Though writing is often depicted as a solitary act, wonderful things happen when writers come together to work on a project, or combine their work into an anthology. These titles cover everything from from the stories of immigrants told in their own voices, plays born of intimate collaboration between the authors, and essays discussing everything from polygamy to PNW ghost towns.
About BC
Points of Interest: In Search of the Places, People, and Stories of BC edited by David Beers and andrea bennett (Greystone Books)
The Tyee is British Columbia’s oldest and most-read independent online news source, and a crucial part of the province’s storytelling ecosystem. This anniversary collection of essays celebrates two decades of journalism and writing since The Tyee’s inception. Follow a road map through the table of contents, and find each article labelled with the location of its story. Journey from Tofino with its postage woes, to an Ootsa Lake brewery, and a monkey puzzle tree mystery in San Jose Bay. Essays include the distinct perspectives of some of BC’s most celebrated writers, including J.B. MacKinnon, Alisa Smith, Cúagilákv (Jess H̓áust̓i), Arno Kopecky, Harrison Mooney, Michelle Cyca, Christopher Cheung, Andrew Nikiforuk, and many more.
Available now
Gumboots in the Straits: Nautical Adventures from Sointula to the Salish Sea edited by Lou Allison, compiled by Jane Wilde (Caitlin Press)
In the 1970s, British Columbia saw a fascinating surge in migration of young people who travelled to the Pacific Northwest in search of adventure, nature, and everything sublime. The “Gumboot” book series, compiled and edited by Jane Wilde and Lou Allison, recount this period; the fourth and most recent instalment, Gumboots in the Straits, focuses on stories set on Vancouver Island and along the Salish Sea. This collection of firsthand stories is a valuable record of BC’s history, telling the stories of many of the communities that began to form in the ’70s, and which remain colourful and eclectic facets of BC’s culture today.
Available now
Raincoast Chronicles: Fifth Five by David R. Conn, Howard White, Jean Barman, Judith Williams, and Rick James (Harbour Publishing)
Harbour Publishing is one of BC’s oldest and most prolific book publishers, whose story began with the publication of the first edition of their journal-meets-serial book series, Raincoast Chronicles. (Fun fact: The title of the series actually coined the term “raincoast”!) The project began with a goal “to put BC character on the record” and, fifty years later, this collection serves as an example that its publishers achieved exactly that. Raincoast Chronicles: Fifth Five gathers three volumes from the series, all recollecting tales of life by the sea—nautical disasters, pet cougars, and eerie unexplained events—and painting a unique portrait of life in BC.
Available now
Plays
Redbone Coonhound by Amy Lee Lavoie and Omari Newton (Talonbooks)
When an interracial couple on a walk encounters a dog with a name produced by racism, it sparks very different reactions between the two and leads to a series of conversations about race and privilege that is in turns both funny and surprising. This play is written as a collaboration between a couple, and is based on their real-life encounter on Vancouver’s seawall with the upsettingly-named dog. As a story deeply entwined with its authors’ relationship and their lived experience, the play manages to provoke thought in unexpected ways, and the result is all the more resonant.
Available now
Do you mind if I sit here? by James Long and Marcus Youssef (Talonbooks)
More than ten years ago, James Long and Marcus Youssef collaborated on the widely acclaimed and reviewed play Winners and Losers. They practise their partnership once again with Do you mind if I sit here?, which was inspired after theatre company Theatre Replacement’s staff found a stash of 16mm films sent from the USSR in their studio space in Vancouver’s Russian Hall. In a dystopian Vancouver thirty-years in the future, three social planners approach the Russian Hall with the intent of repurposing the abandoned space, only to find that someone has already made their home there. A hopeful approach to uncertainties about our future in an increasingly hopeless environment.
Available now
Biography and History
The Longest Shot: How Larry Kwong Changed the Face of Hockey by Chad Soon and George Chiang, illustrated by Amy Qi (Orca Book Publishers)
In this illustrated book for readers of all ages, two authors and an artist come together to tell the story of Larry Kwong, the first Chinese hockey player to play in the NHL in 1948. One of the authors, Chad Soon, was instrumental in bringing Kwong’s story to public attention: petitioning to indict him into three halls of fame, interviewing Kwong’s family, and even giving the eulogy at Kwong’s funeral. The book contains charming illustrations, historical facts, interviews with Kwong, and contextualizes his achievement within the history of Chinese-Canadians in Canada.
Available now
Slumach’s Gold: In Search of a Legend—and a Curse by Brian Antonson, Mary Trainer, Rick Antonson (Heritage House Publishing)
Three authors who have been writing about the legend of Slumach’s gold since 1972 reunited this year to publish another revised edition of this well-researched book about this enduring story of lost gold in BC. In 1891, the execution of a Katzie Nation man named Slumach, the only person who knew the whereabouts of a wealthy cache of gold, triggered a century-spanning quest for the lost location of the riches. The gold remains hidden to this day, but the classic allure of a treasure hunt has brought together generations of adventurers, and inspired multiple TV series and a podcast.
Available now
Mr. Mindbomb: Eco-Hero and Greenpeace Co-founder Bob Hunter — A Life in Stories edited by Bobbi Hunter, introduction by Captain Paul Watson, afterward by Elizabeth May (Rocky Mountain Books)
Bob Hunter was a co-founder of Greenpeace, successful journalist, and a Canadian eco-hero. Mr. Mindbomb is a loving tribute to his life as told by those who knew him—each chapter is written by a connection from a different step of life, with over forty contributors in total. Learn about the achievements and milestones of a person wholly committed to conservation and in love with the natural world in this inspiring chronology of anecdotes.
Available now
Essays
Bad Artist: Creating in a Productivity-Obsessed World edited by Nellwyn Lampert, Pamela Oakley, Christian Smith, Gillian Turnbull (Touchwood Editions)
Art in a world of capitalism can sometimes seem impossible. This collection of essays about creativity by artists and writers challenges the definition and constraints of the all too pervasive concept of productivity. But what happens when you create art out of the joy of simply creating something? And how can we challenge the expectations of a world obsessed with profit and end results? This is a book for everyone who has ever made something, and been changed or challenged by the process.
Available now
More Than Two, Second Edition: Cultivating Nonmonogamous Relationships with Kindness and Integrity by Eve Rickert and Andrea Zanin, with a foreword by Kim TallBear (Thornapple Press)
Since the first edition of More Than Two was published ten years ago, ethically nonmonogamous relationships and polyamory have only become more popular and relevant. The second edition of this collaboratively written book is a tender guide to exploring new ways of loving and living together. This ethics-focused guide is for the skeptical, curious, and enthusiastic alike.
Available now
Geographies of the Heart foreword by Ava Homa; edited by Raymonde Tickner, Amea Wilbur, Zahida Rahemtulla, and Kerry Johnson (UBC Press)
The stories in this collection, all written by newcomers to Canada, range widely in their paths to a new country and their feelings about Canada as an adopted home. Hailing everywhere from Sudan to Trinidad to Afghanistan, many of these authors are residents in BC’s Lower Mainland. During a time of increasing migration around the world and growing xenophobia, Geographies of the Heart is an insightful reminder of our shared humanity.
Available now