to any of your burning mystery questions. Saturday, September 27 at 1:00pm, free. West Vancouver Memorial Library, 1950 Marine Drive, West Vancouver. More information at culturedays.ca.
Vancouver Writers Fest Tickets on sale September 8
Cory Doctorow, Emma Donoghue, William Gibson, Karl Ove Knausgaard, Herman Koch, Ann-Marie MacDonald, Jane Smiley, Miriam Toews Sarah Waters and Tim Winton are just a few of the 100 notable writers from around the world appearing in 86 events at this fall's Vancouver Writers Fest. Pick up the Festival program guide at bookstores in the Lower Mainland, or check the Festival website for full details, http:/www.writersfest.bc.ca.
Festival ticket sales start September 8 (September 2 for members).
Special event tickets are on sale now, http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events.
AWARDS & LISTS
Niall Campbell has won the UK's richest poetry prize for his debut collection, Moontide. The collection is a "joyous" evocation of the Scottish island landscape.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/aug/17/hebridean-poet-wins-uks-richest-poetry-prize-with-debut-collection
Louise Erdrich has won the Dayton Literary Peace Prize's achievement award for her work chronicling contemporary Native American life. "The Dayton prizes are meant to recognize literature's power to foster peace, social justice and global understanding, and the distinguished achievement award is given for body of work."
http://www.cbc.ca/news/aboriginal/louise-erdrich-wins-dayton-literary-peace-prize-s-achievement-award-1.2739805
YOUNG READERS
Where do you find wildly creative people these days? According to two new picture books, Tiny Creatures: The World of Microbes and If...: A Mind-Bending New Way of Looking at Big Ideas and Numbers, they're in "fields that have to do with science, math and technology."
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/13/books/tiny-creatures-and-if.html
Lois Lowry just might be the "the godmother of dystopian YA fiction." In fact, she pretty much invented the genre when she wrote The Giver twenty-one years ago. But now, she says that the genre is "passé!"
http://variety.com/2014/film/news/giver-author-lois-lowry-dystopian-ya-novels-1201278835/
NEWS & FEATURES
Simin Behbahani—poet, women's rights advocate and the "lioness of Iran" has died. In her lifetime, she was nominated twice for the Nobel Prize in literature.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/19/simin-behbahani-iran-poet-dies
The Middle East's borders seem to be dissolving in more ways than one, especially when it comes to Syria, Iraq and poetry. Their borders were created out of "substantial things—the tangled thickets of communal memory, landscapes drawn in poetry and prose, and centuries of political culture memorialized in chronicles, oral epics, and biographies."
http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/iraq-syria-poetic-imagination
A new study has found that readers absorb less reading on Kindles than on paper. Research suggests that "the haptic and tactile feedback of a Kindle does not provide the same support for mental reconstruction of a story as a print pocket book does."
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/aug/19/readers-absorb-less-kindles-paper-study-plot-ereader-digitisation
It's been asked before, but it's worth considering again: can writing be taught? Rivka Galchen and Zoë Heller discuss.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/24/books/review/can-writing-be-taught.html
What do menu descriptions tell us about our culture? "You needn't be a linguist to note changes in the language of menus!" Here's The Atlantic's take on "menu speak," and how it reveals status anxiety.
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/09/menu-speak/375073/
Are you a grammar fanatic? Here are ten grammar rules that might just be ok to break (sometimes).
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/aug/15/steven-pinker-10-grammar-rules-break
BOOKS & WRITERS
As Britain's "most controversial and outspoken novelist," Martin Amis often finds himself in combat stance, a "position he has occupied for as long as most of us can remember." With a new comic novel on the way (set in Auschwitz of all places), one can't help but understand the controversy.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/aug/15/love-to-hate-martin-amis
Catherine Lacey's debut novel, Nobody Is Ever Missing, is "an unlikely page-turner, since it takes place almost entirely in the narrator's head." A "postmodern existential novel," it details the journey of a "post-wounded woman" around New Zealand, after fleeing her life in New York City.
http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/novel-post-wounded-woman
Speaking of travel, it's already high summer, that season of road trips and hotel rooms. Here are the top ten hotel novels, as decided by Mark Watson.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/aug/13/top-10-hotel-novels-mark-watson
Teju Cole, who will be coming to the Writers Fest this October, is more than just an author. He's also an excellent interviewer, and long-time admirer of photography. In this piece, he interviews photographers Rebeca Norris Webb and Alex Webb to discuss their two jointly-authored books.
http://www.newyorker.com/culture/photo-booth/slant-rhymes-alex-webb-rebecca-norris-webb-memory-city
Teju Cole has also written a piece in The New Yorker all about rediscovering James Baldwin. He travels to Leukerbad, Switzerland, where Baldwin wrote much of Go Tell It On The Mountain as well as an essay called Stranger in the Village.
http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/black-body-re-reading-james-baldwins-stranger-village
"Horror can be contained within a book, given form and meaning," says the hero of Richard Flanagan's new novel, The Narrow Road to the Deep North. "But in life horror has no more form than it does meaning. Horror just is." Flanagan's novel is set in an Australian prisoner-of-war camp in World War Two.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/18/books/the-narrow-road-to-the-deep-north-by-richard-flanagan.html
Alan Warner's Their Lips Talk of Mischief "is a boisterous comedy of chemical and other adventures in Thatcherite slumland." But it's serious too—"a winningly nostalgic novel" that is also "a story of lost illusions," as it tells the story of two aspiring writers in the 1980s.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/aug/15/lips-talk-of-mischeif-alan-warner-review-boisterous-crafted-comedy
If you're interested in small press publishers, here are three books to check out right now: Hysteric by Nelly Arcan, I'm Not Scared of You or Anything by Jon Paul Fiorentino, and God Telling a Joke by Dave Margoshes.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/the-best-in-small-press-three-books-to-check-out-now/article19974645/
COMMUNITY EVENTS
POETRY READING
Iain S. Thomas, author of I Wrote This For You, will be reading on Monday, August 25 at 7:00pm. Seating is limited. Y's Books, 4307 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at ysbookstore.blogspot.ca.
LAST OF THE INDEPENDENTS
Author Sam Wiebe launches his latest book Last of the Independents. Tuesday, September 2 at 7:00pm. Shebeen Whiskey House, 212 Carrall Street, Vancouver.
SEBASTIEN DE CASTELL
Fantasy author reads from his swashbuckling adventure novel Traitor's Blade and gives a talk on the use of swordplay in fantasy and historical literature. Thursday, September 4 at 7:00pm, free. Peter Kaye room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
The TWS READING SERIES
The Writer's Studio September readers will be Ingrid Rose, Angela Kenyon, D.N. Simmers, Diana Joy, Sheila Galati, Jude Neale, and Dhana Musil. Our feature author will be poet Daniela Elza. Hosts: Ivan Antoniw and Romney Grant.Thursday, September 4 at 8:00pm. Cottage Bistro, 4470 Main Street, Vancouver.
DOUBLE ENTENDRE
An evening of fiction and poetry with Ann Eriksson reading from her new novel, High Clear Bell of Morning, and Gary Geddes reading selected poems from, What Does a House Want? Monday, September 8 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
ELLEN IN PIECES
Launch of Caroline Adderson's new book. Tuesday, September 9 at 7:00pm. Book Warehouse, 4118 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at blackbondbooks.com.
RONSDALE'S FALL POETRY
An evening of poetry with three award-winning B.C. poets: Garry Gottfriedson, Pamela Porter and Henry Rappaport—all with new collections to showcase. Wednesday, September 10 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia. More information at vpl.ca.
TWISTED POETS LITERARY SALON
Features Cynthia Flood and Elise Partridge plus open mic. Wednesday, September 10 at 7:00pm. Suggested donation at the door: $5. The Cottage Bistro, 4468 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at pandorascollective.com.
Upcoming
DEAD POETS READING SERIES
Five poets/readers/poetry-lovers/writers with extensive public reading experience read poems from one of their favourite dead poet's work. Sunday, September 14 at 3:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
SPOKEN INK READING SERIES
Diane Tucker reads from her new poetry collection, Bonsai Love. Tuesday, September 16 at 7:30pm, free. la Fontana Caffe, 101-3701 East Hastings Street, Burnaby. More information at burnabywritersnews.blogspot.ca.
ALICIA PRIEST
Local Victoria-based author launches her new book A Rock Fell on the Moon, Dad and the Great Yukon Silver Ore Heist. Wednesday, September 17 at 7:30pm. Bard & Banker Pub, 1022 Government Street, Victoria. More information by calling Munro's Books, 250-382-2464.
BIRTH OF A RARE BOOK
Christopher Levenson, poet and author, will present with Peter Braun, Master Printer of New Leaf Editions, and Sigrid Albert, graphic artist, a discussion about the genesis of producing a rare book of poetry and etchings. Sunday, September 21 at 3:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
VANCOUVER IS ASHES
Vancouver Is Ashes is the first detailed exploration of a landmark, yet seldom revisited event in Vancouver's history. Lisa Anne Smith uses eye-witness accounts to investigate events of that pivotal day. Monday, September 22 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
WORD VANCOUVER
Festival promoting books and authors with free exhibits, performances, and hands-on activities for a wide range of ages and interests. September 24-28, 2014. Complete details at wordvancouver.ca.
TWISTED POETS LITERARY SALON
Pandora's Collective in conjunction with Word Vancouver features Rita Wong, Jami Macarty, Lilija Valis & Kevin Spenst plus open mic. Thursday, September 25 at 7:00pm. Suggested donation at the door: $5. The Cottage Bistro, 4468 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at pandorascollective.com.
THANKS A LOT EXPRESS-OH!
North Shore Writers' Association invite community & cultural co-creators: writers, dancers, musicians and artists, to join in this fun activity of giving thanks in this 2-hour workshop to expand upon and play with word prompts. Saturday, September 27 at 10:00am, free. North Vancouver City Library, 120 14th St. W., North Vancouver. More information at culturedays.ca.
BOOK SOME TIME FOR CRIME
an afternoon on the edge of your seat with four local mystery authors, Sam Wiebe, E.R. Brown, Robin Spano and Owen Laukkanen. Listen as they share their latest novels, then book a one-on-one session for answers to any of your burning mystery questions. Saturday, September 27 at 1:00pm, free. West Vancouver Memorial Library, 1950 Marine Drive, West Vancouver. More information at culturedays.ca.
Thursday, August 14, 2014
Book News Vol. 9 No. 24
BOOK NEWS
Vancouver Writers Fest program launches this week!
The 27th Vancouver Writers Fest program launches this week. Look for the Festival program guide at bookstores in the Lower Mainland, or check the Festival website, www.writersfest.bc.ca, on August 15 for full details.
An Evening with Louise Penny
New York Times bestselling author, Louise Penny is back with her latest Chief Inspector Gamache book, The Long Way Home. Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/louisepenny.
Wednesday, September 3 at 7:30pm
St. Andrew's-Wesley United Church
Purchase tickets online: http://vancouvertix.artsclub.com/tickets/reserve.aspx?performanceNumber=12377&type=rentals
Click here (http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/louisepenny) for event details and to find out more about our special offer for bookclubs.
Join in a group re-read of the first nine books of Louise Penny's Chief Inspector Gamache series to prepare for the release of the latest book, The Long Way Home, http://gamacheseries.com/.
An Evening with David Mitchell
Cloud Atlas author David Mitchell talks to Hal Wake, the Vancouver Writers Fest's Artistic Director, and reads from his new novel, The Bone Clocks.
Saturday, September 27 at 7:30pm
St. Andrew's-Wesley United Church
Purchase tickets online: http://vancouvertix.artsclub.com/tickets/reserve.aspx?performanceNumber=12382&type=rentals
Click here (http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/davidmitchell) for event details and to find out more about our special offer for bookclubs.
Stickboy: From Page To Stage
Join us for an enlightening conversation about the process of transforming Stickboy, a book by world-renowned spoken word artist Shane Koyczan, into a contemporary opera. Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/stickboy.
Tuesday, October 7 at 7:30pm
Frederic Wood Theatre, UBC
Purchase tickets online: http://vancouvertix.artsclub.com/tickets/reserve.aspx?performanceNumber=12580&type=rentals
Click here (http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/stickboy) for event details and to find out more about our special offer for bookclubs.
Bruce Cockburn
Legendary Canadian singer and songwriter Bruce Cockburn talks about his long-awaited memoir, Rumours of Glory.
Monday, November 10 at 7:30 pm
St. Andrew's-Wesley United Church
Purchase tickets online: http://vancouvertix.artsclub.com/tickets/reserve.aspx?performanceNumber=12385&type=rentals
Click here (http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/brucecockburn) for event details and to find out more about our special offer for bookclubs.
Conrad Black
From the acclaimed biographer and historian Conrad Black comes Rise to Greatness, a major new reexamination of the history of Canada—a revealing, groundbreaking account of the people and events that shaped a nation. Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/conradblack.
Thursday, November 13 at 7:30pm
St. Andrew's-Wesley United Church
Purchase tickets online: http://vancouvertix.artsclub.com/tickets/reserve.aspx?performanceNumber=12599&type=rentals
Click here (http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/conradblack) for event details and to find out more about our special offer for bookclubs.
Alan Doyle
Alan Doyle, singer-songwriter and front man of the Canadian band Great Big Sea, talks about his new memoir, Where I Belong.
Thursday, November 13 at 7:30 pm
Waterfront Theatre (1412 Cartwright Street, Granville Island)
Purchase tickets online: http://vancouvertix.artsclub.com/tickets/reserve.aspx?performanceNumber=12388&type=rentals
Click here (http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/alandoyle) for event details and to find out more about our special offer for bookclubs.
FESTIVAL
The 32nd annual Sunshine Coast Festival of the Written Arts runs from August 14-17, 2014. The festival features established literary stars and exciting, new voices including Angie Abdou, Steven Galloway, Linda Holeman, Heather O'Neill and Miriam Toews and a finale event with spoken word artists Jillian Christmas, Zaccheus Jackson and Brendan McLeod. Complete details at writersfestival.ca.
AWARDS & LISTS
The shortlist for the $10,000 Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction has been announced. The award recognizes "Canadian-authored first or second books with significance to the country." The topics covered by books on the shortlist include the Northern Gateway Project, LGBT families, and travel.
http://www.quillandquire.com/awards/2014/08/08/edna-staebler-award-for-creative-non-fiction-shortlist-announced/
The longlist for the Guardian first book award has also been revealed. The award includes Fiction, Non-Fiction and a Readers' choice selection.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/aug/08/guardian-first-book-award-2014-super-furry-animals
YOUNG READERS
A new children's book called My Grandfather's Coat is the kind of work that's bound to become a mutigenerational family favourite. Based on a Yiddish folksong called "I had a Little Overcoat," it is a tale of four generations, beginning with a boy's arrival at Ellis Island.
http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-439-92545-7
NEWS & FEATURES
A group of Canadian artists' organizations are lobbying for a health benefit subsidy for self-employed artists. Among the organizations lobbying are The Writers' Union of Canada, the Canadian Media Guild, and the Professional Writers Association of Canada.
http://www.quillandquire.com/book-culture/2014/08/07/artists-organizations-lobbying-for-health-benefit-subsidy-for-self-employed-artists/
Vancouver writer Tyee Bridge believes that a lot can be said in 15,000 words. "Like a novella, but for non-fiction. A nonvella." Unable to find a publisher for his shorter-than-usual material, he decided to join with fellow freelancer Anne Casselman to create a startup that could bridge the gap between books and magazines.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/nonvella-creates-an-outlet-for-slim-volumes-of-non-fiction/article19972116/
Amazon's fight against its authors continues, and now they're using Orwell as ammunition. Unfortunately for them, however, these sorts of attacks only work properly when the author is quoted correctly.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/11/business/media/in-a-fight-with-authors-amazon-cites-orwell-but-not-quite-correctly.html
How long does it take to write a book? For E.M. Forster to write A Passage to India, it took eleven years. Writers Fest author Damon Galgut asks why (and tries to find the answer), here:
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/aug/08/em-forster-passage-to-india-rereading
Speaking of classic 20th century novels, a new edition of The Sun Also Rises is being released. It's filled with notes, manuscripts and annotations organized in "handy appendices, giving us lay readers a sense of Hemingway's writing process, and, more importantly, of how different a novel 'The Sun Also Rises' might have been."
http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/hemingways-hidden-metafictions
Different manuscripts are one thing, but what about different covers? Penguin Modern Classics has released a new edition of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with a cover that has upset many Roald Dahl fans because of its "sexualized" cover.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/11019528/Charlie-and-the-Chocolate-Factory-cover-condemned-as-creepy-grotesque-and-inappropriately-sexualised.html
BOOKS & WRITERS
Quill and Quire has released its 2014 fall preview. Here are its short fiction and crime fiction suggestions, featuring books by Kathleen Winter, Peter Robinson, Louise Penny, and Vancouver's own Wayde Compton.
http://www.quillandquire.com/preview/2014/08/06/fall-preview-2014-short-fiction-and-crime-fiction/
And here is Quill and Quire's non-fiction preview list. Naomi Klein, Cory Doctorow, Alison Pick and Douglas Coupland are just some of the authors featured.
http://www.quillandquire.com/preview/2014/08/08/fall-preview-2014-non-fiction-part-i/
The Guardian newspaper's Poem of the week is Look-out by Ian House. It is a poem for peace [that] eschews flag-waving and forced sentiment in favour of a still moment of ceasefire."
http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2014/aug/11/look-out-ian-house-poem
The Hungarian novelist Laszlo Krasznahorkai is hardly a neophyte in the writing world, but English-speaking audiences are only, just now, discovering him. Described by Susan Sontag as a "master of the apocalypse," his most recently translated book is called Seiobo There Below.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/09/books/laszlo-krasznahorkais-novels-find-a-us-audience.html
Childbirth is an experience that is rarely portrayed in fiction. Novelist Bethan Roberts discusses the top ten novels about childbirth, including a Canadian classic, here:
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/aug/06/top-10-novels-about-childbirth-bethan-roberts
Is there a paper vs. digital binary? Two American art professors have launched an "inquiry into the written word" that is trying to demolish that duality. Named after their project of the same name, their new book is called The Open Book.
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/08/writing-the-book-on-reinventing-the-book/375687/
Jess Row's debut novel, Your Face in Mine, joins "a long tradition of fiction about racial guises," set in world where people can undergo racial reassignment surgery. Inspired by James Baldwin, Row's intent was to "explore the ways people try to escape their racial identities, as well as investigate their desire for racial reconciliation and deeply unconscious fears."
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/12/books/jess-rows-your-face-in-mine-explores-racial-reassignment.html
Yelena Akhtiorskaya is also a first time novelist, though her book tackles a very different subject. Set in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, it tells the story of an immigrant family, and a visit from their son, Pasha, the last child still living in Ukraine.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/07/books/panic-in-a-suitcase-by-yelena-akhtiorskaya.html
Peter Mendelsund is well known for his smart and visually arresting book jackets for authors such as Martin Amis and Stieg Larsson. Now he's the author of two books, Cover (which features his design work) and What We See When We Read, "an investigation of what happens in the mind's eye when we're engrossed in a book." He's interviewed here:
http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/portrait-cover-artist-interview-peter-mendelsund
What's your favourite out-of-print book? Adam Kirsch and Francine Prose discuss, bringing books by Thomas Mann and Philip Roth to the table.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/10/books/review/whats-your-favorite-out-of-print-book.html
Will Self is a novelist famous for his huge vocabulary and a category-defying life. He recently participated in a live webchat with readers to discuss all this, and more.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/live/2014/aug/07/will-self-live-qa-submit-your-questions-now
COMMUNITY EVENTS
SILVER TOTEM OF SHAME
R.J. Harlick, author of the wilderness-based Meg Harris mystery series, will be discussing and reading from her latest book. Saturday, August 16 at 2:00pm, free. Dunbar branch, 4515 Dunbar Street. For more information, visit vpl.ca.
BC CRIME FICTION
Crime writers E.R. Brown, Sam Wiebe, and R.J. Harlick discuss how B.C.'s dark side plays into their most recent novels. Saturday, August 16 at 2:00pm. Book Warehouse, 4118 Main Street, Vancouver.
DEBORAH HARKNESS
Author presents the finale to her trilogy with the last book, The Book of Life. Monday, August 18 at 7:00pm. Chapters Metrotown, 4700 Kingsway, Burnaby. More information at 604-431-0463.
LAST OF THE INDEPENDENTS
Author Sam Wiebe launches his latest book Last of the Independents. Tuesday, September 2 at 7:00pm. Shebeen Whiskey House, 212 Carrall Street, Vancouver.
SEBASTIEN DE CASTELL
Fantasy author reads from his swashbuckling adventure novel Traitor's Blade and gives a talk on the use of swordplay in fantasy and historical literature. Thursday, September 4 at 7:00pm, free. Peter Kaye room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
Upcoming
DOUBLE ENTENDRE
An evening of fiction and poetry with Ann Eriksson reading from her new novel, High Clear Bell of Morning, and Gary Geddes reading selected poems from,"What Does a House Want? Monday, September 8 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
ELLEN IN PIECES
Launch of Caroline Adderson's new book. Tuesday, September 7 at 7:00pm. Book Warehouse, 4118 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at blackbondbooks.com.
RONSDALE'S FALL POETRY
An evening of poetry with three award-winning B.C. poets: Garry Gottfriedson, Pamela Porter and Henry Rappaport—all with new collections to showcase. Wednesday, September 10 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia. More information at vpl.ca.
TWISTED POETS LITERARY SALON
Features Cynthia Flood and Elise Partridge plus open mic. Wednesday, September 10 at 7:00pm. Suggested donation at the door: $5. The Cottage Bistro, 4468 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at pandorascollective.com.
DEAD POETS READING SERIES
Five poets/readers/poetry-lovers/writers with extensive public reading experience read poems from one of their favourite dead poet's work. Sunday, September 14 at 3:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
SPOKEN INK READING SERIES
Diane Tucker reads from her new poetry collection, Bonsai Love. Tuesday, September 16 at 7:30pm, free. la Fontana Caffe, 101-3701 East Hastings Street, Burnaby. More information at burnabywritersnews.blogspot.ca.
ALICIA PRIEST
Local Victoria-based author launches her new book A Rock Fell on the Moon, Dad and the Great Yukon Silver Ore Heist. Wednesday, September 17 at 7:30pm. Bard & Banker Pub, 1022 Government Street, Victoria. More information by calling Munro's Books, 250-382-2464.
BIRTH OF A RARE BOOK
Christopher Levenson, poet and author, will present with Peter Braun, Master Printer of New Leaf Editions, and Sigrid Albert, graphic artist, a discussion about the genesis of producing a rare book of poetry and etchings. Sunday, September 21 at 3:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
VANCOUVER IS ASHES
Vancouver Is Ashes is the first detailed exploration of a landmark, yet seldom revisited event in Vancouver's history. Lisa Anne Smith uses eye-witness accounts to investigate events of that pivotal day. Monday, September 22 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
WORD VANCOUVER
Festival promoting books and authors with free exhibits, performances, and hands-on activities for a wide range of ages and interests. September 24-28, 2014. Complete details at wordvancouver.ca.
TWISTED POETS LITERARY SALON
Pandora's Collective in conjunction with Word Vancouver features Rita Wong, Jami Macarty, Lilija Valis & Kevin Spenst plus open mic. Thursday, September 25 at 7:00pm. Suggested donation at the door: $5. The Cottage Bistro, 4468 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at pandorascollective.com.
THANKS A LOT EXPRESS-OH!
North Shore Writers' Association invite community & cultural co-creators: writers, dancers, musicians and artists, to join in this fun activity of giving thanks in this 2-hour workshop to expand upon and play with word prompts. Saturday, September 27 at 10:00am, free. North Vancouver City Library, 120 14th St. W., North Vancouver. More information at culturedays.ca.
BOOK SOME TIME FOR CRIME
an afternoon on the edge of your seat with four local mystery authors, Sam Wiebe, E.R. Brown, Robin Spano and Owen Laukkanen. Listen as they share their latest novels, then book a one-on-one session for answers to any of your burning mystery questions. Saturday, September 27 at 1:00pm, free. West Vancouver Memorial Library, 1950 Marine Drive, West Vancouver. More information at culturedays.ca.
Vancouver Writers Fest program launches this week!
The 27th Vancouver Writers Fest program launches this week. Look for the Festival program guide at bookstores in the Lower Mainland, or check the Festival website, www.writersfest.bc.ca, on August 15 for full details.
An Evening with Louise Penny
New York Times bestselling author, Louise Penny is back with her latest Chief Inspector Gamache book, The Long Way Home. Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/louisepenny.
Wednesday, September 3 at 7:30pm
St. Andrew's-Wesley United Church
Purchase tickets online: http://vancouvertix.artsclub.com/tickets/reserve.aspx?performanceNumber=12377&type=rentals
Click here (http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/louisepenny) for event details and to find out more about our special offer for bookclubs.
Join in a group re-read of the first nine books of Louise Penny's Chief Inspector Gamache series to prepare for the release of the latest book, The Long Way Home, http://gamacheseries.com/.
An Evening with David Mitchell
Cloud Atlas author David Mitchell talks to Hal Wake, the Vancouver Writers Fest's Artistic Director, and reads from his new novel, The Bone Clocks.
Saturday, September 27 at 7:30pm
St. Andrew's-Wesley United Church
Purchase tickets online: http://vancouvertix.artsclub.com/tickets/reserve.aspx?performanceNumber=12382&type=rentals
Click here (http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/davidmitchell) for event details and to find out more about our special offer for bookclubs.
Stickboy: From Page To Stage
Join us for an enlightening conversation about the process of transforming Stickboy, a book by world-renowned spoken word artist Shane Koyczan, into a contemporary opera. Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/stickboy.
Tuesday, October 7 at 7:30pm
Frederic Wood Theatre, UBC
Purchase tickets online: http://vancouvertix.artsclub.com/tickets/reserve.aspx?performanceNumber=12580&type=rentals
Click here (http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/stickboy) for event details and to find out more about our special offer for bookclubs.
Bruce Cockburn
Legendary Canadian singer and songwriter Bruce Cockburn talks about his long-awaited memoir, Rumours of Glory.
Monday, November 10 at 7:30 pm
St. Andrew's-Wesley United Church
Purchase tickets online: http://vancouvertix.artsclub.com/tickets/reserve.aspx?performanceNumber=12385&type=rentals
Click here (http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/brucecockburn) for event details and to find out more about our special offer for bookclubs.
Conrad Black
From the acclaimed biographer and historian Conrad Black comes Rise to Greatness, a major new reexamination of the history of Canada—a revealing, groundbreaking account of the people and events that shaped a nation. Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/conradblack.
Thursday, November 13 at 7:30pm
St. Andrew's-Wesley United Church
Purchase tickets online: http://vancouvertix.artsclub.com/tickets/reserve.aspx?performanceNumber=12599&type=rentals
Click here (http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/conradblack) for event details and to find out more about our special offer for bookclubs.
Alan Doyle
Alan Doyle, singer-songwriter and front man of the Canadian band Great Big Sea, talks about his new memoir, Where I Belong.
Thursday, November 13 at 7:30 pm
Waterfront Theatre (1412 Cartwright Street, Granville Island)
Purchase tickets online: http://vancouvertix.artsclub.com/tickets/reserve.aspx?performanceNumber=12388&type=rentals
Click here (http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/alandoyle) for event details and to find out more about our special offer for bookclubs.
FESTIVAL
The 32nd annual Sunshine Coast Festival of the Written Arts runs from August 14-17, 2014. The festival features established literary stars and exciting, new voices including Angie Abdou, Steven Galloway, Linda Holeman, Heather O'Neill and Miriam Toews and a finale event with spoken word artists Jillian Christmas, Zaccheus Jackson and Brendan McLeod. Complete details at writersfestival.ca.
AWARDS & LISTS
The shortlist for the $10,000 Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction has been announced. The award recognizes "Canadian-authored first or second books with significance to the country." The topics covered by books on the shortlist include the Northern Gateway Project, LGBT families, and travel.
http://www.quillandquire.com/awards/2014/08/08/edna-staebler-award-for-creative-non-fiction-shortlist-announced/
The longlist for the Guardian first book award has also been revealed. The award includes Fiction, Non-Fiction and a Readers' choice selection.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/aug/08/guardian-first-book-award-2014-super-furry-animals
YOUNG READERS
A new children's book called My Grandfather's Coat is the kind of work that's bound to become a mutigenerational family favourite. Based on a Yiddish folksong called "I had a Little Overcoat," it is a tale of four generations, beginning with a boy's arrival at Ellis Island.
http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-439-92545-7
NEWS & FEATURES
A group of Canadian artists' organizations are lobbying for a health benefit subsidy for self-employed artists. Among the organizations lobbying are The Writers' Union of Canada, the Canadian Media Guild, and the Professional Writers Association of Canada.
http://www.quillandquire.com/book-culture/2014/08/07/artists-organizations-lobbying-for-health-benefit-subsidy-for-self-employed-artists/
Vancouver writer Tyee Bridge believes that a lot can be said in 15,000 words. "Like a novella, but for non-fiction. A nonvella." Unable to find a publisher for his shorter-than-usual material, he decided to join with fellow freelancer Anne Casselman to create a startup that could bridge the gap between books and magazines.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/nonvella-creates-an-outlet-for-slim-volumes-of-non-fiction/article19972116/
Amazon's fight against its authors continues, and now they're using Orwell as ammunition. Unfortunately for them, however, these sorts of attacks only work properly when the author is quoted correctly.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/11/business/media/in-a-fight-with-authors-amazon-cites-orwell-but-not-quite-correctly.html
How long does it take to write a book? For E.M. Forster to write A Passage to India, it took eleven years. Writers Fest author Damon Galgut asks why (and tries to find the answer), here:
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/aug/08/em-forster-passage-to-india-rereading
Speaking of classic 20th century novels, a new edition of The Sun Also Rises is being released. It's filled with notes, manuscripts and annotations organized in "handy appendices, giving us lay readers a sense of Hemingway's writing process, and, more importantly, of how different a novel 'The Sun Also Rises' might have been."
http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/hemingways-hidden-metafictions
Different manuscripts are one thing, but what about different covers? Penguin Modern Classics has released a new edition of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with a cover that has upset many Roald Dahl fans because of its "sexualized" cover.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/11019528/Charlie-and-the-Chocolate-Factory-cover-condemned-as-creepy-grotesque-and-inappropriately-sexualised.html
BOOKS & WRITERS
Quill and Quire has released its 2014 fall preview. Here are its short fiction and crime fiction suggestions, featuring books by Kathleen Winter, Peter Robinson, Louise Penny, and Vancouver's own Wayde Compton.
http://www.quillandquire.com/preview/2014/08/06/fall-preview-2014-short-fiction-and-crime-fiction/
And here is Quill and Quire's non-fiction preview list. Naomi Klein, Cory Doctorow, Alison Pick and Douglas Coupland are just some of the authors featured.
http://www.quillandquire.com/preview/2014/08/08/fall-preview-2014-non-fiction-part-i/
The Guardian newspaper's Poem of the week is Look-out by Ian House. It is a poem for peace [that] eschews flag-waving and forced sentiment in favour of a still moment of ceasefire."
http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2014/aug/11/look-out-ian-house-poem
The Hungarian novelist Laszlo Krasznahorkai is hardly a neophyte in the writing world, but English-speaking audiences are only, just now, discovering him. Described by Susan Sontag as a "master of the apocalypse," his most recently translated book is called Seiobo There Below.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/09/books/laszlo-krasznahorkais-novels-find-a-us-audience.html
Childbirth is an experience that is rarely portrayed in fiction. Novelist Bethan Roberts discusses the top ten novels about childbirth, including a Canadian classic, here:
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/aug/06/top-10-novels-about-childbirth-bethan-roberts
Is there a paper vs. digital binary? Two American art professors have launched an "inquiry into the written word" that is trying to demolish that duality. Named after their project of the same name, their new book is called The Open Book.
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/08/writing-the-book-on-reinventing-the-book/375687/
Jess Row's debut novel, Your Face in Mine, joins "a long tradition of fiction about racial guises," set in world where people can undergo racial reassignment surgery. Inspired by James Baldwin, Row's intent was to "explore the ways people try to escape their racial identities, as well as investigate their desire for racial reconciliation and deeply unconscious fears."
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/12/books/jess-rows-your-face-in-mine-explores-racial-reassignment.html
Yelena Akhtiorskaya is also a first time novelist, though her book tackles a very different subject. Set in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, it tells the story of an immigrant family, and a visit from their son, Pasha, the last child still living in Ukraine.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/07/books/panic-in-a-suitcase-by-yelena-akhtiorskaya.html
Peter Mendelsund is well known for his smart and visually arresting book jackets for authors such as Martin Amis and Stieg Larsson. Now he's the author of two books, Cover (which features his design work) and What We See When We Read, "an investigation of what happens in the mind's eye when we're engrossed in a book." He's interviewed here:
http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/portrait-cover-artist-interview-peter-mendelsund
What's your favourite out-of-print book? Adam Kirsch and Francine Prose discuss, bringing books by Thomas Mann and Philip Roth to the table.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/10/books/review/whats-your-favorite-out-of-print-book.html
Will Self is a novelist famous for his huge vocabulary and a category-defying life. He recently participated in a live webchat with readers to discuss all this, and more.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/live/2014/aug/07/will-self-live-qa-submit-your-questions-now
COMMUNITY EVENTS
SILVER TOTEM OF SHAME
R.J. Harlick, author of the wilderness-based Meg Harris mystery series, will be discussing and reading from her latest book. Saturday, August 16 at 2:00pm, free. Dunbar branch, 4515 Dunbar Street. For more information, visit vpl.ca.
BC CRIME FICTION
Crime writers E.R. Brown, Sam Wiebe, and R.J. Harlick discuss how B.C.'s dark side plays into their most recent novels. Saturday, August 16 at 2:00pm. Book Warehouse, 4118 Main Street, Vancouver.
DEBORAH HARKNESS
Author presents the finale to her trilogy with the last book, The Book of Life. Monday, August 18 at 7:00pm. Chapters Metrotown, 4700 Kingsway, Burnaby. More information at 604-431-0463.
LAST OF THE INDEPENDENTS
Author Sam Wiebe launches his latest book Last of the Independents. Tuesday, September 2 at 7:00pm. Shebeen Whiskey House, 212 Carrall Street, Vancouver.
SEBASTIEN DE CASTELL
Fantasy author reads from his swashbuckling adventure novel Traitor's Blade and gives a talk on the use of swordplay in fantasy and historical literature. Thursday, September 4 at 7:00pm, free. Peter Kaye room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
Upcoming
DOUBLE ENTENDRE
An evening of fiction and poetry with Ann Eriksson reading from her new novel, High Clear Bell of Morning, and Gary Geddes reading selected poems from,"What Does a House Want? Monday, September 8 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
ELLEN IN PIECES
Launch of Caroline Adderson's new book. Tuesday, September 7 at 7:00pm. Book Warehouse, 4118 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at blackbondbooks.com.
RONSDALE'S FALL POETRY
An evening of poetry with three award-winning B.C. poets: Garry Gottfriedson, Pamela Porter and Henry Rappaport—all with new collections to showcase. Wednesday, September 10 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia. More information at vpl.ca.
TWISTED POETS LITERARY SALON
Features Cynthia Flood and Elise Partridge plus open mic. Wednesday, September 10 at 7:00pm. Suggested donation at the door: $5. The Cottage Bistro, 4468 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at pandorascollective.com.
DEAD POETS READING SERIES
Five poets/readers/poetry-lovers/writers with extensive public reading experience read poems from one of their favourite dead poet's work. Sunday, September 14 at 3:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
SPOKEN INK READING SERIES
Diane Tucker reads from her new poetry collection, Bonsai Love. Tuesday, September 16 at 7:30pm, free. la Fontana Caffe, 101-3701 East Hastings Street, Burnaby. More information at burnabywritersnews.blogspot.ca.
ALICIA PRIEST
Local Victoria-based author launches her new book A Rock Fell on the Moon, Dad and the Great Yukon Silver Ore Heist. Wednesday, September 17 at 7:30pm. Bard & Banker Pub, 1022 Government Street, Victoria. More information by calling Munro's Books, 250-382-2464.
BIRTH OF A RARE BOOK
Christopher Levenson, poet and author, will present with Peter Braun, Master Printer of New Leaf Editions, and Sigrid Albert, graphic artist, a discussion about the genesis of producing a rare book of poetry and etchings. Sunday, September 21 at 3:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
VANCOUVER IS ASHES
Vancouver Is Ashes is the first detailed exploration of a landmark, yet seldom revisited event in Vancouver's history. Lisa Anne Smith uses eye-witness accounts to investigate events of that pivotal day. Monday, September 22 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
WORD VANCOUVER
Festival promoting books and authors with free exhibits, performances, and hands-on activities for a wide range of ages and interests. September 24-28, 2014. Complete details at wordvancouver.ca.
TWISTED POETS LITERARY SALON
Pandora's Collective in conjunction with Word Vancouver features Rita Wong, Jami Macarty, Lilija Valis & Kevin Spenst plus open mic. Thursday, September 25 at 7:00pm. Suggested donation at the door: $5. The Cottage Bistro, 4468 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at pandorascollective.com.
THANKS A LOT EXPRESS-OH!
North Shore Writers' Association invite community & cultural co-creators: writers, dancers, musicians and artists, to join in this fun activity of giving thanks in this 2-hour workshop to expand upon and play with word prompts. Saturday, September 27 at 10:00am, free. North Vancouver City Library, 120 14th St. W., North Vancouver. More information at culturedays.ca.
BOOK SOME TIME FOR CRIME
an afternoon on the edge of your seat with four local mystery authors, Sam Wiebe, E.R. Brown, Robin Spano and Owen Laukkanen. Listen as they share their latest novels, then book a one-on-one session for answers to any of your burning mystery questions. Saturday, September 27 at 1:00pm, free. West Vancouver Memorial Library, 1950 Marine Drive, West Vancouver. More information at culturedays.ca.
Thursday, August 7, 2014
Book News Vol. 9 No. 23
BOOK NEWS
An Evening with Louise Penny
New York Times bestselling author, Louise Penny is back with her latest Chief Inspector Gamache book, The Long Way Home. Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/louisepenny.
Wednesday, September 3 at 7:30pm
St. Andrew's-Wesley United Church
Purchase tickets online: http://vancouvertix.artsclub.com/tickets/reserve.aspx?performanceNumber=12377&type=rentals
Click here (http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/louisepenny) for event details and to find out more about our special offer for bookclubs.
Join in a group re-read of the first nine books of Louise Penny's Chief Inspector Gamache series to prepare for the release of the latest book, The Long Way Home, http://gamacheseries.com/.
An Evening with David Mitchell
Cloud Atlas author David Mitchell talks to Hal Wake, the Vancouver Writers Fest's Artistic Director, and reads from his new novel, The Bone Clocks.
Saturday, September 27 at 7:30pm
St. Andrew's-Wesley United Church
Purchase tickets online: http://vancouvertix.artsclub.com/tickets/reserve.aspx?performanceNumber=12382&type=rentals
Click here (http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/davidmitchell) for event details and to find out more about our special offer for bookclubs.
Stickboy: From Page To Stage
Join us for an enlightening conversation about the process of transforming Stickboy, a book by world-renowned spoken word artist Shane Koyczan, into a contemporary opera. Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/stickboy.
Tuesday, October 7 at 7:30pm
Frederic Wood Theatre, UBC
Purchase tickets online: http://vancouvertix.artsclub.com/tickets/reserve.aspx?performanceNumber=12580&type=rentals
Click here (http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/stickboy) for event details and to find out more about our special offer for bookclubs.
Bruce Cockburn
Legendary Canadian singer and songwriter Bruce Cockburn talks about his long-awaited memoir, Rumours of Glory.
Monday, November 10 at 7:30 pm
St. Andrew's-Wesley United Church
Purchase tickets online: http://vancouvertix.artsclub.com/tickets/reserve.aspx?performanceNumber=12385&type=rentals
Click here (http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/brucecockburn) for event details and to find out more about our special offer for bookclubs.
Conrad Black
From the acclaimed biographer and historian Conrad Black comes Rise to Greatness, a major new reexamination of the history of Canada—a revealing, groundbreaking account of the people and events that shaped a nation. Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/conradblack.
Thursday, November 13 at 7:30pm
St. Andrew's-Wesley United Church
Purchase tickets online: http://vancouvertix.artsclub.com/tickets/reserve.aspx?performanceNumber=12599&type=rentals
Click here (http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/conradblack) for event details and to find out more about our special offer for bookclubs.
Alan Doyle
Alan Doyle, singer-songwriter and front man of the Canadian band Great Big Sea, talks about his new memoir, Where I Belong.
Thursday, November 13 at 7:30 pm
Waterfront Theatre (1412 Cartwright Street, Granville Island)
Purchase tickets online: http://vancouvertix.artsclub.com/tickets/reserve.aspx?performanceNumber=12388&type=rentals
Click here (http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/alandoyle) for event details and to find out more about our special offer for bookclubs.
FESTIVAL
The 32nd annual Sunshine Coast Festival of the Written Arts runs from August 14-17, 2014. The festival features established literary stars and exciting, new voices including Angie Abdou, Steven Galloway, Linda Holeman, Heather O'Neill and Miriam Toews and a finale event with spoken word artists Jillian Christmas, Zaccheus Jackson and Brendan McLeod. Complete details at writersfestival.ca.
AWARDS & LISTS
The winners of the 2014 PEN Literary Awards have been announced. Among the chosen few were cultural critic James Wolcott, playwright David Rabe and poet Frank Bidart.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/style-blog/wp/2014/07/30/winners-of-the-2014-pen-literary-awards/
YOUNG READERS
Four lost Dr. Seuss stories are set to be republished this autumn. A "smooth-talking Grinch and a new adventure for the helpful elephant Horton" are just two of the characters that will appear in Horton and the Kwuggerbug and More Lost Stories.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jul/31/lost-dr-seuss-stories-republished-the-grinch-horton-the-elephant
NEWS & FEATURES
A century has officially passed since the outbreak of the First World War. "Chosen from 1,000 years of English writing about war, poet and Oxford professor Jon Stallworthy selects some of the best attempts to think through this most extreme of human experiences."
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jul/30/top-10-war-poems-first-world-war-jon-stallworthy
James Joyce's Ulysses is being adapted into a virtual reality game called 'In Ulysses.' In the game, players will experience the full effect of Joyce's stream of consciousness "as they step into the mind of Stephen Dedalus" going through the "infamously daunting" third chapter, 'Proteus.'
http://www.mhpbooks.com/the-ulysses-virtual-reality-game/
A number of books that made it onto last week's 2014 Booker Prize Longlist have yet to be released. Booksellers are frustrated, especially since the prize's official rules declare that nominated books must be made available within ten days of the announcement. "What's the point in keeping it [the prize] just for the publishing industry?"
http://www.mhpbooks.com/some-of-the-books-on-the-man-booker-longlist-arent-out-yet-is-that-a-problem/
And that's just one of the controversies surrounding this year's list. There's also the lack of women and Commonwealth writers, as well as notable omissions and unusual inclusions. Read more, here:
http://www.thebookseller.com/blogs/prize-fights.html
Do you hate internet slang? Do you believe that it's vandalizing our language?" As it turns out, "modern text-speak bears a striking resemblance to the system of abbreviations and shorthand present in medieval manuscripts."
http://www.salon.com/2014/08/03/the_truth_about_internet_slang_it_goes_way_back/
Forget abbreviations...apparently medieval manuscripts weren't so discerning in their content either. At least not the margins, which were often filled with "with imagery depicting everything from scatological humor to mythical beasts to sexually explicit satire."
http://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/naughty-nuns-flatulent-monks-and-other-surprises-of-sacred-medieval-manuscripts/
Have you ever been fictionalized? Michelle Huneven discusses the trauma of being written into someone else's book, here:
http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2014/07/28/youve-been-fictionalized/
"Read the signs. Identify the authors. Earn your Poetic License!" It was inevitable. As the MFA vs. NYC debate continues, it's only logical that a parody should have arisen called MFA vs. DMV.
http://blog.pshares.org/index.php/mfa-vs-dmv/
A social media campaign called #WeNeedDiverseBooks is just one of many that have been highlighting the lack of diversity in children's publishing. In this interview, Anjali Singh, editorial director of Other Press, discusses "cultivating politically important literature, seeking new voices, and race and class in publishing."
http://www.guernicamag.com/interviews/combing-the-edges/
Speaking of voices that are certainly not new (and most definitely dead, male and white), Shakespeare has come under criticism this week. After seeing King Lear in New York, American radio personality Ira Glass tweeted "Shakespeare sucks." Novelist Rebecca Mead responds to Glass and the "scourge of relatability", here:
http://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/scourge-relatability
David Sedaris recently wrote a piece in The New Yorker about his habit of picking up litter where he lives in the UK. Now, in recognition of his work, his local council is naming a garbage truck after him. Meet Pig Pen Sedaris.
http://www.mhpbooks.com/david-pig-pen-sedaris-is-hero-litter-picker-has-trash-truck-named-after-him/
The CBC is running a series on literary landmarks all across Canada. This week's feature is on Fredericton, New Brunswick. You can check out that link (and other landmarks in other cities), here:
http://www.cbc.ca/books/2014/08/literary-landmarks-fredericton-new-brunswick.html
BOOKS & WRITERS
Christine Fellows, a Winnipeg musician and adjunct creative-writing instructor at UBC, recently travelled through the Yukon as Dawson City Music Festival's songwriter-in-residence. She's interviewed about her northern-inspired poetry and music project, here:
http://www.quillandquire.com/book-culture/2014/07/29/first-listen-christine-fellows-northern-inspired-poetry-and-music-project/
In this month's New Yorker Fiction podcast, Tim Parks reads and discusses a story by Peter Stamm called Sweet Dreams. It is the tale of a young couple in the process of furnishing their apartment and trying to imagine their future together, highlighting "desires and anxieties, which are very much measured off against each other."
http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/fiction-podcast-tim-parks-reads-peter-stamm
The New Yorker's Poetry podcast has also been released. The August edition features Jennifer Michael Hecht reading Noctuary by Lucie Brock-Broido.
http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner
Siegried Sassoon's war diaries have been made available online as a part of a "remarkable archive of 4,100 handwritten pages digitized by the Cambridge University Library Project. Some of the notebooks still bear traces of mud from the battlefields, where Sassoon arrived in 1915."
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/02/books/siegfried-sassoons-world-war-i-diaries-become-available-online.html
Who would you invite over for a literary dinner? For author Amy Bloom, the answer would be Sappho, George Bernard Shaw and James Baldwin. She discusses her choices, and more, here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/03/books/review/amy-bloom-by-the-book.html
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is this week's guest on the Guardian book club podcast. She talks about her third novel, Americanah, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award, here:
http://www.theguardian.com/books/audio/2014/aug/01/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie-americanah-podcast
Are you feeling nostalgic for last year's Writers Fest? Over at CBC Radio, they've been rebroadcasting interviews with Anthony De Sa and Tomson Highway (among others!) You can check out all those episodes here:
http://www.cbc.ca/thenextchapter
COMMUNITY EVENTS
SUSAN K. FOREST
Vancouver author reads from her new kidsbook The Indigo Queen. Sunday, August 10 at 2:00pm, free. Please RSVP to http://eepurl.com/XSBz9. Seating is limited! Y'S Books, 4307 Main Street at 27th, Vancouver. More information at ysbookstore.blogspot.ca.
EVE LAZARUS
Author launches her latest book Sensational Vancouver. Tuesday, August 12 at 7:30pm, free. Vancouver Police Museum, 240 East Cordova, Vancouver. More information at anvilpress.com.
SILVER TOTEM OF SHAME
R.J. Harlick, author of the wilderness-based Meg Harris mystery series, will be discussing and reading from her latest book. Various dates and locations between August 12 and August 16. For more information, visit vpl.ca.
BC CRIME FICTION
Crime writers E.R. Brown, Sam Wiebe, and R.J. Harlick discuss how B.C.'s dark side plays into their most recent novels. Saturday, August 16 at 2:00pm. Book Warehouse, 4118 Main Street, Vancouver.
DEBORAH HARKNESS
Author presents the finale to her trilogy with the last book, The Book of Life. Monday, August 18 at 7:00pm. Chapters Metrotown, 4700 Kingsway, Burnaby. More information at 604-431-0463.
Upcoming
LAST OF THE INDEPENDENTS
Author Sam Wiebe launches his latest book Last of the Independents. Tuesday, September 2 at 7:00pm. Shebeen Whiskey House, 212 Carrall Street, Vancouver.
SEBASTIEN DE CASTELL
Fantasy author reads from his swashbuckling adventure novel Traitor's Blade and gives a talk on the use of swordplay in fantasy and historical literature. Thursday, September 4 at 7:00pm, free. Peter Kaye room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
DOUBLE ENTENDRE
An evening of fiction and poetry with Ann Eriksson reading from her new novel, High Clear Bell of Morning, and Gary Geddes reading selected poems from,"What Does a House Want? Monday, September 8 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
RONSDALE'S FALL POETRY
An evening of poetry with three award-winning B.C. poets: Garry Gottfriedson, Pamela Porter and Henry Rappaport—all with new collections to showcase. Wednesday, September 10 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia. More information at vpl.ca.
TWISTED POETS LITERARY SALON
Features Cynthia Flood and Elise Partridge plus open mic. Wednesday, September 10 at 7:00pm. Suggested donation at the door: $5. The Cottage Bistro, 4468 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at pandorascollective.com.
DEAD POETS READING SERIES
Five poets/readers/poetry-lovers/writers with extensive public reading experience read poems from one of their favourite dead poet's work. Sunday, September 14 at 3:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
SPOKEN INK READING SERIES
Diane Tucker reads from her new poetry collection, Bonsai Love. Tuesday, September 16 at 7:30pm, free. la Fontana Caffe, 101-3701 East Hastings Street, Burnaby. More information at burnabywritersnews.blogspot.ca.
BIRTH OF A RARE BOOK
Christopher Levenson, poet and author, will present with Peter Braun, Master Printer of New Leaf Editions, and Sigrid Albert, graphic artist, a discussion about the genesis of producing a rare book of poetry and etchings. Sunday, September 21 at 3:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
VANCOUVER IS ASHES
Vancouver Is Ashes is the first detailed exploration of a landmark, yet seldom revisited event in Vancouver's history. Lisa Anne Smith uses eye-witness accounts to investigate events of that pivotal day. Monday, September 22 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
WORD VANCOUVER
Festival promoting books and authors with free exhibits, performances, and hands-on activities for a wide range of ages and interests. September 24-28, 2014. Complete details at wordvancouver.ca.
TWISTED POETS LITERARY SALON
Pandora's Collective in conjunction with Word Vancouver features Rita Wong, Jami Macarty, Lilija Valis & Kevin Spenst plus open mic. Thursday, September 25 at 7:00pm. Suggested donation at the door: $5. The Cottage Bistro, 4468 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at pandorascollective.com.
An Evening with Louise Penny
New York Times bestselling author, Louise Penny is back with her latest Chief Inspector Gamache book, The Long Way Home. Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/louisepenny.
Wednesday, September 3 at 7:30pm
St. Andrew's-Wesley United Church
Purchase tickets online: http://vancouvertix.artsclub.com/tickets/reserve.aspx?performanceNumber=12377&type=rentals
Click here (http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/louisepenny) for event details and to find out more about our special offer for bookclubs.
Join in a group re-read of the first nine books of Louise Penny's Chief Inspector Gamache series to prepare for the release of the latest book, The Long Way Home, http://gamacheseries.com/.
An Evening with David Mitchell
Cloud Atlas author David Mitchell talks to Hal Wake, the Vancouver Writers Fest's Artistic Director, and reads from his new novel, The Bone Clocks.
Saturday, September 27 at 7:30pm
St. Andrew's-Wesley United Church
Purchase tickets online: http://vancouvertix.artsclub.com/tickets/reserve.aspx?performanceNumber=12382&type=rentals
Click here (http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/davidmitchell) for event details and to find out more about our special offer for bookclubs.
Stickboy: From Page To Stage
Join us for an enlightening conversation about the process of transforming Stickboy, a book by world-renowned spoken word artist Shane Koyczan, into a contemporary opera. Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/stickboy.
Tuesday, October 7 at 7:30pm
Frederic Wood Theatre, UBC
Purchase tickets online: http://vancouvertix.artsclub.com/tickets/reserve.aspx?performanceNumber=12580&type=rentals
Click here (http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/stickboy) for event details and to find out more about our special offer for bookclubs.
Bruce Cockburn
Legendary Canadian singer and songwriter Bruce Cockburn talks about his long-awaited memoir, Rumours of Glory.
Monday, November 10 at 7:30 pm
St. Andrew's-Wesley United Church
Purchase tickets online: http://vancouvertix.artsclub.com/tickets/reserve.aspx?performanceNumber=12385&type=rentals
Click here (http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/brucecockburn) for event details and to find out more about our special offer for bookclubs.
Conrad Black
From the acclaimed biographer and historian Conrad Black comes Rise to Greatness, a major new reexamination of the history of Canada—a revealing, groundbreaking account of the people and events that shaped a nation. Details: http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/conradblack.
Thursday, November 13 at 7:30pm
St. Andrew's-Wesley United Church
Purchase tickets online: http://vancouvertix.artsclub.com/tickets/reserve.aspx?performanceNumber=12599&type=rentals
Click here (http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/conradblack) for event details and to find out more about our special offer for bookclubs.
Alan Doyle
Alan Doyle, singer-songwriter and front man of the Canadian band Great Big Sea, talks about his new memoir, Where I Belong.
Thursday, November 13 at 7:30 pm
Waterfront Theatre (1412 Cartwright Street, Granville Island)
Purchase tickets online: http://vancouvertix.artsclub.com/tickets/reserve.aspx?performanceNumber=12388&type=rentals
Click here (http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/alandoyle) for event details and to find out more about our special offer for bookclubs.
FESTIVAL
The 32nd annual Sunshine Coast Festival of the Written Arts runs from August 14-17, 2014. The festival features established literary stars and exciting, new voices including Angie Abdou, Steven Galloway, Linda Holeman, Heather O'Neill and Miriam Toews and a finale event with spoken word artists Jillian Christmas, Zaccheus Jackson and Brendan McLeod. Complete details at writersfestival.ca.
AWARDS & LISTS
The winners of the 2014 PEN Literary Awards have been announced. Among the chosen few were cultural critic James Wolcott, playwright David Rabe and poet Frank Bidart.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/style-blog/wp/2014/07/30/winners-of-the-2014-pen-literary-awards/
YOUNG READERS
Four lost Dr. Seuss stories are set to be republished this autumn. A "smooth-talking Grinch and a new adventure for the helpful elephant Horton" are just two of the characters that will appear in Horton and the Kwuggerbug and More Lost Stories.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jul/31/lost-dr-seuss-stories-republished-the-grinch-horton-the-elephant
NEWS & FEATURES
A century has officially passed since the outbreak of the First World War. "Chosen from 1,000 years of English writing about war, poet and Oxford professor Jon Stallworthy selects some of the best attempts to think through this most extreme of human experiences."
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jul/30/top-10-war-poems-first-world-war-jon-stallworthy
James Joyce's Ulysses is being adapted into a virtual reality game called 'In Ulysses.' In the game, players will experience the full effect of Joyce's stream of consciousness "as they step into the mind of Stephen Dedalus" going through the "infamously daunting" third chapter, 'Proteus.'
http://www.mhpbooks.com/the-ulysses-virtual-reality-game/
A number of books that made it onto last week's 2014 Booker Prize Longlist have yet to be released. Booksellers are frustrated, especially since the prize's official rules declare that nominated books must be made available within ten days of the announcement. "What's the point in keeping it [the prize] just for the publishing industry?"
http://www.mhpbooks.com/some-of-the-books-on-the-man-booker-longlist-arent-out-yet-is-that-a-problem/
And that's just one of the controversies surrounding this year's list. There's also the lack of women and Commonwealth writers, as well as notable omissions and unusual inclusions. Read more, here:
http://www.thebookseller.com/blogs/prize-fights.html
Do you hate internet slang? Do you believe that it's vandalizing our language?" As it turns out, "modern text-speak bears a striking resemblance to the system of abbreviations and shorthand present in medieval manuscripts."
http://www.salon.com/2014/08/03/the_truth_about_internet_slang_it_goes_way_back/
Forget abbreviations...apparently medieval manuscripts weren't so discerning in their content either. At least not the margins, which were often filled with "with imagery depicting everything from scatological humor to mythical beasts to sexually explicit satire."
http://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/naughty-nuns-flatulent-monks-and-other-surprises-of-sacred-medieval-manuscripts/
Have you ever been fictionalized? Michelle Huneven discusses the trauma of being written into someone else's book, here:
http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2014/07/28/youve-been-fictionalized/
"Read the signs. Identify the authors. Earn your Poetic License!" It was inevitable. As the MFA vs. NYC debate continues, it's only logical that a parody should have arisen called MFA vs. DMV.
http://blog.pshares.org/index.php/mfa-vs-dmv/
A social media campaign called #WeNeedDiverseBooks is just one of many that have been highlighting the lack of diversity in children's publishing. In this interview, Anjali Singh, editorial director of Other Press, discusses "cultivating politically important literature, seeking new voices, and race and class in publishing."
http://www.guernicamag.com/interviews/combing-the-edges/
Speaking of voices that are certainly not new (and most definitely dead, male and white), Shakespeare has come under criticism this week. After seeing King Lear in New York, American radio personality Ira Glass tweeted "Shakespeare sucks." Novelist Rebecca Mead responds to Glass and the "scourge of relatability", here:
http://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/scourge-relatability
David Sedaris recently wrote a piece in The New Yorker about his habit of picking up litter where he lives in the UK. Now, in recognition of his work, his local council is naming a garbage truck after him. Meet Pig Pen Sedaris.
http://www.mhpbooks.com/david-pig-pen-sedaris-is-hero-litter-picker-has-trash-truck-named-after-him/
The CBC is running a series on literary landmarks all across Canada. This week's feature is on Fredericton, New Brunswick. You can check out that link (and other landmarks in other cities), here:
http://www.cbc.ca/books/2014/08/literary-landmarks-fredericton-new-brunswick.html
BOOKS & WRITERS
Christine Fellows, a Winnipeg musician and adjunct creative-writing instructor at UBC, recently travelled through the Yukon as Dawson City Music Festival's songwriter-in-residence. She's interviewed about her northern-inspired poetry and music project, here:
http://www.quillandquire.com/book-culture/2014/07/29/first-listen-christine-fellows-northern-inspired-poetry-and-music-project/
In this month's New Yorker Fiction podcast, Tim Parks reads and discusses a story by Peter Stamm called Sweet Dreams. It is the tale of a young couple in the process of furnishing their apartment and trying to imagine their future together, highlighting "desires and anxieties, which are very much measured off against each other."
http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/fiction-podcast-tim-parks-reads-peter-stamm
The New Yorker's Poetry podcast has also been released. The August edition features Jennifer Michael Hecht reading Noctuary by Lucie Brock-Broido.
http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner
Siegried Sassoon's war diaries have been made available online as a part of a "remarkable archive of 4,100 handwritten pages digitized by the Cambridge University Library Project. Some of the notebooks still bear traces of mud from the battlefields, where Sassoon arrived in 1915."
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/02/books/siegfried-sassoons-world-war-i-diaries-become-available-online.html
Who would you invite over for a literary dinner? For author Amy Bloom, the answer would be Sappho, George Bernard Shaw and James Baldwin. She discusses her choices, and more, here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/03/books/review/amy-bloom-by-the-book.html
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is this week's guest on the Guardian book club podcast. She talks about her third novel, Americanah, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award, here:
http://www.theguardian.com/books/audio/2014/aug/01/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie-americanah-podcast
Are you feeling nostalgic for last year's Writers Fest? Over at CBC Radio, they've been rebroadcasting interviews with Anthony De Sa and Tomson Highway (among others!) You can check out all those episodes here:
http://www.cbc.ca/thenextchapter
COMMUNITY EVENTS
SUSAN K. FOREST
Vancouver author reads from her new kidsbook The Indigo Queen. Sunday, August 10 at 2:00pm, free. Please RSVP to http://eepurl.com/XSBz9. Seating is limited! Y'S Books, 4307 Main Street at 27th, Vancouver. More information at ysbookstore.blogspot.ca.
EVE LAZARUS
Author launches her latest book Sensational Vancouver. Tuesday, August 12 at 7:30pm, free. Vancouver Police Museum, 240 East Cordova, Vancouver. More information at anvilpress.com.
SILVER TOTEM OF SHAME
R.J. Harlick, author of the wilderness-based Meg Harris mystery series, will be discussing and reading from her latest book. Various dates and locations between August 12 and August 16. For more information, visit vpl.ca.
BC CRIME FICTION
Crime writers E.R. Brown, Sam Wiebe, and R.J. Harlick discuss how B.C.'s dark side plays into their most recent novels. Saturday, August 16 at 2:00pm. Book Warehouse, 4118 Main Street, Vancouver.
DEBORAH HARKNESS
Author presents the finale to her trilogy with the last book, The Book of Life. Monday, August 18 at 7:00pm. Chapters Metrotown, 4700 Kingsway, Burnaby. More information at 604-431-0463.
Upcoming
LAST OF THE INDEPENDENTS
Author Sam Wiebe launches his latest book Last of the Independents. Tuesday, September 2 at 7:00pm. Shebeen Whiskey House, 212 Carrall Street, Vancouver.
SEBASTIEN DE CASTELL
Fantasy author reads from his swashbuckling adventure novel Traitor's Blade and gives a talk on the use of swordplay in fantasy and historical literature. Thursday, September 4 at 7:00pm, free. Peter Kaye room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
DOUBLE ENTENDRE
An evening of fiction and poetry with Ann Eriksson reading from her new novel, High Clear Bell of Morning, and Gary Geddes reading selected poems from,"What Does a House Want? Monday, September 8 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
RONSDALE'S FALL POETRY
An evening of poetry with three award-winning B.C. poets: Garry Gottfriedson, Pamela Porter and Henry Rappaport—all with new collections to showcase. Wednesday, September 10 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia. More information at vpl.ca.
TWISTED POETS LITERARY SALON
Features Cynthia Flood and Elise Partridge plus open mic. Wednesday, September 10 at 7:00pm. Suggested donation at the door: $5. The Cottage Bistro, 4468 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at pandorascollective.com.
DEAD POETS READING SERIES
Five poets/readers/poetry-lovers/writers with extensive public reading experience read poems from one of their favourite dead poet's work. Sunday, September 14 at 3:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
SPOKEN INK READING SERIES
Diane Tucker reads from her new poetry collection, Bonsai Love. Tuesday, September 16 at 7:30pm, free. la Fontana Caffe, 101-3701 East Hastings Street, Burnaby. More information at burnabywritersnews.blogspot.ca.
BIRTH OF A RARE BOOK
Christopher Levenson, poet and author, will present with Peter Braun, Master Printer of New Leaf Editions, and Sigrid Albert, graphic artist, a discussion about the genesis of producing a rare book of poetry and etchings. Sunday, September 21 at 3:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
VANCOUVER IS ASHES
Vancouver Is Ashes is the first detailed exploration of a landmark, yet seldom revisited event in Vancouver's history. Lisa Anne Smith uses eye-witness accounts to investigate events of that pivotal day. Monday, September 22 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. More information at vpl.ca.
WORD VANCOUVER
Festival promoting books and authors with free exhibits, performances, and hands-on activities for a wide range of ages and interests. September 24-28, 2014. Complete details at wordvancouver.ca.
TWISTED POETS LITERARY SALON
Pandora's Collective in conjunction with Word Vancouver features Rita Wong, Jami Macarty, Lilija Valis & Kevin Spenst plus open mic. Thursday, September 25 at 7:00pm. Suggested donation at the door: $5. The Cottage Bistro, 4468 Main Street, Vancouver. More information at pandorascollective.com.
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