The Authors Tent
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Host: Brian Kaufman, subTerrain
11:00 ::
subTerrain Magazine presents award-winning writers Barbara Stowe and Madeline Sonik. Barbara Stowe will read “Unfrozen,” which won the short story prize in the 2011 Vancouver International Writers Festival Poetry and Short Story Contest. Madeline Sonik will read “Passing,” the creative non-fiction runner-up in subTerrain’s 2012 Lush Triumphant Literary Awards Competition.
Host: Jen Neale, PRISM international, Executive Editor (Circulation and Promotion)
11:30 ::
Established in 1959, PRISM international publishes the best in contemporary writing from Canada and the world. In its pages, PRISM places established and emerging writers side by side. In that tradition, PRISM is pleased to present two contributors from Issue 50:3 both writing on the topic of brokenness/togetherness. Yasuko Thanh’s work has been published in literary magazines across Canada, including PRISM, Prairie Fire, and Descant. The title story from her collection Floating like the Dead won the 2009 Journey Prize. Katie Fritz was a runner-up in PRISM’s 2012 Non-Fiction Contest for her piece “Rules of Play”. She is one of the voices behind the podcast “Awkward Girls” and is an exciting new force in creative non-fiction.
HOST: Sheryl MacKay, Host & Producer of CBC’s North by Northwest
12:00 ::
In this sharply observed and erotically charged collection, Yasuko Thanh immerses us in the lives of people on the knife edge of desire and regret, hungry for change yet still yearning for a home. Many of the characters in these stories are expats, outlaws, and outsiders, some by choice, others by circumstance. Yet in their struggles to be themselves and to belong, they remind us of ourselves. With this seductive and emotionally compelling collection, Yasuko Thanh announces herself as an exciting new voice in Canadian fiction.
(McClelland & Stewart; Emblem Editions $22.00) Adopted by book'mark, The Library Store
12:20 ::
The child of con artists, Sammie Bell, 16, always prided herself on knowing the score. But after a hustle gone wrong, her mother slides into an alcoholic depression, spending her days fantasizing aloud about death. Horrified by her temptation to help her mother accomplish this, Sammie packs a bag and leaves. With her father gone, she turns to a friend whose parents awkwardly try to extend some semblance of family to Sammie.
(Random House Canada $22.95)
12:40 ::
When most think of the campaign for women's rights, they picture humourless old maids. Treacherous Texts disproves this by collecting funny and entertaining literary texts written by smart, savvy writers in an effort to persuade readers to support the woman suffrage campaign. Uncovering startling affinities between popular literature and propaganda, it samples a rich, decades-long tradition of suffrage literature created by writers from diverse racial, class and regional backgrounds.
(Rutgers University Press $32.50)
1:00 ::
Annabel Lyon’s passion for historical novels and her love of ancient Greece make her lecture on the process of creating characters in historical fiction captivating. She discusses the process of wading through historical sources to craft believable people to whom readers can relate. Finding familiarity with figures from the past and discovering their secrets are the foremost tools of the historical novel writer.
(University of Alberta Press $10.95)
Pythias, the daughter of Aristotle, is able to best his students in debate and match wits with Athenian philosophers. Is she a freak or a harbinger of what women can really be? When Alexander dies, sentiment turns against anyone associated with him, and they are forced to flee. Aristotle soon dies and Pythias finds that the world is a place of superstition, not logic, and that a girl can be played upon by gods as much as by humans.
(Random House Canada $29.95)Adopted by Judy Taylor
HOST: Robin McConnell, Host of Inkstuds
1:30 ::
If you could relive major events in your life, would you take a stab at making things better—and would your best attempts only make things worse? Or would you use your second chance to put your most twisted, perverted fantasies in motion? These are questions washed up actor and comedian Guy Krause asks himself after he signs up to be the main research subject for a virtual reality experiment! Join Robin McConnell for an interview with Reset creator and Harvey Award-winning writer/artist Peter Bagge.
(Dark Horse Comics $3.50/comic)
HOST: kc dyer, Author
2:00 ::
Four peaceful decades have not eased the mistrust between humans and dragons in Goredd. Able to take human form, dragons apply their rational, mathematic minds to ambassadorship and work as scholars and teachers. As the treaty's anniversary nears, however, tensions are high. Seraphina fears both sides. An unusually gifted musician, she joins the court just as a royal family member is murdered. While a plot to destroy the peace is uncovered, she struggles to protect the secret behind her gift, one so terrible that its discovery could mean her very life. Seraphina's tortuous journey to self-acceptance will make a magical, indelible impression on readers. Ages 12+
(Doubleday Canada $21.00)
2:15 ::
Gee, a once monstrous villain of Half World, was adopted as an infant. Now 16, he is despised and feared by his peers. His past catches up with him and compels him to journey to Half World. Abandoning his home, Gee must face what he used to be in order to determine his fate and the fate of the Three Realms. He must fight the monstrous and the horrific in Half World. Most difficult of all, he must overcome his own propensity for evil. Ages 13+
(Penguin Group (Canada) $21.00)
2:30 ::
In most ways, Poe is like the other kids in his school. He thinks about girls and tries to avoid much contact with teachers. He has a loving father who helps him with homework. But Poe has a secret, and almost every day something threatens to expose him. He has no phone number or address to give to friends. Poe and his father are living in a tent on city land. Ages 10-14.
(Orca Book Publishers $9.95)
2:45 ::
Jim Doolen discovered his father's fate in Written in Blood and met Billy the Kid in Ghost Moon. Now, in the final installment of The Desert Legends Trilogy, he's a scout for the army in the middle of a brutal war to force Victorio's Apaches onto a reservation far from their traditional lands. Ages 12+
(Orca Book Publishers $12.95)
3:00 ::
It’s 1923 and Leroy is on the run from a couple of abusive cousins. He stumbles into a traveling Chautauqua show where it’s easy to get lost in a crowd—but also easy to lose your heart. This funny and endearing novel will make an absorbing read for fourteen and fifteen year olds, boys and girls alike. Ages 13-15.
(Tradewind Books $12.95)
Host: Catherine Evans, Vancouver Public Library Board Chair
3:15 ::
Vancouver Public Library’s eighth Writer in Residence Meredith Quartermain is known across Canada as an acclaimed writer of urban spaces and an innovator of poetic and narrative form. Her book Vancouver Walking won the 2006 BC Book Award for Poetry; Nightmarker was a finalist for the 2009 Vancouver Book Award; and Recipes from the Red Planet was a finalist for the 2011 BC Book Award for fiction. Her work has appeared in The Walrus, Canadian Literature, CV2, Matrix, Prism and other Canadian and U.S. magazines, and was recently included in Best Canadian Poetry. She is cofounder of Nomados Literary Publishers, which has published more than 35 books of contemporary writing.
Adopted by Vancouver Public Library
Host: Mark Leiren-Young, author, playwright and screenwriter
3:40 ::
Daria emerges from a refugee camp a believer and commits herself to a mission with a deadly conclusion. Indoctrinated and trained, she arrives in New York posing as an ambitious journalist. No longer a believer, falsely accused and disgraced Sam is recruited too. But the government that ruined his career now demands his expertise to locate a threat to millions of Americans. While Sam strives toward redemption, Daria desperately seeks rebellion and enlightenment. Their faith will be tested and they will each question the meaning of having something worth dying for.
(Delacorte Press $28.95)
4:00 ::
Four friends, recent graduates entering a terrible job market, turn to kidnapping to survive. For two years, it works like a charm. Then they kidnap the wrong man. Now two groups are after them: the law, in the form of Kirk Stevens and Carla Windermere, and an organized-crime outfit looking for payback. Eventually, each is forced to recognize the truth: True professionals are those willing to sacrifice … everything.
(G.P. Putnam's Sons $27.50)
4:20 ::
Love and the Mess We're In is a calligrammatic novel about the power of love in the middle of personal, political and environmental decay. Viv and Clive are cheating on her husband Tim in Buenos Aires, while he is recovering from a nervous breakdown in an insane asylum in Newmarket, Ontario. Through a series of text-shapes drawn from various calligraphies and print cultures, the story emerges of their various attempts at love and betrayal.
(Gaspereau Press $28.95)
4:40 ::
Celebrate the 40th anniversary of CBC’s beloved TV show The Beachcombers at the book launch for Bruno and the Beach: The Beachcombers at 40, written by Jackson Davies and the late Marc Strange. This compendium is illustrated with lots of photos and memorabilia, and includes trivia and behind-the-scenes stories about the cast and crew. Join Jackson Davies (a.k.a Constable John Constable) for a lively afternoon of stories, clips from the show and many memories about the making of The Beachcombers.
(Harbour Publishing $26.95)
