Wildlife Conservation Book Launch: Bob McDonald in Conversation with Greg Cummings and Sarah Cox
2024-05-22 19:00 - 21:00 (America/Vancouver) | Munro’s Books, 1108 Government Street, Victoria, BC, V8W 1Y2, Canada
Please join Munro’s Books in launching two new books by local authors about wildlife conversation!! We’ll present Greg Cummings, author of Gorilla Tactics: How to Save a Species and Sarah Cox, author of Signs of Life: Fieldnotes From the Frontlines of Extinction in conversation with Bob McDonald, author of The Future is Now: Solving the Climate Crisis with Today’s Technologies, and host of CBC Radio’s Quirks and Quarks!
Gorillas are among the most recognizable of the large charismatic mammals, but climate change and poaching has brought them to the brink of extinction. Greg Cummings was the executive director of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund for seventeen years. He shares his fascinating experiences as a “wildlife Robin Hood”—raising money from the rich and famous and redistributing it to endangered gorillas and their habitats. He met and enlisted the help of celebrities such as Sigourney Weaver, Arthur C. Clark, Douglas Adams, and Leonardo DiCaprio. This thirty-year worldwide journey moves from boardrooms in Manhattan and London to mountain treks in Rwanda and Congo. Gorilla Tactics is sure to enchant readers with Greg’s unique experiences, while sharing insight into the work it takes to save a species from extinction.
GREG CUMMINGS has been featured in international publications such as the Guardian, Ecologist, and Sea Angler. In 2006 his organization was awarded the BBC Animal Award for best wildlife conservation program. A fundraiser since 1990, Cummings has raised money in America, Britain, France, Holland, Italy, and Canada for causes ranging from wildlife conservation to mental health. As director of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund UK, he set up dozens of innovative, grassroots projects in troubled parts of the world—many of which are self-sustaining to this day. His global perspective has given him an eye for where the next crisis might arise, and how to thwart it. He lives in Victoria, British Columbia.
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What’s to be done when only three spotted owls are left in Canada’s wild? When wolves eat endangered caribou, cormorants kill rare trees, and housing developments threaten a tiny frog? Environmental journalist Sarah Cox has witnessed what happens when we drive species to the brink of extinction. In Signs of Life, she tags along with the Canadian military, Indigenous guardians, biologists, conservationists, and ordinary people who are racing to save hundreds of species before it’s too late. Travelling across the country, Cox visits the Toronto Zoo, home of Canada’s only wildlife biobank, where scientists conserve living cells from endangered species in the event of future loss; tours Canada’s military bases, home to some of Canada’s last preserved ecosystems; and travels to Indigenous communities where land stewards are striving to restore the delicate ecological balance that has sustained people for millennia. Through the eyes and work of individuals who are bringing species back from the precipice, Cox delivers both an urgent message and a fresh perspective on how we can protect biodiversity and begin to turn things around.
SARAH COX is an award-winning author and journalist based in Victoria, B.C. In 2022, Cox won the Canadian Association of Journalists’ Award for Environmental & Climate Change Reporting and her investigative reporting for the Narwhal has also been awarded the World Press Freedom Award and the Canadian Journalism Foundation’s Jackman Award for Excellence in Journalism. She has also won a Gold Digital Publishing Award with her colleagues at The Narwhal and previously won two Western Magazine Awards. Sarah’s first book Breaching the Peace: The Site C Dam and a Valley’s Stand Against Big Hydro won a B.C. Book Prize and was a finalist for the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing (Writers’ Trust of Canada) and the George Ryga Award for Social Awareness in Literature.
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BOB McDONALD has been the host of CBC Radio’s Quirks & Quarks since 1992. He is a regular science commentator on CBC’s News Network and a science correspondent for CBC TV’s The National. His book Measuring the Earth with a Stick was shortlisted for the Canadian Science Writers Association Book Award. He has been honoured with the 2001 Michael Smith Award for Science Promotion from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada; the 2002 Sandford Fleming Medal from The Royal Canadian Institute; and the 2005 McNeil Medal for the Public Awareness of Science from the Royal Society of Canada. In November 2011, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.
WHEN: Wednesday, May 22nd at 7:00 p.m. (doors at 6:30)
WHERE: In-store at Munro’s Books, 1108 Government St. in Victoria
WHAT: Readings from Greg Cummings and Sarah Cox, followed by a conversation moderated by Bob McDonald and a Q&A with the audience. Book signings will follow.
HOW: This event is free to attend.

Wild Prose Reading Series Presents: BACK to the Future!
2024-05-30 19:00 - 22:00 | Paul Phillips Hall, 1923 Fernwood Road, Victoria, BC, V8T 0A5, Canada
Join the Wild Prose Reading Series on Thursday, May 30th for BACK to the Future! Readings about time travel and nostalgia, from Astrid Blodgett (This is How You Start to Disappear), Kevin Chong (The Double Life of Benson Yu), and Lori Hahnel (Flicker)!
We’ll begin with an open mic, as always (ALL genres welcome) at 7:00 (sign up at 6:30) and then featured readings will start at 7:30.
BACK to the Future! with Astrid Blodgett, Kevin Chong, and Lori Hahnel
Thursday, May 30th
at Paul Phillips Hall, 1923 Fernwood Road
Doors 6:30
Open Mic 7:00
Featured Readers 7:30
Admission: $5 or pay what you can (CASH)
Free refreshments
Please bring CASH for admission and books
More info: https://www.susansanfordblades.com/wild-prose-reading-series

Book Signing: William Deverell's Long-Shot Trial
2024-06-15 12:00 - 13:30 | Munro’s Books, 1108 Government Street, Victoria, BC, V8W 1Y2, Canada
Join Munro’s Books on June 15th to meet William Deverell, the author of the Arthur Beauchamp thriller series! He’ll be signing the ninth book in the series: The Long-Shot Trial!
In the Long-Shot Trial, Arthur Beauchamp takes a break from the courtroom to write a memoir so he can set the record straight about a headline murder case he fought as a young lawyer in 1966. The trial would either mark him as a pathetic loser or thrust him into the top ranks of criminal counsel. The background: in 1966, a young housemaid was raped by her employer, a callous and vindictive millionaire. She shot him point blank, so it seemed an open-and-shut case of first-degree murder. Enter Arthur Beauchamp, a young lawyer haunted by having bungled his only previous murder case. He is now called upon to defend a case that he is almost certain can’t be won. But as the trial speeds through twists and turns, his slashing cross-examinations bring hope that the jury might entertain a reasonable doubt. In the present time, Arthur learns that writing about his social gaffes, booze, and sex is not easy, especially as his efforts are regularly interrupted by the quirky characters who inhabit his supposedly idyllic Garibaldi Island.
After careers as a journalist, criminal lawyer, and political activist, WILLIAM DEVERELL turned to fiction, and his first effort won the Seal First Novel Award. Since then, he has earned multiple prizes for his 20 published novels, including the Dashiell Hammett Prize for literary excellence in crime writing in North America, two Crime Writers of Canada Awards (formerly the Arthur Ellis Award), and two runners-up for the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour. He lives on Pender Island in British Columbia.
WHEN: Saturday, June 15th from 12:00 p.m. until 1:30 p.m.
WHERE: In-Store at Munro’s Books, 1108 Government St. in Victoria.
WHAT: Meet, greet, and have William Deverell sign your copies of his book!
HOW: This event is free to attend.

Write on Bowen Festival for Readers & Writers
2024-09-13 09:00 - 2024-09-15 16:00 | Cove Commons on Bowen Island, 430 Bowen Island Trunk Rd, Bowen Island, British Columbia, V0N 1G0, Canada
The Write on Bowen Festival of Readers & Writers is a three-day event on beautiful Bowen Island that showcases writers and authors and their work. It provides opportunities for participants to attend workshops and other events that will aid them in the development of word-based creative endeavours. It allows everyone, including the general public, to be exposed to a rich diversity of voices, styles and presentation of works. It engenders connections and inspiration between and amongst all in attendance as they are drawn together around the love of the written and spoken word.
In addition to offering stimulating interactive workshops to writers of all genres and levels, the Festival presents author readings, a Saturday night Gala featuring a keynote speaker, luncheon panels and other special events. We look forward to welcoming you to our idyllic island.

More Than Two, Second Edition: Book Launch and Conversation
2024-09-14 18:00 - 21:00 | Massy Arts, 23 East Pender, Vancouver, B.C., Canada
Join us and Eve Rickert & Andrea Zanin for the release of More Than Two, Second Edition. Cultivating nonmonogamous relationships with kindness and integrity, in conversation with Carrie Jenkins.
Venue & Accessibility
The event will be hosted at the Massy Arts Gallery, at 23 East Pender Street in Chinatown, Vancouver.
Registration is free, open to all and required for entrance. The gallery is wheelchair accessible and a gender-neutral washroom is on-site. Please refrain from wearing scents or heavy perfumes.For more on accessibility including parking, seating, venue measurements and floor plan, and how to request ASL interpretation please visit: massyarts.com/accessibility
Covid Protocols: Masks keep our community safe and are mandatory (N95 masks are recommended as they offer the best protection). We ask if you are showing symptoms, that you stay home. Thank you kindly.
About the Book
More Than Two, Second Edition: Cultivating Nonmonogamous Relationships with Kindness and Integrity. by Eve Rickert and Andrea Zanin, with a foreword by Dr. Kim TallBear, author of The Critical Polyamorist.
“A modern topology of nonmonogamy’s many possibilities—and consequences—fully revised and updated on the tenth anniversary of the bestselling first edition”
“Can you love more than one person?” A lot of conversations about nonmonogamy start this way. When we discuss “opening”relationships, contemplate whether we want to beexclusive with our partners, or introduce multiple partners tofriends and family, we are asking the people in our lives, and ourselves, to contend with this question. The answer is obvious, and misleading. The love one feels in their heart and the love one expresses through daily acts of care and affection are both “love” in the true sense, but they have different requirements, present different options and produce different outcomes.
More Than Two can’t promise outcomes, but it is a guide to the paths—from anchor or nesting partnerships to relationship anarchy—possible within nonmonogamy. This long-awaited second edition bridges emerging theories on attachment and relationship diversity with authors Eve Rickert and Andrea Zanin’s insight and experience. The arcs of nonmonogamous partnerships bend towards complexity, introspection and compromise—or at least they can, if we work at it.
About the Authors
Eve Rickert is a Gen X, queer, solo polyamorous, relationship anarchist, neurodivergent cis woman living on unceded WSÁNEC and Lekwungen territory on the west coast of the place currently known as Canada. She is the curator of the More Than Two Essentials series and the nonmonogamy resource site morethantwo.ca, the founder and publisher of Thornapple Press, and the founder and mastermind of the science communications firm Talk Science to Me.
Andrea Zanin, MA, is a white, nonbinary, middle-aged queer writer who lives in Tkaronto (Toronto, Ontario), on the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples. Andrea is the author of Post-Nonmonogamy and Beyond, part of the More Than Two Essentials series, and has written for the Globe and Mail, The Tyee, Bitch, Ms., Xtra, IN Magazine, Outlooks Magazine and the Montreal Mirror. Andrea blogs at sexgeek.wordpress.com, where they created the 10 Rules for Happy Nonmonogamy and coined the term “polynormativity.”
About the Moderator
Carrie Jenkins: is a professor of philosophy at the University of British Columbia and the author of What Love Is (and What it Could Be), Sad Love: Romance and the Search for Meaning, and Nonmonogamy and Happiness as well as other titles. She holds a PhD in philosophy from Trinity College, Cambridge, and an MFA in creative writing from UBC. She has been featured in The Atlantic, the New York Times, the Globe and Mail and the Telegraph, among others.

Opheliac: Launch Party
2024-11-20 18:00 - 20:00 | Caffè Fantastico Specialty Coffees, 965 Kings Road, Victoria, British Columbia, V8T 1W7, Canada
This is a free event, but please RSVP on this Eventbrite page due to limited capacity: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/opheliac-launch-party-tickets-1035204884677?aff=oddtdtcreator
OPHELIAC: LAUNCH PARTY
Join us on Wednesday, November 20th to launch Opheliac, the debut of BC-based author Emma Sloan.
As an informal night of celebration, mingle with others in the literary community while enjoying Caffe Fantastico’s wide variety of seasonal sips and eats. Both alcoholic and non-alcoholic options will be available.
MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Emma Sloan is a poet, short fiction author, and journalist of 10+ years with works published across 300+ international publications.
As a Writing and Publishing graduate of the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada, Emma works as a professional copywriter.
Her chapbook Opheliac was named a finalist in the Black River Chapbook Competition and is forthcoming with Black Lawrence Press in Fall 2024.
PRAISE FOR OPHELIAC:
Opheliac invites lovers of both Shakespeare and wordplay with vivid imagery that invokes a sensory experience throughout. This modern retelling of the literary figure of Ophelia leaves room to ponder femininity, fragility, and the haunting impact of tragedy–and is a collection to read again and again.
–Natasha Silva, author of North Star Heart
In Opheliac, Emma Sloan shatters memory and rearranges its pieces into arresting shapes. The past is never far away in Opheliac—but that doesn’t stop Sloan from trying to grow a new “girl tongue,” a voice with which to tell overlooked and necessary truths: “This is a reel of film / on the cutting room floor.”
–Lucy Wainger, author of In Life There Are Many Things
MORE ABOUT THE BLACK LAWRENCE PRESS:
Founded in upstate New York, The Black Lawrence Press is an independent publisher of contemporary poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction.
Their collections are distributed nationally through Independent Publishers Group to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and various brick and mortar retailers, as well as assorted conferences and book fairs.

TriCities Writers Fest
2025-04-07 08:00 - 17:00 | BC
Get ready for the Tri-Cities Writers Festival 2025!
We’re welcoming more than a dozen celebrated authors to our community for four days of talks, panels, and workshops this May. Sessions will be in-person and online, and include a kick-off cocktail reception, where you can enjoy great food and drink alongside your fellow book lovers, and our panel of guest authors.
The Writers Festival is a collaboration between local libraries and the Tri-City Wordsmiths, with support from OverDrive, Evergreen Cultural Centre, and the Writers’ Union of Canada. With funding from Canada Council for the Arts/Conseil des arts du Canada.
For the schedule and author lineup, visit: https://www.coqlibrary.ca/seasonal-pages/tri-cities-writers-festival

Bones of a Giant with Brian Thomas Isaac
2025-06-02 19:00 - 20:30 | Native Education College, 285 East 5th Avenue, Vancouver, BC, V5T 1H2, Canada
Join Massy Books, Penguin Random House, and Brian Thomas Isaac for the launch of “Bones of a Giant” at 7 pm on Monday, June 2nd!
Books will be for sale at the event, including “All the Quiet Places.”
Venue:
The event will be hosted at the Massy Books, at 229 East Georgia Street in Chinatown, Vancouver.
Registration is free or by donation and required for entry.
The bookstore is wheelchair accessible and a gender-neutral washroom is on-site.
Please refrain from wearing scents or heavy perfumes.
Covid Protocols: Masks keep our community safe and are recommended and will be provided at the venue. We ask if you are showing symptoms, that you stay home. Thank you kindly.
About the Book:
Summer, 1968. For the first time since his big brother, Eddie, disappeared two years earlier—either a runaway or dead by his own hand—sixteen-year-old Lewis Toma has shaken off some of his grief. His mother, Grace, and her friend Isabel have gone south to the United States to pack fruit to earn the cash Grace needs to put a bathroom and running water into the three-room shack they share on the reserve, leaving Lewis to spend the summer with his cousins, his Uncle Ned and his Aunt Jean in the new house they’ve built on their farm along the Salmon River. Their warm family life is almost enough to counter the pressures he feels as a boy trying to become a man in a place where responsible adult men like his uncle are largely absent, broken by residential school and racism. Everywhere he looks, women are left to carry the load, sometimes with kindness, but often with the bitterness, anger and ferocity of his own mother, who kicked Lewis’s lowlife father, Jimmy, to the curb long ago.
Lewis has vowed never to be like his father—but an encounter with a predatory older woman tests him and he suffers the consequences. Worse, his dad is back in town and scheming on how to use the Indian Act to steal the land Lewis and his mom have been living on. And then, at summer’s end, more shocking revelations shake the family, unleashing a deadly force of anger and frustration.
With so many traps laid around him, how will Lewis find a path to a different future?
About the Author:
Brian Thomas Isaac was born in 1950 on the Okanagan Indian Reserve, near Vernon, British Columbia. After completing grade eight, he found work in the Alberta oil fields and in construction, eventually retiring as a bricklayer. He came to writing late in life. In 2022, his bestselling debut, All the Quiet Places, won an Indigenous Voices Award, was a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction and the Amazon Canada First Novel Award, and was longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and CBC’s Canada Reads. He lives with his wife in West Kelowna, BC.

Book Talk with Karen Harmon
2025-06-08 13:00 - 15:00 | North Vancouver Public Library – Capilano branch, 3045 Highland Blvd., North Vancouver, BC, V7R 2X4, Canada
NVDPL is excited to host author Karen Harmon for a book talk at the Capilano Library!
Karen will be reading from her new book, Class of ’56
Set against the nostalgic backdrop of diners, hot rods, and sock hops, Class of ’56 is a prequel to Karen Harmon’s award-winning Class of ’78, where the secrets behind MeadowBrook’s white picket fences begin to crack, revealing a town where no one is truly innocent.
Karen will then read three short excerpts from her latest book, Class of ’56, followed by a Q&A session and three fun prize draws.

Word Vancouver & Timothy Taylor: Literary Walking Tour
2025-06-14 10:30 - 12:00 | BC
Become a member of Word Vancouver to get access to exclusive events!
On June 14th, Timothy Taylor will host a Literary Walking Tour.
Join Timothy and Word Vancouver on a walk through the streets of downtown while Timothy Taylor talks about the spots which influenced his latest book The Rise and Fall of Magic Wolf (Dundurn Press.) To be followed by lunch with Timothy. Restaurant tba.
Timothy Taylor is a Vancouver novelist, journalist, and creative writing professor. He’s the author of the best selling award winning novel Stanley Park, as well as numerous other works of fiction and nonfiction. His most recent nonfiction work is the six part documentary Walrus Labs podcast The Hidden Holocaust Papers. His most recent novel is The Rise and Fall of Magic Wolf.
Email wordvancouverinfo@gmail.com to register.

Indigo Mayfair: Book Signing
2025-09-14 12:00 - 15:00 | Chapters Indigo – Victoria, 1212 Douglas St, Victoria, BC, V8W 2E5, Canada
Visit Indigo Mayfair from 12PM – 3PM on September 14th for a signed copy of “Opheliac” by British Columbian author Emma Sloan (and your limited-time gift with purchase).

Reading by C. E. Gatchalian
2025-09-19 15:00 - 16:00 | Summerland Library ORL Branch, 9533 Main Street, Summerland, BC, Canada
Double Melancholy: Art, Beauty, and the Making of a Brown Queer Man—a lyrical exploration of race, desire, and artistic identity shaped by literature, film, and family history.
For those interested, at 4pm, Gatchalian will lead Writing the Unraveling Self, a workshop that invites participants to embrace emotional rawness and creative disruption through guided prompts and reflection. The reading is Pay What You Can, and the workshop is $25.

Author Talk: Daniel Kalla
2025-09-23 19:00 - 20:00 | Richmond Public Library, Brighouse Branch, 7700 Minoru Gate, Richmond, BC, V6Y 1R8, Canada
Join Richmond Public Library as they welcome back international best-selling author Daniel Kalla as he reads and answers your questions about his newly released novel, The Deepest Fake.

An Evening with Richard Van Camp
2025-09-25 19:00 - 20:00 | Richmond Public Library, Brighouse Branch, 7700 Minoru Gate, Richmond, BC, V6Y 1R8, Canada
Join us for an amazing storytelling event with best selling author, Richard Van Camp. He will share his life’s work of reclaiming stories, family and community medicines and interviews with Elders from his community of Fort Smith, NWT. You’ll hear miracle stories about how he and others whose parents went to residential schools have spent their adults lives reclaiming what was almost lost.
Richard Van Camp is a proud member of the Dogrib Nation from Fort Smith, Northwest Territories. He is an internationally renowned storyteller and best-selling author, and the recipient of the Order of the Northwest Territories. He is the author of five collections of short stories, six baby books, three children’s books, five comics and much more.

Indigo Park Royal: Book Signing
2025-10-11 13:00 - 15:00 | Chapters Indigo – Park Royal, 900 Park Royal S., West Vancouver, BC, V7T 1A1, Canada
Visit Indigo Park Royal between 1PM – 3PM on October 11th to meet local author Emma Sloan and claim your free gift with purchase of your signed copy of “Opheliac.”

North Shore Authors Collection Book Sale
2025-12-06 15:00 - 17:00 | North Vancouver Public Library – Lynn Valley branch, 1277 Lynn Valley Road, North Vancouver, BC, V7J 0A2, Canada
Join us for an exciting Book Sale featuring the authors from the 2025/2026 North Shore Authors Collection!
The North Shore Authors Collection celebrates the literary talent of North Shore authors by highlighting locally created content in all three North Shore libraries. This is your opportunity to purchase some of the titles featured in this year’s collection while meeting the authors in person to chat about their work or have your books personally signed.
Bring your friends, your family, and your love for local literature. We can’t wait to see you there!
Let’s read local and support local authors.
Note: authors may have different payment preferences, including cash, e-transfer, or cheque.

Comic Pre-Launch Party: Passing in the Night
2026-02-10 18:00 - 20:00 | Cross & Crows Books, 2836 Commercial Dr,, Vancouver, BC, V5N 4C6, Canada
Meet the author of Passing in the Night by Meghan Kemp-Gee, an upcoming graphic novel published by Vancouver-based publisher Shrimp Cult Press. Passing in the Night is the story of two star-crossed lovers, Ruth and Gloria. Ruth is a busy medical resident with a sleep disorder… and Gloria transforms into a giant flying lizard every night. While they struggle to make things work at home, Ruth gets kidnapped by fairies and anti-magic riots spread throughout the city. Can they make things work, or are they just two ships passing in the night?
Passing in the Night was illustrated by the incredibly talented, GLAAD and RINGO-award-winning Lane Lloyd, and lettered by Megan Praz, the illustrator of One More Year an Contested Strip.
The event will include a talk by author Meghan Kemp-Gee, snacks, non-alcoholic drinks, and an exclusive comic of the opening pages of the book for anyone who backs the Kickstarter. We are generously hosted by Cross & Crows Books, a bookstore in East Vancouver that celebrates queer stories.

Introducing Cee Peal: 2026 Indigenous Storyteller in Residence
2026-03-31 18:00 - 19:30 | VANCOUVER PUBLIC LIBRARY – CENTRAL LIBRARY
Vancouver Public Library is honoured to introduce Cee Peal as the 2026 Indigenous Storyteller in Residence.
Cee Peal is a theatre artist from the Nisga’a First Nation of Northern B.C. now working in Vancouver on the traditional, unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), səl̓ilwətaɁɬ (Tsleil-waututh), and sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) peoples. He brings to the library his experience in storytelling, theatre, and image making, drawing from his experience working as an actor, director, writer, dancer, and producer on various productions. With a passion for Indigenous studies and cultural evolution, Cee is also the Indigenous outreach coordinator at The Cultch and the artistic associate at The Carmen Arts Group.
To find out more about Cee’s residency and keep up with his upcoming events visit: vpl.ca/storyteller
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Join us for an evening of storytelling and theatre magic with special guests.

Creator Series: Audio Plays with Cee Peal
2026-04-11 13:00 - 15:00 | VANCOUVER PUBLIC LIBRARY – CENTRAL LIBRARY
An audio play or drama relies strictly on acoustical elements for its manifestation. There are no visual components involved as it’s rendered strictly with dialogue, sound effects, and music alone to help listeners imagine the characters and the story.
At this fun and playful event, participants are invited to create a live audio play with Cee Peal the 2026 Indigenous Storyteller in Residence.
Have you ever imagined yourself as an actor? If so, then maybe you’d like to use your voice to recite dialogue (practice with our play collection on level 6 at Central Library). Would you like to be more in the background and create noise with sounds effects? Do you know about the Inspiration Lab and its resources? If you are a musician, you may want to experiment with a new instrument. In that case, we want to make sure that you are aware of our Musical Instrument Lending Library. If you’d prefer to sit and watch that is wonderful too as audience members are a huge part of this event as well.
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Cee Peal is a theatre artist from the Nisga’a First Nation of Northern B.C. now working in Vancouver on the traditional, unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), səl̓ilwətaɁɬ (Tsleil-waututh), and sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) peoples. He brings to the library his experience in storytelling, theatre, and image making, drawing from his experience working as an actor, director, writer, dancer, and producer on various productions. With a passion for Indigenous studies and cultural evolution, Cee is also the Indigenous outreach coordinator at The Cultch and the artistic associate at The Carmen Arts Group.
To find out more about Cee’s residency and keep up with his upcoming events visit: vpl.ca/storyteller

Stage Your Own Play with Cee Peal - Part One
2026-04-14 18:00 - 20:00 | VANCOUVER PUBLIC LIBRARY – CENTRAL LIBRARY
Gain a comprehensive understanding of the playwriting process from initial concept to production and finally opening night in this three-part series program. Learn about the concepts of Scene and Monologue Writing, Text Analysis, Staging, Performance, Production and more.
Use this time to explore the early stages of theatre development and experiment with others in a collaborative and unique process.
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Cee Peal is a theatre artist from the Nisga’a First Nation of Northern B.C. now working in Vancouver on the traditional, unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), səl̓ilwətaɁɬ (Tsleil-waututh), and sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) peoples. He brings to the library his experience in storytelling, theatre, and image making, drawing from his experience working as an actor, director, writer, dancer, and producer on various productions. With a passion for Indigenous studies and cultural evolution, Cee is also the Indigenous outreach coordinator at The Cultch and the artistic associate at The Carmen Arts Group.
To find out more about Cee’s residency and keep up with his upcoming events visit: vpl.ca/storyteller

Stage Your Own Play with Cee Peal - Part Three
2026-04-28 18:00 - 20:00 | VANCOUVER PUBLIC LIBRARY – CENTRAL LIBRARY

Talonbooks Spring 2026 Launch
2026-05-01 19:00 - 20:30 | 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

The Flash of Fireflies: Writing the Short Story
2026-05-19 18:30 - 20:00 | VANCOUVER PUBLIC LIBRARY – CENTRAL LIBRARY
Celebrate short story month with four talented fiction writers, Alix Ohlin, Andrea Routley, Jacquelyn Zong-Li Ross, and Shashi Bhat, in conversation with local author Jen Currin about the art and craft of this wily and often misunderstood genre.
Alix Ohlin’s most recent book, the story collection We Want What We Want, won a Lambda Literary Award. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, Best American Short Stories, and many other places. She teaches creative writing at UBC.
Andrea Routley is the author of the short-fiction collections This Unlikely Soil and Jane and the Whales, and was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award for Debut Fiction and the Malahat Review Novella Prize. She has taught creative writing in both institutional, community, and one-on-one settings, with a focus on writing as an orientation to the world, one that cultivates curiosity and compassion. She is the editor of Walk Myself Home: An Anthology to End Violence Against Women, and was the founding editor of Plenitude, Canada’s queer literary magazine.
Jacquelyn Zong-Li Ross is a writer and editor based in Vancouver, the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) nations. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph, and her fiction, poetry, essays, and art criticism have appeared in BOMB, C Mag, The Ex-Puritan, Fence, Mousse, and elsewhere. The Longest Way to Eat a Melon, her debut collection of short fictions, was published by Sarabande Books in 2025.
Shashi Bhat is the author of the story collection Death by a Thousand Cuts (McClelland & Stewart), and the novels The Most Precious Substance on Earth (M&S, Grand Central), and The Family Took Shape (Cormorant). Her fiction received the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, the Writers’ Trust/McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize and a silver National Magazine Award. She has been a finalist for the Governor General’s Award for fiction, the Danuta Gleed Award, the RBC Bronwen Wallace Award, and other prizes, and was longlisted for the Giller Prize. Shashi’s work has appeared in publications across North America, including Hazlitt, The Fiddlehead, The Malahat Review, Best Canadian Stories, and The Journey Prize Stories. She is the editor-in-chief of EVENT and teaches creative writing at Douglas College.
Jen Currin has published two collections of stories, Hider/Seeker (Anvil, 2018) and Disembark (House of Anansi, 2024), and five collections of poetry, most recently Trinity Street (Houseof Anansi, 2023). Currin lives on the ancestral and unceded territories of the Halkomelem-speaking peoples, including the Qayqayt, Musqueam, Kwikwetlem, and Kwantlen Nations, in New Westminster, BC. They teach creative writing and English upgrading at Kwantlen Polytechnic University.

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.

Author Reading with Theresa Kishkan and Keiko Honda
2026-06-03 19:00 - 21:00 | Munro’s Books, 1108 Government Street, Victoria, BC, V8W 1Y2, Canada
Join Theresa Kishkan, author of The Art of Looking Back, and Keiko Honda, author of Hidden Flowers, for a reading and discussion of writing memoir.

First Annual BC Author Market
2026-06-06 10:00 - 18:00 | Chilliwack Heritage Park, 44140 Luckakuck Way, Chilliwack, British Columbia, V2R 4A7, Canada
A gathering of BC local authors, for mingling, connecting, and selling their books to the public. This event is intended to build the local author community and to encourage BC residents to support local authors.
