Read Local BC

Talonbooks Spring 2026 Launch
2026-05-01 19:00 - 20:30 (America/Vancouver) | Martha Lou Henley Rehearsal Hall, 1955 McLean Dr, Vancouver, BC V5N 3J7, Vancouver, BC, V5N 3J7, Canada
Join us at the Martha Lou Henley Rehearsal Hall for the launch of the Talonbooks spring 2026 titles! Come help us celebrate this season’s authors and books. Here’s the lineup! It’s going to be an amazing evening.
Taryn Hubbard will read from Beautiful Unknown Future
Jenn Ashton (attending digitally) will read from Growing My Way Home
George Bowering (attending digitally) will read from Pearl
Jónína Kirton will read from Save Your Prayers – Send Money
Elee Kraljii Gardiner will read from sometimes, forest
Nicole Raziya Fong will read from SUBTEXT and
Danielle LaFrance will read from Verbal Violence!
The launch will be hosted by the author of Future Works, Jeff Derksen!
A live stream will be available on the Talonbooks YouTube page. Light snacks and drinks will be provided. Hope to see you there!
Talonbooks Spring Launch
Martha Lou Henley Rehearsal Hall
Vancouver, BC
May 1, 2026
Doors at 7 p.m., readings begin at 7:30 p.m. PDT

An Evening with Eve Joseph and Patrick Friesen
2026-05-02 19:00 - 20:30 | Upstart & Crow, 1387 Railspur Alley Vancouver, BC V6H 3R7, Vancouver, BC, V6H 3R7, Canada
Join us for a beautiful evening of poetry with local legends Eve Joseph and Patrick Friesen. The duo will be launching their latest collections and invite you to join them in readings and conversation. Tickets are free, but please RSVP for your spot here as capacity is limited.
In Eve Joseph’s latest book, Dismantling, the poet is occupied with the idea of poetic imagination and how that often elusive thing can transform the mundane into the mysterious. In a book where fish are classified as bees and rivers are legally people, things are not always as they seem. As the title suggests, sometimes the act of taking something apart and building again from scratch allows a poem to find its true form.
​​The poems in Patrick Friesen’s latest collection, Sightings, move between the visible and invisible, between the contradictions of human history and the immediacy of a complex present. Friesen examines memory and music, rivers and personalities, open to all possibilities and sceptical of wisdom. Instead, these poems rely on the kind of knowledge that comes from experience: tremors and fragments riding on the movement of thinking. The distance from Friesen’s first book, published 50 years ago, to this one, speaks to what it means to have known the world through poetry.
More about Upstart & Crow:
Upstart & Crow is a not-for-profit creative studio and literary incubator that champions writers, readers and stories, and the role they play in shaping our lives. We develop original programs, support artists and revel in creative projects focused on Literature In Translation / Climate Solutions / Poetry / Civic Dialogue / Community & Skills Building … all with the aim of elevating the role of literature and storytelling in our lives. Find us on Granville Island, Gibsons and online at upstartandcrow.com.
Accessibility:
The main studio of our shop is accessible for folks with mobility aids. There is a washroom on the main floor available for attendees.
Questions: hello[at]upstartandcrow.com.

Book launch: The Art of Looking Back by Theresa Kishkan
2026-05-29 13:00 - 15:00 | Sechelt Public Library, 5797 Cowrie St, Sechelt, BC, V0N 3A0, Canada
Join Theresa Kishkan for the release of her memoir, The Art of Looking Back: A Painter, an Obsession, and Reclaiming the Gaze.
Theresa examines her youth and her role as muse to Victoria artist Jack Wilkinson. More than a reminiscence, this poetic memoir asks questions about older men and younger women and girls, and the persistence of that dynamic in art.
