Rolf Knight (1936-2019)
Possibly his most important work is Indians at Work: An Informal History of Native Indian Labour in British Columbia 1858-1930… FULL STORY
George Payerle (1945-2019)
A sentimentalist would be tempted to describe him as an unknown soldier of Canlit. For decades within the Writers Union… FULL STORY
Bound to be homeward
Like Alex Colville paintings and Alice Munro short stories that stay with us, his stories can range from vaguely disconcerting… FULL STORY
Ode to Island Life
A new book examines the layered life on islands in the Salish Sea, including Salt Spring Island. Review by Theresa… FULL STORY
Sea Otters: A History
The B.C. sea otter population (approx. 6,000) are descendants of 89 Alaskan otters relocated to Vancouver Island in 1969-72. Review by… FULL STORY
Guatemalan refugees on the West Coast
Pam Withers’ latest young adult novel is a suspenseful tale that imagines the plight of stowaways at the mercy of… FULL STORY
From alienation to adulation
Flow is a wonderful, 640-page tribute by Michael Barnholden and Talonbooks, according to Grahame Ware, who providess an extensive response.
From sawmills to eco-density
Ray Spaxman is touted by Larry Beasley as the “Father of Vancouverism” in his 425-page celebration of planning for the… FULL STORY
A Peakbagger’s Guide
Glorious Mountains lists North Shore peaks by height, difficulty, best berry patches, best for kids, most masochistic, etc. The Glorious… FULL STORY
Spiritualism in the pews
The title of Pamela Klassen’s The Story of Radio Mind refers to unorthodox telepathy experiments conducted by Du Vernet. The… FULL STORY
Resnick: Classical, Political, Biblical
Philip Resnick’s “Fugue” is a terse, elegiac, moving tribute to Tiananmen Square’s Liu Xiaobo who faced the tanks. Passageways by… FULL STORY
Shale fellow, well met
Yoho National Park, on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains in B.C., figures prominently in Rocks, Ridges, and Rivers…. FULL STORY
The birdman of Tofino
For hardcore birders and casual watchers alike, Adrian Dorst’s 560-page volume has been gleaned from sixty years of experience. The… FULL STORY
Wayson Choy (1939-2019)
Wayson Choy was the first Chinese Canadian to enrol in a Creative Writing class at UBC where he wrote a… FULL STORY
Killed by a Taser at YVR
“The RCMP’s attempts to manage the public fallout at the expense of its members speaks to the brokenness of an… FULL STORY
My Private Italy
Ware’s odyssey of cuisine Italiana is rooted in the east end of 1950-70s Vancouver with stories of restaurants, nightclubs, family,… FULL STORY
Bringing back Chinatown Ghosts
“What a force of literature, creativity, and change Jim Wong-Chu helped to unlock,” says reviewer LiLynn Wan. Chinatown Ghosts: The… FULL STORY
An ekphrastic homage to Phyllis Webb
While blending politics and poetry, and meditations on mortality and silence, Collis evokes Webb’s importance and respects her resolute withdrawal…. FULL STORY
Powter’s passages and climbs
Powter’s long climb to the top of Canadian mountaineering writing now has a representive collection of his journalism, from 1986… FULL STORY
Let’s not take history to the cleaners
The Pacific Northwest voyages of Captain James Cook are given short shrift but this umpteenth Cook overview doesn’t bend over… FULL STORY
