September 27, 2010

Author of exposé on Vancouver’s missing women to present in Downtown Eastside

(September 27, 2010, Vancouver, BC)—Author Stevie Cameron will present the results of more than 10 years of investigation to Vancouver audiences on Oct. 6, at a free event showcasing her recently published book On the Farm: Robert William Pickton and the tragic story of Vancouver’s missing women. This will be Cameron’s first public presentation in western Canada.

In this special event preceding the Vancouver International Writers & Readers Festival later in October, Cameron will appear at the Japanese Hall, 475 Alexander St. in downtown Vancouver at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 6. The event is a joint presentation by the Festival in partnership with the Carnegie Centre and the Vancouver Japanese Language School and Japanese Hall.

On the Farm was finally published in late August following the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision to uphold the guilty verdict against serial killer Robert Pickton. A noted journalist and author, Cameron had been following the story of missing women from the Downtown Eastside since 1998. Although it was 2002 before Pickton was arrested, and 2008 before he was found guilty, Cameron followed the story relentlessly. However, it was not until the Supreme Court’s recent decision to uphold the guilty verdict that her book was able to be published.

Covering the case over more than a decade, Cameron had access not only to the story as it unfolded over many years in two British Columbia courthouses, but also to information unknown to the police such as from Pickton's long-time best friend, Lisa Yelds, and from several women who survived terrifying encounters with him.

Stevie Cameron is author of the national bestseller On the Take: Crime, Corruption and Greed in the Mulroney Years and The Last Amigo: Karlheinz Schreiber and the Anatomy of a Scandal, and the winner of the Crime Writers of Canada Arthur Ellis Award.

Following this special free event, the Writers Festival, held on Granville Island, will present some of the biggest names in writing in the world from Oct. 19 to 24. More than 100 authors, from Canada, the US, the UK, Italy, France, Ireland, Israel, Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines, will join thousands of readers at the annual festival. Tickets for events during the week of the Festival are on sale through VancouverTix by calling 604-629-VTIX (604-629-8849) or online at www.vancouvertix.com. Tickets are also available at the Writers Festival box office, 1398 Cartwright Street. Complete program details are available at www.writersfest.bc.ca.

For more information on the Festival, contact:
Judith Walker, Media Relations Manager – (604) 921-4029
media@writersfest.bc.ca
Vancouver International Writers Festival – October 19-24, 2010
www.writersfest.bc.ca
Twitter: http://twitter.com/VIWF