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

Pretendianism
2026-05-05 18:00 - 20:00 | VANCOUVER PUBLIC LIBRARY – CENTRAL LIBRARY
Esteemed novelist Joseph Boyden, acclaimed film director Michelle Latimer and former University of Saskatchewan professor Carrie Bourassa have all made front-page news in recent years for the same reason: each is alleged to have been a “pretendian.”
The term “pretendian” has come to refer to someone who claims distant Indigenous heritage that doesn’t stand up to deeper scrutiny. But why would someone fake an Indigenous identity?
That question is the premise of The Pretendians (2022), a documentary from The Passionate Eye and the latest film featuring Anishinaabe author and playwright Drew Hayden Taylor. The documentary follows his cross-Canada journey, revealing what really lies behind this explosive issue.
Rating: PG / Runtime: 44 mins
Presented in partnership with CBC Gem.
—
After the film, join Cee Peal, the 2026 VPL Storyteller in Residence for a discussion around Pretendianism and the harm and division that it creates in Indigenous communities.
—
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

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.

LiterASIAN 2026: Re-Generation
2026-06-27 13:00 - 2026-06-28 20:00 | Chinese Cultural Centre Museum, 555 Columbia Street, Vancouver, BC, V6A 3X3, Canada
The LiterASIAN Festival returns for its 14th annual edition with “Re-Generation,” a timely exploration of how Asian Canadian writers are reshaping literary culture today.
Running from June 27-28 across Vancouver, the festival brings together leading and emerging voices for a national celebration of storytelling, community, and creative exchange.
Widely recognized as Canada’s premier festival dedicated to Asian Canadian literature, LiterASIAN 2026 spotlights a new generation of writers who are reimagining inherited narratives and pushing the boundaries of form, voice, and identity.
This year’s lineup features Jinwoo Park (Oxford Soju Club), Evelyn Lau (Parade of Storms), Yasuko Thanh (To the Bridge), Larry Grant and Scott Steedman (Reconciling), Kagan Goh (Surviving Samsara), Steffi Tad-y (Notes from the Ward), Wiley Wei-Chiun Ho (Astronaut Children of Dunbar Street), and Keiko Honda (Hidden Flowers).
Additional speakers include Jessica Gin-Jade Chan (former Ricepaper Editor-in-Chief), Bonnie Quan Symons (poet and chapbook author), and Taslim Jaffer (editor, writer, and professor at the University of King’s College MFA program).
Festival programming includes feature readings, panel discussions, and workshops. Events will take place at leading cultural and literary venues across Vancouver, including the Chinatown Storytelling Centre, the Chinese Cultural Centre Museum, and Centre A: Vancouver International Centre for Contemporary Asian Art.
“Fifty years after Inalienable Rice, the first anthology of Asian Canadian writing, we are witnessing a renewal,” said Festival Director Allan Cho. “LiterASIAN 2026 brings together writers who are not only reflecting on cultural inheritance, but actively transforming it.”
Highlights include:
● Literary Walking Tour — A guided exploration of Vancouver’s Chinatown through history and literature with filmmaker and photographer Larry Chin
● Emerging Writers Showcase — Featuring new voices from the Jim Wong-Chu Emerging Writers’ Award
● Writing Workshop — Exploring expressive writing as a practice for reflection and healing
● Chapbook-Making Class — A hands-on introduction to editing, sequencing, and design for a cohesive, self-published work
● ACWW Community Builders Award — Honouring leadership in advancing racial equity in Asian Canadian communities
● Live Drafting Session — An intimate, behind-the-scenes look at writers developing new work in real time
LiterASIAN 2026: Re-Generation is presented by the Asian Canadian Writers’ Workshop (ACWW), with the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, ACCESS Copyright Foundation, the Department of Canadian Heritage, the City of Vancouver, and community partners.
For tickets and full program details, please visit www.literasian.com.

Contemporary Romance for a Swoon-worthy Summer
2026-07-20 17:30 - 20:00 | VANCOUVER PUBLIC LIBRARY – CENTRAL LIBRARY
What’s not to love about the huge surging interest in romance books and ebooks? With #RomanceRecs, #BookTok and #FriendsToLovers hashtags influencing reader behaviour find out what’s hot in the world of romance at the library.
Join us for a sweet summer social hangout with workshops, author readings, meet and greets with local romance authors and more! Bring your favourite books to discuss and recommend to the community.
This event features local Mother-Daughter romance authors Jody Holford (AKA Sophie Sullivan) and Kalie Holford, Lily Miller, Lindsay Maple, Hunter Snow, Sara Blaydes, Sophie Sullivan, Anthony Nerada, and Julia Jarret. Joining as well will be moderators Amy Pelletier (Perfect Match) and Courtney and Lauren from River City Reader Events.
In partnership with Perfect Match Bookshop (Vancouver’s first romance bookstore).
