Joan Skogan (1945-2017)
An intrepid researcher and a conscientious writer, she will be much missed by those who knew her fascinating, passionate nature…. FULL STORY
Jim Wong-Chu (1949-2017)
Jim Wong-Chu was a serious and determined figure dubbed the Moses of Chinese Canadian writing. Chinese Canadians weren’t granted the… FULL STORY
David Watmough (1926-2017)
The Cornishman was a mainstay of the West Coast fiction scene ever since he accepted Canadian citizenship in 1963. “I… FULL STORY
It takes one to tanka
Late literary bloomer Naomi Wakan now encourages others to opt for a similar style with a form consisting of five… FULL STORY
A Cariboo concoction
Birchwater’s beat extends past the Chilcotin plateau, down the old Nuxalk-Dakelh grease trail to Bella Coola. REVIEW: Chilcotin Chronicles: Stories… FULL STORY
The making of Making Room
Since 1975 the feminist publication Room has spawned conversations and literature for, by and about the women of B.C. REVIEW:… FULL STORY
The Sacred Herb & The Devil’s Weed
The truth, my friend, is brilliantly provided in Andrew Struthers’ hilarious, dualistic, ying/yangish, Joycean compilation of two manuscripts reviewed by Erika… FULL STORY
Gently to Nagasaki & mercy
Now the acclaimed author has gathered disparate parts of her life to weave together an intensely personal memoir dealing with… FULL STORY
Under Vancouver gets upbeat response
Greg Girard’s photos of pre-Expo Vancouver taken from 1972 to 1982 are in the same league as Fred Herzog’s imagery,… FULL STORY
Perfection is hard work
Andrew Scott traces the proliferation of utopian societies–and some demonic leaders–in Canada’s most experimental province. REVIEW: The Promise of Paradise: Utopian… FULL STORY
Abenaki Daring
“His seeking to pass literacy’s promise on to the next generation in his home community so they might dare literacy’s… FULL STORY
Pacific Theatre almost goes homeless
If you’re not the favoured Arts Club or Bard on the Beach, keeping professional theatre alive in boomtown Vancouver is… FULL STORY
Ormsby #147 Pat Carney’s carnival
Reviewer Pam Erikson finds On Island: Life Among the Coast Dwellers is a delightful collection that often feels magical. … FULL STORY
Not everyone is brain-dead in summer
“The Summer Book is my counterweight, a small feather on the scale against the madness and angst in the world,”… FULL STORY
Far beyond “A Very Ordinary Life”
Rolf Knight’s writing career began in 1973, making him the foremost historian for the working class in B.C. Now he… FULL STORY
Ormsby #144 One family, one lake
But a young academic reviewer criticizes an older “settler” for not writing the book she would have written. REVIEW:… FULL STORY
Ormsby #138 Drugs, alcohol & Wee’git
From brutal realism to magic realism, Eden Robinson poses a connection between drugs and mythology. REVIEW: Son of a Trickster… FULL STORY
Ormsby #128 Fred Herzog’s genius
Curator Bill Jeffries responds to a major, new book on the postwar imagery of Herzog’s Vancouver street photography over sixty… FULL STORY
Ormsby #131 Expo 67 and its offspring
The Year Canadians Lost Their Minds and Found Their Country recounts the myriad ways we marked the hundredth birthday of… FULL STORY
Ormsby #130 Making Room
“Vancouver feminism liberated us from more than lipstick and foundation garments,” says reviewer Phyllis Reeve, responding to a new, retrospective… FULL STORY
