The new year has well and truly begun, and we can’t wait for all the new books that 2023 will bring. We want to know, what are your reading goals in 2023? Perhaps you have a number of books in mind? Are you hoping to discover a new author or genre? Tell us on social media using #ReadLocalBC.
Whatever your goal, BC’s publishers and authors have you covered with the perfect list to add to your 2023 TBR (to-be-read) pile. This month on the blog, we’re sharing our most anticipated forthcoming reads, starting with poetry and prose.
More Sure: Poems and Interruptions by A. Light Zachary (Arsenal Pulp Press)
A striking debut collection from poet A. Light Zachary that explores themes of love, self-realization and recovery in non-binary, queer, and autistic lives by examining and reclaiming quotes from Greek and Roman thinkers.
Coming March 28, 2023!
A Safe Girl to Love by Casey Plett (Arsenal Pulp Press)
Casey Plett is a two-time Lambda Literary Award winning poet. Now, her acclaimed short story collection is finally back in print after a long absence. This new edition includes an original afterword by the author.
Coming April 4, 2023!
Any Other City by Hazel Jane Plante (Arsenal Pulp Press)
The two-sided, fictional memoir of a trans indie rock musician, Any Other City reveals how the act of creation can heal trauma and even change the past.
Coming April 18, 2023!
Emily & Elspeth by Catherine McNeil (Caitlin Press)
“A queer love story that’s anything but typical.” This collection of poetry from Catherine McNeil follows the lives of two women and the complicated paths they take towards love.
Coming February 2023!
The Broken Heart of Winter by Judy LeBlanc (Caitlin Press)
The powerful story of three canadian women linked by generations of hardship, displacement, and an eighteenth-century French musket.
Coming January 27, 2023!
Burr by Brooke Lockyer (Nightwood Editions)
Described by the publisher as a “’90s-era Southern Ontario Gothic,” Burr follows thirteen-year-old Jane, who yearns to reunite with her recently deceased father.
Coming January 4, 2023!
knee deep in high water: riding the Muskwa-Kechika, expedition poems by Bronwyn Preece (Caitlin Press)
The true account of a devastating injury that the poet suffered on a weeks-long journey through Northern BC. The collection recounts her struggles and celebrations through the back country.
Coming May 2023!
Old Gods by Conor Kerr (Nightwood Editions)
“Kerr is a caretaker of contemporary Métis prairie life that thrums in cities and in grasslands, and these poems tenderly mark the endlessness of this place.” — Jason Purcell, author of Swollening
Coming January 4, 2023!
The Ridge by Robert Bringhurst (Harbour Publishing)
Celebrated poet Robert Bringhurst’s latest work is nonfiction in poetic form that focuses on the ecological past, present and future of Canada’s West Coast.
Coming March 4, 2023!
Sunset and Jericho: A Wakeland Novel by Sam Wiebe (Harbour Publishing)
The fourth thrilling instalment of Sam Wiebe’s Wakeland detective series, exploring Vancouver’s criminal underworld.
Coming April 15, 2023!
To Track a Traitor: A Lane Winslow Mystery by Iona Whishaw (Touchwood Editions)
The tenth book in the Globe & Mail bestselling series about detective Lane Winslow features events spanning both world wars, and a transatlantic tale of sibling rivalry, infidelity and espionage.
Coming April 25, 2022!
Scandal at the Savoy: A Priscilla Tempest Mystery, Book 2 by Prudence Emery and Ron Base (Douglas & McIntyre)
In this latest instalment of the Priscilla Tempest mystery series, all is as it should be at the Savoy—until the murder of a showgirl threatens to scandalize the hotel.
Coming March 25, 2023!
Naked Defiance: A Comedy of Menace by Patrik Sampler (New Star Books)
Follow the acts of a fictional turn–of–the–century radical art group and their charismatic leader, Florian Moore. Naked Defiance is a mystery about a series of public performances staged by the eponymous group.
Coming April 15, 2023!
Sleepers and Ties by Gail Kirkpatrick (Now or Never Publishing)
When Margaret returns to her childhood home to spread her sister Shirley’s ashes and attend the final reading of her will she learns that Shirley has left her eight million dollars and a letter asking Margaret to restore an abandoned railway line to its former glory.
Coming April 15, 2023!
Hands Like Trees by Sabyasachi Nag (Ronsdale Press)
“With richly poetic details and a commanding voice, Sabyasachi Nag captures his characters at moments of frailty, connection, and reflection, [Hands Like Trees] is a collection of haunting, powerful stories by a writer to watch.” — Alix Ohlin, Giller-nominated novelist
Coming Spring 2023!
The Morning Bell Brings the Broken Hearted by Jennifer Manuel (Douglas & McIntyre)
When new teacher Molleigh Royston moves to a remote Nuu-chah-nulth community in the Pacific Northwest, she arrives with good intentions. However, as she struggles to understand and help her students, doubts begin to accumulate—including doubts about her own motivations.
Coming April 29, 2023!