The Kootenay Literary Competition — presented by the Kootenay Literary Competition Committee — is now open to any residents of the Kootenay region.

Kootenay Literary Competition 2010 theme: isolation. Contestants should explore this theme in their original work.

So when the Governor General Award-nominated writer mentored Kaitlin Fontana through the University of B.C.’s Booming Ground creative writing program, Lau sent Fontana feedback in old-fashioned letters.

But two years later, when Lau read Fontana’s short memoir “The Flight Album” in the Canadian magazine The Walrus, about interning for a magazine in New York, Lau had to log on to her friend’s email and instantly tell Fontana how impressed she was.

“She wrote this absolutely stunning piece… that I would have probably sacrificed a baby toe to have written myself,” Lau said.

So get out your calendar and clear some time from July 15 through 18 and start making plans for a perfect weekend.

The Denman Island Readers and Writers Festival has become widely recognized by writers, reviewers and the media as one of the best small literary events in Canada. The Canadian Encyclopedia thinks so, as does one of the Globe and Mail’s chief reviewers, John Barber.

Bucking the trend of traditional bookstores closing their doors, Sitka Books & Art will be committed to supporting Vancouver’s rich literary and cultural community and to providing Vancouver’s readers a warm, welcoming place to explore books and meet authors. The e-commerce market and the digitization of reading material will NOT replace books; in fact, it will encourage more consumers to read and appreciate the written word.

Rossland Reads started to promote the local library and the joy of reading Canadian fiction.

Four distinguished local panelists have chosen four titles for this year and will be debating and defending their book of choice and its merits at fun weekly debate events in October.

“We want to engage communities and show a little bit more of the arts and culture in our area. Everyone knows the area is famous for their love of sports but this is a way for book lovers to come together and share some of their stories,” said Carey Rudisill, Rossland Reads 2010 moderator.

Books of any genre that demonstrate excellence and contribute to an appreciation and understanding of Vancouver’s residents, history, or unique character are eligible to apply for the $2,000 award. The winning book must also exhibit excellence in content, illustration, design and/or format.

An independent panel of judges will choose the winner. The shortlist of finalists will be announced in early September, and the award will be presented in October by Mayor Gregor Robertson.

To be eligible, books must be published in 2009 or 2010 and meet the application criteria. All entries must include: four copies of the book, a $15 submission fee, and a completed entry form. Entry forms and guidelines are available from the Cultural Services Department at 555 West 12th Avenue, East Tower, Suite 310, Vancouver.

More information and forms are also available on the City’s website at: http://vancouver.ca/bookaward.

Luckily for Vancouverites, our city is home to some genuine poetry talent: North Vancouver is home to the winner of the 2009 Governor General’s Award in poetry, David Zieroth, and East Van is home to Rob Taylor, a young and fast-rising star in the Canadian poetry world and very recent winner of the 2010 Alfred G. Bailey Prize (many of the biggest names in Canadian poetry got their start with this prize). These two word-whizzes are going to give a free poetry reading on Tuesday night at La Fontana’s Caffe.

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 a critic and newspaper columnist, and his exuberance as a civil rights activist and a leading voice of the gay community, have enriched us all,” jury member and last year’s winner Terry Glavin said in a citation.

Persky was honoured for “trail-blazing efforts in creating literary journals and a forum for public engagement — not least New Star Books and the Georgia Straight,” the citation said.

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, publishers and editors, it’s one of the bigger festivals the group has hosted, says Sofie McGarry, event co-ordinator.

The award is given to a Canadian woman who has published a book of poetry in the preceding year, and is in memory of the late Lowther, whose career was cut short by her untimely death in 1975.

The award carries a $1,000 prize.

Rosnau, who grew up in Vernon, recently moved back to town from Prince George with her young family.

Michael Langton, who now lives in Vancouver, took first place in the poetry category for Us unclean.

The annual contest received more than 6,000 submissions in French and English from across the country.

Twelve entries were selected by the juries: six in English and six in French.

An English tutor, Langton works with high school students in Vancouver.

Us unclean is his first competition win, and his first published work.

Richards, Middleton and TouchWood publisher Ruth Linka say their definition of a B.C. book is broad: The author can be a British Columbian, the book can be about the province or it can have been written or published here. “If the book has a British Columbian association for you,” they say, “that’s good enough for us.”

Some titles float to the surface right away. There’s Pauline Johnson’s Legends of Vancouver, first published in 1911. There’s the Encyclopedia of British Columbia, a redoubtable reference book published in 2000 after a 10-year, multi-contributor effort orchestrated by Daniel Francis. There’s Stanley Park, Timothy Taylor’s novel about an in-the-weeds chef that really captures the flavour of the city.

To submit suggestions for the list, visit Greatest100books.com.(And if you need help retrieving favourite books from memory’s sinkhole, visit Abcbookworld.com,a comprehensive reference on B.C. writing, and click on “Browse.”)

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.

The awards honour writers in seven different categories.

The Golden Mean, about Aristotle teaching the young Alexander the Great, was also nominated for the Giller Prize and a Governor General’s Literary Award.

The $7,500 First Novel Award is administered by Amazon.ca with Quill and Quire.