British Columbia has always been the right place for me
Publishing is much like the movies; no one has a clue as to what will be successful, and when something… FULL STORY
Author Archive
Getting a Grip on 9/11
Formerly a Defense Officer in the Australian Joint Intelligence Bureau, Ian Slater is a political scientist and the author of… FULL STORY
Ageism Strikes
Ralph Maud, a scholar on Indian myth and legend and a founding English Professor at Simon Fraser University, first met… FULL STORY
Be Strong, Be Steadfast, Be True: A Speech on the Nisga’a Final Agreement Act
Wearing a red-and-black button blanket over his business suit, Chief Joe Gosnell arrived at the Legislature on December 2, 1998… FULL STORY
Goethe: Genius as a toady
As a high official of the ducal court of Weimar – the Duke’s official poet and Minister of War –… FULL STORY
The Super State File: Canada now has thought police
The first major gun control legislation came out in 1972. There had been a senseless murder in Vancouver, followed by… FULL STORY
Half Known Lives
The stork doesn’t bring ‘em. Books, as W.P. Kinsella says, are born from 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration. For our… FULL STORY
Sprayguns and glowing hearts
If you saw the APEC demonstrations at UBC first-hand, you’d know how students were thwarted by police from making any… FULL STORY
Pitching “The Corporation” in Banff
In 1999, Joel Bakan attended the Banff Television Festival with Mark Achbar, information pills one of the makers of Manufacturing… FULL STORY
Woodcock’s top ten B.C. characters
During his lifetime, Woodcock was variously described as “quite possibly the most civilized man in Canada”, “by far Canada’s most… FULL STORY
Little Sister’s no longer guilty until proven innocent
From 1986 to 1996 a humble West End bookstore challenged Canada Customs on the discriminatory censorship its agents exercised when… FULL STORY
Mountains give rise to mirth
A question I’m often asked: “Do you think you could have survived as a professional humorist if you hadn’t lived… FULL STORY
Goodbye Octopii
The first location of Octopus Books was opened in 1977 by P.R. Brown and her partner Jules Comeault. It quickly… FULL STORY
Don’t give me b.s. about writer’s block
In early December a truck backed up to the loading gate of a store in the Woodgrove Mall in Nanaimo… FULL STORY
The Silent Sisterhood
Charles Lillard, author and Pacific Northwest literary enthusiast, was a regular contributor to BC BookWorld. Though somewhat erratic in his… FULL STORY
Bill Barlee, pioneer
Bill Barlee: 1932-2012 “Bill Barlee, was a nugget, pure gold, remarkable in more ways than can be described.” — Randy… FULL STORY
Woodcock Award Speech
I am deeply honoured to follow in the footsteps of so many remarkable recipients of this award, writers, thinkers, and… FULL STORY
Gold IPPY Award for BC author Bob Mackay
Robert W. (Bob) Mackay, author of the award-winning novel, “Soldier of the Horse”, talks with Surrey Museum Manager, Rob McCullough… FULL STORY
I was encouraged to sue Robin Blaser
A brief memoir of the SFU English Department by Stephen Bett. This document, written in January, 2012, from notes taken… FULL STORY
Remembering Václav Havel
On a lovely sunny Fall day in October 2011 in Prague, stomach I wrote the following note for a Czech… FULL STORY
