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DTSTART;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260308T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260308T210000
DTSTAMP:20260429T205852
CREATED:20260302T211518Z
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UID:49266-1772996400-1773003600@www.readlocalbc.ca
SUMMARY:Poetry Reading: Steven Seidenberg & Danielle LaFrance
DESCRIPTION:Poets Steven Seidenberg and Danielle LaFrance will be reading at People’s Co-op Bookstore on Sunday\, March 8th (7-9 PM).\nThis is a free event and all are welcome – no need to RSVP. \n*This event is hosted by Simon Fraser University’s Department of English. \nBios:\nWriter and artist Steven Seidenberg’s literary works include “Coda” (Omnidawn\, Fall 2025)\, “Anon” (Omnidawn\, 2022)\, and “plain sight” (Roof Books\, 2020). His books have been published in Italian\, Portuguese and Swedish translation\, and his most recent collection of photographs is “The Architecture of Silence” (Contrasto\, 2023). \nDanielle LaFrance is a poet and information malprofessional. Their commitments are anchored to liberation\, resistance\, and pleasure. LaFrance is the author of “species branding” (Capilano University Editions\, 2010)\, “Friendly + Fire” (Talonbooks\, 2016)\, “JUST LIKE I LIKE IT” (Talonbooks\, 2019)\, and “#postdildo” (Talonbooks\, 2022). LaFrance co-created the reading and journal series\, “About a Bicycle” and currently collaborates on the ad infinitum intertextual sound project\, “Yes\, Sydo”. Their forthcoming book\, “Verbal Violence” (Talonbooks\, 2026) is a scrolling indictment of the professional managerial class. They reside as a guest on still occupied and still unceded xʷməθkʷəy̓əm\, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh\, and səlilwətaɬ lands.
URL:https://www.readlocalbc.ca/event/poetry-reading-steven-seidenberg-danielle-lafrance/
LOCATION:People’s Co-op Bookstore\, 1391 Commercial Drive\, Vancouver\, BC\, V5L 3X5\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Author Discussion,Reading
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ORGANIZER;CN="SFU English":MAILTO:englcmns@sfu.ca
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260310T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260310T170000
DTSTAMP:20260429T205852
CREATED:20260202T201217Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260202T201217Z
UID:47923-1773158400-1773162000@www.readlocalbc.ca
SUMMARY:FREE Celebration of Outdoor Learning Books!
DESCRIPTION:Free 1 Hour Virtual Event on Tues\, March 10 at 4pm Pacific / 7pm Eastern Time. \nSign-up: https://outdoorlearning.com/event/spring-celebration-2026/ \nThis is a chance to connect virtually with the incredible authors of some of the outdoor and Indigenous learning resources that we’ve published. Get the inside scoop\, hear about their process\, and ask any burning questions. Offered in partnership with Take Me Outside\, with the support of Creative BC. \nAll registrants will receive: \n– Access the recording\, in case you can’t join us live\n– Access a Certificate of Attendance\n– Entry for some great prizes!\n– A 15% coupon code to access any of the books featured! \nOffered in partnership with Take Me Outside\, with the support of Creative BC.
URL:https://www.readlocalbc.ca/event/free-celebration-of-outdoor-learning-books/
LOCATION:https://outdoorlearning.com/event/spring-celebration-2026/\, Virtual Event
CATEGORIES:Author Discussion,Day of Celebration,Panel
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ORGANIZER;CN="Outdoor Learning School &amp%3B Store":MAILTO:info@outdoorlearning.com
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260314T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260314T160000
DTSTAMP:20260429T205852
CREATED:20260219T004611Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260219T004611Z
UID:48881-1773496800-1773504000@www.readlocalbc.ca
SUMMARY:Nowruz Celebration: The Seven Trials of Esfandiyar
DESCRIPTION:Hear the story of the Seven Trials of the hero Esfandiyar from the famous The Persian Book of Kings! In true heroic fashion\, Esfandiyar fights beasts\, a dragon\, and a mythical bird to get to the fortress where his sisters are held captive. But not all tasks require raw strength and battle skills – heroism is about more than that. \nLed by Dr. Alexandra Hoffmann\, this event guides you through the story\, featuring an engaging lecture\, recitations in Persian and English\, and an opportunity for discussion. Join us for an afternoon immersed in Persian culture and learn how one might go about killing a dragon. \n— \nThis event is organized by Ashkan Doremami\, BA (UBC)\, Dr. Alexandra Hoffmann\, Assistant Professor of Classical Persian Literature and Culture (UBC)\, and Dr. Hessam Dehghani\, Assistant Professor of Teaching in Persian Language and Culture (UBC). \nIn partnership with the Persian Language and Culture Program at UBC and PanBeh Bookstore (Vancouver’s Iranian/Persian Bookstore).
URL:https://www.readlocalbc.ca/event/nowruz-celebration-the-seven-trials-of-esfandiyar/
LOCATION:VANCOUVER PUBLIC LIBRARY – CENTRAL LIBRARY
CATEGORIES:Festival
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.readlocalbc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Nowruz-BE.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="Vancouver Public Library":MAILTO:candie.tanaka@vpl.ca
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260317T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260317T203000
DTSTAMP:20260429T205852
CREATED:20260112T181458Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260112T181458Z
UID:46648-1773770400-1773779400@www.readlocalbc.ca
SUMMARY:Giant Silent Reading Party
DESCRIPTION:Are you feeling a little lonely and finding it hard to connect with community in Vancouver? The Vancouver Public Library is hosting a giant silent reading party to get ready for Spring. Our “silent reading party” at the library is a social space where patrons can sit together and read in silence. Do you have book that you just haven’t had the time or space to finish? Well now you can finally bring that book out of your giant TBR pile to the table! \nEnjoy the company of other book lovers with a 30 minute conversational social afterwards to discuss what you are reading. \n*Light refreshments will be provided.
URL:https://www.readlocalbc.ca/event/giant-silent-reading-party-2/
LOCATION:Vancouver Public Library\, Central Branch\, 350 West Georgia St.\, Vancouver\, BC\, V6B 6B1\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Festival
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.readlocalbc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/giantsilentreadingparty2.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="Vancouver Public Library":MAILTO:candie.tanaka@vpl.ca
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260325T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260325T210000
DTSTAMP:20260429T205852
CREATED:20260325T180721Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260325T180721Z
UID:50469-1774465200-1774472400@www.readlocalbc.ca
SUMMARY:Somatic Writing Workshop
DESCRIPTION:Join us for a Somatic Writing Workshop with poet\, spoken word artist\, playwright\, and somatic psychotherapist\, Mercedes Baines. Somatics refers to a practice of listening to and dialoguing with the body (which includes the mind and imagination)\, allowing us to be present with ourselves. \nAs local and global injustices continue\, our bodies also continues to process\, reflect\, and protect. Embodied practices like somatic writing can create a space for grounding\, connection\, and attuned creative expression. Our bodies are a rich and prolific source of inspiration – Images\, memories\, dreams\, and metaphors are within and tapping into them can build our capacity to see ourselves and each other with deep care and empathy. \nResmaa Menakem says\, “The body\, not the thinking brain\, is where we experience most of our pain\, pleasure\, and joy\, and where we process most of what happens to us. It is also where we do most of our healing\, including our emotional and psychological healing. And it is where we experience resilience and a sense of flow.” \nWhether you are a seasoned writer or this is your first time participating in this type of workshop\, you are welcome to join us for an evening of sensory\, celebratory & sacred expressions. You will be invited to engage with breath awareness\, mindfulness\, visualization\, memory\, dreams\, sound\, drawing\, gentle movement all to foster a deeper attunement to the flow of images and ideas that are already within you and waiting for you to express. \nMore about our facilitator\, Mercedes: \nMercedes Baines (MA\, RCC\, CCC\, CAC) (she/her) is a poet\, spoken word artist\, playwright\, performer & somatic psychotherapist\, facilitator\, instructor and consultant in private practice – Mind In Body. She identifies as a multi-racial\, fat-bodied\, queer-adjacent\, cis-gendered woman who is a trauma survivor and lives with chronic illnesses. Her work in the performing arts (SFU School for Contemporary Arts)\, her training in somatic trauma healing (Somatic Experiencing) and Adlerian Therapy (Adler University)\, influences her approach to psychotherapy & her understanding of the healing and the creative processes. She is passionate about exploring ways to inhabit both the healing & creative processes in ways that are collaborative\, embodied & integrated. Her themes of creative practice include: intersection of race & sexuality; identity & race politics; eroticism & sensuality; body image; fantasy; gender identity; intimate relationships & trauma. Her areas of psychotherapy practice include: body image; trauma; living with a life-altering (chronic)/life-threatening illness; disordered eating; depression; anxiety; grief and loss; identity; sexuality and issues related to race and culture. \nThis event takes place in our Literary Lounge at 712 A 12th Street\, in so called new west – the stolen and occupied territories of the Halq’eméylem speaking peoples. \nPlease register on our website : https://wildfiresbookshop.com/events/49928
URL:https://www.readlocalbc.ca/event/somatic-writing-workshop/
LOCATION:wildfires bookshop\, 712 A 12th Street\, New Westminster\, BC\, V3M 4J6\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Workshop
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.readlocalbc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/67.png
ORGANIZER;CN="wildfires bookshop":MAILTO:Wildfiresbookshop@gmail.com
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260325T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260325T210000
DTSTAMP:20260429T205852
CREATED:20260325T202744Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260325T202744Z
UID:50716-1774465200-1774472400@www.readlocalbc.ca
SUMMARY:Somatic Writing Workshop
DESCRIPTION:Join us for a Somatic Writing Workshop with poet\, spoken word artist\, playwright\, and somatic psychotherapist\, Mercedes Baines. Somatics refers to a practice of listening to and dialoguing with the body (which includes the mind and imagination)\, allowing us to be present with ourselves. \nAs local and global injustices continue\, our bodies also continues to process\, reflect\, and protect. Embodied practices like somatic writing can create a space for grounding\, connection\, and attuned creative expression. Our bodies are a rich and prolific source of inspiration – Images\, memories\, dreams\, and metaphors are within and tapping into them can build our capacity to see ourselves and each other with deep care and empathy. \nResmaa Menakem says\, “The body\, not the thinking brain\, is where we experience most of our pain\, pleasure\, and joy\, and where we process most of what happens to us. It is also where we do most of our healing\, including our emotional and psychological healing. And it is where we experience resilience and a sense of flow.” \nWhether you are a seasoned writer or this is your first time participating in this type of workshop\, you are welcome to join us for an evening of sensory\, celebratory & sacred expressions. You will be invited to engage with breath awareness\, mindfulness\, visualization\, memory\, dreams\, sound\, drawing\, gentle movement all to foster a deeper attunement to the flow of images and ideas that are already within you and waiting for you to express. \nMore about our facilitator\, Mercedes: \nMercedes Baines (MA\, RCC\, CCC\, CAC) (she/her) is a poet\, spoken word artist\, playwright\, performer & somatic psychotherapist\, facilitator\, instructor and consultant in private practice – Mind In Body. She identifies as a multi-racial\, fat-bodied\, queer-adjacent\, cis-gendered woman who is a trauma survivor and lives with chronic illnesses. Her work in the performing arts (SFU School for Contemporary Arts)\, her training in somatic trauma healing (Somatic Experiencing) and Adlerian Therapy (Adler University)\, influences her approach to psychotherapy & her understanding of the healing and the creative processes. She is passionate about exploring ways to inhabit both the healing & creative processes in ways that are collaborative\, embodied & integrated. Her themes of creative practice include: intersection of race & sexuality; identity & race politics; eroticism & sensuality; body image; fantasy; gender identity; intimate relationships & trauma. Her areas of psychotherapy practice include: body image; trauma; living with a life-altering (chronic)/life-threatening illness; disordered eating; depression; anxiety; grief and loss; identity; sexuality and issues related to race and culture. \nThis event takes place in our Literary Lounge at 712 A 12th Street\, in so called new west – the stolen and occupied territories of the Halq’eméylem speaking peoples.
URL:https://www.readlocalbc.ca/event/somatic-writing-workshop-2/
LOCATION:wildfires bookshop\, 712 A 12th Street\, New Westminster\, BC\, V3M 4J6\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Workshop
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.readlocalbc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Posters-45.png
ORGANIZER;CN="wildfires bookshop":MAILTO:wildfiresbookshop@gmail.com
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260327T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260327T210000
DTSTAMP:20260429T205852
CREATED:20260316T180310Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260316T180310Z
UID:49604-1774638000-1774645200@www.readlocalbc.ca
SUMMARY:Off the Shelf Poetry Reading Series: Joanne Leow\, Garth Martens\, Fenn Stewart
DESCRIPTION:Please join Simon Fraser University’s Department of English and Poetry in Canada for a poetry reading featuring our own Professor Joanne Leow and Garth Martens and Fenn Stewart. \nDetails:\nDate/Time: Friday\, March 27th (Doors: 6:30 PM; Readings 7-9 PM)\nLocation: SFU Belzberg Library (SFU’s Harbour Centre campus – 515 West Hastings St.\, Vancouver) \n*Free Event; No RSVP Required \nBios \nJoanne Leow is Associate Professor and Tier 2 Canada Research Chair of Transnational and Decolonial Digital Humanities in the Department of English at Simon Fraser University. Her first academic monograph is “Counter-Cartographies: Reading Singapore Otherwise” (Liverpool University Press\, 2024). She is also a poet and writer with a debut collection of poetry\, “Seas Move Away” (Turnstone Press\, 2022) and a forthcoming creative-critical memoir\, “Exhumations: In the Body of a Petrostate” (Alchemy Press\, 2026). Her writing and research interests lie at the intersections of spatial theory\, decolonial theory\, postcolonial studies\, transnational and diasporic texts\, and the environmental humanities. \nGarth Martens is the author of “Prologue for the Age of Consequence” and “Who Else in the Dark Headed There”. For his first book\, he was a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award for Poetry. He is also a past winner of the Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers. His poetry appears in “Dark Mountain Project”\, “Poetry Ireland”\, “Hazlitt”\, “This Magazine”\, “Vallum”\, “Fiddlehead”\, and “Best Canadian Poetry”. He is a co-founder and producer for Palabra Flamenco\, a literary flamenco ensemble that joins traditional flamenco dance and music with poetry and oral storytelling. He lives in Victoria\, BC. \nFenn Stewart is the author of three chapbooks and two poetry collections – “Better Nature”\, which was longlisted for the 2018 Gerald Lampert Memorial Prize\, and “women & roosters” (2025). A former editor of “The Capilano Review”\, she continues to serve on the magazine’s editorial board. Stewart holds a PhD in social and political thought\, and teaches literature and writing at Capilano University. She lives with her kids\, and the world’s nicest dog\, on unceded Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish)\, xʷməθkʷəỷəm (Musqueam)\, and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) territories. \nVenue Accessibility \nThis in-person event takes place at the SFU’s Harbour Centre campus. It is easily accessible by transit and near SkyTrain. The campus is wheelchair accessible and has wheelchair accessible washrooms. Gender neutral washrooms are also available.
URL:https://www.readlocalbc.ca/event/off-the-shelf-poetry-reading-series-joanne-leow-garth-martens-fenn-stewart/
LOCATION:SFU Harbour Centre\, 515 West Hastings Street\, Vancouver\, BC\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Author Discussion,Reading
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.readlocalbc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/LiveWhale_Off-the-Shelf-Poetry-12.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="SFU English":MAILTO:englcmns@sfu.ca
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260331T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260331T193000
DTSTAMP:20260429T205852
CREATED:20260316T180303Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260316T180303Z
UID:49559-1774980000-1774985400@www.readlocalbc.ca
SUMMARY:Introducing Cee Peal: 2026 Indigenous Storyteller in Residence
DESCRIPTION:Vancouver Public Library is honoured to introduce Cee Peal as the 2026 Indigenous Storyteller in Residence. \nCee 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. \nTo find out more about Cee’s residency and keep up with his upcoming events visit: vpl.ca/storyteller \n— \nJoin us for an evening of storytelling and theatre magic with special guests.
URL:https://www.readlocalbc.ca/event/introducing-cee-peal-2026-indigenous-storyteller-in-residence/
LOCATION:VANCOUVER PUBLIC LIBRARY – CENTRAL LIBRARY
CATEGORIES:Author Discussion,Launch,Meet & Greet
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.readlocalbc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/ISIR2026_CeePeal.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="Vancouver Public Library":MAILTO:candie.tanaka@vpl.ca
END:VEVENT
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