BC writers
Stan Persky wins B.C. literary award
Stan Persky, a Vancouver writer, media commentator and public intellectual, has been awarded the B.C. Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Literary Excellence. The $5,000 award is given annually to a B.C. writer who has contributed to the growth of literary excellence in the province, “His grace as an essayist, his curiosity and independence of thought as [...]
Salmon Arm: Festival pens in presenters
Anyone interested in the written word will not want to miss the 2010 Shuswap Lake International Writers Festival. Hosted by the Shuswap Association of Writers, the festival runs Friday, May 28 through Sunday, May 30 at the Prestige Harbourfront Resort and the Salmon Arm campus of Okanagan College. With an excellent lineup of 16 authors, [...]
Volumes that tell B.C.’s story: Titles to consider as a list of the province’s top 100 books is compiled
What are British Columbia’s 100 best books? Linda L. Richards and David Middleton, co-founders of the literary website Januarymagazine.com,want your suggestions, and TouchWood Editions will publish the list in book form next year. Richards, Middleton and TouchWood publisher Ruth Linka say their definition of a B.C. book is broad: The author can be a British [...]
Vancouver: City poet wins award
Vancouver poet Michael Langton is among the winners of the 2009 CBC Literary Awards, announced Thursday. Langton won for his poem Us unclean. Other English-language winners were Marian Botsford Fraser of Toronto, for The Rise in the creative non-fiction category, and Saskatoon’s Donald Ward for his short story, Badger.
Stuff’s in store for wordsmith Shane Koyczan
Shane Koyczan is actually enjoying some relative quiet when the Straight reaches him at his Penticton home. This is his only interview for the entire day. In 24 hours, he’ll head to Toronto and back into the hot glare of the international media blitz sparked by his stirring, gold-medal performance of the spoken-word piece “We [...]
Annabel Lyon, Michael Turner among finalists for BC Book Prizes
The finalists for the BC Book Prizes were announced on Thursday, a group of authors which includes Michael Turner, Annabel Lyon, and Ian Weir. The awards honour writers in seven different categories.
Comox Valley: New venue for writers coming
Writers and poets in the Comox Valley are invited to take part in a new program sponsored by the Community Arts Council in association with the Comox Valley Writers’ Society. The program will consist of a series of evening events designed to give exposure to local writers and their work. Planned for the last Monday [...]
B.C. author Maggie De Vries among finalists for CBC Literary Awards
B.C. author Maggie De Vries, who wrote the 2003 memoir “Missing Sarah” about her sister’s disappearance from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, is one of 80 finalists from across Canada in the CBC Literary Awards. De Vries is nominated in the creative non-fiction section for “Are We Listening?” The other categories are poetry and short stories, and [...]
Kamloops: Short-fiction writers wanted
In a time when the world’s attention is pulled to the West Coast and the Winter Olympics, the Okanagan Short Fiction Contest is an opportunity to showcase the talents of Southern Interior writers, said Summerland writer Kyle Cornett-Ching. “The short fiction contest is an excellent means to draw the community together in the Southern Interior,” [...]
UVic student earns top literary award
Yasuko Thanh’s first novel was called The March of Dimes. “The theme was altruistic,” she said of the Halloween story she wrote when she was only six years old. “I don’t remember much about it, but it was probably pretty preachy.” Thirty-two years later, the UVic master’s student is being recognized as one of the [...]
B.C. home to award-winning authors
Sometimes a good book or a good story stays with us long after we have read it. These are often the stories that win awards and here are some that have recently won acclaim. The Canada Council for the Arts has announced the 2009 Governor General’s Awards for Literature and three B.C. writers came up [...]
Literary Arts Funding Crisis Receives Sorely Needed Optimism
The Coalition for the Defense of Writing & Publishing in B.C. just announced the Select Standing committee on Finance and Government’s recommendation to fully restore arts funding to the higher amounts from previous years. This is great news for all those involved in the publsihing world in B.C. as well as anyone who supports the [...]
Four authors in running for $40,000 B.C. award
Four Canadian authors have been nominated for the B.C. National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction, an honour that will net the winner $40,000 the richest non-fiction book prize in the country.
B.C. writer’s debut gets literary love, landing on 3 short lists, including GG
After spending eight years at the library toiling over her debut novel, “The Golden Mean,” British Columbia writer Annabel Lyon has been rewarded with nominations for three major Canadian literary prizes. An engaging look at Aristotle’s relationship with Alexander the Great as told through the voice of the great philosopher, “The Golden Mean” was named [...]
B.C. Book and Magazine Week celebrates new lines for tough times
Layoffs, closures, dwindling sales numbers in several sectors: for many people working in print media, the past six months have not been pretty. As readers, writers, and publishers gear up to celebrate B.C. Book & Magazine Week (April 18 to 25), they’re doing so in one of the most difficult times the industry has ever [...]
