Friday, September 21 to Sunday, September 23, 2012
The Canada Writes Tent
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HOST: David Chariandy, author
11:00 ::
Malcolm, a slacker 20-something Asian-Canadian living in Vancouver, is about to embark on a modelling career when his life is suddenly derailed by the death of his father and the betrayal of his fiancée. Soon he meets Hadley, the half-sister he never knew existed. As their tentative relationship grows, Malcolm is forced to reckon with the past and deal with his lifelong ambivalence toward his hyphenated cultural identity. Kevin Chong was born in Hong Kong in 1975. He is the author of Baroque-a-Nova, Neil Young Nation, and a forthcoming memoir on horseracing.
(Arsenal Pulp Press $17.95)
11:20 ::
After the death of her fiancé when she was 18, Helen resists change until she is faced with the imminent relocation of her small town and family home in order to make way for a new dam. Then Helen’s brother, Robbie, who disappeared years earlier, suddenly resurfaces. As he re-enters his sister’s life, he reveals the secret of why he left in the first place: a secret that tore their family apart, and affected Helen’s life in more ways than she ever realized. Michael V. Smith is the author of What You Can’t Have, a finalist for the ReLit Prize. He teaches creative writing at UBC Okanagan.
(Cormorant Press $21.00)
11:40 ::
The Amazing Foot Race of 1921 celebrates five Canadians who hiked from Halifax to Vancouver along the CPR tracks. For a nation struggling with post-war inflation, labour unrest and unemployment, the prospect of the 3,645-mile hike was a welcome distraction and it wasn’t long before the race had become a national obsession. The story of these men and women is told in the vernacular of the time, with accompanying newspaper accounts and over 50 photographs. Shirley Jean Roll Tucker works as a theatre director and playwright in the Okanagan. This is her first non-fiction book.
(Heritage House $19.95)
HOST: Tracy Sherlock,Vancouver Sun books editor
12:00 ::
Who Killed Mom? recounts Burgess’s struggles growing up and chronicles his mother’s life and death. Memoir, biography and comedy blend in this outrageous book, which brims with uproarious anecdotes and one-liners. But beneath is a penetrating examination of eternal themes: family, mortality, fate, and the enduring value of love.
(Greystone Books $22.95)
12:20 ::
In 1958, eight-year-old Danny Lim encounters Miss Val, a long-time burlesque dancer. He is enraptured with her sequined garters and silk robe, and Val, touched by his fascination, gives him a pack of cigarettes and her silk belt. Years later, Danny realizes that the key to understanding himself and his family somehow lies in his connection to Miss Val and is determined to find her. Set in Vancouver, The Better Mother brims with undeniable tragedy, but resounds with the power of friendship, change and truth.
(Knopf $29.95)
12:40 ::
Everything Was Good-bye centers around Meena, a young Indo‑Canadian woman growing up in the Lower Mainland of BC and traces her life as she struggles to assert her independence in the Punjabi community and refuses to submit to a life defined by a suitable marriage. Though a narrative moving between race and culture, Everything Was Good-bye is ultimately a story of love, loss and self-acceptance amidst shifting cultural ideals.
(Mother Tongue Publishing $21.95)
HOST: Stuart Derdeyn, The Province arts columnist
1:00 ::
Written in Georgia Nicols’s wickedly witty trademark style, You and Your Future provides 40 years of astrological forecasts—from 1985 to 2025—allowing you to predict your future and test the accuracy of your past readings. With predictions tailored to each sign, this book explains how to discover what makes you tick, what your style in love and romance is, and even how to be a happier person.
(House of Anansi $24.95)
1:30 ::
Patriot Hearts recounts the lead up to the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. A riveting behind-the-scenes account, it describes how seemingly insurmountable setbacks were handled to achieve a runaway success and, ultimately, a pivotal moment of nationhood. An extraordinary story of visionary leadership, love of country and the ability to dream boldly.
(Douglas & McIntyre $32.95)
HOST: Harry Hertscheg, Vancouver Playhouse Int’l Wine Festival
2:00 ::
Grant Buday traded in the high–powered city life in Vancouver for the remote eccentricities of Mayne Island. The scenery, however, is not the only change he encounters. A college English instructor for six years, Buday now finds himself working wherever a hand is needed and exploring the nature of small town life, the rich history of Mayne Island and what compelled him to trade in city life for the island life.
(New Star Books $19.00) Adopted by Eponymous Productions
2:20 ::
Eating Dirt offers up a slice of tree-planting life in all of its gritty exuberance while questioning the ability of conifer plantations to replace original forests that have taken millennia to evolve into complex ecosystems. Charlotte Gill celebrates the priceless value of forests and the ancient, ever-changing relationship between humans and trees.
(Greystone Books $29.95) Adopted by Moon Willow Press
2:40 ::
Campie is a compelling, entertaining view from the bottom of the oil barrel into work-camp culture. It will ring true for any man or woman who’s worked in a resource-industry camp, moving from location to location—or for an ordinary person who’s had to survive when the bottom fell out and there was no “eat, pray, love” holiday of self-discovery.
(Heritage House $17.95)
3:00 ::
Beginning in the late 1980s, a series of bark beetle outbreaks unsettled iconic forests and communities across western North America—eventually killing more than 30 billion trees. The only book about the epidemic, Empire of the Beetle draws on first-hand accounts from entomologists, botanists, foresters, and rural residents to investigate the beetle plague and its implications.
(Douglas & McIntyre $19.95)
HOST: Jennifer Hinnell
3:20 ::
A Canadian journalist is kidnapped while in a market in Colombia with his 13-year-old son, Marco. When they try to grab Marco, his father tells him to run. Marco manages to escape, and stows away on a freighter headed to Vancouver to find his father’s friend who may be able to help. Run Marco, Run is a riveting adventure about a plucky boy who will do anything to save his father, and learns that running away is sometimes the heroic thing to do. Ages 10–13
(Ronsdale Press $11.95) Adopted by Federation of BC Writers
3:40 ::
When eccentric Uncle Mel invites Jayden to help with his biology research at an Australian university, he jumps at the chance. But once he arrives, Jayden discovers Mel is obsessed with being the first to discover a new species of lizard and—in the unforgiving outback—one wrong step can mean death. Ages 12 and up
(Orca Book Publishers $9.95)
4:00 ::
Dex Pratt’s life has been turned upside down—his parents have divorced and his mother has remarried. When his father makes a suicide attempt, Dex returns to their small town to care for him. But he’s not prepared for how much everything has changed. His wheelchair-bound father has given up defending marijuana growers in his law practice and has become one himself. Unable to cope, Dex begins smoking himself into a state of surrealism. Ages 14–17
(Orca Book Publishers $12.95)
4:20 ::
This Ramshackle Tabernacle is a collection of short stories set in and around fictional villages in northeastern Ontario. Dealing with both the rundown and ruined aspects of our humanity, the stories explore the redeeming and renewing love that can hold a community together when tragedies threaten to make it crumble. This Ramshackle Tabernacle was a finalist for the 2010 Winterset Award.
(Breakwater Books $18.95)
HOST: Louis Anctil, WOTS Board Member
4:40 ::
En 342 av. J.-C., le philosophe Aristote s’arrête à Pella. Le roi Philippe le convainc de rester quelques années afin d’être le précepteur de son fils, le prince Alexandre. Aristote sera le témoin privilégié de la transformation d’Alexandre le Grand. Annabel Lyon a étudié la musique, la philosophie et le droit avant d’écrire à temps plein. «Le Juste milieu», son premier roman, paraît en 2009 et est finaliste à trois prix prestigieux: Giller, Gouverneur général et Rogers. France Perras travaille en anglais et en français dans le milieu du théâtre, de la TV/film, des dessins animés, des publicités radio, ainsi qu’avec des jeunes en improvisation.
France Perras will read from the French translation of Annabel Lyon’s The Golden Mean, who will also be present to answer questions.
(Éditions Alto)
