20
Insp i
Fam ily Fun
ertainm E nt
ent
rds
gW rin o
hop s, 1 w o rk s
5 0 a ut h o r s
, 1 0 0 re a d i ng s
A Free Festival of Reading & Writing Sunday, Sept. 27 – 11am–5pm Library Square
www.wordvancouver.ca
Vancouver's leading arts source.
Proud Media Sponsor
Word Vancouver 2015 STAY CONNECTED AT STRAIGHT.COM
Table of Contents
4 5
Welcome Festival Partners
Wednesday Programming
6
SFU Harbour Centre
Thursday Programming
8
The Cottage Bistro
Friday Programming
10 10 11 11
Christianne’s Lyceum Banyen Books & Sound Historic Joy Kogawa House CBC Studio 700
Saturday Programming
12
Vancouver Public Library
Sunday Programming 32 34 36
Outside the Library
Inside the Library
22 28 40 42 44 46 52 58 14 18 60 62
Schedule Site Map Exhibitor Marketplace Canada Writes Authors’ Words Family Stage Around the Site Kids’ Lit Kids’ Words Poetry On The Bus Magazine Words Writing Talks Word Talks Underground Words + Art In the Promenade
Thank you to our official bookseller, 32 Books & Gallery Meet authors after their readings and have your books autographed at the Official Bookseller’s Tent (T8). Personalized books make treasured gifts!
3
Welcome from the staff and board of Word Vancouver
Word Vancouver comes of age this year. 2015 is the 21st annual festival, and everything is still FREE! This year we are extremely proud to be launching the Family Stage. It will have entertainment and activities aimed at children and families, but will be fun for all. There will be storytelling, fun activities, improv, sessions in Spanish, and Fiddlin’ Frenzy will return to amaze us all. Also be sure to check out who will be reading from their favourite kids’ book. There will be the Kids’ Words tent with authors and illustrators reading from the children’s books they have created, plus a Kids’ Lit area where literacy organizations will have fun activities all day long. Spread the word to all your friends and family, and let them know there will be lots of programming for families. We hope to “help kids fall in love with books and reading” and create a whole new generation of readers. What is your favourite children’s book? There are exhibitors and presentations from the comics, ezine, and chapbook communities. You’ll find them in Underground Words + Art. Be inspired by the creativity you will discover. It will be in the Alice MacKay Room inside the library and down the stairs. So don’t miss it! Once again the festival is a five-day event. There are events on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday at the Cottage Bistro, Banyen Books & Sound, Christianne’s Lyceum, SFU Harbour Centre, and Historic Joy Kogawa House. There will also be the Pandora’s Collective Literary Awards Gala at CBC Studio 700 on Friday night. Of course Sunday remains the main event. From 11 am to 5 pm, check out exhibitors, buy some books, and enjoy the entertainment. Attend author readings of fiction and non-fiction in the Canada Writes and Authors’ Words tents, poetry readings On The Bus, readings and panel discussions in Magazine Words, readings on the CUPE Stage, and workshops downstairs on both Saturday and Sunday. We appeal to you to help us keep the festival free by bidding on Silent Auction items, buying merchandise, purchasing a membership, and making a donation. We appreciate your support in any form. Inspiring Words. That is what Word Vancouver is all about. Come join us!
4
Word Vancouver could not happen without the generous and enthusiastic support of our festival partners:
We want to give a big thank you to all the sponsors, funders, members, exhibitors, organizations, institutions, individuals, and volunteers for their support and commitment to the festival; it happens because of them. Word Vancouver also gratefully acknowledges the support of 32 Books & Gallery, Banyen Books & Sound, CBC Studio 700, Christianne’s Lyceum, The Cottage Bistro, Historic Joy Kogawa House, Literary Press Group, Panago, Pandora’s Collective, SFU Harbour Centre, and the Vancouver Public Library. Word Vancouver is made possible with the support of many individuals, businesses, and organizations, including Louis Anctil, Anvil Press, Polly Argo, Margo Bates, the Canadian Authors Association, Andrew Chesham, Rod Clarke, Ian Cockfield, Richelle Collins, CWILL BC, Douglas College, Editors Association of Canada, EVENT Magazine, Heidi Greco, Gail Hanney, Natalie Hawryshkewich, Christianne Hayward, Brook Houglum, Landon Hoyt, Taryn Hubbard, Denis Hunter, Shelagh Jamieson, Sarah Johnson, Kim Koch, Langara College, Jason Lee, Rachel Lee, Jennifer Macdonald, the Magazine Association of BC, Deb McVittie, Ann-Marie Metten, Laura Moore, Masoud Moosaei, Todd Nickel, Bonnie Nish, Suzanne Norman, PRISM international, Margaret Reynolds, Ricepaper Magazine, Linda Richards, Room Magazine, SFU, Byron Sheardown, Lori Sherritt-Fleming, Kathryn Shoemaker, Sylvia Skene, Tanya Snyder, Jacob Steele, Anne Stone, Alicia Tallack, Chris Trittenbass, Charlie Tyrell, UBC, Darcy Vermeulen, Chris Ward, Leonard Wong, and all our donors. Staff Executive Director............................................. Bryan Pike General Manager...............................................Val Mason Communications Director...............................Karen Green Project Coordinator........................................ Kristie Poole Programming Team.................... Karen Green, Val Mason, Kristie Poole, and Bryan Pike Production Manager.........Roy Blyan, Xtendia Productions Volunteer Coordinator................................ Eleanor Milman Festival Assistants.........Lilly Lin and Anastasia Scherders Design & Illustrations................................ Kristen Johnson Program Guide............................................... Kristie Poole Proofreader................................................. Amy Haagsma
Board of Directors President............................................ Mary-Ann Yazedjian Vice-President................................................ Laura Farina Secretary.......................................................... Zoe Grams Treasurer................................................. Suzanne Norman At-Large....................................Louis Anctil, Trevor Battye, Jesse Donaldson, Samantha Fraenkel, Emily MacKinnon, Monica Miller, and Russell Wallace VPL Liaison................................................ Anne O’Shea
A National Annual Celebration Word Vancouver is proud to be part of the national celebration of the arts called Culture Days. Culture Days raises the awareness, accessibility, participation, and engagement of Canadians in the arts and cultural life of their communities. Culture Days is a non-profit organization dedicated to building a national network of cultural connections and devoted to providing Canadians with opportunities to participate in, and appreciate, all forms of arts and culture. Word Vancouver is produced by the non-profit charitable organization the Vancouver Book and Magazine Fair Society. The mandate of the society is to foster an awareness and appreciation of the printed word in our culture, promote the importance of literacy in the lives of Canadians, and involve the residents of Vancouver in an annual celebration of writing and reading. Donations to the society can be made on site or online, or mailed to our office: 901 – 207 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC V6B 1H7. All donations help keep the festival free and accessible to all. Tax receipts are available for donations of $20 or more. Federal Charitable #89896 1180 RR0001; BC Society Act #S33376 Contact us through our website, www.wordvancouver.ca, if you would like to volunteer or be a sponsor for the 2016 festival.
5
Wednesday September 23 Join us for a launch party at SFU Harbour Centre.
SFU Harbour Centre 515 West Hastings Street, Vancouver – Segal Conference Room
5:45 PM
Launch Party for The Revolving City: 51 Poems and the Stories Behind Them
Presented by SFU Public Square and Anvil Press
Join SFU Public Square and Anvil Press for the launch party of The Revolving City, as part of Word Vancouver and the 50th anniversary of Simon Fraser University. The Revolving City is a collection of poetry and short poetic essays where the physical, historical, cultural, and linguistic grounds of the urban experience are examined by each poet’s reflection on their own work. The book is co-edited by Wayde Compton and Renée Sarojini Saklikar. Program activities will include a reception, a celebratory cake, book-signing opportunities, and readings by Joanne Arnott, George Bowering, Daphne Marlatt, George Stanley, Fred Wah, and Betsy Warland. Hosted by SFU Public Square in collaboration with Lunch Poems at SFU and The Writer’s Studio. Register for free by Sunday, September 20, at sfu.ca/publicsquare/lunchpoems.
More Poetry Poetry fans will find plenty of readings and poetry presentations to enjoy during Word Vancouver! In addition to Wednesday’s programming, also check out Thursday’s programming (page 8) and Poetry On The Bus (page 52). You will also find a few poetry readings in Magazine Words (page 58), chapbook presentations in Underground Words + Art (page 60), and poetry for children in Kids’ Words (page 46)!
6
M
OFFICIAL SPONSOR
YES WE DO BOOKMARKS!
word2015.pdf 1 10/08/2015 6:16:01 PM
YOU ARE #DOWNTOWNVANCOUVER
M
Y
Y
Y
@ DOWNTOWNVAN
/DOWNTOWNVAN
Thursday September 24 Enjoy readings and an open mic session at The Cottage Bistro.
The Cottage Bistro 4470 Main Street, Vancouver
HOST: BONNIE NISH, PANDORA’S COLLECTIVE 7:00 PM Twisted Poets Literary Salon Presented by Pandora’s Collective with support from the League of Canadian Poets and the Canada Council for the Arts Share in an evening of literary surprises in an encouraging environment. Connect, read, and enjoy. An open mic session follows featured readings from Kate Braid and Elizabeth Bachinsky. All are welcome to attend and participate. Sign up for the open mic between 7:00 and 7:30 pm. The suggested donation for this event is $5 at the door. The Twisted Poets Literary Salon takes place on the second Wednesday and fourth Thursday of each month. Kate Braid has written, co-written, and edited 11 books of poetry and non-fiction. Her poetry has won or been nominated for various prizes including the Pat Lowther and Vancity awards. Elizabeth Bachinsky has written five books of poetry. Home of Sudden Service was nominated for a Governor General’s Award for poetry and was named one of the best books of 2006 in the Globe and Mail.
WIN!
A Library of Books Enter to win a library of nearly all of the books featured at this year’s festival. That’s enough reading for an entire year and great gifts for friends and family too! HOW DO YOU WIN? Both Info Tents (T1 and T16) on Sunday will have entry forms, and they will give you one if you give them a toonie. There will also be volunteers roaming around the site with forms. The form includes a very short survey about the festival, so you can help us to improve. Just drop your completed form in the containers provided, and you are entered in the draw. You will also become an official friend of the festival. It’s that simple!
8
proud
SUPPORTER of
WORD VANCOUVER
Host your next event at
Historic Joy Kogawa House We offer an intimate meeting place for groups of 15 to 25 people. Email to book your literary reading, book launch, writing workshop, or book-club discussion. Find out more at kogawahouse.com. Or email kogawahouse @yahoo.ca
1450 West 64th Avenue Vancouver
Now accepting registrations for Fall 2015.
Friday September 25 Join us for readings and book presentations at Christianne’s Lyceum and Banyen Books & Sound, Adventures in Songwriting at Historic Joy Kogawa House, and Pandora’s Collective Literary Awards Gala at CBC Studio 700.
Christianne’s Lyceum 3696 West 8th Avenue, Vancouver
6:00 PM Adventure Awaits! Presented by Christianne’s Lyceum We’re embarking on a literary adventure, and we’d love to have you as a travelling companion. Over the course of the evening, four children’s authors will share four remarkable stories that will have your imagination questing for letters, diving into teapots, escaping to the seaside to practise yoga, and exploring a fantastical new world. Once the sun goes down, children are invited to join us in the Lyceum’s garden for a magical glow-in-the-dark treasure hunt. Doesn’t every good adventurer return home with treasure? Our adventurous guides include Tiffany Stone, children’s poet and author of the picture book Teatime; Elisa Gutiérrez, illustrator, graphic designer, and author of Letter Lunch; Kathy Beliveau, yoga instructor and author of The Yoga Game by the Sea; and Lee Edward Födi, author and illustrator of The Chronicles of Kendra Kandlestar.
Banyen Books & Sound 3608 West 4th Avenue, Vancouver
6:30 PM
Kemila Zsange (Presentation & Book Signing) Past Life Regression (CreateSpace $25.00) Presented by Banyen Books & Sound Mental, emotional, spiritual, and even physical healing can take place in a past-life regression session. Join Kemila Zsange, RCCH, for a guided group experience of past-life regression, as well as an introduction to the key concepts and techniques of this modality. Kemila Zsange, RCCH, has professional training in clinical counselling-hypnotherapy and has a full-time hypnotherapist practice. She is a skillful guide and facilitator for the journeys of past-life regression, future-life progression, and in-between-lives regression. Besides working with individuals, Kemila facilitates ongoing group past-life regression sessions. She leads other workshops such as Metaphysical Hypnosis and Effective Intuition. She is a featured presenter at the annual conference of the Association of Registered Clinical Hypnotherapists of Canada.
More Author Readings Looking for more author readings? Be sure to check out Writing Talks on page 14, Canada Writes on page 22, and Authors’ Words on page 28.
10
Row 1: Tiffany Stone, Elisa Gutiérrez, Kathy Beliveau, Lee Edward Födi, Kemila Zsange, Grant Lawrence
Historic Joy Kogawa House 1450 West 64th Avenue, Vancouver
HOST: ANN-MARIE METTEN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR HISTORIC JOY KOGAWA HOUSE 7:30 PM
Adventures in Song and Story with Grant Lawrence
Presented by Historic Joy Kogawa House Join CBC personality Grant Lawrence in this intimate and interactive presentation on storytelling. Grant will share his own journey from his early days as a songwriter in a rock band in the 1990’s, then transitioning to an oral storyteller on CBC Radio, to his current status as an award-winning author of creative non-fiction. Grant will detail some of the adventures along the way that lead him to where he is now, his favourite storytelling exercises and tips, and how to best tell your own story or narrative. Limited seating! Grant Lawrence has long been a leading voice in Canadian arts and entertainment. He is a popular CBC personality on radio, television, and digital, having hosted the CBC Radio 3 Podcast for the past 10 years. The podcast has showcased thousands of independent Canadian musicians. Grant is also the author of two national bestsellers, Adventures In Solitude and The Lonely End of the Rink. He is also a Canadian Screen Award winner and the former lead singer of the Smugglers. He is married to musician Jill Barber, and they live together with their son Joshua.
CBC Studio 700 700 Hamilton Street, Vancouver
HOST: SEAN CRANBURY, LITERARY PROMOTER
Friday
7:30 PM Pandora’s Collective Literary Awards Gala Presented by Pandora’s Collective Pandora’s Collective, in conjunction with Word Vancouver, is proud to announce the return of Pandora’s Collective Literary Awards Gala. These awards are presented to those who, by their example and hard work, continue to maintain and foster the Vancouver literary community. This year’s award winners will be honoured at a special gala to be held on Friday, September 25, at CBC Studio 700. Doors open at 7:00 pm, event begins at 7:30 pm. Cash bar, silent auction.
Comics Galore If you’re a comics fan, there will be plenty for you to check out on Sunday, our main festival day! Underground Words + Art (page 60) will feature comics exhibitors as well as a panel and workshops. You will find even more comics programming in Writing Talks (page 14), including readings and a film screening!
11
Saturday September 26 Free professional development sessions on a variety of literary topics.
Vancouver Public Library 350 West Georgia Street, Vancouver
Alma VanDusen Room 11:00 AM Writing the Unexpected Presented by UBC’s Booming Ground As writers, how do we get out of our own way and allow ourselves to experiment, explore, and play? How can we turn free writing into poignant, accessible poetry and prose? Led by award-winning writer and Booming Ground mentor Alessandra Naccarato, this two-hour workshop will focus on writing the unexpected. Based on approaches used in Booming Ground, UBC’s non-credit creative writing program, participants will write new short works, redraft, and share their creations in a supportive atmosphere, taking part in feedback and group discussion. 1:15 PM
What Are the Outside Influences on Your Characters? with Bennett R. Coles
No character exists in a vacuum. Even in stories with only a single person, the lone character will have been influenced by outside factors prior to, and often during, the telling of the tale. This workshop is designed to show you how to accurately identify these influences and how to use them effectively to shape your character into a well-rounded, complex, and believable figure. Bennett R. Coles is an awardwinning author with Titan Books. He is also the publisher and CEO of the Victoriabased trade publisher Promontory Press. 3:00 PM
Wading into the Swamp: Getting Messy with Writing with Daniela Elza
This workshop will explore the messiness of first putting something down on paper. We will consider the importance of the generative process, engage your imagination, and discover what takes shape. There will be time to share. Bring pen and paper alongside your curiosity, questions, and passion. Daniela Elza has contributed to over 100 publications internationally. Her poetry collections are: the weight of dew, the book of It, and milk tooth bane bone, of which David Abram says: “Out of the ache of the present moment, Daniela Elza has crafted something spare and irresistible, an open armature for wonder.” Daniela lives and writes in Vancouver.
Writing Workshops Remember to bring paper and a pencil! This symbol indicates a writing workshop. See Writing Talks on page 14, Word Talks on page 18, and Underground Words + Art on page 60 for more hands-on events.
12
Row 1: Alessandra Naccarato, Bennett R. Coles, Daniela Elza, Robin Mitchell Cranfield, Scott Steedman, Ian Weir
Please note that workshops fill up quickly, so lining up early is recommended.
Peter Kaye Room 11:00 AM
Children’s Publishing Workshop with Robin Mitchell Cranfield
Presented by Publishing@SFU Have you always wanted to write a children’s book? Do you have questions about getting into children’s publishing? Bring your ideas, proposals, and questions to this one-on-one workshop. Sign up for a 10-minute session for some direct feedback and guidance on your project. Robin will be happy to talk to you about pitching your existing work to a publisher, what to expect when working with an editorial team, and developing your book for story apps. Just getting started? Robin will help you identify your audience and develop your practice. Robin Mitchell Cranfield is a book designer, writer, and illustrator specializing in children’s books. This fall, she is a visiting professor in the publishing program at SFU. She is also a faculty member at Emily Carr University of Art and Design. Jointly with Judith Steedman, she has published several children’s books and developed them into a series of award-winning story apps. To reserve your 10-minute session, we suggest you register in advance at info@rebuscreative.com. 12:30 PM
Non-Fiction Editing Workshop with Scott Steedman
Presented by Publishing@SFU Have you always wanted to write a non-fiction book? Are you working on a manuscript and need some help getting it into shape? Bring your ideas and questions to this one-on-one workshop for feedback and guidance. Scott will talk to you about the writing process, structuring your manuscript, and pitching to an agent or publisher. Scott Steedman is an editor and publishing consultant. He has worked in publishing for 28 years and has edited hundreds of books for publishers in the UK, France, and Canada. He is an adjunct professor in the publishing program at SFU. To reserve your 10-minute session, we suggest you register in advance at info@rebuscreative.com.
Crossing Boundaries: Writing in Different Genres with Ian Weir
Presented by Canadian Authors Vancouver Participants will learn how the structural principles of screenwriting apply to other writing forms and that “thinking like an actor” is a valuable tool for generating multi-dimensional characters. They will examine the challenges of adapting a story from one form to another and how to determine the ideal form for a new story concept. Ian Weir is a playwright, screenwriter, and novelist of Daniel O’Thunder and Will Starling, which was recently shortlisted for the Sunburst Award and was a Globe and Mail best book of 2014.
13
Saturday
3:00 PM
Sunday September 27 Writing Talks Writing workshops, author readings, and comics presentations.
11:00 AM
Inside, Downstairs Peter Kaye Room
Digital Publishing Strategies with John Maxwell
Presented by Publishing@SFU Interested in putting your work online? Or in ebook form? Wondering about all the different options and strategies? Bring your plans, questions, and concerns to this interactive workshop. We’ll discuss formats, channels, vendors, and strategies for meeting your goals. John Maxwell is associate professor in the publishing program at SFU, where his research and teaching are focused on the impact of digital technologies in the Canadian book and magazine industries. 12:10 PM
What Are Your Publishing Options? with Julie Salisbury
Presented by Influence Publishing The publishing industry is changing fast, and the options available for publishing your own book are getting more confusing every day. What is the difference between print on demand, hybrid publishing, self-publishing, and vanity press? What can you do to give your book the best chance for success in such a competitive market? Julie Salisbury is the founder and president of Influence Publishing and the founder and facilitator of the InspireABook program. Influence Publishing has published over 60 titles, including Conversations with a Rattlesnake by Stanley Cup hockey champion Theo Fleury, which sold over 20,000 copies in the first month following the launch. 1:20 PM
How to Captivate Readers through the Senses with Helen Polychronakos
Presented by SFU’s The Writer’s Studio Smell. Touch. Taste. Sound. Sight. Poetry and prose that engage all five senses through descriptive detail can enchant your readers, immersing them in your imagined world. Too much description, however, can bury the focal tension and blur the clarity of your writing. So how much detail is just right? In this interactive workshop, you will receive tips for striking this crucial balance. You will then apply those tips through writing exercises. We welcome all genres. Helen Polychronakos is an editor with Room Magazine. A graduate of The Writer’s Studio, she is currently an apprentice mentor in that program’s fiction group. Her poetry, prose, and non-fiction have appeared in Joyland, thetyee.ca, rabble.ca, Plenitude, Filling Station, and others. She has over 15 years’ teaching experience. Helen holds MAs in literature and in journalism.
More Writing Workshops See Saturday’s programming on page 12, Word Talks on page 18, and Underground Words + Art on page 60 for more hands-on events.
14
Please note that workshops fill up quickly, so lining up early is recommended. Row 1: John Maxwell, Julie Salisbury, Helen Polychronakos, Caroline Woodward, John Vaillant, David E. Boswell, Julian Lawrence; Row 2: Michael Kluckner
AUTHORS PRESENT HOST: MARGARET 2:30 PM Caroline Woodward (Lennard Island) Light Years: Memoir of a Modern Lighthouse Keeper
GALLAGHER, CBC
(Harbour Publishing $29.95) Caroline Woodward was itching for a change. Despite her established career in the book industry, she yearned to reignite her passion for writing. Light Years is Caroline’s story of what happened when she chose adventure over security to become a lighthouse keeper. Told with eloquent introspection and an eye for detail, she recounts the joys and challenges of living on the lights and portrays the practical aspects of pursuing a happy, healthy, useful, and creative life in isolation. Caroline Woodward is the author of four books, including Disturbing the Peace, which was nominated for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize. She lives on the Lennard Island Light Station. 3:00 PM
John Vaillant (Vancouver) The Jaguar’s Children (Vintage Canada $21.00)
Adopted by: First Choice Books
COMICS ARTISTS PRESENT HOST: BRIAN LYNCH, GEORGIA STRAIGHT 3:30 PM David E. Boswell (Vancouver) I Thought I Told You to Shut Up (Documentary Screening)
Join Reid Fleming, World’s Toughest Milkman comics artist David E. Boswell for a screening of the short documentary I Thought I Told You to Shut Up followed by a Q&A session. David E. Boswell is a comic book writer and artist, illustrator, and photographer based in Vancouver. David studied film at Sheridan College in Oakville, ON, where he graduated in 1974. After graduation, he attempted to earn a living as a cartoonist, and his first full-page comic, Heart Break Comics, was published in the Georgia Straight from 1977 to 1978. David moved to Vancouver in 1977, and in 1978, he launched Reid Fleming, World’s Toughest Milkman. In 2011, he was inducted into the Canadian Cartoonist Hall of Fame.
15
Writing Talks
Fleeing Mexico for a better life in the US, Hector and his friend Cesar pay to be smuggled across the border concealed in the tightly sealed, empty tank of a water truck packed with illegal migrants. Abandoned by the smugglers in the desert, they are left to die, their only lifeline Cesar’s phone. When Cesar slips into unconsciousness, Hector reaches out to the one name with an American code—AnniMac—who becomes his lifeline to the world. Finding the courage to survive is critical, even as hope dwindles. John Vaillant’s books, The Golden Spruce and The Tiger, were #1 national bestsellers. He has received many awards, including the Governor General’s Literary Award for Nonfiction.
Two Great Opportunities with The Humber School for Writers First: Need an intense creative lift? Some jet fuel for the literary mind? Try our one-week intensive creative writing workshop nestled in the heart of Toronto’s International Festival of Authors. OCTOBER 25– 30, 2015 AT HARBOURFRONT CENTRE, TORONTO
Second: Are you into a book-length project? Hunker down and write your book with us over 30 weeks. Work by correspondence with an experienced and insightful writer who acts as your advisor. STARTS JANUARY 2016 CORRESPONDENCE
Contact Hilary Higgins at hilary.higgins@humber.ca or at 416.675.6622 ext 3449 HumberSchoolforWriters.ca
Think AUTHOR Get a mini manuscript consultation with a Writer’s Studio graduate in the village at WORD.
Book your FREE 15-minute session: thewritersstudio.ca/word
sfu.ca/creative-writing
Julian Lawrence (Vancouver) The Adventures of Drippy the Newsboy Vol 1: Drippy’s Mama (Conundrum Press $12.00) In this first volume of a trilogy based on the writings of Stephen Crane, Vancouver artist and animator Julian Lawrence brings his iconic Drippy the Newsboy to life! Here the naive Drippy gets pulled into the world of the Forbidden Zone by Harry and his alcoholic pals. His papers do not get delivered, and his mother is concerned. But after his darling mother grows ill, Drippy sees the error of his ways. Julian Lawrence is an award-winning artist and illustrator specializing in comic books. Born in England and raised bilingual in Quebec, his work has been published and displayed internationally. Julian teaches courses in contemporary comics at Emily Carr University of Art and Design. 4:40 PM
Michael Kluckner (Vancouver) Toshiko (Midtown Press $19.95)
In 1944 in the BC Interior, a farm boy becomes curious about the predicament of two Japanese-Canadian teenagers marooned on a nearby farm with their families, unable to live in their former homes on the coast. His friendship with the girl, Toshiko, blossoms into a kind of Romeo-andJuliet romance, then a scandal. Thrown out of his house by his racist father, he sets off with her on a freight train bound for Vancouver. Toshiko is Michael Kluckner’s first graphic novel. His illustrated books include detailed histories of BC and Vancouver. He lives with his wife Christine Allen and volunteers as president of the Vancouver Historical Society.
Want More Comics? Check out Underground Words + Art on page 60!
Proud producers of Word Vancouver
Get your words on the streets. Langara PubLishing Program
Gain skills in writing, design, and web. Learn publishing tools and techniques in this hands-on one year program. Apply now. Start September. Learn more. publishing@langara.bc.ca www.langara.bc.ca/publishing
rebus n: a type of puzzle or visual pun in which a word is represented by pictures
Writing Talks
4:10 PM
Sunday, September 27 | Inside the Library
Word Talks Writing workshops and panel discussions.
11:00 AM
Inside, Downstairs Alma VanDusen Room
Getting Started and Staying Motivated as a Published Children’s Book Author
Presented by CWILL BC This panel of writers will discuss their experiences on the road to getting published and offer tips and tactics for aspiring writers of literature for children and young adults. Panelists include D.R. Graham, young adult and new adult author with HarperCollins and Entangled Publishing and columnist for the Richmond News; Janet M. Whyte, author of four novels for young people, as well as a chapter book, short fiction, and non-fiction; Mark David Smith, teacher and author of the teen historical adventure Caravaggio: Signed in Blood; and Aleesah Darlison, multi-published, awardwinning Australian author. Moderated by Lori Sherritt-Fleming, former president of CWILL BC and author of Hungry for Math: Poems to Munch On. www.cwill.bc.ca 12:10 PM
The Creative Process: Tips and Techniques for Mapping out Stories
Presented by CWILL BC Join this panel of four award-winning CWILL BC members as they discuss their individual creative processes for building stories and offer hands-on techniques and takeaways for aspiring children and young adult authors and illustrators. Featuring Lee Edward Födi, author and illustrator of books about magic, monsters, and mystery; Melanie Jackson, children’s and young adult mystery writer, freelance editor, and member of the Vancouver Sun’s book club; Lois Peterson, writer of young reader and teen novels, storyteller, and writing teacher; and Tiffany Stone, children’s poet and author of Teatime and Rainbow Shoes. Moderated by Lori Sherritt-Fleming, former president of CWILL BC and author of Hungry for Math: Poems to Munch On. www.cwill.bc.ca 1:20 PM
Life as an Editor: Exploring the Many Faces of Editing
Presented by Editors British Columbia Interested in becoming an editor? From freelance to in-house, from books and magazines to corporate, government, and artistic settings, editors work in all walks of life. Here’s your chance to meet some real-life editors, hear their stories, and get your questions answered about a career in editing. The panel includes Eric Damer, a freelance editor, writer, and researcher in the fields of education and history; Lesley Erickson, a historian and full-time production editor at UBC Press; Georgina Montgomery, a full-time editor for over 30 years and a partner at West Coast Editorial Associates; Eve Rickert, a certified professional editor and the mastermind behind Talk Science to Me; and Tiffany Sloan, a certified professional editor whose freelance work includes magazines, corporate communications, and custom publishing. www.editors.ca
Panel Discussions Join a panel of experts for a discussion on an awesome topic! This year, we have panels about comics, chapbooks, magazines, children’s publishing, and more! See Writing Talks (page 14), Word Talks (page 18), Magazine Words (page 58), and Underground Words + Art (page 60) to learn more!
18
Please note that workshops fill up quickly, so lining up early is recommended. Row 1: D.R. Graham, Janet M. Whyte, Mark David Smith, Aleesah Darlison, Lori Sherritt-Fleming, Lee Edward FĂśdi, Melanie Jackson; Row 2: Lois Peterson, Tiffany Stone, Eric Damer, Lesley Erickson, Georgina Montgomery, Eve Rickert, Tiffany Sloan; Row 3: Trevor Battye, Suzanne Norman, Lonnie Propas, E.R. Brown, Owen Laukkanen, Linda L. Richards, Glynis Whiting; Row 4: Sam Wiebe
2:30 PM
Establishing and Growing Your Digital Footprint with Trevor Battye and Suzanne Norman
3:45 PM Constructing Mysteries and Thrillers for the 21st Century Heading into 2016, crime fiction is sharper and hits closer to the bone than ever before. And fans have never been sharper. Join our panel of experts for a lively discussion on how the 21st century is shaping their vision and their craft. Moderator Lonnie Propas is the artistic director of CUFFED, the Vancouver International Crime Fiction Festival. Panelists include E.R. Brown, author of Almost Criminal; Owen Laukkanen, author of the Stevens and Windermere thrillers; Linda L. Richards, author of If It Bleeds and several others; Glynis Whiting, author of the Nosey Parker mysteries; and Sam Wiebe, author of Last of the Independents.
Magazine Programming Be sure to check out Magazine Words on page 58 for more magazine programming. Look for this symbol beside event listings elsewhere throughout the program guide too!
19
Word Talks
Presented by Publishing@SFU This workshop will walk you through the ins and outs of establishing a social media profile and give you the tools you need to expand your online presence. The number of books in print and digital format has increased exponentially, making discoverability the biggest challenge for authors today. We will review today’s publishing climate, identify key areas of social media, and walk you through the process of creating a strong digital footprint to help sell your book. Trevor Battye is a partner at Clevers Media, a consulting firm specializing in marketing, branding, and website development. Suzanne Norman is a lecturer in the publishing program at SFU.
Think INFLUENCE Become the heart of great writing
Editing Certificate • Study part-time in Vancouver or online • Learn from industry professionals • Prepare for certification through the Editors’ Association of Canada
sfu.ca/editing
Come get subTerrain’s new issue at Booth #T3 signed by feature illustrator David Boswell, Vancouver’s legendary creator of Reid Fleming: World’s Toughest Milkman. www.subterrain.ca
See ANDREW STRUTHERS read from
AROUND the WORLD on MINIMUM WAGE Sunday, September 27
An anti-discipline spirit in the tradition that might be considered a Canadian version of Hunter S. Thompson. —Vancouver Sun
NewStarBooks.com
HOT OFF THE PRESS!
OCTOBER 20 - 25, 2015 ON GRANVILLE ISLAND
PHOTO: DANNY PALMERLEE
PHOTO: KEVIN KELLY
100 plus writers, 89 events, thousands of readers like you.
Lawrence Hill
Wab Kinew
Nino Ricci
Vancouver Tix vancouvertix.com or 604 629 8849
WRITERSFEST.BC.CA
PHOTO: KATE NEIL
Kelly Link
Elaine Lui PHOTO: JOHN SINAL
PHOTO: KEVIN KELLY
PHOTO: KEVIN KELLY
Denise Mina
Elizabeth Hay
Paula Hawkins PHOTO: DEXTER CHEW
Roxane Gay PHOTO: SHARONA JACOBS
Sarah Dunant
PHOTO: MARK FRIED
Patrick de Witt PHOTO: JAY GRABIEC
Craig Davidson
Rich Terfry
John Vaillant
Sunday, September 27 | Homer Street
Canada Writes Experience a wide array of stories, ranging from comedy to tragedy, about near and far, the real and the imagined, and love and adventure.
Presented by: The Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund
WORDS AND THE WORLD HOST: SCOTT STEEDMAN, SFU Catherine Owen (Burnaby) The Other 23 & a Half Hours: Or Everything You Wanted to Know that Your MFA Didn’t Teach You (Wolsak and Wynn $20.00) 11:00 AM
In The Other 23 & a Half Hours, Catherine Owen excavates the terrain of Canadian poetry, daylighting the rivers of creativity buried within our writing community. From reviewers to radio hosts, translators to chapbook makers, she talks to the poets and writers who make literature happen at the grassroots. This collection of interviews and ideas is about what occurs before and after writers sit down at their desk, what inspires their writing, and what transpires after it’s finished. Catherine Owen is the author of 10 collections of poetry, including Frenzy, which won the Stephan G. Stephansson Award for Poetry. Her collection of memoirs and essays is called Catalysts: Confrontations with the muse. 11:20 AM
Josh Hergesheimer (Vancouver) The Flour Peddler: A Global Journey into Local Food from Canada to South Sudan (Caitlin Press $24.95)
From British Columbia to South Sudan, The Flour Peddler is the story of two community-minded entrepreneurs as they set out to build and deliver their bicycle-powered grain mill to a rural women’s cooperative in a tiny village. When war breaks out in South Sudan, their microcapitalism mission becomes a race to leave the country before violence makes escape impossible. Part grain-chain analysis, part bare-all exposé, The Flour Peddler explores the trends and issues of local food systems as well as the challenges and power of alternative food movements. Josh Hergesheimer is a photographer by passion and a journalist by trade. Before becoming an author, he worked as a janitor, tour guide, and sheep farmer. 11:40 AM
Stan Persky (Vancouver) Adopted by: Pulpfiction Books Post-Communist Stories: About Cities, Politics, Desires (Cormorant Books $24.95) Twenty-five years after the Berlin Wall was pulled down by Berliners fed up with the division of their city, Stan Persky returns to Eastern Europe. In essays informative and insightful, he illuminates what some consider the final act of the Second World War: the end of the occupation by the Soviets of Germany, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and the Baltic nations. Stan Persky is the author of more than 30 books. Born in Chicago, he now teaches philosophy at Capilano University in North Vancouver and divides his time between Vancouver and Berlin.
22
Row 1: Catherine Owen, Josh Hergesheimer, Stan Persky, Elizabeth McLean, Bonnie Reilly Schmidt, Shawn Curtis Stibbards, William Deverell; Row 2: Arthur Black, Andrew Struthers, Charles Demers, Emily Urquhart, Irina Kovalyova, Pauline Holdstock, George Bowering; Row 3: Michael V. Smith
WOMEN’S VOICES Elizabeth McLean (Vancouver) The Swallows Uncaged (Freehand Books $21.95)
HOST: MAEGAN THOMAS
12:10 PM
The Swallows Uncaged lays bare the spirited lives of the girls and women of Vietnam who, over the centuries, ventured to “lean in” against the reins of their Confucian culture. The book’s eight fictional narratives reimagine the passions and turmoils of wives and daughters who, at their humble post at the hearth, throbbed and schemed to quell the unjustness that blighted their lot and loved zestfully and wickedly. An assured debut from a writer with a knack for untangling knotty lives. Elizabeth McLean spent six years in Hanoi teaching, writing, and immersing herself in the culture of Vietnam. In 2011, she won the Impress Prize for New Writers in the UK.
Bonnie Reilly Schmidt (Langley) Silenced: The Untold Story of the Fight for Equality in the RCMP (Caitlin Press $24.95) In 1974, 32 women were hired as mounted police officers, but this was neither a beginning nor an end to women’s journey toward equality in the RCMP. Drawing on first-hand accounts, news reports, and archival resources, historian and former plainclothes RCMP officer Bonnie Reilly Schmidt offers an in-depth look into the history and carefully crafted image of this iconic institution. Silenced is the compelling true story of how women transformed not only their role in the RCMP, but our very notion of what it means to be Canadian. Bonnie Reilly Schmidt worked as a surveillance specialist with the RCMP between 1977 and 1987. Her award-winning research on female Mounties has appeared in several publications.
Looking for Kids and YA Readings? See Kids’ Words on page 46 for readings suitable for ages 0–12 and YA in Authors’ Words on page 28 for readings suitable for ages 12+.
23
Canada Writes
12:30 PM
CRIME AND SUSPENSE HOST: 1:00 PM Shawn Curtis Stibbards (North Vancouver) The Video Watcher (Biblioasis $19.95)
MIKE MCCARDELL, CTV
Listless, bored, alienated, and mistrustful, Trace has finished his first year of university and is living with a drunken aunt in North Vancouver. He divides his nights between slasher films and high-school house parties. When two old buddies resurface, however—one in a psych ward, the other on a paranoia bender—Trace’s careless existence becomes paralyzed by self-doubt. With its cast of brutally shallow characters, The Video Watcher is an American Psycho for the age of social disaffection. Shawn Curtis Stibbards is a schoolteacher who lives with his wife and three children. The Video Watcher is Stibbards’ debut novel.
1:20 PM
William Deverell (Pender Island) Sing a Worried Song (ECW Press $24.95)
Adopted by: Humber School for Writers
The sixth novel in the acclaimed Arthur Beauchamp series finds the lawyer happily retired from the law, remarried, and living a simple life on Garibaldi Island. Beauchamp’s peaceful existence is rocked, however, by the news that a convicted murderer whose case he successfully prosecuted is now out on parole and seeking revenge. Inspired by a real-life murder trial the author prosecuted in the late 1970s, Sing a Worried Song is a beautifully written and thrilling mystery sure to satisfy fans of this series. William Deverell has worked as a journalist and lawyer and is a founder of the BC Civil Liberties Association. He is the creator of CBC’s long-running television series Street Legal.
A LAUGHING MATTER HOST: HAL WAKE, VANCOUVER WRITERS FEST Arthur Black (Salt Spring Island) Adopted by: Writers Guild of Canada Paint the Town Black (Harbour Publishing $22.95) 1:50 PM
Like a shot of whisky, Arthur Black’s newest collection is sharp, invigorating, and gives a good kick. With his usual off-kilter perspective, Black tackles pressing topics of the day with trademark humour, including the sometimes fatal effects of poor penmanship and whether one-time mayor Walter Assef really did pat the Queen’s bum, or historical facts like the (horse) senator who literally ate gold for lunch. Pour yourself a glass of something strong and get ready to Paint the Town Black. One of Canada’s best-known humorists, Arthur Black is one of only two living authors to have won the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour three times.
2:10 PM
Andrew Struthers (Victoria) Adopted by: Liesl Jauk Around the World on Minimum Wage (New Star Books $24.00)
Canada Writes
In Around the World on Minimum Wage, Andrew Struthers delights and provokes with hilarious accounts of vivid encounters from his world travels— from Tofino, to Japan, to Tibet, and beyond—all animated by his singular storytelling ability, roguish sense of humour, and generous curiosity. This engaging foray into Eastern, Western, and Struthersian philosophy is beautifully presented in the visually rich layout of a Victorian-era travelogue, replete with illustrations by the author, an I Ching flipbook, and a hidden riddle. Andrew Struthers is a filmmaker and the author of The Last Voyage of the Loch Ryan and The Green Shadow. Born in Scotland, he now lives in BC.
More Author Readings Looking for more author readings? Be sure to check out Friday’s programming on page 10, Writing Talks on page 14, and Authors’ Words on page 28.
24
2:30 PM
Charles Demers (Vancouver) Adopted by: book’mark, The Library Store The Horrors: An A to Z of Funny Thoughts on Awful Things (Douglas & McIntyre $24.95) Comedian-author Charlie Demers offers his madcap perspective in a new collection of essays highlighting a wide range of topics under the heading of “Bad Things.” The Horrors is presented abecedarian-style, despoiling a beloved children’s book tradition in order to explore personal hang-ups that range from the slightly awkward to the downright terrible. Charles Demers is an author and stand-up comedian. His collection of essays, Vancouver Special, was shortlisted for the Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize. As a stand-up comic, he has performed for national television and radio audiences, and at the Just For Laughs festival. He is one of the most frequently returning stars of CBC Radio’s smash-hit comedy The Debaters.
SCIENCE AND THE HUMAN HEART HOST: JOE PLANTA 3:00 PM Emily Urquhart (Victoria) Adopted by: Anne Giardini Beyond the Pale: Folklore, Family and the Mystery of Our Hidden Genes (HarperAvenue $29.99) Emily is thrilled when her first child is born. Sadie is healthy and stunningly beautiful, with snow-white hair and fair skin. But soon a darker current begins to emerge, and Sadie is diagnosed with albinism, a rare genetic condition. Beyond the Pale is a brave, intimate investigation into the secret histories that each of us carries in our genes and an inspiring and beautiful memoir about parenting a child with a disability and building a better future for that child. Emily Urquhart has a doctorate in folklore from Memorial University of Newfoundland and undergraduate degrees in journalism and art history. Her work has appeared in numerous publications, and she won a National Magazine Award in 2014. 3:20 PM
Irina Kovalyova (Vancouver) Specimen (House of Anansi Press $19.95)
Adopted by: Pulpfiction Books
Inspired by a wide range of influences—including early 20th-century Russian avant-gardists, British science fiction and dystopian novels, and contemporary Canadian and American novelists—Specimen is a highly original collection of stories that explore the place where physical reality collides with our spiritual and emotional lives. It is stylistically varied, with settings that range from North Korea and Minsk to Vancouver and Gdansk, Kovalyova is a daring and confident new voice in Canadian fiction. Irina Kovalyova is currently a senior lecturer in the Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry at SFU. She was born in Russia.
A feral girl roams 19th-century France, stealing food and avoiding contact. Seen on one of her thieving missions, she is chased by suspicious townspeople to the edge of a deep gorge. The girl jumps and disappears— vanishing into village legend. On the other side of the gorge, on an abandoned estate, Peyre Rouff lives in self-imposed exile. When the wild girl breaches the careful world he has constructed, Peyre is forced to confront not only his choices and their consequences, but society itself. Pauline Holdstock is the award-winning author of six novels, including Into the Heart of the Country, which was longlisted for the 2012 Giller Prize.
25
Canada Writes
SOCIETY AND OURSELVES HOST: GEORGE MCWHIRTER, AUTHOR 3:50 PM Pauline Holdstock (North Saanich) Adopted by: CUPE The Hunter and the Wild Girl (Goose Lane Editions $32.95)
Meet these authors at WORD VANCOUVER
Robert Wiersema
Emily Urquhart
Kallie George
Jeremy Tankard
Edgemont Village, North Vancouver Ringside Market, Hornby Island 604-980-9032 info@32books.com
4:10 PM
George Bowering (Vancouver) Ten Women (Anvil Press $20.00)
Ten Women is George Bowering’s brand-new collection of short fiction. Each of these stories offers us a portrait of a woman with whom he may or may not have had either an intimate or a meaningful relationship. Depending on your proclivities, some of them might even seem pretty hot— like the lurid fantasies that illustrate the covers of paperback novels, the ethereal intellectual beauties that emanate from poetic fields of asphodels, or the petit bourgeoise housewives that litter Alice Munro stories. George Bowering has authored more than 100 books and chapbooks. His novel Burning Water won the Governor General’s Award, and his memoir Pinboy was shortlisted for the BC National Award for Canadian Non-fiction. 4:30 PM
Michael V. Smith (Kelowna) My Body Is Yours (Arsenal Pulp Press $17.95)
Adopted by: Bryan Pike
Michael traces his early years as an inadequate male—a fey kid growing up in a small town amid a blue-collar family, a sissy, an insecure teenager desperate to disappear, and an obsessive writer-performer, drawn to compulsions of alcohol, sex, reading, spending, work, and art as a means to cope and heal. Michael frankly discusses the blossoming of a queer sex and gender identity, accompanying behavioural addictions, and his difficult relationship with his father. Michael V. Smith is the author of two poetry collections and the novels Cumberland and Progress. He teaches creative writing in the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies at the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan campus.
John Pass
ECA
ƒ fro
m
Do
uglas Char & Mc l The Ho es Demer Intyr s∙[ rrors hum e ou
ƒ fro
m
ST
night
r]
∙
Cha
rao
rles
ul F
Dem
ers raou wood ern m l Fe anD a E t r ditio Transm nan t ra es Des itt n a Der matt er and Recei ∙ [poetry] ∙ s r rthu v r o e r r B a B ert Der What I “luC laCk Want t ∙ [FiCtion ky” B ] o ∙ Tell Go uDD ƒ fro C e s aro Like T mH l a i h n r i s e Wo bour arth oDW Publi u arD v i ƒ s roBe r BlaCk ∙ it o s h ing ur t inde r pend a b John t “luCky [humour] ∙ ent le in pub ” lish the ers’ Caro pass ∙ [poe BuDD ∙ [C Paint the To boo th w try] line hilD n Black ren’ ∙ Forec WooD s] ∙ a War s O t r ca Chi D ∙[ mem ef oir] ∙ Light Y SELE ears CT
sept
sun day,
ord
auth w
van
ors
7, 20 1
5
cou at ver emb er 2
FO R
Canada Writes
Adopted by: Friesens
Joh n Pa ss
ED E ARLY POE (1970 MS –1990 )
John Pass
FORECAST
SELECTED EARLY POEMS (1970–1990)
Sunday, September 27 | Homer Street
Authors’ Words Readings by fresh faces, new faces, and well-known voices for the literary scene.
YA WORDS
HOST: TBA
11:00 AM In Our Own Voice Contest Winners Presented by In Our Own Voice Contest and Book Anthology In Our Own Voice is the first annual writing contest and book anthology of creative fiction by Vancouver Island young writers in Grades 8–12. Morgan Cross was in Grade 11 at Vanier Secondary in Courtenay when she won first prize for Grades 11–12. Lucy Dabbs was in Grade 9 at Vanier Secondary when she won first prize for Grades 8–10. Andrew Jutte was in Grade 12 at Highland Secondary in Comox when he won honourable mention for Grades 11–12. Holly Moonen was in Grade 11 at Vanier Secondary School when she won second prize for Grades 11–12. Ashianna Ralynn was in Grade 12 at Vanier Secondary School when she won the poetry prize. 11:30 AM
Darren Groth (Vancouver) Are You Seeing Me? (Orca Book Publishers $19.95)
Twins Justine and Perry have left their home in Australia and embarked on the great Canadian adventure. For Perry, the trip is a celebration of his favorite obsessions: Ogopogo, Jackie Chan, and earthquakes. For Justine, it’s an opportunity to learn how to let go of Perry and to offer their mother atonement. Originally from Australia, Darren Groth now lives in Canada with his wife and children. Darren, a proud father of a son with autism spectrum disorder, is passionate about promoting awareness of ASD. Ages 12+.
SUPERNATURAL STORIES Rachel Hartman (Vancouver) Shadow Scale (Doubleday Canada $23.00) 12:00 PM
HOST: AARON BUSHKOWSKY, WRITER Adopted by: Vancouver Children’s Literature Roundtable
In this follow-up to the novel Seraphina, Seraphina has reason to fear both sides. An unusually gifted musician, she joins the court just as a member of the royal family is murdered. While a sinister plot to destroy the peace is uncovered, Seraphina struggles to protect the secret behind her musical gift, one so terrible that its discovery could mean her very life. Seraphina’s tortuous journey to self-acceptance will make a magical, indelible impression on its readers. Rachel Hartman is the recipient of the 2013 William C. Morris YA Debut Award. She lives with her family, their whippet, and a talking frog and salamander. Ages 12+.
12:20 PM
Kristi Charish (Port Coquitlam) Owl & the Japanese Circus (Gallery Books $22.00)
Ex-archaeology grad student turned international antiquities thief, Alix— Owl—has one rule: no supernatural jobs. Until she crosses paths with Mr. Kurosawa, a red dragon who owns the Japanese Circus Casino. He insists that Owl retrieve an artifact stolen 3,000 years ago and makes her an offer she can’t refuse: he’ll get rid of a pack of vampires that want her dead. A dragon is about the only entity on the planet that can deliver on Owl’s vampire problem. Kristi Charish holds a BSc and MSc in molecular biology and biochemistry from Simon Fraser University and a PhD in zoology from the University of British Columbia.
28
Row 1: Morgan Cross, Lucy Dabbs, Andrew Jutte, Holly Moonen, Darren Groth, Rachel Hartman, Kristi Charish; Row 2: Aislinn Hunter, Andrea Warner, Heather Haley, Robert J. Wiersema, Owen Laukkanen, Stella Harvey, Michael Christie; Row 3: Carellin Brooks, Ashley Little, Alix Hawley, Theresa Kishkan
12:40 PM
Aislinn Hunter (Vancouver) The World Before Us (Anchor Canada $21.00)
Adopted by: Monty Reid
When she was just 15, smart, sensitive Jane lived through a nightmare: she lost the sweet five-year-old girl she was minding during a walk in the woods. The little girl was never found, leaving her family, and Jane, devastated. Now the grown-up Jane is an archivist at a small London museum that is about to close for lack of funding. This riveting, gorgeously written novel powerfully reminds us of the possibility that we are less alone than we might think. Aislinn Hunter’s most recent novel, The World Before Us, was recently awarded the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize. Aislinn lives with her husband Glenn and two Border collies.
Between 1993 and 1997, Alanis Morissette, Shania Twain, Sarah McLachlan, and Céline Dion defied the odds to become some of the bestselling artists Canada has ever produced. As a teenager, Andrea Warner divided the four women into two camps: Morissette and McLachlan struck an empowering chord within her, but Dion and Twain seemed detrimental to the feminist she was becoming. Through personal, heartwarming, challenging, and exhilarating essays, Warner re-evaluates the impact of these women on her life, the climate in which they succeeded, and their legacies. Andrea Warner is a writer and associate producer at CBC Music. Her work has appeared in publications including the Georgia Straight and the Globe and Mail.
Not Just For Teens Books with this symbol are suitable for young adults, teens, and tween readers (as well as adults).
29
Authors’ Words
MUSICAL MUSINGS HOST: TBA 1:10 PM Andrea Warner (Vancouver) Adopted by: Pulpfiction Books We Oughta Know: How Four Women Ruled the ’90s and Changed Canadian Music (Eternal Cavalier Press $20.00)
1:30 PM
Heather Haley (Bowen Island) The Town Slut’s Daughter (Howe Sound Publishing $15.00)
Adopted by: Eponymous
Fiona Larochelle flees a harrowing home life only to land in Vancouver’s violently blazing punk-rock underground. Music provides a catalyst as she mines a talent for singing to form an all-girl band, the Virgin Marries. After the group breaks up, Fiona is forced to rebuild her dream. Amid the tumult of the LA riots, Fiona bolts from her cocaine-fueled marriage to a modern-day Bluebeard. Throughout it all, a fierce, indomitable spirit prevails. Trailblazing poet, musician, and media artist Heather Haley pushes boundaries by creatively integrating disciplines and genres. She is the author of poetry collections Sideways and Three Blocks West of Wonderland.
THRILLING TALES 2:00 PM Robert J. Wiersema (Victoria) Black Feathers (HarperCollins $24.99)
HOST: DAVID CHARIANDY, SFU Adopted by: Hager Books
Alone and living on the streets, 16-year-old runaway Cassie is drawn into a community of ragtag street dwellers led by the charismatic Brother Paul. As Cassie begins to find friendship and a sense of belonging within the group, the city is rocked by the murder of several young prostitutes. Under the spectre of a serial killer and questioning her own violent nature, Cassie spirals into complex dreamworlds where her past blurs with her present and nothing can be trusted. Robert J. Wiersema is a writer and reviewer who contributes regularly to several national newspapers. He is the author of Before I Wake, Bedtime Story, and Walk Like a Man.
2:20 PM
Owen Laukkanen (Vancouver) The Stolen Ones (G.P. Putnam’s Sons $31.00)
Adopted by: CUPE
A sheriff’s deputy steps outside a diner in the rain, sees something suspicious, and ends up shot dead in the mud. When BCA agent Kirk Stevens arrives on the scene, he finds a hysterical mystery woman holding the murder weapon: the deputy’s own gun. The mystery only deepens from there, as Stevens and Carla Windermere, his partner in the new joint BCA-FBI violent-crime task force, find themselves on the trail of a massive international kidnapping and prostitution operation. Owen Laukkanen is the author of The Professionals, Criminal Enterprise, and Kill Fee.
2:40 PM
Stella Harvey (Whistler) The Brink of Freedom (Signature Editions $22.95)
Authors’ Words
Every day, desperate people at the mercy of smugglers flee conflict zones, crossing the Mediterranean in the hopes of using Greece as the conduit to a better life elsewhere. Those who survive face yet more challenges, for the Greeks themselves, in an economic crisis worse than any in living memory, have neither the resources nor the will to play host to the constant influx of refugees. In The Brink of Freedom, we see how worlds collide when a young boy goes missing from a refugee camp in Athens. Stella Harvey founded the Whistler Writers Group, which produces the Whistler Writers Festival under her direction. Her first novel was Nicolai’s Daughters.
INTROSPECTIONS Michael Christie (Galiano Island) If I Fall, If I Die (McClelland & Stewart $29.95) 3:10 PM
HOST: JERRY WASSERMAN, UBC Adopted by: Pulpfiction Books
Will has never been Outside, at least not since he can remember. For most of his young life he has lived happily inside his small house with his mother, a fiercely loving yet wildly eccentric agoraphobe who panics at the thought of opening the front door. Clad in a hockey helmet to protect himself from unknown dangers, he finally ventures Outside. What he finds instead will change everything. Michael Christie’s first book, The Beggar’s Garden, was longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, was a finalist for the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize, and won the City of Vancouver Book Award.
30
3:30 PM
Carellin Brooks (Vancouver) One Hundred Days of Rain (BookThug $20.00)
Mourning her recent disastrous breakup, an unnamed narrator must rebuild a life from the bottom up. As she wakes each day to encounter Vancouver’s sky and city streets, the narrator notices that the rain, so apparently unchanging, is in fact kaleidoscopic. Her melancholic mood alike undergoes subtle variations that sometimes echo, sometimes contrast with her surroundings. Caught between the two poles of weather and mood, the narrator is not alone: whether riding the bus with her small child or searching for an apartment to rent, the world forever intrudes, as both a comfort and a torment. Rhodes Scholar Carellin Brooks is the author of Fresh Hell: Motherhood in Pieces, Every Inch a Woman, and Wreck Beach.
HISTORICAL FICTION AND MORE 4:00 PM Ashley Little (Vancouver) VPL Writer in Residence
HOST: VPL
Ashley Little received a BFA in creative writing and film studies from the University of Victoria and an MFA in creative writing from the University of British Columbia. Her first novel, Prick: Confessions of a Tattoo Artist, was a finalist for the ReLit Award and optioned for film. The New Normal won the Sheila A. Egoff Children’s Literature Prize. Ashley’s third novel, Anatomy of a Girl Gang, won the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, was a finalist for the City of Vancouver Book Award, was longlisted for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, and has been optioned for television. Ashley lives in BC’s Okanagan Valley.
4:20 PM
Alix Hawley (Kelowna) All True Not a Lie in It (Knopf Canada $29.95)
Adopted by: Pulpfiction Books
4:40 PM Theresa Kishkan (Sunshine Coast) Patrin (Mother Tongue Publishing $17.95) Patrin Szkandery, a young woman living in Victoria, BC, in the 1970s, restores an ancient quilt and travels to Czechoslovakia to trace her Roma history in the years of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The quilt proves to be both coded map and palimpsest of her extended family’s wandering through Moravia in the first decade of the 20th century. Patrin is a sensuous jewel of a novella and a moving glimpse into the grand themes of exile, love, and homecoming. Theresa Kishkan is the author of 11 books of poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction. Her award nominations include the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, the Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize, and the ReLit Award.
More Author Readings Looking for more author readings? Be sure to check out Friday’s programming on page 10, Writing Talks on page 14, and Canada Writes on page 22.
31
Authors’ Words
A new face of fiction for 2015, All True Not a Lie in It is pioneer Daniel Boone’s life, told in his voice. Startling, funny, poignant, romantic, and brawling, this is a tall tale like no other. Set during the American Revolutionary War, it hinges on Boone’s capture by the Shawnee. All True Not a Lie in It was recently awarded the Amazon.ca First Novel Award. Alix Hawley published a story collection, The Old Familiar, with Thistledown Press in 2008. She won the 2014 Canada Writes BloodLines competition and was runner-up for the CBC Literary Prize for short stories in 2012 and 2014. She teaches at Okanagan College.
Sunday Schedule Outside the Library
Canada Writes
12:00
Catherine Owen
Josh Hergesheimer
Stan Persky
In Our Own Voice Contest Winners
Darren Groth
Rachel Hartman
page 22
Authors’ Words
11:30
12:30
page 28
Family Stage
Dixie Star Storytelling
page 40
Sharon Shorty (VPL Storyteller in Residence)
Around the Site
1:30
Elizabeth McLean
Bonnie Reilly Schmidt
Shawn Curtis Stibbards
William Devere
Kristi Charish
Aislinn Hunter
Andrea Warner
Heathe Haley
Aleesah Darlison
Fortis BC
Dixie Star Storytelling
Spanish Story Time
Dragon Dance
page 42
Kids’ Lit
Mike McCardel
Mascall Dance
ALL-DAY ACTIVITIES: FortisBC Street Team, Spanish Activities with Maura Camino, Christianne’s Ly
page 44 Daniel Anctil
Kids’ Words
Deborah Hodge
page 46
Poetry On The Bus
World Poetry Reading Series
page 52
Jude Isabella
The Revolving City Reading
page 58
Inside the Library
Writing Talks
11:30
12:00
page 18
Underground Words
The City Series: Number One— Vancouver Reading
11:00
11:30
Sandy Shreve
12:30
Sara Gillingham
Daphne Marlatt
Robin Stevenson
Dina Del Bucchia Raoul Leah and Fernandes Horlic Daniel Zomparelli
PRISM Ais Laura and J
EVENT Magazine Alessandra Naccarato and Adrick Brock
1:00
1:30
How t th with H
What Are Your Publishing Options? with Julie Salisbury
Getting Started and Staying Motivated as a Published Children’s Book Author (Panel)
Word Talks
Philip Resnick
Room Magazine Daniela Elza and Meaghan Rondeau
Digital Publishing Strategies with John Maxwell
page 14
Robert “Lucky” Budd
Julie Flett
Kim Trainor
Pitch Perfect with Dan Post and AnnMarie MacKinnon
Magazine Words
page 60
Dixie Star Storytelling
1:00
The Chapbook: For Love or Money? (Panel)
12:00
The Creative Process: Tips and Techniques for Mapping out Stories (Panel)
Life as a Man
Comics Workshop for Beginners with David Lasky
12:30
1:00
C
1:30
Program guide accurate at time of printing. Check our website for more details: www.wordvancouver.ca.
32
See the site map on pages 34–35 for venue locations 2:00
2:30
3:00
3:30
4:00
4:30 5:00
m ell
Arthur Black
Andrew Struthers
Charles Demers
Emily Urquhart
Irina Kovalyova
Pauline Holdstock
George Bowering
Michael V. Smith
er y
Robert J. Wiersema
Owen Laukkanen
Stella Harvey
Michael Christie
Carellin Brooks
Ashley Little (VPL Writer in Residence)
Alix Hawley
Theresa Kishkan
ll
Grant Lawrence
Spanish Music Time
Vancouver Youth Theatre
Fortis BC
Kathryn Shoemaker
Vancouver Youth Theatre
Nan Gregory
Fiddlin’ Frenzy
yceum, Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association, WestCoast Families, Decoda Literacy Solutions, Frontier College
h ck
Katarina Jovanovic
Melanie Jackson
p
tr oe
Kallie George
Chelene Knight
Kevin Spenst
Jeremy Tankard
Jeff Steudel
Elena Johnson
How to Remain Relevant in a Rapidly Changing World (Panel)
Tiffany Stone
Robert Heidbreder
John Pass
Dead Poets Reading Series
Musings on the Poetic Process (Panel)
y in trans it
2:30
to Captivate Readers hrough the Senses Helen Polychronakos
3:00
Caroline Woodward
3:30
Comics: DIY and Self-Publishing (Panel)
2:30 Poetry in Transit
French Event
4:30 5:00
Julian Lawrence
Michael Kluckner
Constructing Mysteries and Thrillers for the 21st Century (Panel)
Visual Storytelling with Ken and Joan Steacy
3:00
4:00
David E. Boswell
John Vaillant
Establishing and Growing Your Digital Footprint with Trevor Battye and Suzanne Norman
an Editor: Exploring the ny Faces of Editing (Panel)
2:00
Aleesah Darlison
Lucas Crawford
Ricepaper Magazine Fred Wah, Fiona Tinwei Lam, and Leanne Dunic
2:00
Cascadia Reading
Brandee Bublé
Poetry in Transit
Amber Dawn
M international slinn Hunter, a Matwichuk, Jessie Jones
Troy Wilson
3:30 Spanish Event
Poems Fit to Print and Fold: A Chapbook Workshop with Kevin Spenst
4:00 Magazine Event
4:30 5:00 Writing Workshop
Young Adult
33
Site Map Sunday, September 27 Library Square
Home Kids’ Words
CUPE Stage
Canada Writes
Official Bookseller
B C A D
T12
T11
T10
T8
T
Auth
T9 Sign Info Tent
T16
Kids’ Lit
V1 t
Family Stage
T15
Writing Talks
Volu nte ers
Robson Street
T14
Word Talks
Promenade
P1 to P18
Vancouver
T he V illage Around the Library Building: V1 BC Creates V2 Happy Science V3 Society of Translators and Interpreters of BC V4 BC Association of Speech Language Pathologists and Audiologists V5 BC Book Prizes V6 Word Vancouver Memberships V7 Vancouver Writers Fest V8 Print It Go V9 Editors British Columbia V10 Association of Book Publishers of British Columbia V11 First Book Canada V12 Heather Conn
This symbol means the exhibitor is participating in the Book Bag Treasure Hunt. See page 39 to find out more. 34
Auth Wor
T13
O utside the L ibrary T1 Info Tent T2 Poetry On The Bus T3 Independent Publishers Tent: AllLitUp.ca/Literary Press Group | Anvil Press | Caitlin Press | Geist Foundation | Harbour Publishing/Douglas & McIntyre/ Nightwood Editions | Mother Tongue Publishing | Ronsdale Press | subTerrain Magazine T4 PRISM international | UBC Creative Writing T5 Magazine Words T6a Pacific Rim Magazine and Langara Journalism Review T6b Magazine Mews: A Long Story Short and Reader’s Carnival | Dance International | EVENT Magazine | Link Magazine | Portal Magazine | Ricepaper Magazine | Room Magazine | Magazine Association of BC T7 Authors’ Words T8 Official Bookseller: 32 Books & Gallery T9 Author Signing Tent T10 Canada Writes T11 CUPE Stage T12 Kids’ Words T13a Orca Book Publishers T13b New Star Books T13c Vivalogue Publishing T13d Simply Read Books | Tradewind Books T14 Kids’ Lit: Christianne’s Lyceum | Decoda Literacy Solutions | Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association | FortisBC | Frontier College | WestCoast Families T15 Family Stage T16 Info Tent
Exhibitors
I nside the library Upstairs:
er Street
hors’ rds
Magazine Magazine Independent Mews Words Exhibitors Publishers
T7
T5
A B
T4
Poetry On The Bus
T3
T6
T2
hor ning Tent Info Tent
T1
to V24
Silent Auction
West Georgia Street
A1, 2, 3 Underground Words + Art
Silent Auction P1 book’mark, The Library Store P2 Friends of the Vancouver Public Library P3 Vancouver Public Library Foundation P4–6 Vancouver Public Library P7 Historic Joy Kogawa House P8 Public Library InterLINK P9 Vancouver Public Library (Carnegie Branch) | Carnegie Newsletter P10 Vancouver Community College P11–13 SFU Writing and Communications Program P14–15 Westcoast Calligraphy Society P16 Lower Mainland Bookcrossing Meetup Group P17–18 Canadian Bookbinders and Book Artists Guild, BC Lower Mainland Chapter Downstairs:
Public Library
V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V19 V20 V21 V22 V23
Christian Science Reading Room Share International Barefoot Books | Wilderness Committee Sabina Khan | Sylvia Mennear Surrey International Writers’ Conference Humber School for Writers One Great Year Romance Writers of America, Greater Vancouver Chapter Midtown Press Knowledge First Financial Bnei Baruch Kabbalah Education & Research Institute
Word Talks Writing Talks A1 Canadian Authors Association (Vancouver) A2 Crime Writers of Canada A3 Underground Words + Art: Alexis Sugden | Ballast Canting | Camosun College | Colin Lorimer | Colin Upton Comics | Comic Legends Legal Defense Fund | Drippytown Manufacturing Concern | Ed Brisson | Fresh Brewed Illustration | Gustafson Chapbooks Series | The “How Did You Die?” Show: Fictional Tales for the Un-Dead | Jason Turner | Jonathon Dalton | Kevin Spenst and Raoul Fernandes | Leaf Press | Mother Tongue Publishing Chapbooks and Broadsides | Nina Matsumoto and Ian Boothby | Phantacea Publications | Rock, Paper, Cynic | Sean Karemaker | USNA Publishing Inc. | Vancouver Comic Con | West Ghost Publishing Inc. | Write with Lightning
Program guide accurate at time of printing. Check our website for more details: www.wordvancouver.ca.
35
Exhibitor Marketplace A Long Story Short and Reader’s Carnival bring you the very best in flash fiction. T6b Alexis Sugden is an Australian animator and comic creator currently living in Vancouver. A3 AllLitUp.ca | Literary Press Group AllLitUp.ca, a project of the Literacy Press Group, is a place for readers to discover, buy, and collect Canadian literature published by Canadian publishers. T3 Anvil Press publishes contemporary Canadian literature with a distinctly urban twist. T3 Association of Book Publishers of British Columbia represents the interests of BC-owned book publishing companies. V10 Ballast Canting Very short stories in handbound booklets. A3 Barefoot Books Our mission is to share stories, connect families, and inspire children with beautiful art and stories. V15 BC Association of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists shares resources on communication disorders and treatments, supporting BC’s speech, language, and hearing professionals. V4 BC Book Prizes celebrates the achievements of BC writers and publishers by producing the prizes, the provincial tour, and the Lieutenant Governor’s BC Book Prizes Gala. V5
36
BC Creates Let’s share our success stories about the BC film, television, music, digital media, book, and magazine publishing industries! V1 Bnei Baruch Kabbalah Education & Research Institute The largest Kabbalist group in Israel and around the globe, sharing the wisdom of Kabbalah with the entire world. V23 book’mark, The Library Store is a non-profit store raising funds for the Vancouver Public Library. P1 Caitlin Press Bridging the gap between the urban and the rural with the publication of diverse BC fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. T3 Camosun College Certificate program in comics and graphic novels. A3 Canadian Authors Association (Vancouver) A local writers’ organization with a strong national presence, encouraging and inspiring writers of all genres. A1 Canadian Bookbinders and Book Artists Guild, BC Lower Mainland Chapter We’re a group of bookbinders dedicated to developing a community of people with book art skills and interests. P17–18 Christian Science Reading Room Come study about spirituality and receive free copies of the Christian Science Monitor Weekly. V13
Christianne’s Lyceum brings together writers, artists, educators, and families to share the richness of story in its many forms. T14 Colin Lorimer is an Irish writer and artist for animation, video games, and comics, and an awardwinning storyboard artist. A3 Colin Upton Comics This year is the 30th anniversary of Colin’s first minicomic, Socialist Turtle, and he’s still at it. A3 Comic Legends Legal Defense Fund Providing legal support for Canadian comic book retailers, creators, publishers, and readers. www.clldf.ca. A3 Crime Writers of Canada is the national professional association for mystery, suspense, and true crime authors. A2 CUPE 391 Vancouver, Gibsons, and Sechelt Public Library Workers Libraries: foundations for strong communities. Representing 85,000 members, CUPE BC supports literacy, reading, and emerging technologies. T11 Dance International features all forms of contemporary and classical dance from Canada and around the world. T6b Decoda Literacy Solutions is the leading non-profit literacy organization in British Columbia. Visit decoda.ca. T14 Drippytown Manufacturing Concern When he’s not making, teaching, or sharing his love of comics, Julian enjoys baking cookies. A3
See site map on pages 34–35 for locations Ed Brisson Shuster Award–nominated comic book writer whose credits include Sheltered, Secret Avengers, and Sons of Anarchy. A3 Editors British Columbia promotes professional editing as key in producing effective communication. V9 EVENT Magazine From literary heavyweights to up-and-comers, over four decades of awardwinning fiction, poetry, non-fiction, notes on writing, and reviews. T6b First Book Canada provides access to free and low-cost books for children in need. V11 Fresh Brewed Illustration Headed by Josué Menjivar, Fresh Brewed Illustration has been creating illustrations, graphic design, and comics since 1998. A3 Friends of the Vancouver Public Library Members volunteer, fundraise, and advocate in support of the VPL and run book’mark, The Library Store. P2 Frontier College is a national, non-profit literacy organization bringing fun, engaging activities to underserved communities. T14 Geist Foundation Geist is the Canadian magazine that brings you the weird and wonderful from the world of words. T3 Gustafson Chapbooks Series publishes an annual poetry lecture by Canada’s premier poets: Dennis Lee, Michael Crummey, Don McKay, Dionne Brand, and others. A3
Happy Science provides you guideposts to happiness in both this world and the next. V2 Harbour Publishing/ Douglas & McIntyre/ Nightwood Editions Award-winning publishers of quality non-fiction, literary, and children’s titles. T3 Heather Conn Author of non-fiction and children’s fiction; freelance writer and editor in arts, business and environment; and writing coach. V12 Historic Joy Kogawa House Join us Friday evening for our satellite event with Grant Lawrence. P7 The “How Did You Die?” Show: Fictional Tales for the Un-Dead Art plus stories, and how a stapler can be used as a deadly weapon. A3 Humber School for Writers More than 320 of our graduates are now published authors! V18 Jason Turner Comics about love, birds, and Jason. A3 Jonathon Dalton draws comics for kids and adults about strange worlds, past and future. A3 Kevin Spenst and Raoul Fernandes will be writing poems and making chapbooks in front of your very eyes throughout the day. Their books will also be available. A3 Knowledge First Financial provides families with free information about saving for their children’s postsecondary education and the government grants available. V22
Leaf Press is an awardwinning chapbook publisher located on Vancouver Island. A3 Link Magazine A monthly publication of student ideas and culture, written and designed by students at BCIT. T6b Lower Mainland Bookcrossing Meetup Group A free gathering of book lovers. Bookcrossing gives a book a unique ID so it can be logged online and shared. Learn more at www.meetup.com/bcbooks. P16 Magazine Association of BC Nonprofit advocating for and supporting BC-based magazines. Will have magazine display and free subscription draws. T6b Midtown Press is a local publisher. We publish children’s books, history books, and some fiction. V21 Mother Tongue Publishing Salt Spring Island, home of great fiction, poetry, literary history and the unprecedented Unheralded Artists of BC series. T3 Mother Tongue Publishing Chapbooks and Broadsides From 1994 to 2007 Mother Tongue Press published 28 beautiful, limitededition chapbooks of Canadian poetry as well as letterpressed broadsides. See website. A3 New Star Books Publishing incendiary poetry and prose for over 40 years. T13b
37
Nina Matsumoto and Ian Boothby Eisner Award winners for best short story with Bongo Comics (The Simpsons and Futurama comics). A3 One Great Year is “Indiana Jones meets Eckhart Tolle!” Prepare for “enlightenment through entertainment!” V19 Orca Book Publishers is an independently owned Canadian children’s book publisher. T13a Pacific Rim Magazine and Langara Journalism Review showcase the talents of the Publishing and Journalism students of Langara. T6a Phantacea Publications In books and comics, the Phantacea Mythos has been chronicling efforts made by the gods and goddesses to return to paramountcy since 1977. A3 Portal Magazine is Vancouver Island University’s annual fullcolour 98-page literary magazine—20 years strong. T6b Print It Go Businesssolution service trusted by hundreds of business clients in Vancouver. Let’s work together. V8 PRISM international publishes the best in contemporary writing and translation from Canada and around the world. T4 Public Library InterLINK Borrow materials from any of the 18 InterLINK libraries using your local library card! P8 Ricepaper Magazine is an Asian-Canadian arts and culture magazine published quarterly in Vancouver, BC. T6b Rock, Paper, Cynic Awardwinning humour webcomic that celebrates the geeky things that make the world an interesting place to live, from dinosaurs to video games to philosophy. A3 38
Romance Writers of America, Greater Vancouver Chapter nurtures emerging writers and supports published writers. V20 Ronsdale Press Publisher of innovative Canadiana. T3 Room Magazine is a space where women writers and writers identifying as genderqueer can showcase their creativity. T6b Sabina Khan Realm of the Goddess is a young adult paranormal fantasy novel based on Indian mythology. V16 Sean Karemaker has been drawing Astronaut Journal for the last five years. He also shows narrative paintings and dioramas in local galleries. A3 SFU Writing and Communications Program Canada’s comprehensive professional and creative writing program, specializing in editing, public relations, business, and technical communication. P11–13 Share International New hope for humanity. Maitreya, the world teacher for the Age of Aquarius is here. V14 Simply Read Books is an award-winning publisher of children’s books. T13d Society of Translators and Interpreters of BC advocates for language professionals in the public’s interests. V3 subTerrain Magazine has been a source of “Strong Words for a Polite Nation” since 1988. T3 Surrey International Writers’ Conference Come see what people call the “best writers’ conference in Canada” is all about! siwc.ca V17 Sylvia Mennear Are you ready to daydream and go on a journey with Matt to another world? V16
Tradewind Books is a Vancouver publisher of fine books for young people. T13d UBC Creative Writing Offering world-class creative writing instruction on campus and online for over 50 years. T4 USNA Publishing Inc. USNA: The United States of North America (graphic novel). A future amalgamation. The Canadians rebel. A3 Vancouver Comic Con Vancouver’s bimonthly comic and collectables show. www. vancouvercomiccon.com A3 Vancouver Community College VCC is BC’s largest literacy institution, offering basic literacy to first-year university courses. P10 Vancouver Public Library is the most-visited major urban library per capita in Canada, and has been dedicated to meeting the lifelong learning, reading, and information needs of Vancouver residents for more than 100 years. Our vision is an informed, engaged and connected city. P4–6 Vancouver Public Library (Carnegie Branch) | Carnegie Newsletter Through literary events and the bi-monthly Carnegie newsletter, the Carnegie Centre supports creative writers in the Downtown Eastside. P9 Vancouver Public Library Foundation Dedicated to raising funds to support and enhance library programs for families, literacy for children, and opportunities for everyone to discover, create, and share ideas and information. Contact us to learn more! P3
Vancouver Writers Fest produces an annual international literary festival and events with writers year-round. V7 Vivalogue Publishing Comprehensive print and online publishing and editorial services for individuals, businesses, and non-profit organizations. T13c West Ghost Publishing Inc. Caretakers (graphic novel). A delightful ghostly tale featuring four teens searching for their missing baby sister. A3
Westcoast Calligraphy Society encourages the art of beautiful writing through classes, demonstrations, and exhibitions. P14–15 WestCoast Families THE local guide for active urban families—in print and online! T14 Wilderness Committee Come celebrate 35 years of wilderness preservation! Free educational reports and Take Action kits from Canada’s largest membership-based environmental group. V15
Word Vancouver Memberships Help keep the Word Vancouver festival FREE. Become a member and show your support. V6 Write with Lightning One-panel haiku and photography. Posted daily, often nerdy. @writelightning A3
This symbol indicates the exhibitor is participating in the Book Bag Treasure Hunt, this symbol indicates magazine exhibitors, and this symbol means the exhibitor has special subscription deals for Word Vancouver attendees!
Book Bag Treasure Hunt Collect treasure and explore the festival site! For only $20, you will receive a festival book bag for collecting treasure from participating festival exhibitors. This year, your bag comes stuffed with items to get your hunt started! You can purchase your book bag at the two Info Tents (T1 and T16) or from festival volunteers roaming around the site. There are a limited number available, so purchase yours early and don’t miss out! Participating exhibitors will be displaying the Book Bag Treasure Hunt sign at their table (this symbol also appears next to exhibitor names in the program guide). There will also be an official list in your book bag. Remember to be courteous to the exhibitors who are providing the treasure at their own expense to support the festival. Please be patient if they are busy with customers.
39
Sunday, September 27 | Robson Street
Family Stage Family-friendly entertainment all day long.
11:00 AM
Dixie Star Storytelling
11:20 AM
Sharon Shorty, VPL Storyteller in Residence
Dixie Star Storytelling fires the imagination of children and grown-ups alike with its innovative and interactive shows. The young company evokes a fantastical world through words, music, movement, and playful props, while inviting the audience to take part in creating some magic. Based in Vancouver, Lisa and Tim Sars of Dixie Star Storytelling animate family-friendly events throughout the year.
From the Tlingit, Northern Tutchone, and Norwegian people, Sharon Shorty was raised with the storytelling tradition of her southern Yukon community and mentored in this tradition by her grandmothers. A traditional storyteller for more than 25 years, Sharon has won numerous awards and fellowships as a storyteller, performer, and filmmaker. Sharon has garnered particular notoriety for her comedic, long-time regional favourite act, Gramma Susie.
11:45 AM Dixie Star Storytelling Dixie Star Storytelling fires the imagination of children and grown-ups alike with its innovative and interactive shows. 12:05 PM
Aleesah Darlison
12:30 PM
FortisBC’s Supernova’s
Award-winning Australian children’s author, Aleesah Darlison, introduces children to the amazing animals in the Aussie bush using soft toys, puppets, and crowd involvement. Learn about puggles, wombats, koalas, kangaroos, and more in this fun-filled, interactive session. Aleesah finishes with a reading of her hugely successful book, Puggle’s Problem. Giveaways included.
FortisBC’s Supernova’s know how awesome energy is and travel around the province sharing their knowledge. Come find out how to be safe and conserve energy at the same time.
12:45 PM Dixie Star Storytelling Dixie Star Storytelling fires the imagination of children and grown-ups alike with its innovative and interactive shows. 1:05 PM
40
Spanish Storytime with Maura Camino
Children and caregivers are welcome to join a storytime where the magic of storytelling and the art of early literacy combine to create a fun place to fall in love with words and language.
1:25 PM Children’s Book Reading with Mike McCardell Join Mike McCardell as he reads from one of his favourite children’s books. Mike McCardell—featured on CTV News’ “The Last Word”—is best known for his tongue-in-cheek investigative reporting and human-interest stories. He is also the author of 10 bestselling books. 1:40 PM Children’s Book Reading with Grant Lawrence Join Grant Lawrence as he reads from one of his favourite children’s books. Grant Lawrence is a CBC broadcaster, bestselling author, and two-time winner of the Bill Duthie Booksellers’ Choice Award for Adventures in Solitude and The Lonely End of the Rink. 2:00 PM
Vancouver Youth Theatre
Vancouver Youth Theatre presents an improvisational theatre experience. These sessions will include fun props, colourful costume pieces, and theme music with an interactive component for audience participants! VYT’s Teen Ensemble has a 32-year history of producing innovative, original productions created by youth. Kids’ Writes, the collaborative writing-acting program, celebrates its 33rd season of promoting literacy and artistic expression.
2:40 PM Spanish Music Time with Maura Camino Words, expressions, letters, songs, and stories are all part of this musical environment where children can sing, dance, play, and make fun instruments, all while learning and practicing Spanish in a fiesta de palabras! 3:00 PM FortisBC’s Supernova’s FortisBC’s Supernova’s know how awesome energy is and travel around the province sharing their knowledge. Come find out how to be safe and conserve energy at the same time.
3:30 PM Children’s Book Reading with Nan Gregory Join Nan Gregory as she reads from one of her favourite children’s books. Nan Gregory is a retired storyteller and children’s writer. She’s a great fan of children’s books! 3:50 PM Vancouver Youth Theatre Vancouver Youth Theatre presents an improvisational theatre experience. 4:30 PM
Fiddlin’ Frenzy
Fiddlin’ Frenzy has taken the Western competitive fiddle scene and talent shows by storm. In 2014, Kai won his first BC provincial championship. Kai and Lia Gronberg were invited to compete at the prestigious Canadian Grand Masters Fiddling Championship, which took place in Moncton, NB, this year. They have released three CDs, they’re number one on the ReverbNation local Celtic charts, and they have topped the national radio charts. They continue to compose their own tunes and travel across Canada competing and performing.
41
Family Stage
3:15 PM Children’s Book Reading with Kathryn Shoemaker Join Kathryn Shoemaker as she reads from one of her favourite children’s books. Kathryn E. Shoemaker, PhD, is a children’s book illustrator and author of over 40 books. She is a scholar and an adjunct professor who teaches children’s literature.
Sunday, September 27 | Around the Site
Around the Site Roving entertainment all over the festival site.
11:30 AM TO 12:00 PM
Dragon Dance
12:00 PM TO 3:00 PM
Mascall Dance
Gung HAGGIS Fat Choy dragon boat team performs an improvisational multicultural dragon dance. Created and led by “Toddish McWong,” literary and cultural activist, this dragon has made rare and auspicious dances at unlikely locations such as St. Patrick’s Day parades, dragon boat festivals, and the Gung HAGGIS Fat Choy Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner.
Mascall dancers Lara Barclay and Billy Marchenski concoct devious, outside-the-box scenarios resulting in witty, current, spontaneous dance/theatre when and where you least expect it. Lara Barclay, a graduate of the National Ballet School and the John Neumeier Hamburg Ballet School, has performed in Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Brazil, New York City, and Canada. Billy Marchenski, an SFU theatre graduate, has worked with battery opera, Kokoro Dance, Radix, the Leaky Heaven Circus, Theatre Terrific, Caravan Farm Theatre, Helen Walkley, Theatre Skam, Co.ERASGA Dance, and more. Mascall Dance, fuelled by Jennifer Mascall, is a creation and production company celebrating more than 25 seasons of investigating movement and possibilities for movement’s intersection with other mediums.
Readings at the CUPE Stage (T11) CUPE 391—representing public library workers in Vancouver, Gibsons, and Sechelt—is at Library Square again to promote its passion for connecting the public to literary resources by having author readings on its stage. 11:30 AM Matt Rader Matt Rader is the author of three collections of poetry and, most recently, the book of stories, What I Want to Tell Goes Like This. He teaches creative writing at the University of British Columbia Okanagan. 12:30 PM Chelene Knight Chelene Knight has been published in a variety of Canadian and American literary magazines. She is the poetry coordinator at Room Magazine. Her debut book is Braided Skin. 1:30 PM Elisabeth Kushner Elisabeth Kushner is a writer and children’s librarian living in Vancouver. The Purim Superhero is her first children’s book. 2:30 PM Angelica Poversky Angelica Poversky is 5'3" of vertically challenged creative passion frequently found using spoken words to transform incoherent to potentially tangible.
42
informed engaged connected Vancouver Public Library is a free place for everyone to discover, create, and share ideas and information. Join us! For more information: 604.331.3603 |
Since 1983 Longest run of original plays created with youth in Vancouver!
Pantone 315 C
Join the conversation
vpl.ca
@vpl
/vancouverpubliclibrary
32nd annual
April 2016
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS CMYK 100/0/10/45
Seven prize categories for fiction, poetry, children, illustrated, non-fiction, regional, and booksellers’ choice. Submission deadline is December 1, 2015. TEEN ENSEMBLE KIDS’ WRITES PLAYBUILDING IMPROV FILM/TV
vyt@shawbiz.ca phone: 604-877-0678 www.vyt.ca
Web 00/6F/8E
Nominations open for lifetime achievement award, The Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Literary Excellence. Submission deadline is January 31, 2016.
For submission details visit www.bcbookprizes.ca RGB 0/111/142
Sunday, September 27 | Robson Street
Kids’ Lit Fun, interactive family activities all day long.
ALL DAY
FortisBC Street Team
ALL DAY
Spanish Activities with Maura Camino
ALL DAY
Christianne’s Lyceum
ALL DAY
Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association
ALL DAY
Decoda Literacy Solutions
You’ll find fun when you find the FortisBC Street Team! They travel all over the province teaching kids to be safe around natural gas and, of course, conserve it. At Word Vancouver, you can play a game and find out awesome tips about energy. You’ll even get your own activity book to take home and read so you can practise fun, energy-saving tips with your family. Ever wonder what makes the water for your showers and baths hot and your rooms cozy and warm in winter? It’s natural gas from FortisBC. Every day, we deliver it safely and reliably to homes across BC, and our Street Team can help you use it more efficiently.
Bilingual Word Garden: Both Spanish and English speakers are welcome to garden with words and letters. All family members are invited to participate by reading, writing, and playing all together in activities and games such as Poem and Lyrics Treasure Hunt, Digging for Words, Pebbles Alphabet, Sensory Alphabet, and more. Multicultural Alphabet Tree: Everyone is welcome to have fun by being part of an art installation in which everybody adds to the Alphabet Tree with a single letter, or with any set of words, phrases, or poems that come to mind, in any language, and using any set of characters.
44
Join the staff and volunteers of Christianne’s Lyceum (Vancouver’s amazing community-based literature and art centre) to enjoy some word activities for the entire family. Help us dress the trees around the library in beautiful words, hunt for word treasure to turn into a sparkling poem, or write a fortune to add to our amazing (and incredibly accurate) fortune-telling machine. Making the world more beautiful, dazzling onlookers, predicting the future—words are basically superheroes, aren’t they?
Join the Downtown Ambassadors in the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association tent! There will be a photo wall you can take selfies at and a bubble station for kids to blow bubbles. The ambassadors will also be happy to provide general information and recommendations to festival attendees. You are encouraged to visit the Decoda Literacy Solutions table to try some fun activities that engage children and parents together. Parents are the most important influence on the development of children’s literacy. Decoda Literacy is the only province-wide literacy organization in British Columbia. For more information visit www.decoda.ca.
Kids’ Lit
ALL DAY Frontier College The Frontier College table will have some fun activities for kids! We will have a bookmark-making station, a book coin toss, and a jelly-bean guess where they can win a bundle of books! We will also be available to chat with parents and caregivers about tips for reading with their young learners. We are looking forward to engaging with our community on this important topic and helping foster a love of the written word! ALL DAY WestCoast Families Stop by to visit WestCoast Families at Word Vancouver to activate your child’s creative mind. We’ll have crafts and activities focused on literacy and reading, and there will be lots of magazines for you to take home too.
French and Spanish Events Look for these special symbols in the program guide for French and Spanish programming.
White Water Canoeing Down the River of Aboriginal Humour with Drew Hayden Taylor Date:
Wednesday, November 18th
6:30:
Join us for appies and refreshments
7:00:
Talk by Drew Hayden Taylor Copies of Me Artsy will be available for sale and signing
Originally from the Curve Lake First Nations in Central Ontario, Drew has spent the last two decades travelling the world and
Address: Radisson Hotel, 8181 Cambie Road, Richmond
Drew Hayden Taylor is the editor and compiler of Me Artsy. He is an awa An award-winning playwright, novelist, scriptwriter and journalist who was born and raised Lake First n c entral O playwright, author, the editor of Me Funny and Me Sexy (Douglas & McIntyre, 2006 and 2008 Other contributors include:
lecturer, Zacharias Kunukhe is a chas anadianmanaged i Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner c to bridge the gap between i
Sponsored by:
igloolik i c Apak Angirlirq, and the only non-Inuit, ex-New Yorker team member,
funny bone. Monique Mojica is an actor/playwright of Guna and Rappahannock desc
Tickets: $20
Proceeds to Decoda
historical/cultural memory and of resistance. She founded Chocolate Wo Chocolate Woman Dreams the Mil c G Upcoming projects include c hoctaw novelist and playwright and Circus Injuns Marianne Nicolson (‘t DREW HAYDEN TAYLOR, editor and Tickets are available at: First n compiler of n orthwest c ME ARTSY decoda.ca 604 681 4199 and culture and Western e
Paperback · $22.95 CDN 5½ x 8½ · B&W photos · 256 pages ISBN: 978-1-77162-070-3
S
She has complete of Fine Arts from Emily Carr University of Art and Design (1996), and a M Arts (1999), a masters in L Anthropology (2005) and a Ph. and Anthropology (2013) at the University of Victoria. She has exhibited
Sunday, September 27 | Homer Street
Kids’ Words Listen to fantastical fiction, rhythmic rhymes, adventurous anecdotes, and more. These readings are suitable for children aged 0–12, but are fun for all!
NATURE AND THE WORLD Daniel Anctil (Vancouver) L’Envol / Fly Fly (Midtown Press 19,95 $ / $19.95) 11:00 AM
HOST: MARGO BATES, AUTHOR Adopted by: Midtown Press
Un poème simple et répétitif, que l’auteur a écrit dans sa jeunesse, nous présente en action différents animaux et oiseaux de la côte du Pacifique jusqu’aux Rocheuses, du lever au coucher du soleil pour les lecteurs de 3 à 7 ans. Daniel Anctil a toujours été interpellé par le conte. Il écrit ici son premier livre jeunesse.
A simple and repetitive poem, which the author wrote in his youth, presents different animals and birds, from the Pacific Coast to the Rockies, from daybreak to sundown. It will appeal to readers from three to seven years old. Daniel Anctil has always been fascinated with the art of storytelling. This is his first book. Ages 3–7. 11:20 AM
Deborah Hodge (Vancouver) Adopted by: Robert Heidbreder West Coast Wild: A Nature Alphabet (Groundwood Books $18.95)
This stunning nature alphabet book explores the fascinating ecosystem of the Pacific Coast—a magnificent area that combines an ancient rainforest, a rugged beach, and a vast, open ocean where whales, bears, wolves, eagles, and a rich variety of marine species thrive in an interconnected web of life. Deborah Hodge, author of more than 25 books, specializes in writing engaging non-fiction for young readers. Many of her titles have received awards and have been published internationally. Ages 4–7.
11:40 AM
Jude Isabella (Victoria) The Red Bicycle (Kids Can Press $19.95)
Adopted by: KidsBooks
Leo rides his beloved red bicycle everywhere. He is devastated when he outgrows Big Red. But when Leo learns of a bicycle donation program, he perks up—someone who really needs his bike can give it a new life. Follow the bike as it travels to West Africa, where it helps people in Burkina Faso bring goods to the market and serves as a makeshift ambulance, proving that an ordinary bicycle can be truly extraordinary. Jude Isabella started writing kids’ books when she was managing editor of Yes Mag: Canada’s Science Magazine for Kids. She is the author of Chitchat. Ages 8–12.
ILLUSTRATED TALES Julie Flett (Vancouver) Dragonfly Kites (Fifth House Publishers $19.95) 12:10 PM
HOST: MARGARET GALLAGHER, CBC Adopted by: Kathryn Shoemaker
Written in English and Cree, Dragonfly Kites tells the story of Joe and Cody, two brothers who love flying dragonfly kites. They catch dragonflies and gently tie a length of thread around the middle of each dragonfly before letting it go. Off soar the dragonflies into the summer sky and off race the brothers, chasing after their dragonfly kites through trees and meadows and down to the beach before watching them disappear into the night sky. Julie Flett is an awardwinning author, illustrator, and artist. She is Cree-Métis. Julie creates stories for children that subtly explore the connections between language, culture, and nature. Ages 3–8.
46
Row 1: Daniel Anctil, Deborah Hodge, Jude Isabella, Julie Flett, Robert “Lucky” Budd, Sara Gillingham, Robin Stevenson; Row 2: Katarina Jovanovic, Melanie Jackson, Troy Wilson, Brandee Bublé, Aleesah Darlison, Kallie George, Jeremy Tankard; Row 3: Robert Heidbreder, Tiffany Stone
12:30 PM
Robert “Lucky” Budd (Victoria) Orca Chief (Harbour Publishing $19.95)
Thousands of years ago, four hunters leave their village, Kitkatla, to harvest food. But they do not treat the fishing grounds well, carelessly damaging the sea floor and harming the marine life. When Orca Chief discovers what they have done, he sends his warriors to reprimand the hunters and show them how to sustainably harvest the ocean’s resources. This third instalment of the Northwest Coast Legends will captivate readers with its vivid imagery and remarkable storytelling. Robert “Lucky” Budd has an MA in history and has digitized many prominent oral history collections. He co-authored the Northwest Coast Legends series and wrote bestseller Voices of British Columbia. Ages 4+.
Sara Gillingham (Sunshine Coast) Adopted by: KidsBooks Busy Baby: Friends and Busy Baby: Trucks (Chronicle Books $12.99)
In Busy Baby: Friends, Busy Baby can play, share, paint, and help clean up. In Busy Baby: Trucks, Busy Baby can race in a fire truck, use a cement mixer, and collect recycling. Whatever Busy Baby does, the most important thing is to make some new friends along the way. Both books will keep the very youngest readers busy reading, playing, and learning. Sara Gillingham is an award-winning art director, designer, and author-artist who has helped develop many bestselling books for children. Ages 0–2.
GROWING UP HOST: NAN GREGORY, STORYTELLER AND AUTHOR Robin Stevenson (Victoria) Adopted by: Kumon Capilano Mall The Summer We Saved the Bees (Orca Book Publishers $9.95) 1:20 PM
Wolf’s mother is obsessed with saving the world’s honeybees, so it’s not too surprising when she announces that she’s taking her “Save the Bees” show on the road—with the whole family. Wolf thinks it’s a terrible plan. He likes his alternative school and hates the idea of missing weeks of classes. His teenage stepsister doesn’t want to leave her boyfriend, and one of his little half-sisters has stopped talking altogether, but Wolf’s mom doesn’t seem to notice. It isn’t until the kids take some drastic action of their own that she is forced to listen to Wolf. Robin Stevenson is the author of more than a dozen books for children and teens. Ages 9–12. 47
Kids’ Words
12:50 PM
1:40 PM
Katarina Jovanovic (Vancouver) The Blue Vase (Tradewind Books $12.95)
Before and after school, Sonia stays with her next-door neighbour, Mrs. Kaminski, and her granddaughter, Marta. When Sonia accidentally breaks Mrs. Kaminski’s precious blue vase, Marta offers to keep it a secret for a price. But Sonia is not able to satisfy Marta’s escalating demands, and when Marta spreads lies about Sonia at school, her classmates taunt her. Finally, after a teacher discovers stolen property in Sonia’s knapsack, Sonia is forced to find the courage she needs to confront her bully. Katarina Jovanovic is a writer, teacher, journalist, and poet. She has won many awards for her poetry and worked for many years in children’s programming for Serbian radio. Ages 7-10 2:00 PM
Melanie Jackson (Vancouver) Eye Sore (Orca Book Publishers $9.95)
The last thing Chaz wants is to spend his summer working on his father’s Eye, a Ferris wheel with glass-bottomed gondolas set up to view scenic North Vancouver. More important, Chaz suffers from vertigo, and even the thought of the Eye makes him want to lose his lunch. But when a crowd of angry protestors and a mysterious vandal threaten his father’s dream and the family’s livelihood, Chaz is forced to overcome his own fears to help out. Melanie Jackson is a business/advertising writer and editor. A book reviewer for the Vancouver Sun, she is also a member of the Sun’s book club. Ages 10+.
ANIMALS AFTER LUNCH Troy Wilson (Victoria) The Duck Says (Scholastic Canada $16.99)
HOST: KATHRYN SHOEMAKER, AUTHOR
2:30 PM
Follow the duck in this madcap romp around the farmyard, which will have kids delighting in his clueless antics and witty wordplay. Bouncing rhymes are perfectly paired with colourful, exuberant art full of visual gags that will have readers laughing along and anticipating what will happen next. A little absurd, a lot slapstick, and all good fun, this is one to keep within arm’s reach at storytime. Troy Wilson is best known as the author of the acclaimed picture book Perfect Man. He has also written numerous kids’ stories for Chirp, Chickadee, and Highlights for Children. Ages 3–8. 2:50 PM
Brandee Bublé (Coquitlam) Jayde the Jaybird (Simply Read Books $18.95)
Adopted by: KidsBooks
Kids’ Words
In this fun, rhyming picture book, Jayde is an adorable jaybird with a tiny left wing and a big voice. Although it’s not easy keeping up with the others, her small wing doesn’t stop her from doing what she loves: singing. But Jayde is too shy to share her talent, even with her family. Come fly away with Jayde and see what happens when she finally gets the courage to sing loud enough for the whole forest to hear. Brandee Bublé is also the author of O’Shae the Octopus. She taught children with special needs for eight years, and that’s where her stories were born. Ages 4–9.
Looking for YA Readings? Books with this symbol are suitable for young adults, teens, and tween readers (as well as adults). See Authors’ Words on page 28 for YA readings!
48
3:10 PM
Aleesah Darlison (Australia) Spider Iggy (Wombat Books $24.95)
Adopted by: KidsBooks
Spider Iggy tells the story of a lonely little spider named Iggy who lives in the cold, grey city. Despite the fact that Iggy works day and night spinning his web into beautiful and intricate designs, no one ever notices. Determined to leave his “ho-hum” life behind, brave Iggy sets out on an adventure to find the one place he can finally fit in. Home. Aleesah Darlison is a multi-published, award-winning Australian author. Her story themes promote the concepts of courage, understanding, anti-bullying, love, self-belief, friendship, and teamwork. Ages 3–8. 3:30 PM
Kallie George (Vancouver) Adopted by: Adriane Carr The Magical Animal Adoption Agency, Book 1: Clover’s Luck (HarperCollins Publishers $16.99) Young Clover seems to have the worst luck—until she happens upon a help-wanted ad from an animal adoption agency. She soon discovers that it is a place like no other. Instead of regular pets, this agency houses magical creatures: fairy horses, unicorns, a young dragon with a temperamental snout. All of a sudden, Clover finds herself in a new world of wizards, princesses, and witches who will test her strength, courage, and luck. Kallie George is a children’s book editor and the author of several picture books, including Spark, a Junior Library Guild selection, and The Melancholic Mermaid, a Cybils Award nominee. Ages 7–10.
RHYTHM AND RHYMES Jeremy Tankard (Vancouver) Melvis and Elvis (HarperCollins Publishers $19.99)
HOST: MAEGAN THOMAS
4:20 PM
Adopted by: UBC Continuing Studies Writing Centre
4:00 PM
Adopted by: Robert Bittner
Robert Heidbreder (Vancouver) Song for a Summer Night (Groundwood Books $17.95)
As night falls on a soft summer evening, neighbourhood children are drawn out of their houses by the sights and sounds of the world after dark. First the fireflies come sparkling past, followed by a host of domestic and wild animals, from cats and dogs to owls and skunks. All the characters, both human and otherwise, have their moment on the nighttime stage, but eventually the curtain falls, and sleepiness beckons. Robert Heidbreder is an award-winning children’s poet and author. In 2002, he won the Prime Minister’s Award for Teaching Excellence. Ages 3–7. 4:40 PM
Tiffany Stone (Maple Ridge) Teatime (Simply Read Books $18.95)
Adopted by: Rene Groulx
In this charming rhyming picture book, a nighttime adventure begins when two friends share a cup of tea—by diving in off a teaspoon! They row sugar cubes to shore, slide down a teapot spout, and skate on a plate of cookies in a land of sweet surprises. The lilting rhymes and gorgeous illustrations make Teatime a classic storybook that brings to mind the poems of A Child’s Garden of Verses. Tiffany Stone is also the author of Floyd the Flamingo and His Flock of Friends, Baad Animals, and Rainbow Shoes. Ages 3–7. 49
Kids’ Words
Canadian kids-lit legend Dennis Lee’s first new children’s collection in more than a decade—in collaboration with bestselling illustrator Jeremy Tankard! Melvis and Elvis is classic Dennis Lee, with more than 30 new poems for fans of his beloved collections, including the perennial bestseller Alligator Pie. This irresistible blend of narrative, word play, and pure nonsense, combined with Jeremy Tankard’s whimsical and energetic illustrations, will appeal to both the very young and developing readers. Jeremy Tankard is an acclaimed author and illustrator whose bestselling picture books include Grumpy Bird, Boo Hoo Bird, and Here Comes Destructosaurus! Ages 3–8.
WestCoast Families is the premier local multimedia resource for active, community-minded families! WestCoast Families is a hub that connects families, businesses, and community organizations. Read us in print or online at
www.westcoastfamilies.com
A concert for voice, body and strings. Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR) violinist + composer Marc Bamuthi Joseph spoken word artist + activist
Fri Sept 25 2015 I 7:30pm
Presented by:
Telus Studio Theatre { Chan Centre at UBC} Tickets and info at chancentre.com
Sunday, September 27 | Homer Street
p
Poetry On The Bus try in transit oe
Readings of poems by established and emerging poets include various themes—BC, history, nature, love, relationships, introspection, and more!
HOSTS: ARIADNE SAWYER AND NASREEN PEJVACK 11:00 AM
World Poetry Celebrates the Persian Poet Hakim Omar Khayyám (1131–1048 BCE)
The World Poetry Reading Series and its venues provide a voice to those who need to be heard. There are over 500 poets from 64 countries in the Vancouver area and around 3,000 worldwide. Join Ariadne Sawyer and Nasreen Pejvack as they host featured-poet Afsaneh Salehi. Readings will be in both English and Farsi. HOST: RENÉE SAROJINI SAKLIKAR, LUNCH POEMS AT SFU
11:30 AM The Revolving City: 51 Poems and the Stories Behind Them (Anvil Press $18.00) The Revolving City is a collection of poetry and short poetic essays where the concept of urban experience is magnified by each poet’s reflection on their own work. Join four of the 51 poets in the book as they read and discuss their poems. Daniela Elza is the author of three books of poetry and is published in more than 30 periodicals and anthologies. Mercedes Eng is a teacher, writer, and author of Mercenary English (Cue Books, 2013). Mariner Janes is the author of The Monument Cycles (Talonbooks, 2013) and blueprint, a chapbook. Cecily Nicholson is the author of From the Poplars (Talonbooks, 2014) and winner of the 2015 Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize.
A HINT OF HISTORY Kim Trainor (Vancouver) Karyotype (Brick Books $20.00)
HOST: TBA
12:00 PM
At the heart of Karyotype is the Beauty of Loulan, a woman who lived 4,000 years ago, her body preserved in the cool, dry sands of the Taklamakan Desert. Karyotype’s poems range from the title sequence, which explores the DNA and woven textiles of this woman and her vanished people, to the firebombing of the National Library of Sarajevo; from an abecedarian hymn in the International Committee of the Red Cross’ Book of Belongings, to the experience of watching the televised invasion of Iraq in the dark of a Montreal night. Kim Trainor’s poetry has won the Ralph Gustafson Prize and the Malahat Review Long Poem Prize. Karyotype is her first poetry collection. 12:15 PM
Philip Resnick (Vancouver) Footsteps of the Past (Ronsdale Press $15.95)
This collection constitutes a powerful set of reflections on the modern human condition. Some poems deal with memory, recognition, and the slow passage of time, while others meditate on the deep wounds that chronic illness and disability instill. For the reader, this book will resonate in quite unpredictable ways, much like the ferry of the mind whose voyage the author invokes. Bare-knuckled imagery, intellectual inquisitiveness, and a kaleidoscope of themes mark Footsteps of the Past as a strikingly original collection. Philip Resnick has published a number of poetry collections on both classical and contemporary themes, inspired by frequent stays in Greece.
52
Row 1: Ariadne Sawyer, Nasreen Pejvack, Afsaneh Salehi, Daniela Elza, Mercedes Eng, Mariner Janes, Cecily Nicholson; Row 2: Kim Trainor, Philip Resnick, Sandy Shreve, Daphne Marlatt, Dina Del Bucchia, Daniel Zomparelli, Raoul Fernandes; Row 3: Leah Horlick, Amber Dawn, Lucas Crawford, Chelene Knight, Kevin Spenst, Jeff Steudel, Elena Johnson; Row 4: John Pass, Evelyn Lau, Fiona Tinwei Lam
12:30 PM
Sandy Shreve (Pender Island) Waiting for the Albatross (Oolichan Books $19.95)
In Waiting for the Albatross, Sandy Shreve has composed found poems using fragments from a diary her father, Jack Shreve, wrote at age 21 while working as a deckhand on a freighter during the Great Depression. The five-month voyage took him from his home in Halifax, through the Panama Canal, across the Pacific then back again, docking at Montreal. Waiting for the Albatross offers a firsthand look at the work the men did, the conditions they lived in, and their often volatile relationships. Sandy Shreve’s previous poetry collections include Suddenly, So Much. She founded BC’s Poetry in Transit program and co-edited, with Kate Braid, the anthology In Fine Form.
Daphne Marlatt (Vancouver) Liquidities: Vancouver Poems Then and Now (Talonbooks $16.95)
Liquidities: Vancouver Poems Then and Now gathers many of the poems from Daphne Marlatt’s 1972 Vancouver Poems, somewhat revised or in some cases substantially revised, and follows them with “Liquidities,” a series of recent poems about Vancouver’s incessant deconstruction and reconstruction and its quick transformations both on the ground and in urban imagining. Daphne Marlatt’s poetry titles include Steveston, The Given (awarded the 2009 Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize), and Liquidities: Vancouver Poems Then and Now. She was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2006 and in 2012 received the George Woodcock Lifetime Achievement Award.
p
Hop on the Bus
try in transit oe
The poetry readings will take place on the Poetry in Transit Bus, which will be on Homer Street this year. 53
Poetry On The Bus
12:45 PM
RELATIONSHIPS AND MORE HOST: MARGARET REYNOLDS, ABPBC 1:00 PM Dina Del Bucchia and Adopted by: Department of English, SFU Daniel Zomparelli (Vancouver) Rom Com (Talonbooks $17.95)
The poems in Rom Com trace the attempt to deconstruct as well as engage in dialogue with romantic comedy films and the pop culture, celebrities, and tropes that have come to be associated with them. These irreverent, playful, weird, and comedic poems come in a variety of forms, fully engaging in pop culture, without a judgmental tone. They explore the highs and lows of romantic relationships and the expectations and realities of love, tackling real emotional worlds through the lens of film. Dina Del Bucchia writes a monthly column for Canada Arts Connect Magazine. She was a finalist for the 2012 RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers. Daniel Zomparelli is editor-in-chief of Poetry Is Dead Magazine and recipient of the 2011 Pandora’s Collective Publishers of Magazines Award. 1:15 PM
Raoul Fernandes (Vancouver) Transmitter and Receiver (Nightwood Editions $18.95)
Forthright and effortlessly lyrical, Transmitter and Receiver is a masterful and carefully depicted exploration of one’s relationships with oneself, friends, memories, strangers, and technology. The three parts of this collection are variations building on a theme—at times lonely, sometimes adoring, but always honest. Wider areas of contemplation—the difficulty of communication, the ever-changing symbolism of language, and the nature of human interaction in the age of machines—are explored through colloquial scenes of the everyday. Raoul Fernandes was a finalist for the 2010 Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers and winner of the 2010 Sakura Award at the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival. 1:30 PM
Leah Horlick (Vancouver) For Your Own Good (Caitlin Press $18.00)
In the canon of feminist and lesbian poetry, For Your Own Good breaks silence. A fictionalized autobiography, these poems illustrate the narrator’s survival of domestic and sexual violence in a lesbian relationship. Horlick draws from a legacy of feminist, Jewish, and lesbian writers against violence: epigraphs from the works of Adrienne Rich and Minnie Bruce Pratt act as touchstones alongside references to contemporary writers, such as Daphne Gottlieb and Michelle Tea. At once unflinching and fragile, this is a collection with transformation at its heart. Leah Horlick’s first collection of poetry, Riot Lung, was shortlisted for a 2013 ReLit Award and a Saskatchewan Book Award. She co-curates Reverb, a queer and anti-oppressive reading series.
Poetry On The Bus
1:45 PM
Amber Dawn (Vancouver) Adopted by: Kate Braid Where the words end and my body begins (Arsenal Pulp Press $14.95)
Award-winning writer Amber Dawn reveals a gutsy lyrical sensibility in her debut poetry collection: a suite of glosa poems written as an homage to and an interaction with queer poets, such as the legendary Gertrude Stein, Christina Rossetti, and Adrienne Rich, as well as up-and-comers like Leah Horlick, Rachel Rose, and Trish Salah. In Where the words end and my body begins, Amber Dawn delves deeper into the themes of trauma, memory, and unblushing sexuality that define her work. Amber Dawn won the 2013 City of Vancouver Book Award for How Poetry Saved My Life: A Hustler’s Memoir. She is also the author of the a 2011 Lambda Literary Award–winning novel Sub Rosa.
54
Poetry in Transit
tr oe
y in trans it
p
The Association of Book Publishers of BC partners with TransLink, BC Transit, and the City of Vancouver on this popular project to celebrate our province’s poetry. Buses and SkyTrains throughout BC will feature the work of BC poets produced by Canadian publishers. In Vancouver, transit shelters will feature additional work from our best poets. A transit bus on site at Word Vancouver displays this year’s poetry cards. Don’t miss readings on the Poetry Bus from featured 2015 poets Beth Kope, Miranda Pearson, Pamela Porter, Michael Kenyon, Kayla Czaga, and Russell Thornton.
POETIC EXPLORATIONS
HOSTS: DINA DEL BUCCHIA AND DANIEL ZOMPARELLI, POETS
3:00 PM
Lucas Crawford (Vancouver) Sideshow Concessions (Invisible Publishing $15.95)
Winner of the 2015 Robert Kroetsch Award for Innovative Poetry, Sideshow Concessions is the first book from queer performance artist and professor Lucas Crawford. A themed collection focusing on the circus-like bodies and lived experiences of a narrator navigating both his rural past and urban present, Sideshow Concessions is the unofficial story of someone who is both a bearded lady and the fattest man in the world. Lucas Crawford is the Ruth Wynn Woodward Endowment lecturer at Simon Fraser University, where he teaches in the Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies. His poems won the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia’s Atlantic Writing Competition and are currently nominated for the Pushcart Prize. 3:15 PM
Chelene Knight (Vancouver) Braided Skin (Mother Tongue Publishing $18.95)
Adopted by: CUPE
Braided Skin is the vibrant telling of experiences of mixed ethnicity, urban childhood, poverty, and youthful dreams through various voices. Knight writes a confident rhythm of poetry, prose, and erasure by using the recurring image of braiding—a different metaphor than “mixing,” our default when speaking the language of race. In the title poem “Braided Skin,” this terminology shifts, to entwining and crossing, holding together but always displaying the promise or threat of unravelling. Chelene Knight is a graduate of The Writer’s Studio at SFU. She has been published in emerge 2013, Raven Chronicles, and Dreamland, and is the poetry coordinator at Room Magazine. Braided Skin is her debut book. 3:30 PM
Kevin Spenst (Vancouver) Jabbering with Bing Bong (Anvil Press $18.00)
This debut collection of poetry opens as a coming-of-age narrative of lower middle-class life in Surrey, embroidered within a myriad of pop and “post-Mennonite” culture. Jabbering with Bing Bong interrogates memory and makes its way into the urban energies of Vancouver. Language is at play with sitcom sonnets and soundscapes of noise; videogame goombas and an Old-Testament God; teenage longing within the power chords of heavy metal and the complicated loss of a father to schizophrenia. In addition to the UK, the United States, Austria, and India, Kevin Spenst’s poetry has appeared in over a dozen Canadian literary publications. In 2014, he did a 100-venue reading tour of Canada in support of small poetry presses.
55
Poetry On The Bus
5-03-15 1:33 PM Page 1
HOST: EVELYN LAU, FORMER VANCOUVER POET LAUREATE 2:00 PM
Wherever you’re writing from... write at UBC Eleven Genres Of Study | On-Campus or Online | All Levels Write and learn on our breathtaking campus in Vancouver, Canada, one of the world’s most livable cities. Or participate in a vibrant online community from wherever you live. UBC offers world-class creative writing programs at the BFA and MFA level, on-campus and by Distance Education. Join us.
www.creativewriting.ubc.ca
Faculty Alison Acheson Deborah Campbell Kevin Chong Maggie de Vries Charles Demers Steven Galloway Sara Graefe Wayne Grady Nancy Lee Annabel Lyon
Keith Maillard Maureen Medved Susan Musgrave Andreas Schroeder Linda Svendsen Timothy Taylor Peggy Thompson Rhea Tregebov John Vigna Bryan Wade
A TWIST OF NATURE 3:45 PM Jeff Steudel (Vancouver) Foreign Park (Anvil Press $18.00)
HOST: ROB TAYLOR, POET Adopted by: CUPE
Foreign Park situates itself in an epoch where prior assurances of the natural world’s solidity begin to slip. Poisons enter the Fraser River Basin. An oil slick approaches by night, engulfing a fishing vessel, leaving its captain in open waters. Page after page, Foreign Park makes strange with its inhabitants. As it unfolds, it plots itself along the Fraser River, overlaying myth and historicity with present day. These calm poems detail the effects of destruction on land and simultaneously explore family and community. Jeff Steudel’s poetry has appeared in several publications. He has received the Ralph Gustafson Poetry Prize for Best Poem, and his work was a finalist for the CBC Literary Prizes.
4:00 PM
Elena Johnson (Vancouver) Field Notes for the Alpine Tundra (Gaspereau Press $17.95)
In the summer of 2008, Elena Johnson camped for several weeks with a team of biologists in the Yukon’s Ruby Range. Field Notes for the Alpine Tundra is the result: a debut collection of poems immersed in the remoteness of this environment, where “nights are mostly sunset,” the creek “carries the sound of rain even in sunshine,” and caribou silently appear “antlers-first / from behind a ridge.” Elena Johnson’s poetry has been longlisted for the CBC Literary Prizes and published in magazines and anthologies across Canada. Field Notes for the Alpine Tundra is her debut collection.
4:15 PM
John Pass (Sunshine Coast) Adopted by: Pulpfiction Books Forecast: Selected Early Poems (1970–1990) (Harbour Publishing $18.95)
This collection is a journey back in time to Pass’ early experimental work, which foreshadows his later, expansive quartet, At Large. FORECAST Featuring the potentialities of travel; house-building; and becoming a poet, a husband, and a father, these poems are poignant and often filled with perilous hope. Darker premonitions of dislocation and environmental damage are mitigated by attentive expression; irony is tempered with optimism. Forecast: Selected Early Poems (1970–1990) also serves to bring much of his early work back into print. Winner of the Governor General’s Award and the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize, John Pass lives with his wife in the house he begins building in Forecast. John Pass
SELECTED EARLY POEMS (1970–1990)
HOST: ROB TAYLOR, POET
Dead Poets Reading Series
The Dead Poets Reading Series hosts bi-monthly readings featuring local poets reading their favourite works from poets of the past. Today they present readings by Evelyn Lau (reading John Updike), Sandy Shreve (reading P.K. Page), and Fiona Tinwei Lam (reading Maya Angelou, accompanied by Bob Walker). Learn more about the series at www.deadpoetslive.com. Evelyn Lau has published 11 books, including six volumes of poetry. She served as 2011–2014 poet laureate for the City of Vancouver. Sandy Shreve’s latest poetry collection is Waiting for the Albatross. Her previous books include the anthology In Fine Form: The Canadian Book of Form Poetry (co-edited with Kate Braid). Fiona Tinwei Lam has authored two poetry books, Intimate Distances and Enter the Chrysanthemum, and the children’s book The Rainbow Rocket. Her poetry and prose appear in over 24 anthologies.
Chapbooks If you love poetry, check out Underground Words + Art on page 60, where you will find chapbook readings, a workshop, and a panel! 57
Poetry On The Bus
4:30 PM
Sunday, September 27 | Homer Street
Magazine Words Canadian literary magazine presentations, readings, and panel discussions.
Presented by: Blenz Coffee, with the assistance of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund HOST: SYLVIA SKENE, MAGAZINE ASSOCIATION OF BC 11:00 AM
Pitch Perfect with Dan Post and AnnMarie MacKinnon
Presented by Magazine Association of BC Should I query first or send a finished piece? How do I put together a winning pitch? When and how should I follow up? Many writers have questions about the magazine submission process, but the answers are far from definitive. Dan Post (Link) and AnnMarie MacKinnon (Geist) have been on both ends of the submission process and now host a one-hour discussion to help answer these questions, offering some perspectives on how to get your writing in print and online. HOST: BONNIE NISH, PANDORA’S COLLECTIVE 12:10 PM
Room Magazine with Daniela Elza and Meaghan Rondeau
Presented by Room Magazine Poetry by two recent Room contributors: Daniela Elza (38.3: Trespass) and Meaghan Rondeau (38.1: In Translation). Daniela Elza has contributed to over 100 publications internationally. Her poetry collections are the weight of dew, the book of It, and milk tooth bane bone. Meaghan Rondeau lives and writes in Vancouver, where she is pursuing an MFA in creative writing at the University of British Columbia. Room is Canada’s oldest feminist literary journal, publishing women and genderqueer writers and artists since 1975. www.roommagazine.com HOST: SHASHI BHAT, EDITOR OF EVENT 12:50 PM
EVENT Magazine with Alessandra Naccarato and Adrick Brock
Presented by Douglas College EVENT—the award-winning literary journal now in its 44th year of poetry and prose publication—is proud to present two young writers you won’t want to miss. Alessandra Naccarato is a spoken-word artist and winner of the 2015 RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers, the 2014 CBC Poetry Prize Readers’ Choice Award, and EVENT’s 2014 Non-Fiction Contest. Adrick Brock’s stories have won the 2014 Western Magazine Award for fiction and been shortlisted for the 2012 CBC Short Story Prize. Following the readings there will be a Q&A session with moderator Shashi Bhat. 44 • 1
elevendollarsninetyfive
•
Notes on Writing Issue
HOST: JENNIFER LORI, EXECUTIVE EDITOR OF PRISM 1:30 PM
Coastal Poetics with Aislinn Hunter, Laura Matwichuk, and Jessie Jones
PRISM international
Presented by PRISM international PRISM presents award-winning BC writers Aislinn Hunter, Laura Matwichuk, and Jessie Jones reading poems from PRISM summer 2015 and other selected works. Aislinn Hunter’s latest book The World Before Us won the 2015 Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize. Laura Matwichuk was a finalist for the RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers in 2013. Jessie Jones was a finalist for PRISM’s 2015 Poetry Contest.
58
Row 1: Dan Post, AnnMarie MacKinnon, Daniela Elza, Meaghan Rondeau, Alessandra Naccarato, Adrick Brock, Aislinn Hunter; Row 2: Laura Matwichuk, Jessie Jones, Fred Wah, Fiona Tinwei Lam, Leanne Dunic, Anna Ling Kaye, Jordan Abel; Row 3: Rahat Kurd, Jacqueline Turner, Wayde Compton, Renée Sarojini Saklikar
HOST: ANNA LING KAYE, EDITOR OF RICEPAPER 2:10 PM Writing from Life with Ricepaper Magazine Presented by Ricepaper Magazine Many of Canada’s most respected Asian writers first published in Ricepaper Magazine, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. Please join established and emerging contributors Fred Wah, Fiona Tinwei Lam, and Leanne Dunic in discussion with editor Anna Ling Kaye about writing from their life experiences, how Ricepaper Magazine has played a role in their careers, and what inspires them as writers in today’s literary landscape. HOST: TBA
HOSTS: WAYDE COMPTON AND RENÉE SAROJINI SAKLIKAR 4:00 PM Musings on the Poetic Process Join five of the 51 poets included in the Revolving City collection for an engaging discussion of poetic ideas and the writing process. Jordan Abel is the Nisga’a author of the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize–winning The Place of Scraps and Un/inhabited. Rahat Kurd’s first book of poems is Cosmophilia. Jacqueline Turner has published four books of poetry, most recently The Ends of the Earth. Moderated by co-editors Wayde Compton, an author of poetry, essays, and fiction, and director of The Writer’s Studio at SFU, and Renée Sarojini Saklikar, award-winning poet of children of air india.
59
Magazine Words
3:00 PM How to Remain Relevant in a Rapidly Changing World With the ever-expanding technology options for publishing changing at such a rapid pace, how do magazine publishers make choices? Magazine publishers will discuss how they navigate medium, demographic, and reader inclinations in today’s publishing climate. At the heart of the matter, how does a magazine remain relevant in a digitizing world? Come join in a lively discussion with professionals from the magazine publishing community.
Sunday, September 27 | Inside the Library
Underground Words + Art Comics and chapbook readings, panels, and workshops.
Inside, Downstairs Alice MacKay Room
Presented by: subTerrain Magazine
11:00 AM
Emily Davidson, Shaun Robinson, and Shazia Hafiz Ramji The City Series: Number One—Vancouver (Frog Hollow Press $10.00) m i chae l pri or, editor
e m i ly c h ou — e m i ly davidson r u t h da n ie ll — s ugar le fae m eg a n j o n e s — da r i us kinney a l e s s a n d r a nac c a r at o — s hazia hafiz ramji l au r a r i t l a n d — s h aun robinson shane ne i lson, series editor
Wunderkind Michael Prior assembles together 10 Vancouver poets who are all unpublished in book or chapbook form. He has sought out talented people whose verse somehow represents his city’s poetic and introduced that poetic in personal prose. The poets in The City Series: Number One— Vancouver constitute a cross-section of poetry that is diverse, brainy, and emotional, upending stereotypes about Vancouver as a poetry town. Emily Davidson’s poetry was selected for inclusion in the anthology Best Canadian Poetry 2015. Shaun Robinson’s poems have appeared in Fugue, Versal, and The City Series: Number One—Vancouver. Shazia Hafiz Ramji received the inaugural Yale Road Scholarship from The Writer’s Studio in 2015. the city series: number one vancouver
m ichael p rior,
editor
11:30 AM The Chapbook: For Love or Money? Inexpensive and relatively easy to produce, the chapbook has long been the fledgling poet’s introduction into the complex and discerning world of publishing. Writers through the ages have embraced this everyman’s art form to get their work into the hands of their readers. But is it done out of self-expression, a need to put food on the table, or simply vanity? Furthermore, in the digital era, are chapbooks even practical or relevant anymore? Join some of Vancouver’s foremost self-publishing experts for a lively discussion around these questions and more. Catherine Owen is the author of 10 collections of poetry. Frenzy won the Stephan G. Stephansson Award for Poetry. Heidi Greco keeps a sporadic blog at outonthebiglimb.blogspot.ca. Kyle Hawke has worked as an editor, proofreader, designer, and ghostwriter for independent and mass-market books alike. Moderator S.R. Duncan is a producer, publicist, freelance writer, and poet. 12:30 PM Comics Workshop for Beginners with David Lasky Comics artist David Lasky will guide you in booklet making, the grammar of comics, and simple character design. Supplies and basic drawing tips will be provided. Drawing skills are helpful, but not necessary. The only prerequisite is a desire to communicate through the medium of comics. David Lasky’s 25-year career includes the series Boom Boom and Urban Hipster (with Greg Stump), as well as a minicomic adaptation of Joyce’s Ulysses. His graphic novel Carter Family: Don’t Forget This Song (with writer Frank Young) won the Eisner Award in 2013. He teaches comics at the Richard Hugo House and various other venues in the Seattle area. 1:45 PM
Heidi Greco, Renée Sarojini Saklikar, and George Stanley Cascadia (Leaf Press $10.00)
Here is a fortunate group: inhabitants of the bioregion known as Cascadia, poets who accepted a challenge to respond to another’s (anonymous) poem by leaping from it or by falling deeper into it, letting it open. The result is a fortunate collaboration: answers to the question “How will we write about this place, here, now?” Heidi Greco keeps a sporadic blog at outonthebiglimb.blogspot.ca. Renée Sarojini Saklikar writes thecanadaproject, a lifelong poem chronicle that includes poetry, fiction, and essays. George Stanley’s recent book of poems is North of California St.: Selected Poems 1975–1999. 60
Participant limit for these workshops is 12. To reserve your spot, please pre-register with info@rebuscreative.com and indicate which workshop you are registering for. Row 1: Emily Davidson, Shaun Robinson, Shazia Hafiz Ramji, Catherine Owen, Heidi Greco, Kyle Hawke, S.R. Duncan; Row 2: David Lasky, Renée Sarojini Saklikar, George Stanley, Ed Brisson, Julian Lawrence, Leonard Wong, Ken Steacy; Row 3: Joan Steacy, Kevin Spenst
2:45 PM Visual Storytelling with Ken and Joan Steacy Camosun College’s program in comics & graphic novels teaches students the language of visual storytelling, a medium that is rapidly gaining acceptance as both literature and art. Join program co-creators Ken and Joan Steacy for a workshop on how words and pictures collide to tell your story! Ken Steacy has worked in the industry as an author, artist, art director, editor, and publisher, chronicling the exploits of Spider-Man, Harry Potter, and the Star Wars gang, to name but a few. The recipient of an Eisner Award and an Inkpot Award, Ken was inducted into the Joe Shuster Awards Hall of Fame in 2009. Joan Steacy is a visual artist who has worked in a variety of disciplines, including sculpture, traditional illustration, and digital imaging. She is the author/illustrator of So, That’s That!, a biography of her father, who lived to be 100, and Aurora Borealice, a trilogy of autobiographical graphic novels, the first of which was nominated for a Doug Wright Award. 4:00 PM
Poems Fit to Print and Fold: A Chapbook Workshop with Kevin Spenst
In this one-hour chapbook-making workshop, you’ll create new poetry through a number of prompts, look at various editing strategies for refining your work, and then conclude by making your very own chapbook from a single piece of paper. What you’ll need to bring are some handy-dandy writing implements (pen and paper), a heart ready to race in wonder, and hands open to trying out new ways of making small books. Kevin Spenst has made books out of air-sickness bags, beer coasters, repurposed brochures and magazines, and sometimes just good old-fashioned paper. He has five chapbooks of poetry with publishers across Canada, three self-published collections, and one full-length book, Jabbering with Bing Bong (Anvil Press). He has read his work at over 100 venues across the country.
61
Underground Words + Art
2:00 PM Comics: DIY and Self-Publishing Join moderator Ed Brisson as he leads a discussion about comic DIY and self-publishing. Panelists are David Lasky, Julian Lawrence, and Leonard Wong. Ed Brisson first became involved in comic creation in the early 1990s. Ed has written for Marvel, DC, Image, Boom, Dark Horse, and many other publishers. David Lasky’s 25-year career includes the series Boom Boom and Urban Hipster (with Greg Stump), as well as a minicomic adaptation of Joyce’s Ulysses. His graphic novel Carter Family: Don’t Forget This Song (with writer Frank Young) won the Eisner Award in 2013. Julian Lawrence (The Adventures of Drippy the Newsboy Vol 1: Drippy’s Mama) is an award-winning artist and illustrator specializing in comic books. Julian teaches courses in contemporary comics at Emily Carr University of Art and Design. Leonard Wong is a comics historian who teaches English at Templeton Secondary School.
Sunday, September 27 | Inside the Library
In the Promenade Bookmaking demos, lettering demos, and our annual silent auction!
Bookmaking Demos Presented by the Canadian Bookbinders and Book Artists Guild Fascinated by the art and craft of fine bookmaking? Drop by the Canadian Bookbinders and Book Artist Guild’s table to watch hands-on demonstrations by professional artists. You may find yourself inspired to create your own treasures! 11:00 am.. ................... Gina Page, Mini Tunnel Books 12:00 pm.................... Suzan Lee, Case Binding 1:00 pm...................... Suzan Lee, Bookbinding Tools 2:00 pm...................... Kathy Nash, Longstitch Journal/Notebook 3:00 pm...................... Jessica Tremblay, Maze Books 4:00 pm...................... Candace Thayer-Coe, Suminagashi Paper Marbling
Lettering and Bookmarks Presented by the Westcoast Calligraphy Society The Westcoast Calligraphy Society promotes beautiful lettering through classes, displays, and participation in public events. They will be demonstrating lettering and creating free bookmarks all day!
The Annual Silent Auction In the Library Promenade Check out all of the wonderful items and place your bids This year we are launching our Family Stage. We are focusing on growing the readers and writers of tomorrow. It is a win/win situation. We get your support to present the kids’ and family programming, and you get a deal on fabulous items such as tickets to awesome events, a massage voucher, a hotel room stay, and so much more. The tables are located in the Library Promenade near book’mark, The Library Store. Bidding closes at 4:45 pm sharp.
62
Proud to Support Word Vancouver
TAMARA TAGGART & MIKE KILLEEN
WEEKNIGHTS 6