With two multi-day festivals in Vancouver, and two multi-day festivals on the Island, it’s a busy week for literary events. Lunchtime, evening, Vancouver Island, Lower Mainland—there is an event for every schedule. Here’s our weekly roundup!
Tonight, Monday, September 18, join Monica Meneghetti and Caitlin Press’ Dagger Editions for the launch of What the Mouth Wants, a sensual memoir told through the lens of food.
On Tuesday, September 19, Word Vancouver begins with evening events leading up to the main festival on Sunday. Catch authors, workshops, and readings at various venues around Vancouver.
Vancouver author John MacLachlan Gray launches his new novel on Tuesday, September 19. The White Angel takes a literary lens to one of Vancouver’s most famous cold cases: the 1924 murder of Scottish nanny Janet Smith.
Wednesday is jam-packed with SFU-related events! If you’re downtown during the day, hit up Lunch Poems at SFU for a free hour of poetry and discussion. The Lunch Poems event on September 20 officially launches the fall series, with Victoria’s Poet Laureate Yvonne Blomer and Kerry Gilbert as featured poets.
Not to be outdone, SFU’s Burnaby campus is also holding a literary event on Wednesday afternoon. Catherine Hernandez, author of Scarborough, will be reading at SFU Special Collections, hosted by David Chariandy.
Publishing@SFU is holding the inaugural Jim Douglas Memorial Lecture in the evening of Wednesday, September 20, with a talk by Marion Sinclair of Publishing Scotland. The annual event intends to recognize Jim Douglas’s contributions to the BC publishing industry, bring the local publishing community together, and to highlight issues of importance.
Is magic-realism fiction more your style? Don’t miss the launch of Oracle Bone by Lydia Kwa on Wednesday, September 20 in Vancouver.
Thursday, September 21, LiterASIAN begins their four-day festival celebrating Asian Canadian authors and writers. Being Jim Wong-Chu’s final masterpiece, this year’s festival features powerhouse authors launching new books and speaking on the theme of storytelling and the art of the novel, including Janie Chang, Catherine Hernandez, and Leanne Dunic.
On Thursday, September 21, Sylvia Taylor will be reading from Beckoned by the Sea surrounded by the sea, at Mulberry Bush Bookstore in Parksville.
For those with an interest in politics, Thursday, September 21 will be an evening of exciting, rapid-fire talks on campaigning. This event marks the launch of Engagement Organizing: The Old Art And New Science Of Winning Campaigns by Matt Price. Other speakers include Andrea Reimer, Tzeporah Berman, Heather Libby, and other leaders in politics, unions, and social change.
The Sidney & Penninsula Literary Festival runs from September 22-24 and includes workshops, readings, and panels. Featured authors include Gary Barwin, Yasuko Thanh, Anosh Irani, Scaachi Koul, and more.
Friday, September 22 is also the launch of the Cultural Heritage Festival presented by the Pacific Rim Arts Society taking place in Tofino and Ucluelet. Sylvia Taylor, author of Beckoned by the Sea, is the featured artist and will present talks and workshops during the festival.
On Sunday, September 24, Word Vancouver culminates with the main event at Library Square in Vancouver. Make sure to check out our “Must See” list for Sunday’s event, and pencil the two Read Local BC events into your agenda. Kids Read Local with Nicola I. Campbell, Jen Sookfong Lee, David Starr, Irene N. Watts, and Kathryn E. Shoemaker. And the official launch of Poetry in Transit with readings by some of the 2017 featured poets, including Adèle Barclay, Wendy Donawa, Rhonda Ganz, Ulrike Narwani, Jeff Steudel, and Onjana Yawnghwe—and a contest.