Vol. 2 No. 49
BOOK NEWS
Vancouver International Writers & Readers Festival events on sale! Tickets for the Duthie Lecture featuring Eleanor Wachtel and sixty-two other events with famous (and soon to be famous) authors from around the world are on sale now through Ticketmaster: www.ticketmaster.ca or at the VIWF box office, 1398 Cartwright Street (in person sales only). Event details at http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/2007festival/events.
The Vancouver International Writers Festival & Random House of Canada present a special event with Canadian author, journalist and activist Naomi Klein on October 4. Klein will talk about her new book The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, which examines the exploitation of disaster-shocked people and countries.
7:30 pm Thursday October 4
John Oliver Secondary School (*please note change of venue)
530 East 41st Ave.
Tickets $15/$13
Tickets are $15 or $13 for students/seniors and are on sale now through Ticketmaster: www.ticketmaster.ca or at the VIWF box office, 1398 Cartwright Street (in person sales only).
The Vancouver International Writers Festival, The Georgia Straight and Sophia Books present Stephen Marche, author of a groundbreaking anthology of fraudulent fiction Shining at the Bottom of the Sea, in conversation with The Georgia Straight's John Burns. Thursday, September 27, 7 p.m. Shabeen, 9 Gaoler's Mews.
AWARDS
The Scotiabank Giller Prize long list has been announced and of the 15 nominees, six will be appearing at the Festival in October: David Chariandy, Barbara Gowdy, Elizabeth Hay, Mary Novik, Michael Winter and Richard B. Wright.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070918.wgiller18/BNStory/Entertainment/home
Read a review of David Chariandy's debut novel, Soucouyant, in The Globe and Mail.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070915.BKBART15/TPStory/Entertainment/Books
Mary Novik's Conceit gets a rave review in Quill and Quire.
http://www.quillandquire.com/reviews/review.cfm?review_id=5709
BOOKS & WRITERS
Rebecca Wigod offers up a Fall Books preview in The Vancouver Sun.
http://canada.com.dose.ca/topics/entertainment/story.html?id=8236906d-efce-45e6-ac45-48bf3418565f
The editors of GQ and The New Yorker knew what they were doing when they sent short story writer George Saunders out to see the world. The result is a fabulous collection of essays titled The Braindead Megaphone.
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/257066
Yann Martel will appear in a Vancouver International Writers Festival special event on December 4th to promote the illustrated version of The Life of Pi. Tomislav Torjanac, a 35-year-old Croatian illustrator, was chosen from hundreds of artists who responded to the question "How do you picture Life of Pi?" In this article, Torjanac talks about seeing through Pi's eyes.
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/fiction/article2452877.ece
Will Ferguson is quoted as saying: "All my best ideas come when I'm drinking beer." Fortunately for Vancouver Festival-goers, Ferguson will be appearing alongside Todd Babiak and Jasper Fforde in an event held in the Granville Island Brewery's Taproom on Friday, October 19th. Follow the link to read an interview with Ferguson about his latest novel, Spanish Fly.
http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/entertainment/story.html?id=be1ca18b-fc78-4f15-8c64-597f94b845a5
The Tyee talks to Gail-Anderson-Dargatz about the impetus for her latest novel, Turtle Valley.
http://arts.independent.co.uk/books/features/article2959456.ece
Dave Eggers made sure the $250,000 cheque, awarded to him by the Heinz Foundation for his charitable venture to promote literacy was made out to his foundation 826. "If I got it," Eggers tells the Guardian, "it would be taxed by half, and half would go to Iraq." Read the interview here:
http://books.guardian.co.uk/interviews/story/0,,2169276,00.html
Debut novelist and Festival participant Ameen Merchant says his decision to focus on female characters in The Silent Raga "was an easy one." He talks with John Burns in this week's edition of The Georgia Straight.
http://www.straight.com/article-110410/ameen-merchant
The Globe and Mail calls 2007 Festival participant David Davidar's latest novel, The Solitude of Emperors, a kind of "compressed, Indian Great Expectations." David Davidar and Ameen Merchant will be appearing in an event on Friday, October 19th.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070915.BKDAVI15/TPStory/Entertainment/Books
In Peter Robinson's new book, Friend of the Devil, the author demonstrates the "rare ability to deal directly and openly with the nastiest aspects of life while avoiding graphic horror and any kind of titillation," writes The Globe and Mail. Come out and see Robinson at the upcoming Festival.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070915.BKDEVI15/TPStory/Entertainment/Books
Nancy Huston's Fault Lines, which was originally published in French and won France's Prix Femina in 2006, is a family saga told in four narratives, related by four 6-year-olds, in which the action moves backward from present day America to Nazi-era Germany. Huston will be appearing in two events at the Festival this fall.
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/257070
In his novel Hotel de Dream, Edmund White deals "elegantly with themes of literary influence, indebtedness and impersonation," writes The NY Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/16/books/review/Gee-t.html?_r=1&ref=books&oref=slogin
Ann Pachett's latest novel Run "shimmers with its author's rarefied eloquence, and with the deep resonance of her insights." Read the review in full in The NY Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/20/books/20masl.html?ref=books
CONTESTS
The Vancouver International Writer Festival annual Poetry & Short Story Contest invites submissions. Deadline is October 21 - for details visit www.writersfest.bc.ca.
Bookmark this! The 2007 CBC Literary Awards competition is now open and the deadline is approaching fast! The Awards celebrate original, unpublished works in 3 categories: short story, poetry, and creative nonfiction. Cash prizes total $60,000 and the winning entries are published in Air Canada's enRoute Magazine and get visibility offered by CBC. You have until November 1st, 2007 to try your luck or spread the word around you. Info/requests for entry forms: www.cbc.ca/literaryawards / 1-877-888-6788 (toll-free).
EVENTS
PLAY CHTHONICS
Readings by poets Catriona Strang (Busted) and Sina Queyras (Lemon Hound). Thursday, Sept. 20, 2007, 7:30 pm. Koerner Graduate Centre (6371 Crescent Rd., UBC). More information at playchthonics.blogspot.com/.
SOUCOUYANT
Arsenal Pulp Press presents the Vancouver launch of author David Chariandy's latest book. Thursday, Sept. 20, 2007, 8 pm. Free admission. The Annex (307 West Cordova). More information at www.arsenalpulp.com/.
GEORGE BOWERING
Reading by former poet laureate of Canada. Thursday, Sept. 20, 2007, 12:30 pm. Free admission. Capilano College Performing Arts Theatre (2055 Purcell Way, North Van.).
BOOK LAUNCH: KEN BELFORD AND FRED WAH
Poets Ken Belford (When Snakes Awaken) and Fred Wah (Articulations) launch their new works. Friday, Sept. 21, 2007, 7:30 pm. Free. People's Co-op Bookstore (1391 Commercial).
REDRESS DAY BOOK LAUNCH
The National Association of Japanese Canadians, the National Nikkei Museum & Heritage Centre, and the University of Toronto Press present the launch of Race, Racializatio, and Antiracism in Canada and Beyond with the editors Genevieve Fuji Johnson and Randy Enomoto. Saturday, Sept. 22, 2007, 6:30-8 pm. National Nikkei Museum and Heritage Centre (6688 Southoaks Cres., Burnaby). More information at 604-777-7000 ext. 109.
WORLD POETRY
Hosts Ariadne Sawyer and Alejandro Mujica-Olea present poets Addena Sumter-Freitag, Diane Laloge, Hernan Bravo, Shelley Haggard, Jacqueline Maire, and Katrina Pavlovsky. Monday, Sept. 24, 2007, 7:30 pm. Free. Alliance for the Arts (Suite 100, 938 Howe). More information at 604-526-4729.
DISMANTLING DISCONTENT: BUDDHA'S WAY THROUGH DARWIN'S WORLD
Professor Charles Fisher presents his book Dismantling Discontent: Buddha's Way Through Darwin's World, which examines human nature and meditation from an evolutionary perspective. Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2007, 3 pm. Chapters Bookstore (2505 Granville).
IT AIN'T EASY BOOK LAUNCH
Book launch of It Ain't Easy: Long John Baldry and the Birth of the British Blues by Paul Myers with a film screening of Long John Baldry: In the Shadow of the Blues. Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2007, 6-8 pm. Free. Yale Hotel (1300 Granville). More information at dm@douglas-mcintyre.com (RSVP).
IN PERSON: THE RIGHT HONOURABLE BRIAN MULRONEY
In a book that establishes the scale of his achievements and reveals him as a man of great charm, Memoirs allows Brian Mulroney to engage directly with the reader. This book is guaranteed to put the reader under the spell of not just a great Canadian, but a great storyteller as well. Tuesday, September 25th at 7:00 pm, Chapters Robson, Vancouver. Info: 604.682.4066.
PETER YARROW
Member of Peter, Paul & Mary performs a mini concert to launch his new picture book, Puff the Magic Dragon. Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2007, 7 pm. Tix $5 (redeemable toward purchase of book or store credit at Kidsbooks). St. James Community Square (3214 W. 10th).
STORY SLAM
Ten storytellers will compete for prizes and a place in the finals. Hosted by Ivan Penaluna. Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2007, 9 pm. Our Town Cafe (245 E. Broadway). More information at www.boltsoffiction.org/.
BRIGHT SCARVES OF HOURS BOOK LAUNCH
Palimpsest Press presents the launch of the second book of poems by Diane Tucker, Bright Scarves of Hours with special musical guests Rodney Decroo and Doug Sherlock. Thursday, Sept. 27, 2007, 7 pm. Cafe Montmartre (4362 Main St.). More information at 604-421-4931.
ALEXANDER MCCALL SMITH
Ikon Speaker Series presents Alexander McCall Smith, The Very Small Things of Life. Friday, September 28 at 8pm, 2007. Capilano College Performing Arts Theatre (2055 Purcell Way, North Vancouver). Tix & Info: 604.990.7810 or buy online at www.capcollege.bc.ca/theatre.
Upcoming
Vancouver International Writers & Readers Festival events on sale! Tickets for the Duthie Lecture featuring Eleanor Wachtel and sixty-two other events with famous (and soon to be famous) authors from around the world are on sale now through Ticketmaster: www.ticketmaster.ca or at the VIWF box office, 1398 Cartwright Street (in person sales only). Event details at http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/2007festival/events.
The Vancouver International Writers Festival & Random House of Canada present a special event with Canadian author, journalist and activist Naomi Klein on October 4. Klein will talk about her new book The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, which examines the exploitation of disaster-shocked people and countries.
7:30 pm Thursday October 4
John Oliver Secondary School (*please note change of venue)
530 East 41st Ave.
Tickets $15/$13
Tickets are $15 or $13 for students/seniors and are on sale now through Ticketmaster: www.ticketmaster.ca or at the VIWF box office, 1398 Cartwright Street (in person sales only).
The Vancouver International Writers Festival, The Georgia Straight and Sophia Books present Stephen Marche, author of a groundbreaking anthology of fraudulent fiction Shining at the Bottom of the Sea, in conversation with The Georgia Straight's John Burns. Thursday, September 27, 7 p.m. Shabeen, 9 Gaoler's Mews.
AWARDS
The Scotiabank Giller Prize long list has been announced and of the 15 nominees, six will be appearing at the Festival in October: David Chariandy, Barbara Gowdy, Elizabeth Hay, Mary Novik, Michael Winter and Richard B. Wright.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070918.wgiller18/BNStory/Entertainment/home
Read a review of David Chariandy's debut novel, Soucouyant, in The Globe and Mail.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070915.BKBART15/TPStory/Entertainment/Books
Mary Novik's Conceit gets a rave review in Quill and Quire.
http://www.quillandquire.com/reviews/review.cfm?review_id=5709
BOOKS & WRITERS
Rebecca Wigod offers up a Fall Books preview in The Vancouver Sun.
http://canada.com.dose.ca/topics/entertainment/story.html?id=8236906d-efce-45e6-ac45-48bf3418565f
The editors of GQ and The New Yorker knew what they were doing when they sent short story writer George Saunders out to see the world. The result is a fabulous collection of essays titled The Braindead Megaphone.
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/257066
Yann Martel will appear in a Vancouver International Writers Festival special event on December 4th to promote the illustrated version of The Life of Pi. Tomislav Torjanac, a 35-year-old Croatian illustrator, was chosen from hundreds of artists who responded to the question "How do you picture Life of Pi?" In this article, Torjanac talks about seeing through Pi's eyes.
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/fiction/article2452877.ece
Will Ferguson is quoted as saying: "All my best ideas come when I'm drinking beer." Fortunately for Vancouver Festival-goers, Ferguson will be appearing alongside Todd Babiak and Jasper Fforde in an event held in the Granville Island Brewery's Taproom on Friday, October 19th. Follow the link to read an interview with Ferguson about his latest novel, Spanish Fly.
http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/entertainment/story.html?id=be1ca18b-fc78-4f15-8c64-597f94b845a5
The Tyee talks to Gail-Anderson-Dargatz about the impetus for her latest novel, Turtle Valley.
http://arts.independent.co.uk/books/features/article2959456.ece
Dave Eggers made sure the $250,000 cheque, awarded to him by the Heinz Foundation for his charitable venture to promote literacy was made out to his foundation 826. "If I got it," Eggers tells the Guardian, "it would be taxed by half, and half would go to Iraq." Read the interview here:
http://books.guardian.co.uk/interviews/story/0,,2169276,00.html
Debut novelist and Festival participant Ameen Merchant says his decision to focus on female characters in The Silent Raga "was an easy one." He talks with John Burns in this week's edition of The Georgia Straight.
http://www.straight.com/article-110410/ameen-merchant
The Globe and Mail calls 2007 Festival participant David Davidar's latest novel, The Solitude of Emperors, a kind of "compressed, Indian Great Expectations." David Davidar and Ameen Merchant will be appearing in an event on Friday, October 19th.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070915.BKDAVI15/TPStory/Entertainment/Books
In Peter Robinson's new book, Friend of the Devil, the author demonstrates the "rare ability to deal directly and openly with the nastiest aspects of life while avoiding graphic horror and any kind of titillation," writes The Globe and Mail. Come out and see Robinson at the upcoming Festival.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070915.BKDEVI15/TPStory/Entertainment/Books
Nancy Huston's Fault Lines, which was originally published in French and won France's Prix Femina in 2006, is a family saga told in four narratives, related by four 6-year-olds, in which the action moves backward from present day America to Nazi-era Germany. Huston will be appearing in two events at the Festival this fall.
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/257070
In his novel Hotel de Dream, Edmund White deals "elegantly with themes of literary influence, indebtedness and impersonation," writes The NY Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/16/books/review/Gee-t.html?_r=1&ref=books&oref=slogin
Ann Pachett's latest novel Run "shimmers with its author's rarefied eloquence, and with the deep resonance of her insights." Read the review in full in The NY Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/20/books/20masl.html?ref=books
CONTESTS
The Vancouver International Writer Festival annual Poetry & Short Story Contest invites submissions. Deadline is October 21 - for details visit www.writersfest.bc.ca.
Bookmark this! The 2007 CBC Literary Awards competition is now open and the deadline is approaching fast! The Awards celebrate original, unpublished works in 3 categories: short story, poetry, and creative nonfiction. Cash prizes total $60,000 and the winning entries are published in Air Canada's enRoute Magazine and get visibility offered by CBC. You have until November 1st, 2007 to try your luck or spread the word around you. Info/requests for entry forms: www.cbc.ca/literaryawards / 1-877-888-6788 (toll-free).
EVENTS
PLAY CHTHONICS
Readings by poets Catriona Strang (Busted) and Sina Queyras (Lemon Hound). Thursday, Sept. 20, 2007, 7:30 pm. Koerner Graduate Centre (6371 Crescent Rd., UBC). More information at playchthonics.blogspot.com/.
SOUCOUYANT
Arsenal Pulp Press presents the Vancouver launch of author David Chariandy's latest book. Thursday, Sept. 20, 2007, 8 pm. Free admission. The Annex (307 West Cordova). More information at www.arsenalpulp.com/.
GEORGE BOWERING
Reading by former poet laureate of Canada. Thursday, Sept. 20, 2007, 12:30 pm. Free admission. Capilano College Performing Arts Theatre (2055 Purcell Way, North Van.).
BOOK LAUNCH: KEN BELFORD AND FRED WAH
Poets Ken Belford (When Snakes Awaken) and Fred Wah (Articulations) launch their new works. Friday, Sept. 21, 2007, 7:30 pm. Free. People's Co-op Bookstore (1391 Commercial).
REDRESS DAY BOOK LAUNCH
The National Association of Japanese Canadians, the National Nikkei Museum & Heritage Centre, and the University of Toronto Press present the launch of Race, Racializatio, and Antiracism in Canada and Beyond with the editors Genevieve Fuji Johnson and Randy Enomoto. Saturday, Sept. 22, 2007, 6:30-8 pm. National Nikkei Museum and Heritage Centre (6688 Southoaks Cres., Burnaby). More information at 604-777-7000 ext. 109.
WORLD POETRY
Hosts Ariadne Sawyer and Alejandro Mujica-Olea present poets Addena Sumter-Freitag, Diane Laloge, Hernan Bravo, Shelley Haggard, Jacqueline Maire, and Katrina Pavlovsky. Monday, Sept. 24, 2007, 7:30 pm. Free. Alliance for the Arts (Suite 100, 938 Howe). More information at 604-526-4729.
DISMANTLING DISCONTENT: BUDDHA'S WAY THROUGH DARWIN'S WORLD
Professor Charles Fisher presents his book Dismantling Discontent: Buddha's Way Through Darwin's World, which examines human nature and meditation from an evolutionary perspective. Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2007, 3 pm. Chapters Bookstore (2505 Granville).
IT AIN'T EASY BOOK LAUNCH
Book launch of It Ain't Easy: Long John Baldry and the Birth of the British Blues by Paul Myers with a film screening of Long John Baldry: In the Shadow of the Blues. Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2007, 6-8 pm. Free. Yale Hotel (1300 Granville). More information at dm@douglas-mcintyre.com (RSVP).
IN PERSON: THE RIGHT HONOURABLE BRIAN MULRONEY
In a book that establishes the scale of his achievements and reveals him as a man of great charm, Memoirs allows Brian Mulroney to engage directly with the reader. This book is guaranteed to put the reader under the spell of not just a great Canadian, but a great storyteller as well. Tuesday, September 25th at 7:00 pm, Chapters Robson, Vancouver. Info: 604.682.4066.
PETER YARROW
Member of Peter, Paul & Mary performs a mini concert to launch his new picture book, Puff the Magic Dragon. Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2007, 7 pm. Tix $5 (redeemable toward purchase of book or store credit at Kidsbooks). St. James Community Square (3214 W. 10th).
STORY SLAM
Ten storytellers will compete for prizes and a place in the finals. Hosted by Ivan Penaluna. Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2007, 9 pm. Our Town Cafe (245 E. Broadway). More information at www.boltsoffiction.org/.
BRIGHT SCARVES OF HOURS BOOK LAUNCH
Palimpsest Press presents the launch of the second book of poems by Diane Tucker, Bright Scarves of Hours with special musical guests Rodney Decroo and Doug Sherlock. Thursday, Sept. 27, 2007, 7 pm. Cafe Montmartre (4362 Main St.). More information at 604-421-4931.
ALEXANDER MCCALL SMITH
Ikon Speaker Series presents Alexander McCall Smith, The Very Small Things of Life. Friday, September 28 at 8pm, 2007. Capilano College Performing Arts Theatre (2055 Purcell Way, North Vancouver). Tix & Info: 604.990.7810 or buy online at www.capcollege.bc.ca/theatre.
Upcoming
IN PERSON: JACK WHYTE
Meet bestselling author Jack Whyte as he reads from and signs copies of Standard of Honor, the second in the Templar Trilogy. Saturday, September 29th at 2:00 pm. Chapters Langley (20015 Langley By-Pass, Unit 115 Langley, BC).
BILL STENSON
Bill Stenson's novel, Svoboda, (Thistledown Press) will be launched Saturday, September 29th, 7 p.m. at Fairfield United Church in Victoria. The novel is set in the 1950s and 60s and involves the Doukhobor culture. This will be a cultural event beginning with a performance by the Vancouver Island Doukhobor Choir and ending with an opportunity to try some traditional Doukhobor borscht. All are welcome and there is no admission fee.
PRISM INTERNATIONAL - FLEET WEEK LAUNCH PARTY
It's a new issue, a new look and a new year. Readings by Governor General Award nominee Elizabeth Bachinsky (Home of Sudden Service), Steven Galloway (Ascension), Ben Hart (PRISM international), Marcus Youssef (A Line in the Sand) , Amanda Lamarche (The Clichéist), Jane Silcott (CBC Literary Award Winner), Shannon Stewart (The Canadian Girl) and Clea Young (Journey Prize Anthology 18). Friday, October 5, 2007 at 8pm. Tickets are $12 and include a copy of the current issue. They are available by email at prism@interchange.ubc.ca, by phone at (604) 822-2514 and at the door. UBC Grad Centre Ballroom (6371 Crescent Road). Info: www.prismmagazine.ca.
Please email viwf@writersfest.bc.ca if you would like to unsubscribe from this email list.
Produced by the Book News Collective: Clea Young, Hal Wake, Brenda Berck, Ann McDonell, and Sandra Millard.
Hal Wake
Artistic Director
* * * * * * * * * * *
2007 Festival - 16 - 21 October inclusive
Vancouver International Writers Festival
Suite 202, 1398 Cartwright Street
Vancouver, BC V6H 3R8
Canada
p: 604 681 6330 x.102
f: 604 681 8400
e: hwake@writersfest.bc.ca
w: www.writersfest.bc.ca
