A Book News reader sent us an email that introduced us to a web site called Library Thing. A full description of what the site is about would take paragraphs, but let’s just say you can list the books in your actual home library, into a virtual library and compare yours with millions of others around the world.
http://www.librarything.com/
The City Opera of Vancouver has revealed plans to produce an opera based on the life of E. Pauline Johnson, the libretto for which was written by Margaret Atwood.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080311.watwood11/BNStory/Entertainment/home
According to a recent study, the Canadian publishing industry is leading the way in the implementation of forest-friendly book production.
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/331987
New York is where the book publishers are, but apparently Seattle is where America’s reading list is defined.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/business/09book.html?_r=1&pagewanted=1&ref=books&oref=slogin
The author of this article finds reading a novel on Amazon’s e-reader, the Kindle, similar to reading a traditional book. So what exactly does this mean for the world of paperbacks?
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/personal_tech/article3492060.ece
In the wake of the publication, and subsequent discontinuation, of two fraudulent memoirs, the Tyee’s John Dolan attempts to explain why we fall for these literary shams.
http://thetyee.ca/Books/2008/03/10/LitFrauds/
J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers have taken out a court injunction to prevent the publication of a Harry Potter Lexicon based on a popular web site that has been recognized by Rowling herself as one of the most useful and accurate Potter fan sites on the internet.
http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,,2264094,00.html
AWARDS
Judith Thompson has become the first Canadian to win the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for playwriting in the award’s 30-year history. Thompson’s play, Palace of the End, examines the effects of the Iraq war.
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/332032
Kate Christensen has won the PEN/Faulkner Award for her satirical novel The Great Man.
http://www.cbc.ca/arts/books/story/2008/03/12/pen-faulkner.html
Egyptian author Baha Taher has won the inaugural International Prize for Arabic Fiction, launched in association with the Booker Prize Foundation.
http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,,2264158,00.html
Junot Diaz, a profile of whom we included in last week’s Book News, has been awarded the National Book Critics Award for fiction. Winners in the non-fiction and poetry categories are included in this article.
http://www.cbc.ca/arts/books/story/2008/03/07/usbook-critc-award.html
And lastly, the Galaxy British Book Awards shortlists have been announced.
http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,,2264999,00.html
BOOKS & WRITERS
Poet and essayist Christopher Dewdney’s preoccupation with time is the subject of his latest book Soul of the World: Unlocking the Secrets of Time.
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/310155
As Zimbabwe’s presidential and parliamentary elections approach, Alexandra Fuller recommends the work of three authors as a way to gain insight into the country’s psyche.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080308.BKREAD08/TPStory/Entertainment/Books
Elizabeth Abbott’s new book Sugar: A Bittersweet History, examines how sugar’s rise in popularity changed the world.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080308.BKSUGA08/TPStory/Entertainment/Books
Newfoundland poet Randall Maggs’s collection of narrative poems, Night Work: The Sawchuk Poems, is based on the life of legendary NHL goaltender Terry Sawchuk and reads like an “exquisite biographical novel.”
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080308.BKSAWC08/TPStory/Entertainment/Books
Dede Crane calls Sandra Gulland’s latest novel Mistress of the Sun a fine escape with a galloping plot.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080308.BKGULL08/TPStory/Entertainment/Books
Martin Amis discusses the controversial comments he made about the Muslim community in a 2006 interview and attempts to clarify his views. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/books/review/Donadio-t.html?_r=1&ref=review&oref=slogin
Marina Lewycka, the author of A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, explains why she is driven to write in this interview with the Guardian.
http://books.guardian.co.uk/whyiwrite/story/0,,2264498,00.html
THE BATTLE OF THE BARDS PUB CRAWL
A fast-paced tour of Vancouver’s finest Celtic pubs gets an added blast of fun and frolic when it’s combined with the ultimate literary experience: a head-to-head poetry face-off featuring the most famous Celtic writers. Thursday, March 13 at 5:30; crawl is free, finale event is $5 at the door. Crawl starts at Doolin’s Irish Pub (654 Nelson Street). Complete info: http://www.celticfestvancouver.com/schedule_tickets.php#thursday.
ROY MIKI
On Edge Reading Series presents a reading by Roy Miki, author of There and Surrender. Thursday, March 13 at 5:30pm, free. Room 406, south building, Emily Carr Institute (1399 Johnston Street). Info: http://www.eciad.ca/node/1439.
FIRST PERSON QUEER
Join Arsenal Pulp Press and Little Sister’s for a reading from First Person Queer: Who We Are (So Far) edited by Richard Labonte and Lawrence Schimel. Hosted by editor Richard Labonte with readings by Vancouver contributors: Mette Bach, Daniel Gawthrop, George K. Ilsley, Gayle Roberts and Jeff Rotin. Thursday, March 13 at 7:00pm, free. Little Sister’s Bookstore (1238 Davie Street). For more information contact 604.687.4233.
GWYNNE DYER
The Ikon Speaker Series presents Gwynne Dyer who will discuss his latest book The Mess They Made: The Middle East After Iraq. Friday, March 14 at 7:00pm. Tickets $20/$15. Kay Meek Centre, 1700 West Vancouver. More info: http://www.capcollege.bc.ca/news-events/performing-arts/season-performances/Speaker.html.
MIDNIGHT BRIDGE
Midnight Bridge is poet Murray Reiss and singer-songwriter Phil Vernon. Together they layer original songs and poems into a “folkenword” performance that’s poignant, thought-provoking and hilarious. Funds raised will support an HIV/AIDS education project in Kenya coordinated by Tuendelee Mbele EPZ Workers Welfare. Saturday, March 22 at 8pm. Rhizome Café, 317 East Broadway. More information: www.rhizomecafe.ca/events.
Upcoming
MIRIAM TOEWS
Join celebrated author Miriam Toews who will read from her Governor General’s Literary Award-winning novel A Complicated Kindness (Knopf, 2004), and preview her upcoming novel, The Flying Troutmans (Knopf, October 2008). Part of UBC’s Centenary Celebrations, this Friday night artsWednesday event is co-presented by the UBC Creative Writing Program and the Arnold and Nancy Cliff Writers in Residence Program. Friday, March 28 at 6pm; free, drop-ins welcome. UBC Robson Square (800 Robson St.). Info: 604.822.5812.
WORDS WITHOUT BORDERS
PEN Canada presents Afua Cooper, Jalal Barzanji, Sheng Xue and Hadani Ditmars – authors who write about local and global political issues. Saturday, April 5 at 7:30pm. Ticket Price $10 (suggested admission). The Firehall Arts Centre (280 East Cordova St.). Advance Tickets (604) 689.0926.
Please email vi**@wr*********.ca if you would like to unsubscribe from this email list.
Produced by the Book News Collective: Hal Wake, Clea Young, Brenda Berck, Ann McDonell, and Sandra Millard.
Hal Wake
Artistic Director
* * * * * * * * * * *
2008 Festival – 21-26 October inclusive
Vancouver International Writers Festival
Suite 202, 1398 Cartwright Street
Vancouver, BC V6H 3R8
Canada
p: 604 681 6330 x102
f: 604 681 8400
e: hw***@wr*********.ca
w: www.writersfest.bc.ca