Word Vancouver - 2016 Program Guide

20 workshops, 150 authors, 100 readings
A Free Festival
of Reading & Writing
Sunday, September 25, 11am–5pm | Library Square
More events around town September 21–24!
Entertainment
Family Fun
Featured Guests Include: Caroline Adderson, Carmen Aguirre, bill bissett,
Charles Demers, Ujjal Dosanjh, Lynn Johnston, Joy Kogawa, Bif Naked,
Daphne Marlatt, Jen Sookfong Lee, Ronald Wright & Paul Yee
www.wordvancouver.ca

Vancouver's leading arts source.
Proud Media Sponsor
Word Vancouver 2016
STAY CONNECTED AT STRAIGHT.COM

Table of Contents
4 Welcome
5 Festival Partners
Wednesday, September 21
6 The Emerald
Thursday, September 22
8 Banyen Books & Sound
8 The Cottage Bistro
Friday, September 23
10 Christianne’s Lyceum
10 Historic Joy Kogawa House
Saturday, September 24
12 The HiVE
12 Carnegie Community Centre
13 CBC Studio 700
Sunday, September 25
32 Schedule
34 Site Map
36 Exhibitor Marketplace
Outside the Library
24 Community Garden
28 The Lions
40 Suspension Bridge
46 Imagination Island
48 The Quay
52 The Dock
54 Around the Square
56 Sunrise Suite
Inside the Library
16 Port of View
18 Perspective Point
20 In the Atrium
62 The Underground
Thank you to our official bookseller,
32 Books & Gallery
Meet authors after their readings and have your
books autographed at the Official Bookseller’s Tent
(T5). Personalized books make treasured gifts!
3

Welcome
from the staff, board, and volunteers of Word Vancouver
Word Vancouver remains a 100% FREE festival, and that is the way we want to
keep it.
We have added some new visual elements this year to make the site more festive.
We have also changed up the names of the venues to create interest and intrigue.
New this year will be engaging activities on the north plaza you won’t want to miss
out on and the flash fiction contest.
The kids and family area has expanded even more this year. Imagination Island
will have heaps of fun activities for kids, such as creating bookmarks and literary
art, colouring, tree decorating, trivia questions, writing poems, and a scavenger
hunt for fairyland characters hidden all around the library. The Quay will have
authors reading from kids’ books, and The Dock will have storytelling and engaging
entertainment. Fun for the entire family!
Spread the word to all your friends and family, and let them know there will be
lots of programming for families. We hope to “help kids fall in love with books and
reading” and create a whole new generation of readers. What is your favourite
children’s book? Have you read it to a child recently?
Once again the festival is a five-day event. There are evening events on Wednesday,
Thursday, and Friday at The Emerald, The Cottage Bistro, Banyen Books & Sound,
Christianne’s Lyceum, and Historic Joy Kogawa House. On Saturday there will be
workshops at The HiVE and the Carnegie Community Centre during the day, and
the Pandora’s Collective Literary Awards Gala at CBC Studio 700 in the evening.
Of course Sunday remains the main event, from 11 am to 5 pm. Check out exhibitors;
buy some books; enjoy the entertainment; attend the author readings of fiction,
non-fiction, and poetry; learn from the workshops and panels; and don’t miss out
on the great deals to be had in the silent auction.
There is literally something for everyone.
Inspiring words! That is what Word Vancouver is all about. Come join us, and bring
a friend.
4

Word Vancouver could not happen without the generous
and enthusiastic support of our festival partners:
We want to give a big thank you to all the sponsors, funders, members, exhibitors, organizations, institutions,
individuals, and volunteers for their support and commitment to the festival; it happens because of them.
Word Vancouver also gratefully acknowledges the support of 32 Books & Gallery, Banyen Books & Sound,
the Carnegie Community Centre, CBC Studio 700, Christianne’s Lyceum, The Cottage Bistro,
Historic Joy Kogawa House, The HiVE, Literary Press Group, Panago, Pandora’s Collective, and
the Vancouver Public Library.
Word Vancouver is made possible with the support of many individuals, businesses, and organizations,
including Daniel Anctil, Polly Argo, the Association of Book Publishers of British Columbia, Sabrina Azaria,
Wendy Barron, Margo Bates, Trevor Battye, Shashi Bhat, Selina Boan, Andrew Chesham, Christianne’s
Lyceum’s Community Art Summer Camp Kids (Bookey, Grace, Sofia, Leila, Luke, Felicity, Vivien, Audrey,
Stella, Isabelle, and James), Rod Clarke, CWILL BC, Emilie Dierking Joyce, Editors BC, Jeffrey Ellis, EVENT
Magazine, Barbara Fairbrother, Gail Hanney, Natalie Hawryshkewich, Christianne Hayward, Landon Hoyt,
Shelagh Jamieson, Brian Kaufman, Anna Ling Kaye, Kim Koch, Jason Lee, Lindsey Lewis, the Magazine
Association of BC, Deb McVittie, Ann-Marie Metten, Jon Mills, Laura Moore, Masoud Moosaei, Bonnie Nish,
Anne Phelps, PRISM international, Margaret Reynolds, Renée Sarojini Saklikar, Natasha Sanders-Kay, SFU,
Byron Sheardown, Lori Sherritt-Fleming, Kathryn Shoemaker, Sylvia Skene, Tanya Snyder, Kevin Spenst,
Jodi Sprackman, Jacob Steele, Joe Stewart, Chris Trittenbass, Carol Tulpar, Urban Source, Chris Ward,
Leonard Wong, and all our donors.
Staff
Executive Director.............................................Bryan Pike
General Manager...............................................Val Mason
Communications Director..............................Karen Green
Project Coordinator........................................ Kristie Poole
Programming Team.................... Karen Green, Val Mason,
Kristie Poole, and Bryan Pike
Production Manager........Roy Blyan, Xtendia Productions
Volunteer Coordinator............................ Diane Sutherland
Festival Assistant............................................ Abigail Ileto
Design and Illustrations........................... Kristen Johnson
Program Guide............................................... Kristie Poole
Proofreader................................................ Amy Haagsma
Site Decoration Artists............ Mary Baker, Erin Boniferro,
Eden Cooke, Jami Gigot, and Christina Leist
Board of Directors
President............................................ Mary-Ann Yazedjian
Vice-President................................................ Laura Farina
Secretary.......................................................Monica Miller
Treasurer.........................................................Alex Boland
At-Large.....................................Louis Anctil, Tanja Bartel,
Samantha Fraenkel, Zoe Grams,
Linda Richards, Tiffany Stone
VPL Liaison................................................ Anne O’Shea
A National Annual Celebration
Word Vancouver is produced by the non-profit charitable organization the Vancouver Book and Magazine Fair Society.
The mandate of the Society is to foster an awareness and appreciation of the printed word in our culture, promote the
importance of literacy in the lives of Canadians, and involve the residents of Vancouver in an annual celebration of
writing and reading. Donations to the Society can be made on site or online, or mailed to our office: 901 – 207 West
Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC V6B 1H7. All donations help keep the festival free and accessible to all.
Tax receipts are available for donations of $20 or more.
Federal Charitable #89896 1180 RR0001; BC Society Act #S33376
Contact us through our website, www.wordvancouver.ca, if you would like to
volunteer or be a sponsor for the 2017 festival.
www.facebook.com/WORDvancouver
twitter.com/WORD_Vancouver
5

Wednesday
September 21
Join us for a 20th–anniversary celebration!
The Emerald
555 Gore Avenue, Vancouver
HOST: SANDY SHREVE
ABPBC
7:00 PM Poetry in Transit 20th–Anniversary Celebration
Presented by the ABPBC
ASSOCIATION OF BOOK PUBLISHERS OF BC
Join the Association of Book Publishers of BC in celebrating the
20th anniversary of Poetry in Transit at The Emerald on Wednesday,
September 21, from 7:00 to 9:00 pm. Readings of 20 poems featured as
part of the campaign will commemorate the extraordinary contribution poets have
made to the cultural fabric of BC. Hosted by Sandy Shreve, this is an opportunity
to enjoy a drink, a snack, and some of the province’s finest talent.
Join us for our Literary Pub Trivia Night
A fundraiser for Word Vancouver
Do you know your Austen from your Auster? Your Thomas King
from your Stephen King? Can you tell your Brontës apart? Test
your literary knowledge against the biggest book nerds in the
city, and support Word Vancouver in the process!
Where:
When:
Cover:
Sunset Grill, 2204 York Avenue, Vancouver
www.sunsetgrillvancouver.com
Wednesday, September 14, 7:00 pm
$10 (goes to support Word Vancouver), or $28 gets you
entrance, a burger, and a beer (with $10 going to support
Word Vancouver)
Prizes include books, gift cards, and bragging rights!
Arrive early to get a table and lubricate your brain!
6

Thursday
September 22
Enjoy a presentation and book signing at Banyen Books & Sound as well as readings and
an open mic session at The Cottage Bistro.
Banyen Books & Sound
3608 West 4th Avenue, Vancouver
6:30 PM Mark L. Winston (Presentation & Book Signing)
Bee Time: Lessons from the Hive (Harvard University Press $24.95)
Presented by Banyen Books & Sound
There are lessons to be learned from bees about how
humans can better engage, interact, and open to a
deeper understanding of who we are. Join author
Mark Winston for a discussion of his experiences of
over 30 years in apiaries and lessons learned from a
life among bees. Mark Winston is that rare scientist
who can speak eloquently to the public. An expert on
bees and pollination, Winston has had an illustrious
career researching, teaching, and writing on bees,
agriculture, environmental issues, and science policy. Bee Time: Lessons from the
Hive won the 2015 Governor General’s Literary Award for non-fiction.
The Cottage Bistro
4470 Main Street, Vancouver
HOST: BONNIE NISH
7:00 PM Twisted Poets Literary Salon
Presented by Pandora’s Collective with support from the League of
Canadian Poets and the Canada Council for the Arts
Share in an evening of literary
surprises. Connect, read, and enjoy.
An open mic session follows featured
readings from Henry Beissel, Elee
Kraljii Gardiner, and Jennifer Zilm. All
are welcome to attend and participate.
Sign up for the open mic between 7:00
and 7:30 pm. The suggested donation
is $5 at the door. The Twisted Poets Literary Salon is on the second Wednesday
and fourth Thursday of each month. Henry Beissel is an award-winning poet,
playwright, essayist, translator, and editor with more than 30 publications to his
credit, including 20 volumes of poetry. Elee Kraljii Gardiner directs the Thursdays
Writing Collective. She is the editor and publisher of eight anthologies from the
Collective. Jennifer Zilm’s first full-length collection, Waiting Room, was shortlisted
for the Robert Kroetsch Award.
8

P A N D O R A ’ S
P A N D O R A ’ S
C O L L E C T I V E
COLLECTIVE
P r o m o t i n g t h e a r t s t h a t i n s p i r e
t h e w o r l d t o t a k e n o t i c e o f i t s e l f
We are a registered charity established to promote literacy
and self-expression in Metro Vancouver, BC, Canada. We
strive to provide a safe and inspiring environment for
writers and readers of all ages.
WRITING. POETRY. EVENTS.
WORKSHOPS. COMMUNITY.
www.pandorascollective.com
“A Free Press is the unsleeping guardian of every
other right that free men prize; it is the most
dangerous foe of tyranny. Where men have the
habit of liberty, the Press will continue to be the
vigilant guardian of the rights of the ordinary
citizen.”
Winston Churchill, 1949
BRITISH COLUMBIA'S COMMUNITY PRESS PRINTER - HELPING YOU SPREAD THE WORD
PRINTERS & MAILERS
International Web exPress Inc.
1-1455 Brigantine Drive
Coquitlam, BC V3K 7C2
Phone: 604.526.8557 | Toll Free 1-888-315-8188
www.intwebexpress.com

Friday
September 23
Enjoy more author readings and presentations at Christianne’s Lyceum and Historic
Joy Kogawa House.
Christianne’s Lyceum
3696 West 8th Avenue, Vancouver
6:30 PM An Evening of Faerie Magic
Presented by Christianne’s Lyceum
The Lyceum’s garden has long attracted faeries far and
wide. We’re celebrating them with stories, treats, and
crafts for the entire family. As we sip tea and nibble on
faerie bread, we’ll make faerie sculptures and listen to
faerie stories told by experts in the field. We’ll leave
our front door open a crack, so our faerie friends can
hear, too. Our faerie whisperers include Tiffany Stone,
children’s poet and author of the picture book Teatime;
Kallie George, author of The Magical Animal Adoption
Agency series for early readers; Danika Dinsmore,
author of the Faerie Tales from the White Forest series
for middle-grade readers; and Christianne Hayward,
director of Christianne’s Lyceum and celebrated
storyteller.
Historic Joy Kogawa House
1450 West 64th Avenue, Vancouver
HOST: ANN-MARIE METTEN
7:30 PM Sober Second Thoughts
with Shaughnessy Bishop-Stall
Presented by Historic Joy Kogawa House with the support of the
Canada Council and the BC Arts Council
While living at Historic Joy Kogawa House, Toronto author
Shaughnessy Bishop-Stall has completed work on his most recent
work of non-fiction, Hungover: A History of the Morning After and One
Man’s Quest for the Cure. In it, he articulates the effects of alcohol on
ourselves, our psyches, and our societies. Reading and discussion
will offer an opportunity to join a conversation about our personal and
sociological relationships with alcohol. Shaughnessy Bishop-Stall is
a journalist, novelist, and teacher of creative writing at the University
of Toronto. Until recently he was the proprietor of The Lowdown—a subterranean
watering hole in Toronto’s Kensington Market—the ideal place to finish research on
his new book.
10

PROUD
SUPPORTER
of WORD VANCOUVER
Host your
next event at
Now accepting
registrations
for Fall 2016.
Historic
Joy Kogawa
House
We offer an
intimate meeting place
for groups of
15 to 25 people.
Email to book your
literary reading,
book launch,
writing workshop,
or book-club
discussion.
Find out more
at kogawahouse.com.
Or email kogawahouse
@yahoo.ca
1450 West 64th Avenue
Vancouver

Saturday
September 24
Free professional development sessions on a variety of literary topics and the Pandora’s
Collective Literary Awards Gala!
The HiVE
210 – 128 West Hastings Street, Vancouver
11:00 AM Get It Out: A Writer’s Guide to the Submissions of
Literary Works for Publication with Jami Macarty
SASE, submittable, submishmash. Welcome to the
language of editors and publishers! You’ll learn about terms,
networking, cover letters, submission guidelines, submission-ready
work, publications, and sure ways to avoid the slush pile. Join
Jami Macarty—teacher, editor, and poet—for a session on preparing
literary work for submission. Jami Macarty is a poet, editor, arts
administrator, and community advocate. She teaches contemporary
poetry and creative writing at SFU, is a poetry ambassador for
Vancouver’s poet laureate, edits for The Maynard, and blogs for
Drunken Boat. A recipient of fellowships from Banff Centre and the BC Arts Council,
her poems appear in Arc Poetry Magazine, Beloit Poetry Journal, The Fiddlehead,
Grain, PRISM international, Vallum, and Verse Daily.
2:30 PM Exoticizing the Domestic with Carmen Ostrander
Not everyone is slaying dragons and discovering
brave new worlds. Some of us are just making toast
and jiggling tea bags. Explore the everyday and
uncover compelling stories in everyday life. Discover how rich
descriptions of ordinary things can be compelling, intimate, and
historically valuable. Honour the radical potential of the ordinary
in this interactive workshop suitable for writers of all abilities.
Carmen Ostrander is an Australian art therapist, facilitator, and
master’s candidate in narrative therapy, developing practices that
challenge dominant discourses through creative writing and storytelling.
Take advantage of these wonderful professional development
opportunities! Go to www.wordvancouver.ca, click on the sign-up
button in the middle of the home page, and select the workshop(s) you
want to attend.
Carnegie Community Centre
401 Main Street, Vancouver
1:00 PM TO 3:00 PM Type Up!
Presented by Carnegie Community Centre
Do you have handwritten poems, stories, and letters you would like to
have typed up, but you don’t have a way to do that? Well come along to Type Up! at
the Carnegie Library Learning Centre, and volunteers will be on hand to take your
writing materials, help you edit them, and turn them into a typed file. The number of
pages will be limited to 10. The typed files can be printed out, emailed, or copied
onto a USB drive or CD. Come early to be sure you don’t miss out.
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CBC Studio 700
700 Hamilton Street, Vancouver
HOST: SEAN CRANBURY
7:30 PM Pandora’s Collective Literary Awards Gala
Presented by Pandora’s Collective
Pandora’s Collective and Word Vancouver are proud to present Pandora’s
Collective Literary Awards Gala. These awards are presented to those who, by
their example and hard work, continue to maintain and foster the Vancouver
literary community. This year’s award winners are bill bissett (Distinctive Body
of Work Award), Hal Wake (Organizer/Promoter Award), Kate Braid (BC Writer
Mentor Award), David Zieroth’s Alfred Gustav Press (Publisher’s Award), and
Ashok Bhargava (Citizenship Award). Doors open at 7:00 pm; event begins at 7:30
pm. Cash bar; silent auction.
Word Vancouver 2016 Writing Contest
Flash fiction: Show us who you are and what you’ve got
Flash fiction gives you the opportunity to show the world your
literary star quality… in 250 words or less.
The purpose of the contest is to inspire communication and
creativity. The contest is open to all styles and genres.
Rules: Submit original stories only, of up to 250 words. Entry
fee must accompany stories, as applicable. Contest closes on
September 12. The contest will be judged by professional writers.
Two winners, one from the adult entrants and one from the youth
entrants, will be chosen. They will each get the opportunity to
read their flash fiction at the 2016 Word Vancouver festival, and
their stories will be printed in a local magazine.
There will be one winner and nine finalists from the child
entrants, and they will each receive a prize.
Email submissions to contest@rebuscreative.com.
Categories:
Adult entrants (18 years or older)—fee is $10 per entry (entrants
may submit more than one entry; however, a $10 fee must
accompany each entry)
Youth entrants (12 to 17 years old)—no entry fee
Child entrants (up to 11 years old)—no entry fee
Saturday
13

informed
engaged
connected
Vancouver Public Library is a free place for everyone to
discover, create, and share ideas and information. Join us!
For more information:
604.331.3603 | vpl.ca
Join the conversation
@vpl
/vancouverpubliclibrary
READ
LOCAL
BC

Book publicists
Copywriters
Event organizers
Online strategists
Voracious readers
Literary cheer squad
& proud supporters
of Word Vancouver.
Get your words
on the streets.
PUBLISHING DIPLOMA PROGR AM
In just one-year, you will be able to develop skills and
techniques to confidently communicate your messages
online and in print. Gain in-depth hands-on experience and
build a professional portfolio that includes comprehensive
projects such as LangaraPRM.com and a new issue of the
Pacific Rim Magazine.
Every day, our graduates use their skills as art directors,
content editors, graphic designers, publishers, and web
designers. Apply now and start in September to join them.
Learn more.
www.langara.ca/publishing
www.zgcommunications.com
Think INFLUENCE
Become the heart of great writing
Editing Certificate
• Study part-time in Vancouver or online
• Learn from industry professionals
• Prepare for certification through
the Editors’ Association of Canada
sfu.ca/editing

Sunday
September 25
Library Square
Port of View
Professional development workshops.
Inside, Downstairs
Alma VanDusen Room
11:00 AM Writing Close to Home with Naomi Beth Wakan
Whether you keep a blog or a diary, write personal essays, or are beginning
your memoirs, this workshop will give you fresh ideas and may open some
personal moments you haven’t visited for a while. Naomi Beth Wakan is a
poet and personal essayist who has written her own memoirs, Some Sort of Life. She is
the inaugural poet laureate of Nanaimo (2013–2016) and has published over 50 A books,
CELEBRATION OF
including three books about the small island on which she lives, Gabriola.
MIXEDROOTS
ARTS AND IDEAS
A CELEBRATION OF
12:15 PM Family as Inspiration: A Fiction Workshop
MIXEDROOTS
ARTS AND IDEAS
with Simon Choa-Johnston
Presented by Hapa-palooza
2016
HAPA
The inspiration for author Simon Choa-Johnston’s latest novel, The House
of Wives, comes from his Jewish and Chinese heritage. Join Choa-Johnston in a PALOO ZA
workshop on how to pursue family heritage as inspiration for fiction, with resources
and exercises to get authors started on their personal journeys of discovery. For
more information please visit www.hapapalooza.com. Simon Choa-Johnston was born
and raised in Hong Kong, was educated in Canada at McMaster University, and did
postgraduate theatre studies in New York. He has worked as an artistic director and is an
award-winning playwright. He is Gateway Theatre’s artistic director emeritus in Richmond,
BC, and he lives in south Surrey.
1:30 PM Invitation to English Tanka with Kozue Uzawa
Do you know tanka? Tanka is Japanese short poetry (1,300 years old!). In the last
100 years, Western scholars and poets have translated classical and modern tanka
into English, and “English tanka” is growing in popularity. In this workshop, Kozue Uzawa
(tanka poet and award-winning tanka translator) introduces you to English tanka. You will
learn how to write your own tanka, enjoy tanka reading, and receive a complimentary copy
of GUSTS, a beautiful Canadian biannual tanka journal.
More Workshops
Looking for more workshops? Watch for the pencil icon
throughout the program guide.
16

Row 1: Naomi Beth Wakan, Simon Choa-Johnston, Kozue Uzawa, Marion Crook, Joan Flood
Please note that workshops fill up quickly,
so lining up early is recommended.
2:45 PM Starting Your Story with Marion Crook
Presented by Self-Counsel Press
You may be poised to write the greatest tale of the century and eager to create
stunning prose. You may have a character in mind, or a setting, or parts of a plot
but need a push to start the story. This workshop will give you practical tools to
jump into the beginning, tackle the first lines, and create the first chapter. Marion Crook
has written many books for young adult and middle readers. Crook’s background in child
development and her PhD in education gives her solid knowledge, but she maintains that a
keen observation of people, places, and events can be the author’s most useful tool.
4:00 PM Animating the Inanimate
with Joan Flood
Presented by SFU’s The Writer’s Studio
Inanimate objects turn up in writing all the time. Ascribing feelings and/or behaviours
to inanimate objects can add surprising elements to fiction, non-fiction, and poetry.
The car horn, the raincoat, the cell phone—the list goes on. How do we use these items to add
depth and texture, and reveal something about our characters? How do we do this without
distracting from what we have to say? In this interactive workshop, you will explore ways to
use these objects through examples from published works, discussion, and writing exercises.
Joan Flood is a graduate of SFU’s The Writer’s Studio and her poetry, short fiction, and
non-fiction have been published in anthologies in Canada, the United States, and Australia.
WIN!
A library of festival books
Spend a toonie, fill out a survey about the festival, and be
eligible to win a library of nearly all the books featured at this
year’s festival.
That’s enough for an entire year of reading, or they would make
great gifts for family and friends. You will also become an official
friend of the festival.
Surveys can be found at both of the Info Tents (T1 and T13), at
the Word Vancouver membership table (T8c), and from roving
volunteers. Drop your completed survey into the containers
provided, and you will be entered in the draw.
It is that simple, so don’t miss out.
Port of View
17

Sunday, September 25 | Inside the Library
Perspective Point
Comics presentations, author readings, and
writing workshops.
Inside, Downstairs
Peter Kaye Room
COMICS ARTISTS PRESENT
HOST: ROBYN HANSON
11:00 AM Chalk Talk with Lynn Johnston Adopted by: Liesl Jauk
Join For Better or For Worse creator Lynn Johnston to discover
how she creates facial expressions and how the For Better or
For Worse characters were developed. Johnston will also discuss
the way she started her job, what happened during some of the
controversial times, and the way the work affected her family. For three
decades, Lynn Johnston has captured the hearts of readers with For
Better or For Worse. She was the first woman to win the prestigious Reuben
Award, has received a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame, and has been
nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.
12:05 PM Faith Erin Hicks (Vancouver) Adopted by: Raincoast Books
The Nameless City (First Second $17.50)
Every nation that invades the City gives it a new name. When new invaders
arrive and the City changes hands once again, the natives don’t let
themselves get caught up in the unending wars. To them, their home is the
Nameless City, and those who try to name it are forever outsiders. Kaidu is
one such outsider, while Rat is a native. At first, she hates Kai for everything
he stands for, but his love of his new home brings these two unlikely friends
together. Faith Erin Hicks is a writer and artist based in Vancouver. Her
graphic novels include Zombies Calling, Friends with Boys, the Eisner
Award–winning The Adventures of Superhero Girl, and the Nameless City
series.
12:30 PM Tony Cliff (Vancouver) Adopted by: Raincoast Books
Delilah Dirk and the King’s Shilling (First Second $20.50)
Globe-trotting troublemaker Delilah Dirk and her loyal friend Selim are
just minding their own business, peacefully raiding castles and traipsing
across enemy lines, when they attract the unwanted attention of the English
Army. Before they know it, the pair are accused of espionage against the
British Crown! Delilah will do whatever it takes to clear her good name,
be it sneaking, skirmishing, or even sword fighting, but can she wear a
pretty dress and have a nice cup of tea with her mother? Tony Cliff is
a contributor to the Flight series of anthologies and has been nominated
three times for an Eisner Award. Delilah Dirk and the King’s Shilling is his
second graphic novel.
HOST: TREVOR BATTYE
12:55 PM Sean Karemaker (Vancouver)
The Ghosts We Know (Conundrum Press $20.00)
In his debut book, Sean Karemaker presents stories of his wild BC country
childhood, contrasted with his downtown Vancouver bus-riding adventures.
In between are stories of small-town parties, drawing in cafés, school
misfits, scrolls, and street people of all kinds, and winding through it all are
the ghosts, both known and unknown. Karemaker has a distinct panelless
style of comics in which the narrative and art blend seamlessly. Personal
narrative is a common element in Sean Karemaker’s body of work, which
encompasses diorama sculptures, comics, scrolls, and paintings. He
has shown his work at several Vancouver art spaces, including the Gam
Gallery, the Seymour Art Gallery, and the Pendulum Gallery.
18

Please note that workshops fill up quickly,
so lining up early is recommended.
Row 1: Lynn Johnston, Faith Erin Hicks, Tony Cliff, Sean Karemaker, Erik Bjarnason, JJ Lee, Trevor Battye;
Row 2: Suzanne Norman, Craig Shemilt
1:20 PM Erik Bjarnason (North Vancouver)
Surviving Logan (Rocky Mountain Books $28.00)
In 2005, Erik Bjarnason and two other climbers became trapped on
the second-highest peak in North America, Mount Logan, during an
extratropical cyclone. After being rescued, Erik lost all his fingers and one
thumb, making his future as a firefighter and mountaineer unimaginable.
Surviving Logan tells Erik’s harrowing story of survival and recovery as
he retrained and requalified for his job as a firefighter, learning to use
what was left of his hands, and made his return to high-altitude climbing.
Erik Bjarnason is a firefighter with the North Vancouver City Fire
Department, a member of North Shore Rescue, and an avid mountaineer,
having climbed five of the Seven Summits, including Everest.
1:50 PM The Hustle with JJ Lee
2016
Author JJ Lee talks about his journey to his memoir, The Measure of a Man:
The Story of a Father, a Son, and a Suit, discussing research, community
engagement, platforming, and just plain luck. He’ll talk about his current
forays into genre fiction and its impact on his profile as a literary writer.
JJ Lee’s memoir, published by McClelland & Stewart in 2011, was nominated
for several non-fiction awards. For the last three Christmas Eves, CBC Radio has aired his
original seasonal ghost stories. He currently teaches non-fiction at The Writer’s Studio at
SFU.
3:00 PM Taking Control of Your Own Marketing
with Trevor Battye and Suzanne Norman
Presented by Publishing@SFU
This workshop will help authors establish what electronic marketing tools
are right for them. Whether self-published or with a publisher, you’ll learn
tools to assist with your process. How will you break through the clutter? What social media
platforms are right for you? Is Snapchat something you should look at? All this and more will
be reviewed in this one-hour intensive. Bring your publishing project and questions, whether
you’ve already published or are gearing up to launch. Trevor Battye is a partner at Clevers
Media, a consulting firm specializing in marketing, branding, and website development.
Suzanne Norman is a lecturer in the publishing program at SFU.
4:00 PM Creating an Excellent Book with Craig Shemilt
Presented by Canadian Authors Vancouver
These days, more authors are turning to self-publishing. But what does it
take to produce an excellent book? In this workshop, writers will learn the benefits
of digital printing, as well as lots of practical information about editing, design, and
formatting. Other topics covered include marketing ideas and tools, and e-books
and the book market. Craig Shemilt of Island Blue/Printorium Bookworks has been involved
in the family business of book production for over 37 years. With a client base of over 3,000
authors and 200 publishing companies across Canada, he knows the printing business
from the inside out.
Perspective Point
19

Sunday, September 25 | Inside the Library
In the Atrium
Bookmaking demos, lettering demos, and writing consultations.
Upstairs in the Promenade
Bookmaking Demos
Presented by the Canadian Bookbinders and Book Artists Guild
Fascinated by the art and craft of fine bookmaking? Drop by the Canadian
Bookbinders and Book Artist Guild’s table to watch hands-on demonstrations by
professional artists. You may find yourself inspired to create your own treasures!
11:00 am.................... Gina Page, concertina fold books
12:00 pm.................... Jack Page, artists’ books
1:00 pm...................... Jessica Tremblay, star books
2:00 pm...................... Diane Gillespie, art journalling
3:00 pm...................... Suzan Lee, European bookbinding
4:00 pm...................... Suzan Lee, non-European bookbinding
Lettering and Bookmarks
Presented by the Westcoast Calligraphy Society
The Westcoast Calligraphy Society promotes beautiful lettering through classes,
displays, and participation in public events. They will be demonstrating lettering
and creating free bookmarks all day!
Downstairs in the Moat
Mini–Manuscript Consults
Presented by SFU’s The Writer’s Studio
Need advice on your writing? The Writer’s Studio is offering free
30-minute consults on up to five pages of your poetry or prose.
Our alumni will provide feedback in a supportive environment on
story, structure, point of view, imagery, or anything else you would
like reviewed in your fiction, non-fiction, or poetry. The Writer’s Studio is SFU
Continuing Studies’ award-winning one-year, part-time creative writing program
with an emphasis on learning in community. Striking a balance between a formal,
full-time MFA creative writing program and individual writing courses, The Writer’s
Studio offers training in writing theory, craft, and the business of writing.
Blue Pencil Sessions
Presented by Editors BC
The members of Editors BC are pleased to offer free 30-minute
blue pencil sessions at Word Vancouver. Editors BC is the local
branch of Editors Canada, the national professional association for editors. Its
in-house and freelance members work with individuals and organizations in a
variety of sectors across the country and around the world. Do you have specific
concerns or general questions about your writing? Take this wonderful opportunity
to get personalized written feedback in a one-on-one meeting with an editing
professional.
Take advantage of these wonderful opportunities to get professional
input on your personal writing. Go to www.wordvancouver.ca,
click on the sign-up button in the middle of the home page,
and select your time slot.
20

WRITE YOUR BOOK WITH US
BY CORRESPONDENCE
Ready to tackle book-length fi ction, poetry,
or nonfi ction? The Correspondence Program
in Creative Writing takes you through an entire
draft of a manuscript. Work at home with
personal guidance from an accomplished,
published writer. Some scholarships are
available for applicants with limited income.
CONTACT
Antanas.Sileika@humber.ca
416-675-6622 ext. 3448
Hilary.Higgins@humber.ca
416-675-6622 ext. 3449
humber.ca/scapa/programs/school-writers
Think AUTHOR
Get an expert opinion on your writing
with an alumni of the Writer’s Studio
FREE mini-manuscript consultations
in the library at WORD Vancouver.
Book your 30-minute session:
wordvancouver.ca
sfu.ca/creative-writing

Nick Bantock - Madeleine Thien - Jane Urquhart - John Vaillant - Bill Richardson - Richard Van Camp
Peter Robinson - Susan Juby - Lisa Moore - Joy Fielding -Kenneth Oppel - Craig Davidson & many more
Tickets on sale online August 15, 2016 whistlerwritersfest.com

Anvil Press is proud to
have three authors at
Word Vancouver in 2016
Edgemont Village, North Vancouver
Ringside Market, Hornby Island
604-980-9032
info@32books.com
Peter Babiak
Garage Criticism
Elee Kraljii Gardiner
Serpentine Loop
Kevin Spenst
Ignite
Find Anvil At t3
www.anvilpress.com
Don’t miss
bestselling author
Ujjal Dosanjh
read from his
new memoir.
Sunday September 25
Community Garden at
WO R D VA N C O U V E R
1:50 pm
figure1pub.com

Sunday, September 25 | Homer Street
Community
Garden
Eco-fiction, memoir, and a variety of non-fiction presentations.
HOST: MARY WOODBURY
11:00 AM Eco-fiction: Blowing Your Mind with Wild Words and Worlds
In an age where climate change, excessive resource extraction,
water worries, and other ecological crises have given us a
bleak outlook for our future, the arts can help humanity cope
while imagining a better future. As curator of eco-fiction.com,
Mary Woodbury sees a great movement of fiction writers, poets,
and other artists building our story through the lens of hope and warning as we celebrate
nature and develop scenarios, characters, and plots to overcome the systemic issues that
have led our world to environmental instability. Join Lower Mainland authors,
including Claudia Casper, Michael Donoghue, Stephen Collis, Katie Welch, and
Anneliese Schultz, to find out more at this year’s Word Vancouver!
OUR PLANET
HOST: HAL WAKE
12:40 PM Mark Leiren-Young (Victoria) Adopted by: Writers Guild of Canada
The Killer Whale Who Changed the World (Greystone Books $29.95)
Killer whales had always been seen as bloodthirsty sea monsters. This
changed when a young orca was captured on BC’s west coast and
publicly displayed in 1964. Moby Doll—as he became known—was an
instant celebrity, drawing 20,000 visitors in a single day. He died within
a few months, but his famous gentleness sparked a worldwide crusade
that transformed how people understood orcas. Because of Moby
Doll, we stopped fearing “killers” and grew to love and respect “orcas.”
Mark Leiren-Young is an award-winning journalist and author of numerous
books. He is currently finishing a feature-length film on Moby Doll.
1:00 PM Darcy Matheson (Vancouver)
Greening Your Pet Care: Reduce Your Animal’s Environmental Paw Print
(Self-Counsel Press $14.95)
Greening Your Pet Care by journalist Darcy Matheson examines the best
practices to keep any pet environmentally friendly. Matheson identifies
ownership tips and ideas to reduce and deal with waste and to take care of
your pet’s well-being with the most sustainable approaches. This is a book
for the modern owner that thinks not only of the joy of sharing their life with
a pet, but also how to care for them in a responsible and environmentally
conscious way. Darcy Matheson is a television journalist, a frequent
contributor to radio and magazines on pet issues, and the founder of
PetFundr, a crowdfunding site dedicated to helping animal welfare projects.
More Memoir
If you ’ re looking for memoir, check out Community Garden
(pages 25 & 27) and The Lions (page 30).
24

Row 1: Mary Woodbury, Claudia Casper, Michael Donoghue, Stephen Collis, Katie Welch, Anneliese Schultz,
Mark Leiren-Young; Row 2: Darcy Matheson, Joy Kogawa, Ujjal Dosanjh, Betsy Warland, Shaughnessy
Bishop-Stall, Naomi Wakan, Brandy Lien-Worrall; Row 3: Anna Ling Kaye, Peter Babiak, Deborah Campbell,
Carmen Aguirre
LIFE STORIES
HOST: SCOTT STEEDMAN
1:30 PM Joy Kogawa (Toronto) Adopted by: Historic Joy Kogawa House
Gently to Nagasaki (Caitlin Press $24.95)
2016
Gently to Nagasaki is a spiritual pilgrimage, an exploration
both communal and intensely personal. Kogawa knows
what it means to be classified as the enemy, and she seeks urgently to
get beyond the “us” and “them” division. Interweaving her own life with
catastrophes like the bombing of Nagasaki and the massacre by the
Imperial Japanese Army at Nanking, she wrestles with essential questions
like good and evil, love and hate, rage and forgiveness, determined above
all to arrive at her own truths. Joy Kogawa is best known for her seminal
novel on Japanese–Canadian internment, Obasan. She is the awardwinning
author of three novels, seven collections of poetry, and two books for children.
1:50 PM Ujjal Dosanjh (Vancouver) Adopted by: Eponymous
Journey After Midnight: India, Canada and the Road Beyond
(Figure 1 Publishing $34.95)
Journey After Midnight is a deeply personal and thoughtful memoir of
Ujjal Dosanjh’s journey from his beloved India to the upper echelons of
Canadian politics, a wise and compelling story about a man passionate
about social justice and the democratic process. After many years as an
MLA, he became Attorney General, then Premier of BC, the first person
of Indian descent to hold these offices in Canada. Ujjal Dosanjh is the
former Premier of BC and former Minister of Health for Canada. He became
attorney general of BC in 1995 and then Premier of BC (February 2000 to
June 2001) before entering federal politics.
2:10 PM Betsy Warland (Vancouver) Adopted by: ZG Communications
Oscar of Between: A Memoir of Identity and Ideas (Caitlin Press $21.95)
Taking the name Oscar, Betsy Warland embarks on an intimate, nine-year
quest by telling her story as “a person of between.” As Oscar, she is able
to make sense of herself and the culture that shaped her. She traces this
experience of in-betweenness from her childhood in the rural Midwest,
through to her first queer kiss in 1978, divorce, coming out, writing life.
A contemporary Orlando, Oscar of Between pushes the boundaries of
form, inventing new ways to see ourselves. Betsy Warland has published
12 books of poetry, creative non-fiction, and lyric prose, including her
bestselling 2010 book, Breathing the Page: Reading the Act of Writing.
Community Garden
25

authors at
Word
VancouVer
Sunday, September 25, 2016
33rd annual April 2017
antone 315 C
www.harbourpublishing.com
eb 00/6F/8E
— · · —
from
Harbour Publishing
Michelle GilMan
— · · —
from
Nightwood Editions
www.nightwoodeditions.com
C A L L F O R S U B M I S S I O N S
CMYK 100/0/10/45
Seven prize categories for fiction, poetry,
children, illustrated, non-fiction, regional, and
booksellers’ choice. Submission deadline is
December 1, 2016.
Nominations open for lifetime achievement
award, The Lieutenant Governor’s Award for
Literary Excellence. Submission deadline is
January 31, 2017.
For submission details visit
www.bcbookprizes.ca
RGB 0/111/142
KiM Fu
has “a pro-cannabis, anti-discipline spirit in
the tradition that might be considered a
Canadian version of Hunter S. Thompson.”
(Vancouver Sun) He’s reading at WORD
2016 from his forthcoming double-sided
book, The Sacred Herb / The Devil’s Weed.
scale 0/0/0/100 Black 60/40/20/100
Michael Johnson
visit our table in the
independent
publishers’
booth!
Sunday, September 25th
NewStarBooks.com

A CELEBRATION OF
MIXEDROOTS
ARTS AND IDEAS
A CELEBRATION OF
2:40 PM Writing From Within: Memoir and Identity
MIXEDROOTS
ARTS AND IDEAS
Presented by Hapa-palooza
Join four authors as they discuss their experiences and choices when writing from
HAPA
life,
and share key lessons they have learned on their professional journeys. With journalist
and author Shaughnessy Bishop-Stall, writer and teacher Betsy Warland, Nanaimo
PALOO ZA
poet laureate Naomi Wakan, and mixed Vietnamese-American editor and writer
Brandy Lien-Worrall. Moderated by Hapa-palooza festival founder and author
Anna Ling Kaye.
STUDIES OF HUMANITY
HOST: SIMON CHOA-JOHNSTON
3:50 PM Peter Babiak (Vancouver) Adopted by: Anvil Press
Garage Criticism: Cultural Missives in an Age of Distraction (Anvil Press $20.00)
In Garage Criticism, Peter Babiak eviscerates and deflates some of the
cultural sacred cows of our time. Babiak deconstructs our fascination
with Internet culture; takes on the inanities of youthful, ungrammatical
irises; devolves the rhetorical hallucinations of economics and marketing;
and reasserts the supremacy of linguistic thinking in everyday cultural
affairs. Babiak’s is a new and timely voice in the arena of cultural criticism
and critical theory. Peter Babiak has worked as a rivethead at the Ford
assembly plant, a house framer, and a landscaper. More recently, he taught
at UBC for 10 years and was academic director of Humanities 101, an
outreach program that brought classes to Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Peter has been
teaching English classes at Langara since 2002.
4:10 PM Deborah Campbell (Salt Spring Island) Adopted by: Kumon Capilano Mall
A Disappearance in Damascus: A Story of Friendship and Survival in the
Shadow of War (Knopf Canada $32.00)
Award-winning journalist Deborah Campbell travels undercover to
Damascus, reporting on the exodus of Iraqis into Syria following the Iraq
War. When her “fixer,” a charismatic Iraqi woman who has emerged as a
community leader, is seized from her side by secret police, Campbell must
spend months desperately trying to find her—all the while fearing she could
be next. A riveting account of two women caught up in the shadowy politics
behind today’s conflict. Deborah Campbell has reported from Iran, Syria,
Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, the UAE, Qatar, Israel-Palestine, Cuba, Mexico,
and Russia, writing for Harper’s, the Economist, Foreign Policy, and the
Guardian.
4:30 PM Carmen Aguirre (Vancouver)
Mexican Hooker #1: And My Other Roles Since the Revolution
(Random House Canada $29.95)
Carmen Aguirre has lived many lives, all of them to the full. At age six,
she was a Chilean refugee adjusting to life as a Latina in North America.
At 18 she was a revolutionary dissident married to a generous-hearted
man she couldn’t fully love. From the child made victim of a terrible crime
to the artist who found the courage to confront her assailant, Aguirre
tells a story of strength and survival that will leave you speechless.
Carmen Aguirre is a Vancouver-based writer, playwright, and theatre
artist. She is the author of Something Fierce, which won Canada Reads in
2012, was a finalist for the Charles Taylor Prize, and a #1 national bestseller.
Panel Discussions
Join a panel of experts for a discussion on an awesome topic!
See Community Garden (page 27), The Lions (page 31),
Suspension Bridge (pages 40 & 41), and
The Underground (page 62).
Community Garden
27

Sunday, September 25 | Homer Street
The Lions
From fiction to biographies, essays to a panel on inclusive magazine publishing, and
more.
AN ARRAY OF FICTION
HOST: S.R. DUNCAN
11:10 AM Flash Fiction Contest Winner
The adult winner of the Word Vancouver Flash Fiction Contest will be announced, and they
will read from their winning submission.
11:20 AM Paul Yee (Toronto) Adopted by: CUPE Local 391
A Superior Man (Arsenal Pulp Press $ 21.95)
2016
Appearance courtesy of LiterASIAN
An historical novel about a former Chinese railway worker
on a journey to find the mother of his son. Set in 1885, after the construction
of the CPR, it also depicts the bawdy world of Chinese “bachelors,” whose
families remained in China while they worked in Canada. An anti-hero,
Yang Hok is not an easy man to like; but through the blood and sweat he
aspires to become a “superior man.” Paul Yee was born in Saskatchewan
but grew up in Vancouver’s Chinatown. He is the author of nearly 30 books,
including the Governor General’s Award–winning Ghost Train. A Superior
Man is his first novel written for an adult audience.
11:40 AM Anosh Irani (Vancouver)
The Parcel (Knopf Canada $32.00)
Set in Kamathipura, Bombay’s notorious red-light district, The Parcel tells
of a retired transgender sex worker named Madhu, who identifies as a
“hijra”—neither man nor woman. She receives a call from the most feared
brothel owner in the district and is forced to prepare a “parcel”—a young
girl trafficked from the provinces—for its fate. Anosh Irani is the author of
Dahanu Road, nominated for the Man Asian Literary Prize, and bestsellers,
The Cripple and His Talismans and The Song of Kahunsha. His play,
Bombay Black, won the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New
Play, and his anthology, The Bombay Plays: The Matka King & Bombay
Black, was shortlisted for the Governor General’s Award.
12:00 PM Clea Young (Vancouver) Adopted by: ZG Communications
Teardown (Freehand Books $19.95)
Teardown navigates the whitewater of relationships—familial, romantic,
between friends old and new. These are stories about people you know and
people you’ve been: they’re arguing about lamps in IKEA, drinking gin and
tonics on a dock in summer, unemployed and without prospects. But under
Young’s astute gaze they are anything but ordinary. She guides us through
the shoals and rapids, along the way paying homage to our missteps,
our foibles, and ultimately to the complicated hearts that comprise a life.
Clea Young’s stories have been included in The Journey Prize Stories three
times. Her work has appeared in EVENT, The Fiddlehead, The Malahat
Review, and Room.
More Fiction
Discover more adult fiction on pages 24, 30, and 40–42!
28

Row 1: Paul Yee, Anosh Irani, Clea Young, Christian Fink-Jensen, Randolph Eustace-Walden, David McNeil,
Jennifer Croll; Row 2: Brett Josef Grubisic, Bif Naked, Sam Wiebe, Carol Shaben, Kamala Todd, Jónína
Kirton, Chelene Knight; Row 3: Elee Kraljii Gardiner, Jen Sookfong Lee
DISTINGUISHED CANADIANS
HOST: DENNIS E. BOLEN
12:30 PM Christian Fink-Jensen and Randolph Eustace-Walden
(Victoria & Vancouver)
Aloha Wanderwell: The Border-Smashing, Record-Setting Life of the
World’s Youngest Explorer (Goose Lane Editions $24.95)
Who was Aloha Wanderwell? In 1922, the Canadian-born 15-year-old set
out on an around-the-world expedition led by “Captain Wanderwell” and
soon became a global sensation. She was photographed in front of the
Eiffel Tower, parked on the back of the Sphinx, firing mortars in China,
and smiling at a tickertape parade in Detroit. By the age of 25, she
had become a film star, an ambassador for world peace, and the
centrepiece of a mysterious murder. This is her larger-than-life story.
Christian Fink-Jensen’s work has appeared in numerous magazines and
newspapers, including the Toronto Star, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and the
Vancouver Sun. Randolph Eustace-Walden is an award-wining writer, editor, researcher,
television producer, and director.
12:50 PM David McNeil (Halifax) Adopted by: Midtown Press
In the Pressure of the Moment: Remembering Gerry McNeil
(Midtown Press $24.95)
Goalies can see the game better than anyone else. What Gerry McNeil,
starting goaltender for the Montreal Canadiens in the 1950s saw was
Gordie Howe coming at him, Bill Barilko scoring a Stanley Cup–winning
goal, and Maurice Richard conjuring up his magic. Conveyed through this
book is hockey of an inspired era. Friends and foes alike are described.
Journalists and photographers add their descriptions and photographs,
some previously unpublished. David McNeil’s writing will take you through
it all with ease, his research deep and exemplary. David McNeil is an
associate professor at Dalhousie University in the English department.
Apart from that, he is your typical hockey fan.
The Lions
29

PONDERING POP CULTURE
HOST: CARELLIN BROOKS
1:20 PM Jennifer Croll (Vancouver)
Bad Girls of Fashion: Style Rebels from Cleopatra to Lady Gaga
(Annick Press $16.95)
Bad Girls of Fashion explores the lives of 10 famous women through the
ages who have used clothing to make a statement, break rules, attract
power, or express their individuality. Among those featured are Cleopatra,
Marie Antoinette, Coco Chanel, and Madonna. The links between fashion
and art, film, politics, and feminism are also examined. The author
illustrates how women have used fashion to change attitudes, and how their
influence continues to shape the way women present themselves today.
Jennifer Croll has written on culture and style for magazines including
NYLON and Adbusters. She is the author of Fashion That Changed the World (2014).
1:40 PM Brett Josef Grubisic (Vancouver)
From Up River and for One Night Only (Now or Never Publishing $24.95)
Meet the greatest new wave band to ever spring from River Bend City.
Before they graduate from high school and flee a mill town that’s seen better
days, four ambitious friends aim to make something from nothing as a test
run for planned careers of glamour in New York City. From Up River and
for One Night Only traces the band’s unsure but determined steps along
the twisty highway to their fifteen and a half minutes of fame. A lecturer of
English literature residing in Vancouver, Brett Josef Grubisic is the author
of two novels, The Age of Cities and This Location of Unknown Possibilities.
2:00 PM Bif Naked (Vancouver) Adopted by: Ken Paquette
I, Bificus (HarperCollins Publishers $32.99)
Bif Naked was born in India to teenage parents, hidden away in a mental
hospital, and adopted by missionaries, and then moved to North America,
joined a punk rock band, married the drummer, and ended up in a Vancouver
drug den armed with creativity and humour. She started a record company
and became a recording artist, touring, acting, and discovering her passion
for advocacy as a breast cancer survivor. This is Bif Naked’s story so far...
Bif Naked was born in India, was raised in the United States and Canada,
and became a prominent alternative artist fronting Gorilla Gorilla and
Chrome Dog, performing worldwide and appearing on shows such as The
Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
VPL WRITER IN RESIDENCE
HOST: VPL
2:30 PM Sam Wiebe (Vancouver)
Invisible Dead (Random House Canada $24.95)
Sam Wiebe is a Vancouver-based writer who has been making his mark
on the local and international crime fiction scene. His debut novel, Last
of the Independents, won the Kobo Emerging Writer Prize and the Arthur
Ellis Award for Best Unpublished First Crime Novel. His second novel,
Invisible Dead, is the first of his new noir thriller series set on the streets
of Vancouver. Recently named Vancouver Public Library’s 2016 writer in
residence, his short stories have appeared in a variety of publications,
including Thuglit, Spinetingler, and subTerrain.
The Lions
Magazine Programming
Look for this symbol beside event listings
throughout the program guide for
magazine-related sessions.
30

TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION
HOST: RENAE MORRISEAU
2:50 PM Carol Shaben and Kamala Todd (Vancouver)
In This Together: Fifteen Stories of Truth and Reconciliation
(Brindle & Glass $ 19.95)
What is real reconciliation? This collection of essays from both Indigenous
and non-Indigenous contributors from across Canada welcomes readers
into a timely, healing conversation—one we’ve longed for but, before now,
have had a hard time approaching. Without flinching, they look deeply and
honestly at their own experiences and assumptions about race and racial
divides in Canada in hopes that the rest of the country will do the same. In
this session, contributors from In This Together—including Carol Shaben
and Kamala Todd—will present from their work, as well as take part in a
facilitated discussion/Q&A.
3:40 PM Inclusive Magazine Publishing: Barriers and
Strategies for Writers and Publishers
Presented by the Magazine Association of BC
Panellists address some of the barriers preventing marginalized writers from
getting published. They offer advice to such writers and strategies for change
to magazines looking to be more inclusive in their publishing practices. Speakers include
Jónína Kirton, writer, editor (Room), coordinator of the first National Indigenous Writers
Conference, and member of the Aboriginal Writers Collective (West Coast chapter);
Chelene Knight, writer and managing editor (Room); and Elee Kraljii Gardiner, writer,
editor (Poetry Is Dead), director of Thursdays Writing Collective, and founding member of
CWILA. Moderated by Jen Sookfong Lee, author and radio personality (CBC).
Readings at the CUPE Stage (T10)
CUPE 391—representing public library workers in Vancouver, Gibsons, and
Sechelt—is at Library Square again to promote its passion for connecting the
public to literary resources by having author readings on its stage.
11:30 AM Carol Shaben
Carol Shaben is an award-winning Vancouver-based author
and recipient of two National Magazine Awards, including a
gold medal for Investigative Reporting. Her first book, Into
the Abyss, sold to Random House Canada within two hours
and has since become a national bestseller.
12:30 PM Andrew MacLeod
Andrew MacLeod is the author of A Better Place on Earth:
The Search for Fairness in Super Unequal British Columbia
and the winner of the 2016 George Ryga Award for Social
Awareness in Literature. He is the legislative bureau chief
for The Tyee.
1:30 PM Anakana Schofield
Anakana Schofield is the author of the 2015 Giller Prize–
shortlisted, acclaimed novel Martin John. Her first novel,
Malarky, won the 2012 Amazon.ca First Novel Award. She
is also a contributor to the London Review of Books blog.
The Lions
31

Sunday Schedule
Outside the Library
11:30 12:00 12:30 1:00 1:30
Community Garden
page 24
Eco-fiction:
Blowing Your Mind with Wild Words and Worlds
Mark
Leiren-Young
Darcy
Matheson
Jo
Kog
The Lions
page 28
Flash
Fiction
Adult
Winner
Paul
Yee
Anosh
Irani
Clea
Young
Christian
Fink-Jensen
and Randolph
Eustace-Walden
David
McNeil
Jennifer
Croll
Suspension Bridge
page 40
Demystifying the
Submission Process
(Panel)
Yasuko
Thanh
Billie
Livingston
Jen
Sookfong Lee
Imagination Island
page 46
ALL-DAY ACTIVITIES: Christianne’s Lyceum, CWILL BC and Reading Lights, Deco
Frontier College, Kids’ Lit Quiz, Vanco
The Quay
page 48
Flash
Fiction
Youth
Winner
Kathy
Beliveau
Ellen
Schwartz
Stacey
Matson
Uma
Krishnaswami
Jordan
Stratford
Car
Adde
The Dock
page 52
M’Girl
Dixie Star
Storytelling
FortisBC
Fiddlin’
Frenzy
Dixie Star
Storytelling
M’Girl
Around the Square
page 54
THROUGHOUT THE DAY ON
Circus Lab (Roving)
Dragon Dance (Roving)
Sunrise Suite
page 56
World Poetry
Celebrates Korea
Anahita
Jamali
Rad
Kim
Fu
Kevin
Spenst
Garry
Gottfriedson
Timothy
Shay
Adrienne
Gruber
Elee Kraljii Chri
Gardiner Lev
Inside the Library
11:30 12:00 12:30 1:00 1:30
Port of View
page 16
Writing Close to Home
with Naomi Beth Wakan
Family as Inspiration:
A Fiction Workshop
with Simon Choa-Johnston
Perspective Point
page 18
Chalk Talk
with Lynn Johnston
Faith Erin
Hicks
Tony
Cliff
Sean
Karemaker
Erik
Bjarna
In the Atrium
page 20
ALL-DAY ACTIVITIES: Bookmaking Demos, Lettering
The Underground
page 62
Chapbook Readings:
Adrienne Gruber,
Chelsea Comeau,
Joanne Thorwaldson
Comics and the
Creative Process
(Panel)
Chapbook Races
with Kevin Spenst
11:00 11:30 12:00 12:30 1:00 1:30
Program guide accurate at time of printing. Check our website for more details: www.wordvancouver.ca.
32

See the site map on pages 34–35 for venue locations
2:00 2:30 3:00 3:30 4:00 4:30 5:00
y
awa
Ujjal
Dosanjh
Betsy
Warland
Writing From Within:
Memoir and Identity
(Panel)
Peter
Babiak
Deborah
Campbell
Carmen
Aguirre
Brett Josef
Grubisic
Bif
Naked
Sam Wiebe
(VPL Writer in
Residence)
In This Together:
Fifteen Stories of Truth and
Reconciliation
Inclusive Magazine Publishing:
Barriers and Strategies for
Writers and Publishers
(Panel)
Fresh Blood
(Panel)
Peter
Darbyshire
Ronald
Wright
PRISM international
Showcase
Andrew
Struthers
Charles
Demers
da Literacy Solutions, Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association, FortisBC Street Team,
uver Children’s Literature Roundtable, WestCoast Families
oline
rson
Dumb and Stoopid:
A Drawing Workshop
with Lynn Johnston
Norma
Charles
Laura
Bifano
Sara
Gillingham
Michelle
Gilman
Lorelei
Bachman
Dumb and Stoopid:
A Drawing Workshop
with Lynn Johnston
Vancouver
Youth Theatre
M’Girl
FortisBC
Aimee
Edmonds
Vancouver
Youth Theatre
Dixie Star
Storytelling
FortisBC
Aimee
Edmonds
THE NORTH PLAZA: LARP and Cosplay, Academie Duello
All Bodies Dance Project
(North Plaza)
stopher
enson
Carla
Funk
Rob
Taylor
Juliane
Okot
Bitek
Dead Poets
Reading Series
Jordan
Scott
Jordan
Abel
bill
bissett
Poetry in Transit
2:00 2:30 3:00 3:30 4:00 4:30 5:00
Invitation to English Tanka
with Kozue Uzawa
Starting Your Story
with Marion Crook
Animating the Inanimate
with Joan Flood
poetry in transit
son
The Hustle
with JJ Lee
Taking Control of
Your Own Marketing
with Trevor Battye and
Suzanne Norman
Creating an Excellent Book
with Craig Shemilt
and Bookmarks, Mini-Manuscript Consults, Blue Pencil Sessions
The Long Poem, Chapbooks,
and Sustenance:
Keeping the Journey
(Panel)
Drawing Autobiographical Comics
with Sean Karemaker
Chapbook Readings:
Stephen Collis,
Renée Sarojini Saklikar,
lary timewell
2:00 2:30 3:00 3:30 4:00 4:30 5:00
Poetry in
Transit
Magazine
Event
Writing
Workshop
33

Site Map
Sunday, September 25
Library Square
O u t s i d e the Library
T1 Info Tent
T2 Sunrise Suite
T3 Independent Publishers Tent:
AllLitUp.ca/Literary Press
Group | Anvil Press | Caitlin
Press | Geist Magazine |
Harbour Publishing/Douglas &
McIntyre/Nightwood Editions |
Ronsdale Press | subTerrain
Magazine | Talonbooks
T4 Community Garden
T5 Official Bookseller:
32 Books & Gallery
T6 Author Signing Lounge
T7 The Lions
T8a Royal British Columbia
Museum
T8b Humber School for Writers
T8c BC Book Prizes Memberships |
Word Vancouver Memberships
T8d Pandora’s Collective Outreach
Society
T9 Suspension Bridge
T10 CUPE Stage
T11a Tradewind Books
T11b Crystal Fish Tales
T11c Sunlight Ink Publishing
T11d Gloria Gurden
T11e Knowledge First Financial
T11f Pratham BC Foundation
T12a Orca Book Publishers
T12b New Star Books
T12c Pacific Rim Magazine and
Langara Journalism Review
T12d PRISM international |
UBC Creative Writing
T13 Info Tent
T14 The Quay
T15 Imagination Island:
Christianne’s Lyceum |
CWILL BC and Reading Lights
| Decoda Literacy Solutions |
Downtown Vancouver Business
Improvement Association |
FortisBC | Frontier College |
Kids’ Lit Quiz | Vancouver
Children’s Literature
Roundtable | WestCoast
Families
T16 The Dock
Poetry in
Transit Bus
Robson Street
T12
A-D
Exhibitors
T14
T16
T15
T11
A-F
The Quay
The Dock
T h e Village
CUPE
Stage
T10
Imagination
Island
Volunteers
Author Check-In
Suspension
Bridge
Around the Library Building:
T9
Info Tent
T13
V1 Surrey International Writers’
Conference
V2 Vancouver Writers Fest
V3 Book Warehouse
V4 The Association of Book
Publishers of BC
V5 The Writers’ Union of Canada
V6 Editors BC
V7 EVENT Magazine
V8 Room Magazine | Vancouver
Ballet Society – Dance
International Magazine
V9 Magazines BC
V10 A Long Story Short and
Reader’s Carnival
V11 Midtown Press
V12 Sandhill Book Marketing
V13 Moon Willow Press |
Wilderness Committee
Exhibitors
T8
A-D
Perspective
Point
Moat
M1 to M7
Promenade
P1 to P18
Homer
Port of
View
The L
T
V1 to
Vancouver P
34

I n s i d e the library
Street
Upstairs:
ions
7
V24
Author Signing
Lounge
T6
A1 to A11
The
Underground
Silent
Auction
Official
Bookseller
T5
Community
Garden
T4
Info Tent
T1
Independent
Publishers
T3
Sunrise
Suite
T2
West Georgia Street
Silent Auction
P1 book’mark, The Library Store
P2 Friends of the Vancouver
Public Library
P3 Vancouver Public Library
Foundation
P4–6 Vancouver Public Library
P7 Vancouver Public Library
(Carnegie Branch) | Carnegie
Newsletter
P8 Public Library InterLINK
P9 Historic Joy Kogawa House
P10 Vancouver Community College
P11–13 SFU Writing and
Communications Program
P14–15 Westcoast Calligraphy Society
P16 BookCrossing
P17–18 Canadian Bookbinders and
Book Artists Guild (CBBAG),
BC Lower Mainland Chapter
ublic Library
V14
V15
V16
V17
V18
V19
V20
V21
Federation of British
Columbia Writers | Sky Spirit
Studio Books
BC Association of Speech-
Language Pathologists and
Audiologists
Society of Translators and
Interpreters of BC
Legal Services Society
Cascadia Author Services
ICNA Canada
Tara Canada/Share
International
Bnei Baruch Kabbalah
Education and Research
Institute
Downstairs:
Perspective Point
Port of View
M1 SFU Mini–Manuscript Consults
M2 A Moose in a Maple Tree
(Polyglot Publishing)
M3 The Ugly by Alexander
Boldizar
M4 Granville Island Publishing
M5 Canadian Authors Vancouver
M6 Crime Writers of Canada
M7 Editors BC Blue Pencil
Sessions
The Underground
A1 BS Poetry Society | Gustafson
Chapbook Series | Leaf Press
A2 Kevin Spenst
A3 Ballast Canting
A4 Rock, Paper, Cynic | Write with
Lightning
A5 The Publishing Eye
A6 Jonathon Dalton
A7 Cloudscape Comics Society
A8 Emily Cowan | Jasmine Schuett
A9 battery opera books
A10 Alison Woodward and Michelle
Margaret
A11 Colin Upton Comics
Program guide accurate at time of printing. Check our website for more details: www.wordvancouver.ca.
35

Exhibitor Marketplace
Alison Woodward and
Michelle Margaret
Michelle and Alison are
interdisciplinary artists
who deal in fantastical
publishing of the smallest
press. A10
AllLitUp.ca/Literary Press
Group AllLitUp.ca, a
project of the Literary Press
Group, is for readers to
discover, buy, and collect
Canadian literature by
Canadian publishers. T3
A Long Story Short and
Reader’s Carnival bring
you the very best in flash
fiction. V10
A Moose in a Maple Tree
(Polyglot Publishing) All-
Canadian, award-winning,
bestselling, author-signed
children’s books M2
Anvil Press publishes
Canadian literature with a
distinctly urban twist. T3
The Association of Book
Publishers of BC The
ABPBC will be celebrating
the 20th anniversary of
Poetry in Transit at this
year’s Word Vancouver. V4
Ballast Canting Short
stories in small-edition
handbound litzines by
Heather Joan Tam. A3
battery opera books
publishes work derived
from or integral to the
people and projects of
battery opera performance
(batteryopera.com). A9
BC Association of Speech-
Language Pathologists
and Audiologists
shares resources on
communication disorders
and treatments, supporting
BC speech, language, and
hearing professionals. V15
BC Book Prizes
Memberships Support
the celebration of
achievements by BC
writers and publishers
through the Prizes, the
provincial tour, and the
Lieutenant Governor’s BC
Book Prizes Gala. T8c
36
Bnei Baruch Kabbalah
Education and Research
Institute The largest
Kabbalist group in Israel
and around the globe,
sharing the wisdom of
Kabbalah with the entire
world. V21
BookCrossing gives a book
a unique ID so it can be
logged online and shared.
Learn more at
www.meetup.com/bcbooks.
P16
book’mark, The Library
Store is a non-profit
store raising funds for the
Vancouver Public Library.
P1
Book Warehouse Your
locally owned independent
bookstores, serving
Vancouver’s readers for
over 30 years! V3
BS Poetry Society is
a Fredericton-based
publisher of chapbooks
and former publisher of
BSPS Journal and Poetry
Halifax Dartmouth. A1
Caitlin Press publishes
fiction, non-fiction, and
poetry, where urban meets
rural. Home of Dagger
Editions. T3
Canadian Authors
Vancouver is a local
writers’ organization with a
strong national presence,
encouraging and inspiring
writers of all genres. M5
Canadian Bookbinders
and Book Artists Guild
(CBBAG), BC Lower
Mainland Chapter
offers several book arts
workshops each year and
has an annual book arts
fair. P17–18
Cascadia Author Services
It’s our mission to provide
the very best of the
essential services an
author needs. V18
Christianne’s Lyceum
brings together writers,
artists, educators, and
families to share the
richness of story in its
many forms. T15
Cloudscape Comics
Society A coalition of
comic book artists centred
in Metro Vancouver that
have been publishing and
promoting local comics
since 2008. A7
Colin Upton Comics
Creator of the finest
handmade artisanal minicomics
since 1985. A11
Crime Writers of Canada
The best in Canadian crime
writing. Meet local authors
HERE! M6
Crystal Fish Tales is an
independent publisher
featuring high-quality
illustrated storybooks.
T11b
CUPE 391 represents
public library workers
in Vancouver, Gibsons,
and Sechelt, and works
to connect people to the
power of knowledge. T10
Decoda Literacy Solutions
is the only province-wide
literacy organization in
British Columbia. For more
information, visit
www.decoda.ca. T15
Downtown Vancouver
Business Improvement
Association Come visit the
Downtown Ambassadors’
info tent to get your
bearings and blow some
bubbles. T15
Editors BC supports and
advances the interests of
editors and excellence in
editing. V6
Emily Cowan Comics
artist and illustrator
exploring themes of
feminism, queer politics,
mental health, and growing
up. A8
EVENT Magazine From
literary heavyweights to
up-and-comers, over four
decades of award-winning
fiction, poetry, non-fiction,
notes on writing, and
reviews. V7

See site map on pages 34–35 for locations
Federation of British
Columbia Writers is an
inclusive community of
emerging and professional
writers. V14
FortisBC delivers natural
gas safely to over 135
communities in BC. T15
Friends of the Vancouver
Public Library Members
volunteer, fundraise, and
advocate in support of the
VPL and run book’mark,
The Library Store. P2
Frontier College is a
national, non-profit literacy
organization bringing fun,
engaging activities to
underserved communities.
T15
Geist Magazine offers
the best in narrative,
photography, comix,
poetry, puzzles, weird
cartography, and offbeat
contests. T3
Gloria Gurden Meet Wersel
Driftwood, who lives in
BC, and read about all the
adventures he has. T11d
Granville Island Publishing
Working very closely with
authors, GIPL produces
books that make a
difference—ready for
proper distribution. M4
Gustafson Chapbook
Series publishes an annual
poetry lecture by Canada’s
premier poets: Dennis Lee,
Michael Crummey, Don
McKay, Dionne Brand, and
others. A1
Harbour Publishing/
Douglas & McIntyre/
Nightwood Editions
Award-winning BC
publishers of quality
non-fiction, literary and
children’s titles. T3
Historic Joy Kogawa
House is the childhood
home of Canadian Author
Joy Kogawa and is now
used for literary events P9
Humber School for
Writers More than 320
of our graduates are now
published authors! T8b
ICNA Canada Learn about
each other; build better
understanding. V19
Jasmine Schuett East
Van queer comics creator.
Elf fashion enthusiast.
Pictures and words 2gether
4ever. A8
Jonathon Dalton makes
comics about strange alien
worlds and the ordinary
people who live in them. A6
Kevin Spenst Books,
chapbooks, and poems on
airplane sickness bags.
Kevin Spenst puts poetry
into everything. A2
Kids’ Lit Quiz is a
challenging literary
tournament that promotes
reading, motivates readers,
and provides consensusbuilding
and leadership
opportunities. T15
Knowledge First Financial
provides families with free
information about saving
for their children’s postsecondary
education and
the government grants
available. T11e
Leaf Press is an awardwinning
chapbook
publisher located on
Vancouver Island. A1
Legal Services Society
Legal aid for lower
income people: free legal
information, advice, and
representation in criminal,
family, child protection,
and immigration law. V17
Magazines BC Drop by
and check out some of the
best magazines BC has to
offer. V9
Midtown Press is a tiny
publisher located in
Marpole. It publishes
history and children’s
books. V11
Moon Willow Press
is a micro-publisher
specializing in naturethemed
fiction and nonfiction.
V13
Narrative Therapy The
Art Cart: just what the
(bibliotherapy) doctor
ordered, collecting
suggestions on the stories
you turn to in hard times.
Roving
New Star Books East
Vancouver publisher of
poetry and prose since
1974. T12b
Orca Book Publishers From
baby board books to teen
fiction, visit Orca Book
Publishers to find books for
children. T12a
Pacific Rim Magazine
and Langara Journalism
Review showcase the
talents of the publishing
and journalism students at
Langara. T12c
Pandora’s Collective
Outreach Society
Pandora’s Collective, a
charity promoting literacy
and self-expression, strives
to provide a safe and
inspiring environment for
writers and readers. T8d
Pratham BC Foundation
To help eradicate poverty
in India, by having every
child in school and
learning well. T11f
PRISM international
publishes the best in
contemporary writing and
translation from Canada
and around the world. T12d
Public Library InterLINK
Borrow materials from any
of the 18 InterLINK libraries
using your local library
card! P8
The Publishing Eye Visual
culture for the conscious
mind. A5
Rock, Paper, Cynic Visual
haiku and comics about
all kinds of interesting and
geeky things. A4
Ronsdale Press, based in
Vancouver, specializes in
non-fiction, YA and adult
fiction, and poetry. T3
37

The Annual Silent Auction
In the library promenade
Help keep the festival FREE!
Check out all of the wonderful
items, and place your bids.
Don’t miss out on items such as
getaways, tickets to fabulous
events, gift baskets, massages,
restaurant gift cards, framed
art, books, hotel nights, and so
much more.
The tables will be located front
and centre in the library promenade.
Don’t miss out!!
Fairy Tale Scavenger Hunt
Once upon a time, 10 fairy tale characters hid all over the Word
Vancouver festival site, waiting for someone to find them. Will
that someone be you?
Pick up a clue sheet at one of
the Info Tents (T1 or T13), or at
The Dock (T16) or The Quay
(T14). (Wondering where
these are? Check the site
map on pages 34–35.)
Search around the festival
site and see if you can find
all 10 characters and answer
the questions about them.
Bring your completed sheet back to one of the Info Tents to
collect a prize!
Join in the fun!!
38

Room Magazine is a
space where women writers
and writers identifying as
genderqueer can showcase
their creativity. V8
Royal British Columbia
Museum publications bring
the history and nature of
our province to life. T8a
Sandhill Book Marketing
features books about BC
and by BC authors and
publishers. V12
SFU Writing and
Communications Program
Canada’s comprehensive
professional and creative
writing programs,
specializing in editing,
public relations,
business, and technical
communication. P11–13
Sky Spirit Studio Books
The Hidden Journals:
Captain Vancouver and His
Mapmaker by Wade Baker
and Mary Tasi. V14
Society of Translators
and Interpreters of BC
promotes the interests of
translators and interpreters
and serves the public by
setting standards through
certification. V16
subTerrain Magazine
has been a source of
“strong words for a polite
nation” since 1988. T3
Sunlight Ink Publishing
Books for our Being—
supporting people to live
their full potential. T11c
Surrey International
Writers’ Conference
Writers helping writers—a
conference to inspire,
educate, and motivate
aspiring and experienced
writers alike. V1
Talonbooks publishes
poetry, drama, fiction, and
non-fiction. We’ve been
publishing words that
matter for over 45 years. T3
Tara Canada/Share
International The world is
about to change. Visit us to
discover new possibilities.
Dare to imagine. V20
Tradewind Books publishes
beautifully illustrated books
for children and literary
fiction for young people of
all ages. T11a
UBC Creative Writing
Offering world-class
creative writing instruction
on campus and online for
over 50 years. T12d
The Ugly by Alexander
Boldizar The story of
Mushduk the Ugli the
Fourth, a 300 lb boulderthrowing
mountain man
from Siberia. M3
Vancouver Ballet
Society – Dance
International Magazine
Dance International
features all forms of
contemporary and classical
dance from Canada and
around the world. V8
Vancouver Children’s
Literature Roundtable is
an organization committed
to getting people together
to share good children’s
books. T15
Vancouver Community
College is BC’s largest
literacy institution, offering
basic literacy to first-year
university courses. P10
Vancouver Public Library
is the most visited major
urban library per capita
in Canada and has been
dedicated to meeting the
lifelong learning, reading,
and information needs
of Vancouver residents
for more than 100 years.
Our vision is an informed,
engaged, and connected
city. P4–6
Vancouver Public Library
(Carnegie Branch) |
Carnegie Newsletter
Through literary events and
the bimonthly Carnegie
newsletter, the Carnegie
Centre supports creative
writers in the Downtown
Eastside. P7
Vancouver Public Library
Foundation Dedicated to
raising funds to support
and enhance library
programs for families;
literacy for children; and
opportunities for everyone
to discover, create,
and share ideas and
information. Contact us to
learn more. P3
Vancouver Writers Fest
Experience the
transformative power of
storytelling through vibrant
conversations at Canada’s
premier literary festival. V2
Westcoast Calligraphy
Society is a Vancouverbased
society aiming to
promote all forms of the
calligraphic arts. P14–15
WestCoast Families
THE local guide for active
urban families—in print and
online! T15
Wilderness Committee
Keeping it wild for over 35
years! Free educational
reports and TAKE ACTION
kits from Canada’s largest
citizen-funded wilderness
protection group. V13
Word Vancouver
Memberships Help keep
the Word Vancouver
festival FREE. Become a
member and show your
support. T8c
The Writers’ Union of
Canada The national
organization of
professionally published
book authors. V5
Write with Lightning
Visual haiku and comics
about all kinds of
interesting and geeky
things. A4
This symbol indicates magazine exhibitors, and this symbol means the
exhibitor has special subscription deals for Word Vancouver attendees!
39

Sunday, September 25 | Homer Street
Suspension Bridge
Fiction, magazine presentations, and humour.
11:00 AM Demystifying the Submission Process
Literary magazines are a crucial avenue for writers to find readers. But how do
you make your manuscript rise out of the slush pile? This panel will equip writers
with strategies to get their work noticed. Jen Arbo is co-publisher and editor at
Tenth to the Fraser. Shashi Bhat is editor of EVENT and author of The Family Took Shape.
Christopher Evans is prose editor at PRISM international and an MFA candidate at UBC.
Anna Ling Kaye is a former editor at PRISM international and Ricepaper; her fiction
was shortlisted for the 2015 Journey Prize. Chelene Knight is managing editor at Room
Magazine, editor-in-chief at RoomMagazine.com, and author of Braided Skin.
UNCOVERING THE PAST
HOST: MARGARET GALLAGHER
12:10 PM Yasuko Thanh (Victoria) Adopted by: Laura Yazedjian
Mysterious Fragrance of the Yellow Mountains (Hamish Hamilton $ 24.95)
Vietnam is a haunted country, and Dr. Nguyen Georges-Minh is a haunted
man. In 1908, the French rule Saigon, but uneasily; dissent whispers
through the city. Each day, more Vietnamese rebels are paraded through the
streets towards the guillotine, now a permanent fixture in the main square
and a gruesome warning to those who would attempt to challenge colonial
rule. In this novel, the reader is transported into a vivid, historical Vietnam,
filled with chaotic streets, teeming marketplaces, and squalid opium dens.
Yasuko Thanh is a Canadian novelist and short-story writer. She screams
in the punk band 12 Gauge Facial, and lives with her husband, Hank Angel,
and her two children on Vancouver Island.
12:30 PM Billie Livingston (Vancouver)
The Crooked Heart of Mercy (Random House Canada $29.95)
The Crooked Heart of Mercy is a brave, funny, and heartbreaking novel
about faith and family, love and forgiveness, and how people survive
unimaginable loss. It features an indelible trio of characters who could only
come from the imagination of Billie Livingston. How they come together to
heal each other’s many wounds is the magic of this novel, as is its intensity,
wit, and deep sense of the absurd, and the surprising grace at its core.
Billie Livingston is the author of three novels, short stories, and poetry. Her
novel One Good Hustle, a Globe and Mail Best Book, was longlisted for the
Scotiabank Giller Prize.
12:50 PM Jen Sookfong Lee (Vancouver)
The Conjoined (ECW Press $18.95)
While sorting through her recently deceased mother’s belongings, social
worker Jessica Campbell makes a shocking discovery—two dead girls
curled into the bottom of the chest freezers. She remembers a pair of foster
children who briefly lived with the family in 1988: Casey and Jamie Cheng—
troubled, beautiful, and wild teenaged sisters from Vancouver’s Chinatown.
As Jessica learns more about Casey, Jamie, and their parents, she also
unearths dark stories about her mother. Author and radio personality
Jen Sookfong Lee was born and raised on Vancouver’s East Side, where
she now lives with her son. Her books include The Better Mother, a finalist
for the City of Vancouver Book Award; The End of East; and Shelter.
40

Row 1: Jen Arbo, Shashi Bhat, Christopher Evans, Anna Ling Kaye, Chelene Knight, Yasuko Thanh, Billie
Livingston; Row 2: Jen Sookfong Lee, Marty Allen, Allan J. Emerson, S.M. Freedman, Katherine Prairie,
Elle Wild, Sam Wiebe; Row 3: Peter Darbyshire, Ronald Wright, Laura Farina, Tom Wayman, Taryn Pearcey,
Geoffrey Nilson, ryan fitzpatrick; Row 4: Andrew Struthers, Charles Demers
1:20 PM Fresh Blood
Presented by Crime Writers of Canada
This is your chance to grill a group of freshly minted BC crime authors as they discuss their
first works and all they’re learning about writing and being a published author. From lighthearted
mysteries in small-town BC, to global thrillers and police procedurals, this panel
offers crime scenes to please most tastes in crime fiction. You want Fresh Blood? We have it.
Panellists include Marty Allen (Cordelia); Allan J. Emerson (Death of a Bride and Groom);
S.M. Freedman (The Faithful); Katherine Prairie (Thirst); and Elle Wild (Strange Things
Done). Moderated by Sam Wiebe (Invisible Dead).
ADVENTURES IN HISTORY
HOST: ROBIN RIVERS
2:30 PM Peter Darbyshire (writing as Peter Roman) (Langley)
The Apocalypse Ark (ChiZine Publications $19.99)
The Apocalypse Ark is an epic chase around the world through history and
myth as angel-killer-in-Christ’s-body, Cross, races to stop Noah from finding
the sunken city of Atlantis. Joined by Alice from Alice in Wonderland;
Captain Nemo; Blackbeard; the devilish angel Sariel; and the mysterious
Ishmael, who may be the key to the world’s salvation (or damnation), Cross
must unite them to stop Noah, or allow the world to drown in madness.
Peter Roman, writer of The Mona Lisa Sacrifice, The Dead Hamlets, and
The Apocalypse Ark, sometimes possesses author Peter Darbyshire and
makes him write the Cross series. Darbyshire, who wrote the award-winning
novels Please and The Warhol Gang, is rumoured to be seeking out an exorcist.
More Crime
You’ll find another crime fiction presentation in
The Lions on page 30.
Suspension Bridge
41

“A boisterous tale of small town
eccentrics … all delivered
in crisp, expert prose.”
— Gail Anderson-Dargatz
Coming in September
@elleWild_Writer
strangethingsdone.ca
dundurn.com/tApbooks
LITTLE
ountain
LIT
sh p
Poetry Is Dead
Pop-Up w/ Sad Mag
& Real Vancouver
Writers Reading
Series
September 19–25
@ Little Mountain
Shop on Main Street
Poetry & other oddities.
littlemountainlit.ca

2:50 PM Ronald Wright (Salt Spring Island) Adopted by: Anne Giardini
The Gold Eaters (Hamish Hamilton $32.00)
The Gold Eaters is set during one of history’s great turning points: the
takeover of the Inca Empire by Spanish conquistadors in the 1530s, which
laid the foundations of our modern world. Based on real events, the
novel follows Waman, a Peruvian forced to become Francisco Pizarro’s
interpreter and guide in the last great civilization unknown to the outside
world. To survive this ordeal, Waman must decide where he truly belongs.
Ronald Wright is the author of 10 books, including A Scientific Romance,
winner of Britain’s David Higham Prize for Fiction and a New York Times
and Globe and Mail book of the year. His Massey Lectures, A Short History
of Progress, inspired Martin Scorsese’s 2011 film Surviving Progress.
3:20 PM PRISM international Showcase
Presented by PRISM international
55:1 PRISM is a great read prismmagazine.ca
PRISM international
55:1 / FALL 2016
WITTICISMS
PRISM
international
PRISM international, Western Canada’s oldest literary
magazine, is pleased to present the work of five recent contributors.
Laura Farina is the author of This Woman Alphabetical and Some
Talk of Being Human. Tom Wayman’s newest book, The Shadows
We Mistake for Love, won the Diamond Foundation Prize for fiction.
Taryn Pearcey won PRISM’s 2016 Short Fiction Contest. Geoffrey Nilson
is the author of the chapbooks Alchemy Machine and We Have to Watch.
ryan fitzpatrick is the author of two books of poetry and the editor of Why
Poetry Sucks: An Anthology of Humorous Experimental Canadian Poetry.
HOST: MARK LEIREN-YOUNG
4:20 PM Andrew Struthers (Victoria)
The Sacred Herb / The Devil’s Weed (New Star Books $19.00)
Andrew Struthers’ new book is a hilarious look at a humble
plant with the power to entertain, inspire, and occasionally
terrify. The Sacred Herb celebrates the glorious highs
of pot, from the friendships it forges to the creativity it
enhances. The Devil’s Weed grapples with the other side
of pot: the embellished claims of its proponents, the lives
its overuse has ruined, and the dangers of a product so
strong it bears little resemblance to your parents’ pot.
Andrew Struthers is a Victoria-based artist and filmmaker
and the author of The Green Shadow, The Last Voyage of the Loch Ryan, and Around the
World on Minimum Wage.
4:40 PM Charles Demers (Vancouver) Adopted by: CUPE Local 391
The Dad Dialogues: A Correspondence on Fatherhood (and the Universe)
(Arsenal Pulp Press $17.95)
In this unique book of correspondence, George Bowering and Charles
Demers (two men from different generations) write to each other about
the burdens, anxieties, and singular joys of parenthood. The letters begin
as Charlie and his wife discover they will become parents in the 2010s,
and George recalls his experiences raising a daughter in the 1970s and
his anxieties about bringing a child into a troubled world. Their combined
observations make for a funny, intimate, and moving portrait of fatherhood in
all its imperfect, beautiful glory. Charles Demers is a comedian, performer,
and writer who often appears on CBC Radio’s “The Debaters.” He teaches
writing at UBC.
Fabulous Fiction
Check out Community Garden (page 24),
The Lions (pages 28 & 30), and Suspension Bridge (pages 40–43)
for adult fiction.
Suspension Bridge
43

Since 1983
Longest run of
original plays
created with
youth in
Vancouver!
TEEN ENSEMBLE
KIDS’ WRITES
PLAYBUILDING
IMPROV FILM/TV
vyt@shawbiz.ca
phone:
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www.vyt.ca
Make a Difference in a Child’s Life
As little as $25 donation can educate a child
for an entire year. Every dollar donated to
Pratham goes directly to programs giving a
child the means to gain quality education making
a real and lasting difference.
“More than 50% of India’s
fifth graders cannot read a
second-grade text.”
Get Involved at:
Pratham BC Foundation
Call: 604-724-4281
Email: info@prathambc.org
Website: www.prathambc.org

Sunday, September 25 | Robson Street
Imagination Island
Fun, interactive family activities all day long.
ALL DAY
Christianne’s Lyceum
Join the staff and volunteers of
Christianne’s Lyceum (Vancouver’s amazing community-based
literature and art centre) to enjoy some word activities for the
entire family. Help us dress the trees around the library in
beautiful words, hunt for word treasure to turn into a sparkling
poem, or write a fortune to add to our amazing (and incredibly
accurate) fortune-telling machine. Making the world more
beautiful, dazzling onlookers, predicting the future—words are
basically superheroes, aren’t they?
ALL DAY CWILL BC and Reading Lights Literary Art Making
Read! Listen! Create! Explore! Compose a frameable, inspiring
piece of literary art celebrating your adventures at Word Vancouver
with CWILL BC members and Reading Lights contributors. CWILL BC is a
cooperative organization of BC children’s writers and illustrators. CWILL
authors and illustrators have won nearly every North American award for children’s
literature, including the: Governor General’s Award, Chocolate Lily Awards, and
Red Cedar Awards. Reading Lights is a collaboration of Vancouver Public Library
and CWILL BC. It celebrates BC children’s authors and illustrators and offers
encounters with stories for children and their families near parks, playgrounds,
schools, and libraries throughout Vancouver.
ALL DAY
ALL DAY
ALL DAY
Decoda Literacy Solutions
You are encouraged to visit the Decoda Literacy
Solutions table to try fun activities that engage children
and parents while they learn together. Parents are the most
important influence on the development of children’s literacy.
There will also be a “literacy purple” socks fundraiser at the
table. Decoda Literacy is the only province-wide literacy
organization in British Columbia. For more information, visit
www.decoda.ca.
Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement
Association
Join the Downtown Ambassadors in the Downtown Vancouver
Business Improvement Association tent! There will be a
photo wall you can take selfies at and a bubble station for
kids to blow bubbles. The ambassadors will also be happy to
provide general information and recommendations to festival
attendees.
FortisBC Street Team
You’ll find fun when you find the FortisBC Street
Team! They travel all over the province teaching kids to be
safe around natural gas and, of course, conserve it. At Word
Vancouver, you can play a game and find out awesome tips
about energy. You’ll even get your own activity book to take
home and read so you can practise fun, energy-saving tips
with your family. Ever wonder what makes the water for your
showers and baths hot and your rooms cozy and warm in
winter? It’s natural gas from FortisBC. Every day, we deliver it
safely and reliably to homes across BC, and our Street Team
can help you use it more efficiently.
46

ALL DAY Frontier College
The Frontier College table will have some fun activities for kids!
We will have a bookmark-making station, a book coin toss, and a
jelly-bean guess where they can win a bundle of books! We will also be
available to chat with parents and caregivers about tips for reading with their
young learners. We are looking forward to engaging with our community on this
important topic and helping foster a love of the written word!
ALL DAY Kids’ Lit Quiz
Visit the Kids’ Literature Quiz booth and try some
children’s trivia questions from previous international
competitions. Help the Canadian national team for 2017 by
writing some practice questions from your favourite children’s
books. For two decades, Kids’ Lit Quiz has been inspiring
youth to become lifelong readers by channelling knowledge of
children’s books into a fun and challenging tournament. Teams
of four compete in a children’s trivia-style competition, providing a meaningful
and engaging activity for middle-grade students. For more information, visit
kidslitquizcanada.blogspot.ca.
Graphic Design - REVEL DESIGN | reveldesign.ca@gmail.com
Graphic Design - REVEL DESIGN | reveldesign.ca@gmail.com
ALL DAY Vancouver Children’s Literature
Roundtable
The Vancouver Children’s Literature Roundtable is hosting an ongoing art activity
for children. Using a variety of collage materials, participants can contribute
to the creation of a colourful paper mural background and then add their own
collaged animals, real and imagined, to it. Local children’s book writers and
illustrators will help with the fun. The Vancouver Children’s Literature Roundtable
is an organization committed to getting people together for a variety of events to
share good children’s books and to meet the creators of these books—writers,
illustrators, editors, and publishers.
ALL DAY WestCoast Families
Stop by to visit WestCoast Families at Word Vancouver to activate
your child’s creative mind. We’ll have crafts and activities focused on
literacy and reading, and there will be lots of magazines for you to take
home too.
Colouring Books for Kids
Look for a colouring book activity area at this year’s festival!
Colouring book pages generously provided from the following
BC-published books:
Colour the British Columbia Coast by Yvonne Maximchuk
(Harbour Publishing)
Jean Cocteau Coloring Book, translated by David Homel
(Arsenal Pulp Press)
Yves Saint Laurent Coloring Book
(Arsenal Pulp Press)
Spirit of the Wild, artwork by Erica Neumann and poetry by
Dawn Sprung
(Heritage House Publishing).
Imagination Island
47

Sunday, September 25 | Robson Street
The Quay
Readings from children’s authors as well as drawing workshops!
LIFE’S HOBBIES
HOST: DINA DEL BUCCHIA
11:20 AM Flash Fiction Contest Winner
The youth winner of the Word Vancouver Flash Fiction Contest will be announced, and they
will read from their winning submission.
11:30 AM Kathy Beliveau (Lantzville)
The Yoga Game in the Garden (Simply Read Books $18.95)
The second book in The Yoga Game series wiggles its way to the garden
and invites children to hum like a bee and grow like a tree! Enjoy another
delightful yoga practice with more entertaining rhymes, enchanting riddles,
and whimsical illustrations. Critters and creatures help plant the fun with
The Yoga Game in the Garden. Kathy Beliveau’s passion for yoga and
nature shines through in her writing, presentations, and workshops. She has
studied yoga for children and yoga safety and is a certified yoga instructor.
Beliveau writes for both children and adults. She lives by the sea on Vancouver Island.
Ages 3–8
11:50 AM Ellen Schwartz (Burnaby) Adopted by: Emory, Jewell, and Kaslo Easton
for Joan Ford and Gail Roberts
Heart of a Champion (Tundra Books $19.99)
Set in 1941–42 in British Columbia, Heart of a Champion tells the story
of Kenji, called Kenny, who longs to play on the famed Vancouver Asahi
baseball team, like his older brother, Mitsuo, or Mickey. But when Japan
attacks Pearl Harbor, Kenny and his family are sent to an internment
camp in New Denver. Struggling to help his family survive, Kenny thinks
his baseball dreams are over—until he spots a field covered with scrap
wood—a field shaped like a baseball diamond. Ellen Schwartz is the
award-winning author of 16 books for children and one adult non-fiction
book. Born in Washington, DC, Schwartz now lives in Burnaby. She teaches
college-level creative writing courses. Ages 9–12
12:10 PM Stacey Matson (Vancouver) Adopted by: Robert Bittner
Notes from the Life of a Total Genius (Scholastic Canada $16.99)
Arthur’s final year at Terry Fox Junior High is off to a rocky start. A chance
to produce his own play gives him visions of fame and the respect he is
sure he deserves, but that’s all dashed when the new principal challenges
the content of Arthur’s play. Never one to take no for an answer, Arthur
uses his wit (and his column in the school paper) to skewer censorship...
In typical fashion, he won’t back down. Stacey Matson is the author of the
Total Genius series, has written theatre pieces for the Glenbow Museum
and the All Nations Theatre in Calgary, and recently completed her MA in
children’s literature at UBC. Ages 9–12
Family Activities
Check out Imagination Island (page 46) and The Dock (page 52)
for more family fun on Sunday!
48

Row 1: Kathy Beliveau, Ellen Schwartz, Stacey Matson, Uma Krishnaswami, Jordan Stratford, Caroline
Adderson, Lynn Johnston; Row 2: Norma Charles, Laura Bifano, Sara Gillingham, Michelle Gilman, Lorelei
Bachman
CLEVER AND COURAGEOUS
HOST: MARION CROOK
12:40 PM Uma Krishnaswami (Victoria)
Book Uncle and Me (Groundwood Books $14.95)
Every day, nine-year-old Yasmin borrows a book from Book Uncle, a retired
teacher who has set up a free lending library next to her apartment building.
But when the mayor tries to shut down the rickety bookstand, Yasmin has
to take her nose out of her book and do something. Uma Krishnaswami is
the author of more than 20 books for children, from picture books through
to novels for young readers. Originally published in India, Book Uncle and
Me won the Scholastic Asian Book Award. Ages 8–11
1:00 PM Jordan Stratford (Salt Spring Island) Adopted by: Kidsbooks
The Case of the Girl in Grey (The Wollstonecraft Detective Agency, Book 2)
(Knopf Books for Young Readers $25.99)
In The Case of the Girl in Grey, the history-mystery series The Wollstonecraft
Detective Agency continues with another fine display of brains and bravery
from the Wollstonecraft girls—Ada Bryon Lovelace and Mary Shelley.
Inspired fun for middle-grade readers and fans of The Mysterious Benedict
Society and Lemony Snicket! Jordan Stratford is a producer, author, and
screenwriter. He now lives on a tiny, windswept island in BC with his wife
and children. He is hard at work on the next book in the series. Ages 8–12
1:20 PM Caroline Adderson (Vancouver) Adopted by: Humber School For Writers
Jasper John Dooley: Public Library Enemy #1 (Kids Can Press $16.95)
When a series of unlikely accidents destroys his library book, Jasper John
Dooley knows he’s going to have to pay for the ruined book or they’ll never
let him back in the library again. Desperate to get back there and have a
much-coveted turn reading to Molly the dog, he devises a clever way to
earn money to pay for the book. Caroline Adderson lives in Vancouver,
BC, with her husband, her dog, and the son who lied to her when he said
he would always be seven. Ages 7–10
1:50 PM Dumb and Stoopid: A Drawing Workshop
with Lynn Johnston
Kids will learn how to create a goofy character, how to change expressions, and
how to put acting into their work from For Better or For Worse creator Lynn Johnston. For
three decades, Lynn Johnston has captured the hearts of readers with For Better or For
Worse. She was the first woman to win the prestigious Reuben Award, has received a star on
Canada’s Walk of Fame, and has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Ages 8–12
The Quay
49

SAIL AWAY
HOST: KATHRYN E. SHOEMAKER
2:30 PM Norma Charles (Vancouver) Adopted by: Kidsbooks
Last Chance Island (Ronsdale Press $11.95)
Thirteen-year-old Kalu and his cousin, Aisha, are the only survivors of
an attack on their African village. The kids flee and find work aboard a
smuggler’s boat, only to be abandoned on Last Chance Island near
Ireland. Meanwhile, 15-year-old Spike, whose father has died, is sent to live
with an aunt on the island. Spike plans to escape but discovers the Africans
desperate for help. What will Spike do? Is this the last chance for both
Spike and the kids? Norma Charles has authored 19 books for children,
including the Moonbeam Award–winner Run Marco, Run. She was a teacher
and librarian for many years in Vancouver, where she lives with her family.
Ages 10+
2:50 PM Laura Bifano (Vancouver) Adopted by: Rene Groulx
In the Red Canoe (Orca Book Publishers $19.95)
Fish and herons, turtles and dragonflies, beaver lodges and lily
pads—a multitude of wonders enchant the child narrator, her loving
grandpa, and any other nature lovers along for the ride in this tender,
beautifully illustrated picture book. Baby ducklings ride their mama’s
back; an osprey rises with a silver fish clutched in her talons; a loon
cries in a star-flecked night. Rhythmic, rhyming quatrains carry
the story forward in clean paddle strokes of evocative imagery.
Laura Bifano spent her childhood days running around in the forest
and drawing pictures. She divides her time between freelance work, fine art, and films.
Ages 4–8
3:10 PM Sara Gillingham (Gibsons) Adopted by: Bryan Pike
Alpha Bravo Charlie: The Complete Book of Nautical Codes
(Phaidon Press $22.95)
Perfect for code-loving kids and reflecting the current style trend for
all things aesthetically nautical, Alpha Bravo Charlie: The Complete
Book of Nautical Codes presents an engaging introduction to maritime
communication through nautical flags, Morse code, the phonetic
alphabet, and semaphore signalling. Featuring nautical-themed artwork
that will inspire children to code and decode messages of their own,
using the easy-to-understand signalling instructions. Sara Gillingham is an award-winning
art director and designer. She was the design director for children’s publishing at Chronicle
Books and taught at the University of California, Berkeley, and California College of the Arts.
In addition, she has written and/or illustrated several books for young children that have sold
over 800,000 copies. Ages 6–11
The Quay
CREATURES AND COMFORTS
HOST: CHRIS DALLIN
3:40 PM Michelle Gilman (Vancouver)
What Grandma Built (Harbour Publishing $14.95)
In What Grandma Built, featuring illustrations by Jazmin Sasky, Grandma
finds the perfect spot for her home on the shore of a lake. As her family
gets bigger, the house grows too—and eventually becomes a castle!
Bursting with toys, bunk beds, and pies, it is a magical place full of love
and traditions. Grandma’s castle is built on a stone foundation so that it
will last for years—just as Grandma’s love will last forever in her family’s
memories. Michelle Gilman grew up in Winnipeg, MB, and enjoyed summers at Lake of the
Woods, ON, where her mother built a castle for her family. Ages 3–8
More Family Fun!
In addition to our Sunday programming, there will also be a fun
family event on Friday hosted by Christianne’s Lyceum (page 10).
50

4:00 PM Lorelei Bachman (Lethbridge)
Margo Madagascar & Cosmo the Ring-Tailed Lemur: An Earth Ranger
Story (Quarry Press $15.95)
Little did Margo know she would become an Earth Ranger when she
travelled with her father to Madagascar, an island off the African coast
with unique rainforest vegetation and wildlife species, most famously, the
protected ring-tailed lemur. Margo befriends Cosmo the lemur. Together
they free a lemur family from a poacher’s trap. The poacher catches
Margo and ties her to a tree. Cosmo runs for help…will he be able to save
Margo? Learn more about the Earth Rangers at www.earthrangers.com.
Lorelei Bachman is a storyteller and songwriter. Born in White Rock, she
now lives in Alberta with her five children. She loves long nature walks and
baking, swimming, and reading. Ages 8–12
4:30 PM Dumb and Stoopid: A Drawing Workshop
with Lynn Johnston
Kids will learn how to create a goofy character, how to change expressions, and
how to put acting into their work from For Better or For Worse creator Lynn Johnston. For
three decades, Lynn Johnston has captured the hearts of readers with For Better or For
Worse. She was the first woman to win the prestigious Reuben Award, has received a star on
Canada’s Walk of Fame, and has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Ages 8–12
Fairy Tale Scavenger Hunt
Once upon a time, 10 fairy tale characters hid all over the Word
Vancouver festival site, waiting for someone to find them. Will
that someone be you?
Pick up a clue sheet at one of the Info Tents (T1 or T13), or at
The Dock (T16) or The Quay (T14). (Wondering where these are?
Check the site map on pages 34–35.)
Search around the festival site and see if you can find all 10
characters and answer the questions about them.
Bring your completed sheet back to one of the Info Tents to
collect a prize!
Join in the fun!!
The Quay
51

Sunday, September 25 | Robson Street
The Dock
Family-friendly entertainment all day long.
HOST: NORMA CHARLES
11:15 AM Renae Morriseau and M’Girl
Through story and song, M’Girl describes their relationship
to land, waters, community, and family as they share their
cultural worldview of Turtle Island. With participatory
activities, audiences will get a taste of the Anishinaabe,
Cree, and Metis communities. Renae Morriseau was
the most recent Aboriginal storyteller in residence at the
Vancouver Public Library. She is an actor, writer, film
producer, director, and musician.
11:35 AM Dixie Star Storytelling
Dixie Star Storytelling fires the imagination of children and
grown-ups alike with its innovative and interactive shows.
The young company evokes a fantastical world through
words, music, movement, and playful props, while inviting
the audience to take part in creating some magic. Based
in Vancouver, Lisa and Tim Sars of Dixie Star Storytelling
animate family-friendly events throughout the year.
12:00 PM FortisBC’s Supernovas
FortisBC’s Supernovas know how awesome energy is and
travel around the province sharing their knowledge. Come
find out how to be safe and conserve energy at the same
time.
HOST: TIFFANY STONE
12:20 PM Fiddlin’ Frenzy
Fiddlin’ Frenzy are a pair of BC sibling phenoms who’ve
taken the Western competitive fiddle scene by storm,
winning first in BC provincial and Grand North American
fiddle competitions for the twin (duet) category. They will
represent BC in the Canadian Grand Masters Fiddling
Competition. They performed for the 2016 BC Summer
Games, have released three CDs, and were number one
on the ReverbNation Celtic charts. Previous achievements
include performing in the 2010 Olympic Games, speaking for TEDxKids@BC, and
opening for Timmy’s Telethon on Shaw TV.
1:00 PM Dixie Star Storytelling
Dixie Star Storytelling fires the imagination of children and grown-ups alike with its
innovative and interactive shows.
1:20 PM Renae Morriseau and M’Girl
Through story and song, M’Girl describes their relationship to land, waters,
community, and family as they share their cultural worldview of Turtle Island.
More Live Entertainment
You’ll find more live entertainment Around the Square (page 54)!
52

1:45 PM Vancouver Youth Theatre—Improv for All Ages!
Vancouver Youth Theatre presents an improvisational
theatre experience. These sessions will include fun props,
colourful costume pieces, and theme music, with an
interactive component for audience participants! VYT’s
Teen Ensemble has a 32-year history of producing
innovative, original productions created by youth.
Kids’ Writes, the collaborative writing–acting program,
celebrates its 33rd season of promoting literacy and artistic
expression.
HOST: CHARLES DEMERS
2:05 PM Renae Morriseau and M’Girl
Through story and song, M’Girl describes their relationship to land, waters,
community, and family as they share their cultural worldview of Turtle Island.
2:25 PM FortisBC’s Supernovas
FortisBC’s Supernovas know how awesome energy is and travel around the
province sharing their knowledge. Come find out how to be safe and conserve
energy at the same time.
2:40 PM Children’s Book Reading with Aimee Edmonds
These evolutionary children’s books by Sunlight Ink lighten
up everyone’s face, offering a reconnection to who we truly
are—pure magic to observe. The books carry an important
message for the well-being of all. Whoops! ... Is One of My
Favourite Words, I Am Beauty-full Just for Being Me, and
My No. 1 Job support and nurture self-esteem, increase
psychological well-being, and reduce anxiety and stress.
Having worked in childcare as well as tutored young
children over the years, Aimee Edmonds is passionate about allowing children to
be who they are and to see them rediscover their own inner values.
3:00 PM Vancouver Youth Theatre—Improv for All Ages!
Vancouver Youth Theatre presents an improvisational theatre experience.
HOST: JORDAN STRATFORD
3:20 PM Dixie Star Storytelling
Dixie Star Storytelling fires the imagination of children and grown-ups alike with its
innovative and interactive shows.
3:40 PM FortisBC’s Supernovas
FortisBC’s Supernovas know how awesome energy is and travel around the
province sharing their knowledge. Come find out how to be safe and conserve
energy at the same time.
3:55 PM Children’s Book Reading with Aimee Edmonds
These evolutionary children’s books by Sunlight Ink lighten up everyone’s face,
offering a reconnection to who we truly are—pure magic to observe.
The Dock
53

Sunday, September 25 | Around Library Square
Around the Square
Entertainment all over the festival site.
On the North Plaza
ALL DAY LARP and Cosplay
Word Vancouver reached out to the local communities of geek
culture, and they happily came forward to show off their stuff.
On the north plaza of the library LARPers and cosplayers
have been given space to exhibit their hobby and hold a
Q&A. Volunteers will be answering questions, performing
demonstrations, and passing on information for groups that
support these hobbies and the general public who want to
know more about them. A couple definitions for the curious:
LARP (live action role play)—A game system derived from
both theatre sports and tabletop role-playing games. LARP
encourages costuming, full-immersion acting, and long-term
narrative planning. Cosplay (costume play)—A hobby dedicated to costuming to
resemble a person’s favourite characters from media or in the style of a specific
form of media such as “steampunk” to celebrate a person’s love for the media.
Members of the public are invited to show up dressed as their favourite literary
characters.
ALL DAY Academie Duello Demonstrations
Check out the swordplay action live and on point.
Academie Duello is a school of Historical European
Martial Arts that specializes primarily in the Italian school
of swordplay in downtown Vancouver. Programs span
multiple disciplines, including use of the Renaissance–
era rapier, medieval longsword, sidesword, and polearms;
wrestling; Victorian bartitsu self-defense; archery; and
stage combat as well as mounted combat at their stables in nearby Steveston.
3:30 PM AND 4:15 PM En Route: All Bodies Dance Project
Presented by Dance International
En Route explores different ways
to traverse public spaces and negotiate our place in a
crowd. Directionality and determination are contrasted
with meandering and circuitous pathways toward a goal.
The piece celebrates and exploits the fine line between
practical and performative ways of getting from point
A to point B. All Bodies Dance Project is an inclusive
ensemble of dancers with and without disabilities. Its work regards difference as a
creative strength while mining the endless possibilities for creativity in community.
All Bodies Dance Project aims to widen the spectrum of who dances and what
dance can be.
Family Entertainment
If you’re looking for more live entertainment for your family,
check out The Dock on page 52!
54

Roving the Site
12:00 PM TO 2:00 PM Circus Lab
Circus Lab can’t wait to see you at the Word Vancouver
festival! You will find our students featured as roving
characters, found throughout the festival unicycling or
performing other acrobatic feats. Everything is improvised
and inspired by the event for a fun and interactive experience!
Circus Lab is a circus school in Langley encouraging
creativity, physical literacy, and confidence through
circus arts. Know a toddler or child interested in oodles of
acrobatic fun? Curious about programs for teens, adults, children with
special needs, home learners, future ninjas, camps, or birthdays parties? Visit
www.thecircuslab.ca or follow us on Instagram @thecircuslab!
12:30 PM TO 1:30 PM Dragon Dance
Gung HAGGIS Fat Choy dragon boat team performs an
improvisational multicultural dragon dance. Created and
led by “Toddish McWong,” literary and cultural activist,
this dragon has made rare and auspicious dances at
unlikely locations such as St. Patrick’s Day parades,
dragon boat festivals, and the Gung HAGGIS Fat Choy
Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner.
Magazine Lounge
In Blenz
Come and relax in the Magazine Lounge located in the Blenz
coffee shop in the library promenade, near the south entrance.
In this casual space filled with copies of many different
publications, you can browse magazines, discuss articles of
interest with your friends and colleagues, take home any
magazines that appeal to you, or just people–watch. All the while
you can be sipping a steaming cup of coffee or tea!
There will be an open mic from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm. Read
from your own work, listen to the work of others, or talk about
magazine issues that concern you.
Enjoy the casual atmosphere and perhaps be inspired!
Around the Square
55

Sunday, September 25 | Homer Street
Sunrise Suite
Readings by established and emerging poets.
HOSTS: ARIADNE SAWYER AND BONG JA AHN
11:00 AM World Poetry Celebrates Korea
World Poetry Canada International, World Poetry Café radio show,
and www.worldpoetry.ca are honoured to present Korean poetry as
part of their multilingual, intercultural venues and exhibits. They
promote those whose voices are not often heard, in an atmosphere
of respect and peace. Numbering some 10,000 participants
worldwide, they help to create a more peaceful world. Join
Ariadne Sawyer and Bong Ja Ahn as they host featured poets
Hae Young Kim and Kyoung Rae Kim. Readings will be in both Korean and English.
EXPLORATIONS IN STYLE
HOST: BONNIE NISH
11:35 AM Anahita Jamali Rad (Vancouver)
for love and autonomy (Talonbooks $16.95)
for love and autonomy speaks from a place of discomfort, where
pop songs tangle communication and meaning under masks of
individuality. Her poems bring us together in rebellious voices that
deal with the stuff of everyday life: work, sex, friendship, and love.
Anahita Jamali Rad was born in Shiraz, Iran, and now lives on
unceded Coast Salish Territories. She co-organizes the critical
reading and journal, About a Bicycle.
11:50 AM Kim Fu (Seattle)
How Festive the Ambulance (Nightwood Editions $18.95)
In this debut poetry collection by award-winning author Kim Fu,
incantations, mythical creatures, and extreme violence illuminate
small scenes of domestic life and the banal tragedies of modern
love and modern death. Alternating between incisive wit and dark
beauty, Fu brings the rich symbolism of fairy tales to bear on our
image-obsessed age. These poems are utterly of-the-moment,
capturing the rage, irony, and isolation of the era we live in.
Kim Fu’s novel For Today I Am a Boy (2014) was a finalist for the
PEN/Hemingway Award, a New York Times Book Review Editors’
Choice, and winner of the Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction. She lives in
Seattle, WA.
12:05 PM Kevin Spenst (Vancouver) Adopted by: The Paper Hound Bookshop
Ignite (Anvil Press $18.00)
Ignite is a collection of elegiac and experimental poetry, powder-kegged
with questions about one man’s lifelong struggle with schizophrenia. Born
into a strict Mennonite family, Abe Spenst’s mental illness spanned three
decades in and out of mental institutions, where he underwent electricshock
treatment and coma-induced insulin therapy. Kevin Spenst recreates
his father’s life through a cuckoo’s nest of styles that stands as witness
and waltz to the interplay between memory, emotion, and all our forms of
becoming. Kevin Spenst, a Pushcart Prize nominee, is the author of the
poetry volume Jabbering with Bing Bong (Anvil Press), and 10 chapbooks. He lives and
works in Vancouver, BC.
56

Row 1: Ariadne Sawyer, Bong Ja Ahn, Hae Young Kim, Kyoung Rae Kim, Anahita Jamali Rad, Kim Fu,
Kevin Spenst; Row 2: Garry Gottfriedson, Timothy Shay, Adrienne Gruber, Elee Kraljii Gardiner, Christopher
Levenson, Carla Funk, Rob Taylor; Row 3: Juliane Okot Bitek, Wayde Compton, Raoul Fernandes, Daphne
Marlatt, Jordan Scott, Jordan Abel, bill bissett
ELEMENTS
HOST: JEN CURRIN
12:25 PM Garry Gottfriedson (Kamloops)
Deaf Heaven (Ronsdale Press $15.95)
Follow Garry Gottfriedson in this new collection of combative poems as
he compels us and Heaven to listen to the challenges facing First Nation
communities today. Employing many of the Secwepemc (Shuswap)
images and stories, Gottfriedson takes us inside the rez and into the
rooming houses in the city cores, but always drawing new strength from
the land and the people who have moved upon it. Garry Gottfriedson,
from the Secwepemc Nation (Shuswap), was born and raised, and lives in
Kamloops, BC. His poetry has been nominated for the Anskohk Aboriginal
Award and the Canadian Authors Association Poetry Award.
12:40 PM Timothy Shay (Vancouver)
The Dirty Knees of Prayer (Caitlin Press $18.00)
The poems in The Dirty Knees of Prayer are hot and dark as night rain. A
tide of smoke rises and hovers over the city. These poems speak of sadness
and self-fated things, how the heat blurs everything, the clouds send
shrouds of water down. Here a thin gruel of hope is celebrated and dark
elegies are showcased against the former truculence and lying promises of
history, the placebo of mythology. The wry humour of mourning in an age of
grief. Timothy Shay, author of The Dirty Knees of Prayer, writes and lives
in Vancouver, BC. His work has appeared in Canadian literary magazines,
on CBC Radio, and in Rolling Stone.
12:55 PM Adrienne Gruber (Vancouver)
Buoyancy Control (BookThug $18.00)
Buoyancy Control by Adrienne Gruber presents a fascinating culmination
of land and sea, mind and body. Metaphors of bodies of water (as well as
the creatures that inhabit those spaces) swim through the poems, along
with themes of sexuality, sexual identity, and queerness. Buoyancy Control
is an honest, sometimes humorous, look inside the mind and body of a
woman manoeuvring through experiences of longing, loss, and the fluidity
of sexual identity, presented in a powerfully feminist and unapologetic
poetic voice. Adrienne Gruber is the author of Buoyancy Control (2016),
This Is the Nightmare (2008), and three chapbooks. Gruber lives in Vancouver with her
partner and their two daughters.
Sunrise Suite
57

1:10 PM Elee Kraljii Gardiner (Vancouver) Adopted by: Anvil Press
Serpentine Loop (Anvil Press $18.00)
Most of these poems begin with a word from skating and push off to
another topic. Others revisit ideas of femininity, control, and language
as pattern; visit the past through movement; or enact principles from
the rink, such as symmetry, joy, endurance, crescendo and accent,
revolution, and response. The blade melts ice via friction and pressure.
Elee Kraljii Gardiner founded and directs Thursdays Writing Collective, a
program of free creative writing classes in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
She is co-editor of V6A: Writing from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
OUR WORLD
HOST: MICHAEL DESPOTOVIC
1:30 PM Christopher Levenson (Vancouver)
Night Vision (Quattro Books $18.00)
The title Night Vision refers to the night-vision goggles that enable soldiers
to see through the darkness in order to destroy and kill, to a vision of the
political and ecological night that threatens humankind, and to the faint
possibility, grounded in personal relationships and cultural values, that we
will see through and somehow transcend this night. The book is a major
expression by a veteran poet of searchingly reflective and finely articulated
thought. Christopher Levenson taught English and creative writing at
Carleton University, in Ottawa. His collection Arriving at Night won the
Archibald Lampman Award. He co-founded and was the first editor of Arc
Magazine.
1:45 PM Carla Funk (Victoria)
Gloryland (Turnstone Press $17.00)
In her fifth book of poetry, Carla Funk illuminates the small and marvellous
marginalia of earth, like the glistening trail of a snail en route, and looks
prophetically to the not-so-distant future where cities burn and the body
falls to ruin. A meditation on endings, intermingling wonder and praise with
question and elegy, Gloryland offers poems for an apocalyptic age. Born
and raised in Vanderhoof, BC, Carla Funk now lives and teaches writing in
Victoria, where she served as the city’s inaugural poet laureate from 2006
to 2008.
2:00 PM Rob Taylor (Vancouver)
The News (Gaspereau Press $18.95)
The News is a series of 36 poems, written one per week throughout the
author’s wife’s pregnancy with their first child. The poems explore three
forms of “news”—the news of the pregnancy, the political news of the
day, and literature (the “news that stays news,” as Ezra Pound put it).
Collectively, the poems ask what it means to receive the world, and what it
means to give that “news” to somebody else. Rob Taylor is the author of
two poetry collections, The News (Gaspereau Press, 2016) and The Other
Side of Ourselves (Cormorant Books, 2011). He teaches creative writing at
the University of the Fraser Valley.
Sunrise Suite
More Poetry
Love poetry? In addition to the programming in the Sunrise Suite
(page 56), be sure to check out Wednesday programming at The
Emerald (page 6), Thursday programming at The Cottage Bistro
(page 8), and Sunday programming in The Underground
(pages 62–63) for more!
58

2:15 PM Juliane Okot Bitek (Vancouver)
100 Days (University of Alberta Press $19.95)
For 100 days, Juliane Okot Bitek recorded the lingering nightmare of
the Rwandan genocide in a poem—each poem recalling the senseless
loss of life and of innocence. She draws on her family’s experience of
displacement under the regime of Idi Amin, pulling in fragments of the
poetic traditions: the Ugandan Acholi oral tradition of her father—the poet
Okot p’Bitek; Anglican hymns; the rhythms and sounds of the African
American spiritual tradition; and the beat of spoken word and hip hop. Writer
Juliane Okot Bitek is a PhD candidate with UBC’s Liu Institute for Global
Issues in Vancouver.
HOST: ROB TAYLOR
2:35 PM Dead Poets Reading Series
The Dead Poets Reading Series hosts bimonthly readings at the VPL
Central Branch, featuring local poets—such as Wayde Compton, Raoul
Fernandes, and Daphne Marlatt—reading their favourites from poets of
the past. Learn more at www.deadpoetslive.com. Wayde Compton’s The
Outer Harbour won the City of Vancouver Book Award. He is the program
director of creative writing in continuing studies at SFU. Raoul Fernandes’ poetry collection,
Transmitter and Receiver, won the 2016 Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize and was a finalist for
the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award and the Canadian Authors Association Poetry Award.
Daphne Marlatt’s poetic tribute to Italian–Canadian artist Sveva Caetani, Reading Sveva, is
a fall 2017 book from Talonbooks.
FORM AND IMPACT
HOST: KEVIN CHONG
3:10 PM Jordan Scott (Port Coquitlam)
Night & Ox (Coach House Books $18.95)
Night & Ox is a long poem working its interruptions to a degree where it’s
broken by the will to live. A poem that invokes expansive loneliness, where
the poet’s emotional response is to endure. A crushed line of astral forms
and anatomy in perpetual remove; it is a poem that nurtures vulnerability:
some soft-footed embryo sounds against language’s viscera. Night &
Ox possesses a feral minimalism for those too tired and too frantic with
joy to cope with narrative. Jordan Scott is the author of Blert, which was
adapted into a short film for Bravo! and was the subject of a documentary
commissioned by the National Film Board.
3:25 PM Jordan Abel (Vancouver) Adopted by: CUPE Local 391
Injun (Talonbooks $16.95)
Award-winning Nisga’a poet Jordan Abel’s third collection, Injun, is a
long poem about racism and the representation of Indigenous peoples.
Composed of text found in western novels published between 1840 and
1950—the heyday of pulp publishing and a period of unfettered colonialism
in North America—Injun then uses erasure, pastiche, and focused poetics
to create a visually striking response to the western genre. Jordan Abel is a
Nisga’a writer currently completing his PhD at SFU, where his studies focus
on digital humanities and Indigenous poetics. His first book, The Place of
Scraps, won the 2014 Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize.
Hop on the Bus
The Poetry in Transit Bus will be on
Robson Street this year.
poetry in transit
Sunrise Suite
59

Brain
THU NOV 17 2016 / 7:30pm
A hilarious, heartbreaking
monologue from novelist
and slam poet Brendan
McLeod.
WINNER
2015 Pick of
the Fringe
VANCOUVER
Chan Centre at UBC, Telus Studio Theatre
Tickets and info at chancentre.com
Now available!
#74 The colouriNg issue
“beauTiful!
asserTive!
MagNificeNT!
baM!
subTerraiN delivers
word-aNd-arT iMPacT!”
—george ellioTT clarke,
PoeT laureaTe of caNada
Pick up your copy at Tent #3
subterrain.ca

3:40 PM bill bissett (Toronto) Adopted by: Quills Canadian Poetry Magazine
th book (Talonbooks $ 19.95)
Presented with the financial assistance of the Canada Council through The Writers’
Union of Canada
New poems from Canada’s shaman of sound and performance poetry, bill
bissett. bissett’s innovations in sound poetry shaped poetry, music, painting,
and publishing and have stimulated, provoked, influenced, shocked, and
delighted audiences for half a century. In this new collection of concrete
poems, bissett writes “poemes uv greef transisyun n sumtimes joy byond
binaree constraints if evreething goez what is aneething accepting nihilism
lettr texting as an approach 2 heeling sorrow denial.” A pioneer of sound,
visual, and performance poetry, bill bissett garnered international attention
in the 1960s as a pre-eminent figure of the counter-culture movement in
Canada and the U.K.
HOST: EVELYN LAU
ABPBC
4:00 PM Poetry in Transit
Presented by the ABPBC
ASSOCIATION OF BOOK PUBLISHERS OF BC
This year the Association of Book Publishers
of BC partners with TransLink, BC Transit,
and the City of Vancouver on this popular
project to celebrate our province’s poetry. In celebration
of the project’s 20th anniversary, buses and SkyTrains
throughout BC will feature the work of 20 BC poets,
produced by Canadian publishers. A transit bus on site at
Word Vancouver will display this year’s poetry cards. Don’t
miss readings in the Sunrise Suite from featured 2016
poets Elena Johnson, Michael Johnson, Pamela Porter,
Karen Shklanka, Susan Telfer, and Jennifer Zilm.
Colouring Books for Adults
Look for a colouring book activity area at this year’s festival in
The Underground!
Colouring book pages generously provided from the following
BC-published books:
Colour the British Columbia Coast by Yvonne Maximchuk
(Harbour Publishing)
Jean Cocteau Coloring Book, translated by David Homel
(Arsenal Pulp Press)
Yves Saint Laurent Coloring Book
(Arsenal Pulp Press)
My Divorce: A Coloring Diary
(Self-Counsel Press)
Spirit of the Wild, artwork by Erica Neumann and poetry by
Dawn Sprung
(Heritage House Publishing)
And, subTerrain Magazine’s special colouring issue!
Sunrise Suite
61

Sunday, September 25 | Inside the Library
The Underground
Comics and chapbook readings, panels,
and workshops.
Presented by: subTerrain Magazine
Inside, Downstairs
Alice MacKay Room
LEAF PRESS READINGS
62
HOST: HEIDI GRECO
11:45 AM Adrienne Gruber (Vancouver)
Mimic (Leaf Press $ 10.00)
The Mimic is a beautiful octopus able to mimic the behaviour and appearances
of 15 very well-armed ocean creatures. Is there a better totem animal
for a couple in love? Mimic won the bpNichol Chapbook Award in 2012.
Adrienne Gruber is the author of two poetry collections, Buoyancy Control
(BookThug) and This Is the Nightmare (Thistledown Press), and three chapbooks.
She lives in Vancouver with her family.
11:50 AM Chelsea Comeau (New Westminster)
What You Leave Behind (Leaf Press $ 10.00)
Chelsea Comeau speaks the grief of an uncle’s death in poems fragile as fire, so
true, we will carry them with us for a very long time. Chelsea Comeau is a writer
and editor whose work has appeared in the Claremont Review, Quills Canadian
Poetry Magazine, and CV2. In 2015, she was the Canadian winner of the Leaf
Press chapbook competition.
11:55 AM Joanne Thorwaldson (Winnipeg)
thirteen poems for releasing love (Leaf Press $10.00)
thirteen poems for releasing love is about grief, the dissolution of life, and the
delicate art of reassembly. The poems themselves are an attempt to both contain
and release the beloved. This chapbook was shortlisted for the 2013 bpNichol
Chapbook Award. Having lived much of her life in BC, most recently on Salt
Spring Island, Joanne Thorwaldson spent the past year in Winnipeg exploring
narratives in illness and healing, family and home.
12:15 PM Comics and the Creative Process
Presented by Cloudscape Comics
Join Cloudscape members for a discussion of comic creation and the storytelling
process. Creators will discuss their experiences with self-published works
and collaborations, working with publishers and anthologies, and looking at
storytelling in this unique visual medium. Panelists include Jonathon Dalton,
Bevan Thomas, and Hannah Meyers. Moderated by Jeffrey Ellis.
1:00 PM Chapbook Races with Kevin Spenst
What is a chapbook? A chapbook is a ready-made object of art, a political manifesto,
a mix of text and collage, a what-you-will in any physical form that fits your fancy.
For the first time ever, Word Vancouver is hosting the Chapbook Races. You and your team
of up to three will have one hour to make, write, draw, and collage a chapbook. You will
be provided with old books, picture books, paper, string, and other materials. The winning
chapbook makers will be lavished with prizes your eyeballs will not believe.
2:00 PM The Long Poem, Chapbooks, and Sustenance:
Keeping the Journey
How do long-poem writers sustain their journey: over hundreds, thousands of words, many
months, years—what practical sustenance can chapbooks offer the writer when engaging
with a manuscript that might span not only many pages, but even, many life changes.
How do long-poem writers approach both concept, and macro issues of form and structure
as well as attention to each word and to maintaining a through-line that keeps the reader
engaged? Three acclaimed long-poem writers discuss their approaches: Stephen Collis,
Marguerite Pigeon, and Jordan Scott, in conversation with Renée Sarojini Saklikar.

Row 1: Adrienne Gruber, Chelsea Comeau, Joanne Thorwaldson, Kevin Spenst, Stephen Collis, Marguerite
Pigeon, Jordan Scott; Row 2: Renée Sarojini Saklikar, Sean Karemaker, lary timewell
Please note that workshops fill up quickly,
so lining up early is recommended.
3:00 PM Drawing Autobiographical Comics
with Sean Karemaker
This workshop will focus on the creation of one- to two-page autobiographical
comic stories. It will cover the basics of composition, drawing with shapes,
and storytelling. Through his own personal stories, Sean hopes to inspire people of any skill
level to express their own story. Sean Karemaker is an artist living in Vancouver, BC. After
a childhood obsession with comics, he began a career in art for video games. Personal
narrative is a common element in a body of work encompassing diorama sculptures,
comics, scrolls, and paintings. Karemaker has recently released The Ghosts We Know with
Conundrum Press.
ABOVE/GROUND PRESS READINGS
HOST: HEIDI GRECO
4:15 PM Stephen Collis (Tsawwassen) Adopted by: book’mark, The Library Store
New Life (above/ground press $4.00)
New Life is a short collection of poems that shift back and forth between personal
introspection (taking up Dante’s 13th-century meditation on love from his La Vita
Nuova) and poems of a more public, political nature. Stephen Collis is the
author of 10 books of poetry and prose, including the BC Book Prize–winning
On the Material (Talonbooks, 2010) and the just-published Once in Blockadia
(Talonbooks, 2016).
4:20 PM Renée Sarojini Saklikar (Vancouver) Adopted by: Hager Books
After the Battle of Kingsway, the bees (above/ground press $4.00)
After the Battle of Kingsway, the bees is a chapbook about love, longing, and
bees, extracted from thecanadaproject, volume 2, “the heart of this journey
bears all patterns,” commonly known as thot-j-bap. Renée Sarojini Saklikar
writes thecanadaproject, which includes children of air india (Nightwood
Editions, 2013), and with Wayde Compton, The Revolving City (Anvil Press/SFU
Public Square, 2015). Renée is the poet laureate of Surrey, BC.
4:25 PM lary timewell (North Vancouver)
Odds Are (above/ground press $4.00)
Odds Are dates back to when lary timewell was doing dry technical editing and
updating corporate binders, all the while working with style manuals. Fascinated
with the phraseology and the metalanguage it generated in his mind, he took
notes. His writing is always concerned with writing itself. The (re)composition of
these notes as a chapbook was determined by each instance of the material’s
euphonic and semantic ability to enact rather than describe. lary timewell is a North
Vancouver writer recently returned from 20 years in Fukushima. The co-founder and former
publisher of Tsunami Editions has published numerous titles, including two chapbooks from
Obvious Epiphanies Press. Some of his latest work from molecular hyperbole appeared in
Make It True: Poetry from Cascadia.
The Underground
63

391
CUPE 391
roSIE
CUPE
...and
other
amazing
tales
CUPE Local 391
History
of
CUPE
Local
391
tHE rEadEr
atword!
CUPE 391 represents public library workers in Vancouver, Gibsons
and Sechelt. Our members are dedicated to providing services
that engage our communities, promote literacy, support learning
new media, and more!
Please join us at the CUPE BC Trailer for readings, swag and
other fun! This year we are pleased to welcome esteemed authors
Carol Shaben, Andrew MacLeod and Anakana Schofield,
who will be sharing their words with us. Find out more about our
line up and about us at cupe391.ca