Linda Rogers chats with poet and writer Lisa Martin-DeMoor about winning the Malahat Reviews' 2013 Open Season Award for poetry. Read the interview here.
“Place is powerful: who we are is informed, at least in part, by where we come from." Jessica Kluthe interviewed by the Morinville News about her new book Rosina, the Midwife. More from the interview here.
The Tinsmith by Tim Bowling makes the EPL Alberta Readers' Choice Award longlist. Top 5 finalists will be announced on April 11. Public voting begins April 22. More details here.
Tim Bowling’s novel The Tinsmith was in part inspired by the true story of a successful entrepreneur in southern BC in the 1870s. Bowling talked to the LPG about his creative fascination with John Sullivan Deas, about whom little is known, and his personal connection to the area where Deas operated a large salmon cannery. More here.
Sophie B. Watson talks to CBC Music about her musically inspired road trip novel Cadillac Couches, and why she included Hawksley Workman in the story, and Hawksley responds! Listen to the interviews here.
Check out January Magazine's Best Books of 2012: Fiction, including The Tinsmith by Tim Bowling. Bowling's "strong connections to a poetic past resonate most vividly in The Tinsmith, a book that manages to be deeply interesting, searingly beautiful and historically compelling."
Join us January 16 in Vancouver for a powerhouse night at Vancouver International Writers Festival's Incite reading series with Tim Bowling (The Tinsmith), Tamas Dobozy (Siege 13), and Candace Savage (Geography of Blood). January 16, 7:30pm in the Alice MacKay Room at Vancouver's Central Library. More details here.
Times Higher Education's 'What are you reading?' list includes Shari Lepena's Happiness Economics, mentioned as "sharply funny and profound." More here.
"This book gives an in to talking about some of the most difficult issues in Canadian society, from racism and residential schools to the Japanese internment. By first presenting a story and then providing context, Saracuse gives the reader a good introduction to these tough topics. I can see these as a great social studies resource for upper elementary school kids." Island Kids by Tara Sarcuse reviewed on the Perogies & Gyoza blog. More about the Courageous Kids series here.
Listen to Sophie B. Watson's interview with Paul Kennett on CJSW's Writer's Block. She's talking music and fiction and how the two intersect in her novel, Cadillac Couches. Tune into the podcast here.
Hidden Lives: Coming Out on Mental Illness edited by Lenore Rowntree and Andrew Boden is "richly packed with stories that let readers confront these questions. Editors Lenore Rowntree and Andrew Boden have brought together a compelling collection of essays, mostly from people who are dealing with various psychotic illnesses." Read a thoughtful review from the Huffington Posthere.
The Writers Trust of Canada produced videos for all Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize nominees. Please take a moment to watch the video for for Tim Bowling's The Tinsmithhere.
Hidden Lives: Coming Out on Mental Illness edited by Lenore Rowntree and Andrew Boden was recently reviewed in the Vancouver Sun. The reviewer wrote, "We’d all benefit from reading this book and gaining some insight and understanding into the lives of those who are experiencing it firsthand." Read the full review here.
"A haunting tale of quiet courage and friendship in the face of racism, corruption and cruelty that runs from the Battle of Antietam to a remote fishing village in British Columbia…Dynamic, dazzling." Kirkus Reviews on The Tinsmith by Tim Bowling. Read the full review here.
"Often what haunts you for a long time has the potential to become literature,” Bowling says. “And I think I’ve been haunted by that character since I was a kid.” —Tim Bowling talking about The Tinsmith in an interviewed with The National Post's Afterword. Read the feature here.
Maclean's Magazine book reviewer Brian Bethune sat down with Tim Bowling to talk about The Tinsmith and Tim's award nomination. More here.
In a special feature to the National Post, Tim Bowling and Linda Spalding exchanged words about the writing life and their award-nominated novels. Read The Writers' Trust Conversations.
Look for an excerpt from Tim Bowling's The Tinsmith in the November 3 issue of The Globe and Mail. The Tinsmith is a finalist for the 2012 Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize. Winner will be announced November 7.
Shari Lapeña, author Happiness Economics and Things Go Flying, will be out west for the Vancouver International Writers Festival! Her novel Happiness Economics was shortlisted for the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour.
Shari will be part of the 'Humour with a Bite' panel on Friday, October, 19,10:00 AM and 'The Sunday Brunch' on Sunday, October 21, 11:00 AM. Get your tickets at www.writersfest.bc.ca.
Hidden Lives: Coming Out on Mental Illness edited by Lenore Rowntree and Andrew Boden was recently reviewed by the Coastal Spectator. Reviewer wrote, "I was keenly aware of the privilege I was being afforded, each page allowing me to regard the details, the emotional pain that mental illness brings to otherwise everyday lives. The tribulations are sorrowful. The courage shines through... Each reader will understand in their own way, and will learn from this book." Read the review here: Courageous writers come clean about mental health.
"Elegantly written, with characterizations and setting descriptions that paint vivid pictures in the mind, and battlefield depictions that rival those of The Red Badge of Courage for their haunting realism, this mix of historical novel and mystery should be recommended to all readers of Civil War fiction." Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize finalist The Tinsmith by Tim Bowling recently reviewed by the American Library Association's Booklist Online. Read the review here.
Nice review of Sophie B. Watson's Cadillac Couches on the Pickle Me This blog: "I really liked Cadillac Couches, a silly, sprawling road-trip novel with its very own soundtrack . . . For those of us who came of age in the 1990s, Cadillac Couches is a bit like a scrapbook, the coolest bits of every diary you ever kept. Watson shuns convention with her book’s conclusion too, its happily ever after coming courtesy of a refreshing dose of grrrl power." To see the full review, click here.
Wonderful news: The Tinsmith by Tim Bowling is a finalist for the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize! Congratulations, Tim!
The winner will be announced on November 7. For the full list of finalists, click here.
"Cadillac Couches is a marvelously quirky and enjoyable novel. It is as much a ballad to Canada, as it is to music." Sophie B. Watson's Cadillac Couches received a great review in The Coastal Spectator. To read the full review, click here.
There is a wonderful profile of May Q. Wong and her book, A Cowherd in Paradise, in the September issue of Focus magazine: "This is not the work simply of a family archivist but of an author, for it is rooted in empathetic imagination that immerses the reader in emotional experiences . . . Wong’s book reminds us of the struggles of others and the need to remain vigilant about government decisions that impact us all—even here in paradise." For more, click here.
Very nice early review of Sophie B. Watson's "quirky first novel," Cadillac Couches, in the September issue of Quill & Quire: "The road trip that accounts for the majority of the novel helps keep the story moving at a brisk pace, while also making the book as much an ode to Canada as to music."
A lovely new review of Northern Kids by Linda Goyette posted on the Perogies & Gyoza blog: "Goyette's research skills are superb, and it shows. You can tell she has a journalist's background because not only does she bring immediacy to all of the first-person stories, she is also capable of dividing the supplementary and contextual information from the emotions of the first-person accounts by adding her own framing article after the short nonfiction story, which is very effective."
"If you've ever found yourself feeling like getting in a car and escaping the city (with a great soundtrack in the background), then be sure to check out the book trailer for Sophie B. Watson's literary debut, Cadillac Couches."
Story Circle Book Reviews posted a great piece on In the Flesh: Twenty Writers Explore the Body: "I found each essay as unique as the body is to each individual. All were candid, entertaining and immensely informative. What an amazing approach to memoir through the lens of the miracles of the body." To read the full review, click here.
The Delta Optimist recently interviewed Tim Bowling about his new novel, The Tinsmith. Tim said, "It's kind of a novel I've been wanting to write for a long, long time . . . I feel at the very least, no matter what happens with it, I've done it, it's between covers or digitized, and for some kid growing up in Ladner there's something they can read that tries to mythologize the place they can actually walk around in. I think that matters." To read more, click here.
Harry Thurston recommended Ann Eriksson's Falling from Grace as his summer read on CBC Radio's The Sunday Edition recently. Listen to the show here (Falling from Grace is mentioned at 17:40).
The Canterbury Trail by Angie Abdou won the gold medal for Canada-West Regional Fiction at the 2012 Independent Publisher Book Awards. In a recent interview with IPPY Magazine, Angie spoke about the inspiration behind the novel and her writing style. You can find the interview here.
The Apple House by Gillian Campbell was featured in Quill & Quire's Fall Preview 2012 of Canadian Novels. Check out the full preview here.
The Tinsmith by Tim Bowling was featured on CBC Radio's All Points West book club as a summer read. The show's book reviewer, Nikki Tate, gave the novel a lovely review and recommendation, calling it a "fascinating story, really well told." To hear the full review, check out the podcast.
May Q. Wong and her book A Cowherd in Paradise: From China to Canada were featured in Victoria News. The interesting profile shares May's reason behind writing her parents' story: "It needs to be told, it’s not frivolous, but I’ve also injected some human stories, that project the humanity. I didn’t intend it to be a book that condemns, but a book that shows what it was like for people, individuals.” To read more, click here.
New review of In the Flesh: Twenty Writers Explore the Bodyin the Globe and Mail this weekend: "the book's overall effect is powerful, occasionally laugh-out-loud funny, and, more often than not, deeply moving." To read the full article, click here.
"Lapeña writes in a highly conversational voice, mixing plain language with wry humour and a touch of the otherworldly to lighten an otherwise weighty topic . . . Things Go Flying brings together the fantastical and the ordinary in a compelling exploration of the meaning of life." Nice new review of Shari Lapeña's first novel on the Teatime Reader blog. To read more, click here.
"The Tinsmith begins and ends in blood. Between, the harrowing, stunning new novel by Edmonton writer Tim Bowling is a powerful, haunting evocation of friendship and cruelty, of grace and inhumanity, of violence and beauty." To read more from this great review in the Globe and Mail, click here.
Northern Kids by Linda Goyette was reviewed in the latest issue of Canadian Teacher Magazine: "The young people we meet in Northern Kids will win the hearts of their southern counterparts and will help make the North truly part of our heritage. This is a keeper." The full review can be found on the magazine's website.
Very nice review of In the Flesh: Twenty Writers Explore the Body in the Telegraph-Journal's Salon Books: "This collection is a thorough and provovative look at the body, broken down into its messy, beautiful, and complicated parts.
New review of The Tinsmith in The Vancouver Sun: “Tim Bowling’s descriptive powers take flight . . . his amazing ability to draw cringe-inducing characters is gripping and memorable.” To read the full review, click here.
“Kathleen Wall’s first novel performs with all the good vibrations and moods of a seasoned composer . . . Blue Duets poses sometimes amusing, other times resonant reflections in a framework that is largely tragic, shaded blue, and always beautiful.” Lovely new review for Blue Duets on the Pages and Patches blog. To read more, click here.
Fantastic news! The winners of the Independent Publisher (IPPY) Book Awards have just been announced: Angie Abdou's The Canterbury Trail won Gold in the Canada-West Best Regional Fiction category. Congrats, Angie! For a full list of winners, click here.
"The Tinsmith is a provocative, ambitious, exciting story . . . [it] delves with guileless courage into the quagmire of past racial conflict, and will be read and recalled with that admirable quality in mind." Read more from this lovely review of Tim Bowling's latest novel, The Tinsmith, in the May 2012 issue of the Literary Review of Canada.
There's a great review of The Tinsmith by Tim Bowling in this month's Quill & Quire: "[a] riveting tale . . . Bowling captures the unrelenting sensory assault of war and industry as they combine in a sort of amoral apotheosis . . . A powerful and emotionally wrenching book." To read the full review, click here.
A great review of In the Flesh: Twenty Writers Explore the Body in the Gulf Islands Driftwood: "The collection is anecdotal and educational, witty and at times heart-breaking. Its finely crafted writing serves to underline the strange truths of how we inhabit and make sense of our forms, which are created both by nature and culture." To read the full review, click here.
Just annouced: Freddy's War by Judy Schultz was shortlisted for the 2012 Edmonton Public Library Alberta Readers' Choice Award! Congrats, Judy!
There was a nice little review of Northern Kids by Linda Goyette in Canadian Literature: A Quarterly of Criticism and Review: "The stories recognize, respect, and illuminate the worldviews and ways of life presented in the different stories." To read more, click here.
Fantastic news: Happiness Economics by Shari Lapeña has been shortlisted for the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour. Congratulations, Shari!
A nice review of Tim Bowling's new novel in the Edmonton Journal: "The most interesting sections of The Tinsmith, which take place during a turf war among the upstart salmon canneries in frontier-era British Columbia, give the book a heart that's undeniably Canadian." For the full article, click here.
New review of Tim Bowling's novel The Tinsmith: “Like any general, Bowling is bold at times, but his attacks are on the mark and his theme strikes the heart of the reader.” —Salon Books, Telegraph Journal
Be sure to check out One Crow Sorrow author Lisa Martin-DeMoor's blog: writerinresidence.ca.
Fantastic news: Judy Schultz, author of Freddy's War, is one of the nominees for the Robert Kroetsch City of Edmonton Book Prize! Congrats, Judy!
Author Shari Lapena discusses her writing process and reads an excerpt from her novel Happiness Economics. Listen to the clips on the Authors Aloud website.
"The Matter of Sylvie is an artfully crafted novel, written with almost lyrical prose, examining the effects on a family from an illness few understand." Robin van Eck has posted a review of The Matter of Sylvie, and an interview with author Lee Kvern, on her website. Check it out here.
The Tinsmith by Tim Bowling was featured in Quill & Quire's Spring Preview 2012 of Canadian Fiction. Check it out here!
"This is a great read." Freddy's War by Judy Schultz received a nice review in the Winter 2011 issue of Geist.
"Westerhof treats her material with a deft touch; she has an ability to show both sides of an issue with alacrity and understanding." Great new review of Patricia Westerhof's Catch Me When I Fall in the Prairie Fire Review of Books! Read the full review here.
"The tales are every bit as raunchy, bawdy and wild as anything Chaucer ever wrote." Really nice piece about Angie Abdou's The Canterbury Trail on The Joy Trip Project. Read it here.
"Angie combines traditional writing skill with forward-thinking fun. A wonderful voice in Canadian literature." Robin Spano recommends The Canterbury Trail by Angie Abdou on the Advent Book Blog. Read the full review here.
"Canterbury Trail . . . is much more than a story about a ski town. Like all great novels, it is a 'story of life' that just happens to be set in snowy mountains, with all the characters traipsing around on skis. . . . It's a delightful, thought-provoking book and I recommend it highly." Check out this great write up of The Canterbury Trail by Angie Abdou on Powder Canada.
Backcountry Skiing Canada loved The Canterbury Trail by Angie Abdou! "Abdou's writing is concise and observant. Her attention to detail and awareness of the backcountry lifestyle . . . is refreshing. But it's what's happening on a deeper level—the struggles of bridging a ski bum lifestyle with the necessities of a career, pragmatism and belonging—that are revealed like a ski carving through layers of bottomless snow." Check out the full review here.
"Queering the Wayis a resounding work, with the utterly unmistakable qualities of authenticity and pride." Queering the Way: The Loud & Queer Anthology received a wonderful review in The Gateway. Read it here.
"What better way to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of Western Canada's longest-running queer arts showcase than with a book of some of the finest work from LGBTQ writers and performers across Canada?" Be sure to pick up the latest issue of Prairie books NOW to read more of their lovely piece on Queering the Way: The Loud & Queer Anthology.
"[Believing Cedric] explores consciousness, regret, death and love, including what binds Canadians to this country." Check out this great piece in the Haliburton Echo about Believing Cedric and why author Mark Lavorato chose to showcase the area in his novel.
"Hagen’s voice is one of the strongest in the Alberta arts community." Check out this great piece in The Gateway, in which Darrin Hagen, editor of Queering the Way: The Loud & Queer Anthology, discusses Edmonton's Loud & Queer Cabaret. The annual festival celebrated its twentieth anniversary this year!
"Westerhof knows her characters well, in all their braveness and brokenness." Patricia Westerhof's novel Catch Me When I Fallreceived a great review by Joanne's Reading Blog! Read it here.
Happiness Economics by Shari Lapeña received a wonderful review in the Globe and Mail: "All four main characters—parents and children—are engrossing and real. Lapeña builds quiet suspense expertly, and has a knack for showing us inside these terribly flawed and sometimes annoying people, making them beautiful in their ordinary and contradictory ways." Read the full review here!
Lindy Pratch, who writes the Lindy Reads and Reviews blog, raves about The Canterbury Trail by Angie Abdou. "The very best thing about the book is the ending. I LOVED IT!" Check out the full review here.
"It’s an interesting first foray into the world of fiction for Schultz, and she handles it deftly. Alternating between perspectives is a tricky business but she pulls it off well." Freddy's War was reviewed in the St. Albert Gazette. Read the full review here.
The Unfinished Child is the debut novel by Edmonton author Theresa Shea. Deemed a "complex and sensitive debut…raising compelling questions about moral responsibility in a 21st-century world" by Publishers Weekly, the novel recently received a lovely review on Turn the Page blog. The blogger wrote, "Gripping. Heart-wrenching. Thought-provoking. Riveting. Haunting. Unputdownable...A must read for not only parents in the Down syndrome community, but for all parents, and for anyone who appreciates masterful story-telling."
Theresa Shea will be reading as part of the FictionKNITstas Edmonton event taking place on Wednesday, May 29, 7:00pm at Audreys Books.
Shelagh Rogers, host of CBC Radio's The Next Chapter, recently visited George on his Gabriola Island bog where they talked about his inspiration and why he thinks "bog and memory are very similar." Click on the link to listen to the interview (scroll to 44 min, mark). CBC Radio's The Next Chapter : Bog Tender.
We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada
through the Canada Book Fund (CBF), a part of the Department of Canadian Heritage, the Canada Council for the Arts and the BC Arts Council.
