Read Local BC

Book Launch: Illuminations: An Evening with Sheryda Warrener and Jane Munro
2023-03-02 18:00 - 20:00 (America/Vancouver) | Massy Arts, 23 East Pender, Vancouver, B.C., Canada
On Thursday, March 2nd at 6pm, join Massy Arts Society, Massy Books, Harbour Publishing and Coach House Books for Illuminations: An Evening with Sheryda Warrener and Jane Munro, a double launch of False Creek by Jane Munro and Test Piece by Sheryda Warrener, hosted by Raoul Fernandes.
These two collections of poetry offer meditations on phenomenological experiences. While weaving in explorations of dreams, visual arts and the natural world, Munro and Warrener also engage with various histories, inviting us to reflect on the complexities of these encounters. This evening, hosted by Raoul Fernandes, author of Transmitter and Receiver, celebrates the ability of poetry to transcend form and bring together new perspectives.
This project has been made possible by the Government of Canada. Ce projet a été rendu possible grâce au gouvernement du Canada.
Registration is free, open to all, and required for entrance.
Purchase at the event:
False Creek by Jane Munro
Test Piece by Sheryda Warrener

SCWES BOOK AWARDS FOR BC AUTHORS 2023: SUBMISSIONS OPEN
2023-03-01 - 2023-03-02
New in 2023 is the Sunshine Coast Writers and Editors Society Book Awards offering prizes in fiction, non-fiction and poetry in traditional and independent publishing streams.
There will be a first-prize winner in each category announced at the Annual Sunshine Coast Art & Words Festival.
$100 will be awarded for the first-place winner as follows:
Traditionally published books:
– Fiction
– Nonfiction
– Poetry
Indie published books (includes hybrid):
– Fiction
– Nonfiction
– Poetry
For a total of six $100 awards.
Each entry receives comments from a judge, including areas of excellence and areas for improvement.
Entries for the 2023 SCWES Awards will open March 1, 2023.
RULES

Books must be published between January 2021 and May 30, 2023.
Books must be submitted in book form by midnight May 30, 2023.
Submissions will be rated by a member of the judging committee.
Entries with outstanding merit in each category will be shortlisted.
The shortlist will be announced July 1, 2023.

Finalist Selection

All shortlisted titles will be submitted to all judges and all entrants will be informed.
All entrants will receive judges’ comments of each title submitted.
Three finalists will be selected in each category. Finalists will be announced August 1, 2023.

Winner’s Selection

Finalists will be rated by two judges.
Winning entries will be announced at the Annual Sunshine Coast Art & Words Festival, August 17-20, 2023.
Judges may enter their book(s) in the contest but may not judge in the same category that their book(s) is entered in.

PRIZES
The first-prize winners will receive cash prizes.
All entries will receive:
Comments from a member of the Selection Committee.
Shortlisted authors will receive:
A certificate “Shortlisted for the SCWES Book Award 2023” or “Shortlisted for the SCWES Independent Book Award”, as appropriate.
100 stickers for the book’s cover.
Inclusion on the SCWES website with a link to the author’s or publisher’s website.
Finalists receive:
A certificate “Finalist for the SCWES Book Award 2023” or ”Finalist for the SCWES Independent Book Award 2023”, as appropriate.
100 stickers for the book’s cover.
Inclusion in a list in the Annual SCWES Art & Words Anthology.
An invitation to participate in a reading event during the Annual SCWES Art & Words Festival.
Placement in book sales area during the Festival.
A comment from each of the two finalist judges, if they are finalists.
Winners receive:
The prizes above and one-year membership in SCWES.
FEE
$50 per fiction or non-fiction, $20 or poetry book entry (etransfer to sunshinecoastwritersandeditors@gmail.com, or cheque made payable to SCWES)
The Sunshine Coast Writers and Editors Society was founded in 2021 as a non-profit organization. Our group includes about 75 members living on the Sunshine Coast. SCWES promotes literary arts, provides a forum for local writers to develop their craft within the community, and sponsors events such as the Annual Art & Words Festival, NaNoWriMo, and 100 Years of Writers on the Sunshine Coast, among others.
SUBMISSIONS
Mail a copy of each book to: 787 Madison Place, Gibsons, BC V0N 1V1.
Copies cannot be returned.
EVALUATIONS
SCWES judges rate all books and provide comments for the author. The cost is included in the submission fee.
The opinions and recommendations in the evaluations are those of SCWES judges and are solicited by the author having entered the contest.
All content of comments and ratings will not be disclosed without prior permission of the author.
The author may use judges’ comments given for both personal or promotional purposes.
Questions? Email sunshinecoastwritersandeditors@gmail.com

Workshop: Two Paths to a Draft with Susan Olding
2023-02-26 14:00 - 15:30 | Zoom
In this 1.5 hour interactive workshop, we’ll analyze sample texts, review approaches to begin a piece of writing, and consider the importance of form and structure across genres. You’ll leave with resources and suggestions for further reading, writing, and reflection. Aimed at writers of all levels and genres.
Susan Olding is the author of Big Reader: Essays and Pathologies: A Life in Essays. Her essays, fiction, and poetry have appeared widely in literary journals and magazines throughout Canada and the U.S.

The Black Futures Open Mic
2023-02-26 13:00 - 16:00 | Neworld Theatre Society Neworld Theatre, 1422 William St, Vancouver, V5L 2P7, Canada
Are you a
Poet? Novellist?
Lyricist? Memoirist?
New or Returning to Writing?
We are thrilled to announce that Neworld Theatre (@neworldtheatre) will be partnering with Unbound Reading Series to bring you THE BLACK FUTURES OPEN MIC on Sunday, February 26th at 1pm.
📚 The Black Futures Open Mic is a literary and community event that celebrates Black creative writers, featuring a reading, and hosted, by award-winning journalist and best-selling author, Harrison Mooney (@picturesofharrison). ✨
In association with ROOM Magazine (@roommagazine), Wildfires Bookshop (@wildfiresbookshop) and Rise Up Marketplace (@riseupmarketplace) providing a giveaway, curated books for sale, and delicious treats available for purchase. ✨
Dust off that notebook and join us for an afternoon of shared words and stories in a fun and supportive atmosphere.
🎤 Link to open mic sign up form and pay-what-you-can tickets to the event in bio!
Join us also online Saturday, February 18th at 11am, PST for an instagram live with Unbound creator and organizer, Hope Lauterbach (@hopeadrift), to talk about the event! ✨

Reading: NICOLE MARKOTIĆ
2023-02-25 19:00 - 20:30 | Zoom
Nicole Markotić is a poet, novelist, short fiction writer and professor of Canadian and Children’s Literature at the University of Windsor. Her poetry titles include Minotaurs & Other Alphabets, Bent at the Spine, Whelmed and a recent translation of the Old English epic, Beowulf; her novels, Yellow Pages (on the inventions of Alexander Graham Bell), Scrapbook of My Years as a Zealot (about a young woman who becomes a Mormon), and a recent Young Adults work, Rough Patch (a coming of age tale about a bisexual teen). She was poetry editor at Red Deer Press for six years and is currently a fiction editor at NeWest Press. Her academic interests include representations of disability in children’s literature, feminist critical and body theory and twentieth-century Canadian and North American literature and poetics.
Nicole’s Sunshine Coast reading will include selections from her Beowulf, a rollicking tale of toxic masculinity against the Beast from Outside. Markotić’s translation is both irreverently hilarious and meticulously researched. In the words of one reviewer, “Upending the tale with her fresh and enchanting style, Markotić gives a nod to previous translations, winks at canonical critics, bares historical biases, all while gifting transmogrifying pages that will whet your whimsy!”

Reading: Metaphorically Speaking (Online)
2023-02-23 19:00 - 21:00
Join Wordstorm on Feb. 23rd when Andrea Thompson features at our online reading/performance, interview and open mic event!
On Feb, 23rd, Andrea will be sharing from one of her latest publications, A Selected History of Soul Speak.
Register for this free event at: wordstorm.ca

Incite: VenCo: Cherie Dimaline
2023-02-22 19:00 - 20:30 | Vancouver Public Library, Central Branch, 350 West Georgia St., Vancouver, BC, V6B 6B1, Canada
Presented by the Vancouver Writers Fest in partnership with Vancouver Public Library and Massy Books.
Don your cloaks and gather with other members of our literary coven for an evening of divine storytelling and witchcraft. Our third Incite event features Festival favourite Cherie Dimaline, whose book The Marrow Thieves has garnered multiple awards and maintained an astonishingly frequent presence on the Canadian bestseller’s list for the past five years. Her latest novel for adults invites readers on an enchanting, treacherous road trip adventure that will “bring magic back into your life” (Eden Robinson).
VenCo is a wickedly subversive, deliciously imaginative, deeply feminist novel of contemporary witches on the rise. When Métis millennial Lucky St. James finds a spoon in her basement inscribed with the letters S-A-L-E-M, she joins a network of extraordinary women across North America who are searching desperately for the final spoon—and the unknown witch who holds it. The Kirkus Prize and Governor General’s Literary Award winning author joins author and academic Billy-Ray Belcourt (A History of My Brief Body, A Minor Chorus) to discuss her spellbinding new book, and her prolific and varied writing life.
Books will be for sale before and after the event courtesy of Massy Books.

Janie Chang: Porcelain Moon
2023-02-20 15:00 - 17:00 | Sunshine Coast Arts Council, 5714 Medusa St., Sechelt, BC, V0N 3A3, Canada
We’re getting excited for the release of Janie Chang’s newest book, Porcelain Moon! Janie Chang is the author of four previous novels and she’ll be launching her latest historical fiction right here in Sechelt. February 20th from 3-5pm at the Sechelt Arts Centre. We have a few of these Porcelain Moon tote bags to giveaway to those who pre-order a copy of the book! Give us a call and we’ll be sure to add you to the list. (If you’ve already pre-ordered, we’ll make sure to keep a tote for you.)

Freedom to Read Week
2023-02-19 - 2023-02-26

Fireside Chat: Jónína Kirton
2023-02-17 08:00 - 17:00 | Zoom
This on-line chat will be about an hour long and will feature guest host and poet Michelle Poirier Brown in conversation with Jónína Kirton. The audience will have an opportunity to ask questions.
Jónína Kirton, a Métis Icelandic poet, received the 2016 Vancouver Mayor’s Arts Award for an Emerging Artist in the Literary Arts category. Her second collection of poetry, An Honest Woman, was a finalist in the 2018 Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize. She just released her third book, Standing in a River of Time.
Michelle Poirier Brown is the author of You Might Be Sorry You Read This.

Book Launch: Hand on My Heart: A Canadian Doctor's Awakening in Afghanistan
2023-02-15 19:00 - 21:00 | ubc school of population and public health
MaureenMayhew‘s Hand on My Heart: A Canadian Doctor’s Awakening in Afghanistan. Mark your calendars for the upcoming book launch: February 15th, 7-9 PM at UBC’s School of Population and Public Health. Books will be available for sale!

Moving Lines - An I Love Transit Week Poetry and Music Event
2023-02-14 16:00 - 19:00 | Waterfront Station Atrium, 601 W Cordova, Vancouver, BC, Canada
TransLink’s Arts and Culture program presents MOVING LINES – An I Love Transit Week Poetry and Music Event, featuring poets Hari Alluri, Angelic Goldsky, Fiona Lam, and Brandon Wint with violinist Cameron Wilson and cellist Finn Mannische of the band Van Django.
This Literary Cabaret of poetry readings and improvised music will take place at the Atrium in Vancouver’s Waterfront Station, from 4-7 pm on Valentine’s Day, February 14, in a mutual celebration of transit and love. Throughout the event, our poets will also host an exciting, interactive poetry booth, to inspire riders’ own creativity as they express their love for transit.
#ILoveTransit

Poetry Justice
2023-02-12 15:00 - 17:00
Poetic Justice Online Edition
with Host Carol Johnson
Date: Sunday February 12, 2023
Time: 3:00 to 5:00 pm (Pacific)
Featuring
Franci Louann
Cherie Hanson
Open Mic sign up starts at 2:50 pm

Best Canadian Poetry 2023
2023-02-11 19:00 - 21:00
This Saturday, Feb. 11th at 7:00 p.m. join our poet laureate, John Barton for the launch of Best Canadian Poetry 2023 (@biblioasis_books)!!
Readings from @goblinpuck, Lise Gaston, @adriansouthin, Susan Braley, and @loveday.jeremy

Book Signing: Bloom Where You Are Planted | Indigo Granville
2023-02-11 16:00 - 18:00 | Chapters Indigo – Vancouver, Granville & Broadway, 2505 Granville Street, Vancouver, BC, V6H 3G7, Canada
Chat with the author and pick up a copy of “Bloom Where You Are Planted: 50 Conversations with Inspiring British Columbians” at Indigo Granville.
A gorgeous book to keep or gift, “Bloom Where You Are Planted” is a collection of interviews and photography that celebrates 50 innovative, hard-working, diverse people.
https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/…/9781772034295-item.html

Incite: Superfan: Jen Sookfong Lee
2023-02-08 19:00 - 20:30 | Vancouver Public Library, Central Branch, 350 West Georgia St., Vancouver, BC, V6B 6B1, Canada
Music. Movies. Celebrity crushes. Pop culture permeates all levels of our lives, from the entertainment we consume (or abhor) to the memes we make and share with friends. Jen Sookfong Lee has been at the centre of this commentary for years, as author, lifestyle commentator, podcaster, and now memoirist of Superfan: How Pop Culture Broke My Heart, a searing, revelatory, and intimate collection exploring the ways in which pop culture has shaped—and unshaped—Lee throughout her life.
Joined by longtime Festival friend and Globe and Mail columnist Marsha Lederman, this special Incite event will celebrate Lee’s debut memoir-in-pieces, and explore all the ways in which pop culture intersects with the reality of so many, how our collective obsessions make and break us, and why our fascinations persist in spite of it all.

Family Literacy Week
2023-01-23 - 2023-01-28
