Literature

Premee Mohamed, Joseph Dandurand and Tanya Boteju are all presenters at The Federation of British Columbia Writers’ BC Writers Summit in 2024. (Individual photos courtesy Federation of British Columbia Writers)

BC Writers Summit returning for 4th annual online event

The festival helps writers strengthen their works and showcases talks with award-winning authors

 

This undated photo issued by Hansons Auctioneers on Monday Feb. 26, 2024, shows a first edition Harry Potter novel. The proof copy of the first Harry Potter novel that was bought for pennies in a second-hand bookshop almost 30 years ago has sold at auction for more than 10,000 pounds, or $12,700. British auctioneers Hanson’s said Monday Feb. 26, 2024, that the first-edition copy of “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone,” which states “uncorrected proof copy” on the cover, was bought in 1997 from a shop in south London with two other books for a total of 40 pence ($0.50). (Hansons Auctioneers via AP)

Harry Potter proof copy, bought for pennies, sells for more than $13K

Copy bought in 1997 from a shop in south London with 2 other books for a total of 40 pence

 

A new generation of romance novel consumers has moved a long-standing three-way conversation between reader, writer and publisher onto social media, industry insiders say, speeding up an already fast-moving segment of the publishing world. A Sept. 27, 2014 photo shows a solid wall of 4,000 paperback romance novels spelling out the word “FOREVER” in an art installation at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Ark. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Beth J. Harpaz

How social media is changing the romance novel business

Dialogue with the fans accelerating and broadening the scope of romantic storytelling

 

SpokenWeb is a digitized bonanza of readings and off-the-cuff remarks from Canada’s greatest writers. Margaret Atwood, W.O. Mitchell, Mavis Gallant, Rudy Wiebe, Michael Ondaatje, Al Purdy, Irving Layton, they’re all there. Atwood arrives on the red carpet for the 2019 Giller Prize in Toronto, on Monday, Nov. 18, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

Vast digital trove of recordings by Canadian literature greats nears completion

The project has grown to include 14 collections, 13 institutions, and more than 50 researchers

SpokenWeb is a digitized bonanza of readings and off-the-cuff remarks from Canada’s greatest writers. Margaret Atwood, W.O. Mitchell, Mavis Gallant, Rudy Wiebe, Michael Ondaatje, Al Purdy, Irving Layton, they’re all there. Atwood arrives on the red carpet for the 2019 Giller Prize in Toronto, on Monday, Nov. 18, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
Esi Edugyan was named as the chair of judges for the Booker Prize 2023. (Courtesy of Tamara Poppitt)

Acclaimed B.C. author leads panel picking top English-language book

Greater Victoria writer Esi Edugyan named 2023 Booker Prize chair of judges

  • Sep 8, 2023
Esi Edugyan was named as the chair of judges for the Booker Prize 2023. (Courtesy of Tamara Poppitt)
Suzette Mayr accepts her award as the 2022 Scotiabank Giller Prize winner in Toronto, Monday, Nov. 7, 2022. Mayr, Tsering Yangzom Lama and Emma Hooper are among the Canadian authors longlisted for the inaugural Carol Shields Prize for Fiction. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston

Giller Prize long list revealed for Canada’s top authors of 2023

12 titles were chosen from a record number of 145 book submissions

Suzette Mayr accepts her award as the 2022 Scotiabank Giller Prize winner in Toronto, Monday, Nov. 7, 2022. Mayr, Tsering Yangzom Lama and Emma Hooper are among the Canadian authors longlisted for the inaugural Carol Shields Prize for Fiction. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston
Dav Pilkey’s Dog Man, Mothering Heights was the top pick for kids, and Jurassic World was the top pick for moviegoers at the Fraser Valley Regional Library in 2022. (FVRL images)

Kids and teens reached for humour off Fraser Valley Regional Library shelves in 2022

Dog Man, Wimpy Kid, Baby-sitters Club series all top picks for young Fraser Valley readers

Dav Pilkey’s Dog Man, Mothering Heights was the top pick for kids, and Jurassic World was the top pick for moviegoers at the Fraser Valley Regional Library in 2022. (FVRL images)
Suzette Mayr accepts her award as the 2022 Scotiabank Giller Prize winner in Toronto, Monday, Nov. 7, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston

Suzette Mayr wins $100K Scotiabank Giller Prize for ‘The Sleeping Car Porter’

Author says her book shines a spotlight on an under-represented part of Canadian history

Suzette Mayr accepts her award as the 2022 Scotiabank Giller Prize winner in Toronto, Monday, Nov. 7, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston
FILE - Salman Rushdie attends the 68th National Book Awards Ceremony and Benefit Dinner on Nov. 15, 2017, in New York. Rushdie’s agent says the author has lost sight in one eye and the use of a hand as he recovers from an attack by a man who rushed the stage at an August literary event in western New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

Report: Salman Rushdie lives, but loses use of eye and hand

Author suffered three serious wounds to his neck and 15 more wounds to his chest and torso

FILE - Salman Rushdie attends the 68th National Book Awards Ceremony and Benefit Dinner on Nov. 15, 2017, in New York. Rushdie’s agent says the author has lost sight in one eye and the use of a hand as he recovers from an attack by a man who rushed the stage at an August literary event in western New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
FILE - A Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020 file photo of a Nobel medal displayed during a ceremony in New York. (Angela Weiss/Pool Photo via AP, File)

French writer Annie Ernaux awarded Nobel Prize in literature

STOCKHOLM (AP) — French author Annie Ernaux, who has fearlessly mined her…

FILE - A Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020 file photo of a Nobel medal displayed during a ceremony in New York. (Angela Weiss/Pool Photo via AP, File)
Reading to a child image captured by Jill Hayward.

B.C.’s summer reading club helps children continue to work on literacy skills

Program available at public libraries and online

Reading to a child image captured by Jill Hayward.
Harrison Firefighter Fred Webber smiles as he holds copies of the two Chicken Soup for the Soul books that contain his story. (Adam Louis/Observer)

Harrison firefighter publishes story in 2 ‘Chicken Soup’ books

Fred Webber fulfilled his firefighting dream in his mid 50s

Harrison Firefighter Fred Webber smiles as he holds copies of the two Chicken Soup for the Soul books that contain his story. (Adam Louis/Observer)
Vancouver-raised author Pik-Shuen Fung, shown in a handout photo, has won this year's Amazon Canada First Novel Award. Fung was awarded the $60,000 prize for "Ghost Forest" at a ceremony in Toronto on Wednesday. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO

B.C. author’s ‘Ghost Forest’ wins Amazon Canada First Novel Award

Pik-Shuen Fung awarded the $60,000 prize for story of woman grappling with the death of her father

Vancouver-raised author Pik-Shuen Fung, shown in a handout photo, has won this year's Amazon Canada First Novel Award. Fung was awarded the $60,000 prize for "Ghost Forest" at a ceremony in Toronto on Wednesday. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO
Award-winning CBC journalist Angela Sterritt (left) will be a mentor for the 2022 Audible Indigenous Writers’ Circle program. Samantha Krilow (right) was a participant in the 2021 program. (Submitted photos)

Applications open for Audible Indigenous Writers’ Circle mentorship program

21 participants will be matched with one of seven mentors in the six-month program

Award-winning CBC journalist Angela Sterritt (left) will be a mentor for the 2022 Audible Indigenous Writers’ Circle program. Samantha Krilow (right) was a participant in the 2021 program. (Submitted photos)
There is a wide variety of reading material available, although efforts have been made to challenge, suppress or ban certain works. (Black Press file photo)

QUIZ: How much do you know about the freedom to read?

The week of Feb. 20 to 26 is Freedom to Read Week in Canada

There is a wide variety of reading material available, although efforts have been made to challenge, suppress or ban certain works. (Black Press file photo)