International Women’s Day has been celebrated on March 8 every year since 1911. It is a focal point in the movement for women’s rights, but the fight for equality isn’t limited to just one day and large demonstrations. Small changes count too. How about committing to reading more books by female-identifying authors? We’ve got an enticing list of six new books sure to captivate readers of any age.
Briony Penn, an award-winning writer of creative non-fiction, is releasing a new edition of A Year on the Wild Side: A West Coast Naturalist’s Almanac (TouchWood Editions), available March 19, 2019.
A Year on the Wild Side features 12 short and funny essays that chronicle a year-long, intimate view of the flora and fauna populating the West Coast. A resident of Salt Spring Island, Briony offers witty commentary on the social and natural history of Vancouver Island and invites readers to indulge in unforgettable experiences, week by week, all year long.
Briony’s book The Real Thing: The Natural History of Ian McTaggart Cowan (Rocky Mountain Books), was the winner of the 2015 BC Book Prize. She worked with Cecil Paul to write a comprehensive and collaborative biography about his life, Stories from the Magic Canoe of Wa’xaid (Rocky Mountain Books, May 2019).
It is a food lovers’ dream to travel and taste-test all the local cuisine. But Ann Hui got more than she anticipated when she travelled from Victoria, BC to Fogo Island in Newfoundland writing an essay about small-town Chinese Canadian restaurants. It was only after the story was published in 2016 that she discovered a more personal connection—her parents had run their own Chinese restaurant, The Legion Cafe, before she was born.
In Chop Suey Nation: The Legion Cafe and Other Stories from Canada’s Chinese Restaurants (Douglas & McIntyre) Hui weaves together her own family’s history with the stories of dozens of Chinese restaurant owners from coast to coast. On the road, she explores the origins of chop suey cuisine, the invention of classics like ginger beef and Newfoundland chow mein, and other unique menu items like the “Chinese pierogies” of Alberta.
“I will sing with no voice, no language, no song, can you hear it?”
Disintegrate/Dissociate (Arsenal Pulp Press) is striking, visceral, and honest. In her powerful debut collection of poetry, Arielle Twist unravels the complexities of human relationships.
With both rage and tenderness, Twist explores the parameters of grief, trauma, displacement, and identity. Weaving together a past made murky by uncertainty and a present which exists in multitudes, she navigates through what it means to be an Indigenous trans woman, discovering the possibilities of a hopeful future.
The magnificent Kit Pearson has written her first picture book in decades, The Magic Boat (Orca Book Publishers), a collaboration with her partner Katherine Farris. Their graceful prose weaves a story of friendship, imagination, and adventure on the high seas—all without leaving the beach.
Ellie and her Nonna go to the beach every Summer morning, yet Ellie never joins the other kids in their games. But a beached rowboat may be just the thing to unite two young girls with big imaginations. Shy kids and showboats alike will be swept away by The Magic Boat, with soft watercolour illustrations by Gabrielle Grimard.
Written and illustrated by two award-winning Indigenous artists—Katharena Vermette and Julie Flett—The Girl and the Wolf (Theytus Books) is a highly anticipated new release. The story follows a young girl who wanders too far into the woods and gets lost… and then a large wolf appears and offers to help.
Reminiscent of fairy tales where the wolf is seen as a dangerous creature, Katherena Vermette’s story turns that trope around. Instead, this wolf asks the young girl questions, encouraging her to figure out her own way home. She realizes she has the knowledge and skills to survive and navigate herself—she just needed to remember that those abilities were there.
Julie Flett’s distinctive illustrations fill the page with texture using the earthy palette of the forest and a combination of pastel and collage.
So often, women are excluded from conversations about spirituality. Edited by Susan Scott, Body & Soul: Stories for Skeptics and Seekers (Caitlin Press) breaks that age-old code of silence. This collection of essays creates an open dialogue about the messiness of faith, practice, religion and ceremony, to confess sublimely unconventional modes of spiritual yearning.
The writers in this volume, includes Sharon Bala, Carleigh Baker, Eufemia Fantetti, Sue Goyette, K.D. Miller, Zarqa Nawaz, Alison Pick, Sigal Samuel, Ayelet Tsabari, Betsy Warland, and others—many from marginalized or misunderstood communities—who are speaking out so that others will speak up.