news | Thursday November 9, 2023

You're Invited to the Launch of Lha yudit'ih We Always Find A Way

We couldn’t be more excited for the launch of Lha yudit’ih We Always Find A Way: Bringing the Tŝilhqot’in Title Case Home by Lorraine Weir with Chief Roger William at Massy Arts Society! Join Lorraine Weir and Chief Roger William as they share this incredible and important book which has been eight years in the making.

We are tremendously grateful that sχɬemtəna:t Audrey Siegl (xʷməθkʷəy̓əm) will be conducting a Welcome for this event.

About Lha yudit’ih We Always Find a Way

Lha yudit’ih We Always Find a Way is a community oral history of Tsilhqot’in Nation v. British Columbia, the first case in Canada to result in a declaration of Aboriginal Rights and Title to a specific piece of land. Told from the perspective of the Plaintiff, Chief Roger William, joined by fifty Xeni Gwet’ins, Tŝilhqot’ins, and allies, this book encompasses ancient stories of creation, modern stories of genocide through smallpox and residential school, and stories of resistance including the Tŝilhqot’in War, direct actions against logging and mining, and the twenty-five-year battle in Canadian courts to win recognition of what Tŝilhqot’ins never gave up and have always known.

December 1, 2023
Massy Arts Society
Vancouver, BC
6:00 p.m. PST

Attendance is free. Registration is mandatory. Masks are required. For more information and to register, click here.

news | Tuesday November 28, 2023

Nikki Reimer Interviewed in Prairie books Now

Check out this interview with Nikki Reimer in Prairie books Now about her new poetry collection, No Town Called We.

From the interview:

“Reimer worked on these poems from 2018 to 2022 and says that she was constantly grasping after the communal “we.”

“The city is always and increasingly a site of hostility for anyone on any vector of marginalization,” says Reimer. “It’s increasingly a site of hostility for all but the wealthy. It’s hostile to disability. I was theorizing, from the subjective viewpoint of my chronically ill body, that the city, too, is chronically ill. And I was struggling, bodily and mentally, within that space.”

Read the complete piece here.

news | Thursday November 23, 2023

Lha yudit'ih We Always Find A Way in the Williams Lake Tribune

Lorraine Weir and Chief Roger William were interviewed in the Williams Lake Tribune about the making and impact of Lha yudit’ih We Always Find A Way: Bringing the Tŝilhqot’in Title Case Home.

From the article:

“The initial launch of the book took place Tuesday, Nov 7 at the Xeni Gwet’in Community Hall in Nemiah Valley. A second launch was held the next day in Williams Lake at the Tsilhqot’in National Government offices on South Lakeside Drive.

In Nemiah Valley, Roger’s mother, Eileen William, was the first to receive a book. A buzz filled the air as more community members arrived to accept their copies. Julianna Lulua beamed as she leafed through the pages. She was on the bus to Ottawa with her late husband Ubill Lulua in November 2013 to attend the Title Case hearings at the Supreme Court of Canada.”

Read the article here, and don’t forget to join us for the Vancouver launch of Lha yudit’ih We Always Find A Way: Bringing the Tŝilhqot’in Title Case Home at Massy Arts Society on December 1. Register for the launch here.

news | Tuesday November 21, 2023

"Harrowings" Longlisted for Fred Cogswell Award For Excellence In Poetry

We are so pleased to announce that HARROWINGS by Cecily Nicholson has been longlisted for the 10th Annual Fred Cogswell Award For Excellence In Poetry! Congratulations to Cecily, and to all the incredible long-listed poets. See all of the finalists here.

news | Wednesday November 15, 2023

You're Invited to the Launch of A Dream in the Eye: The Complete Paintings and Collages of Phyllis Webb

Celebrate the launch of A Dream in the Eye: The Complete Paintings and Collages of Phyllis Webb by Phyllis Webb and edited by Stephen Collis with us at Pale Fire Gallery on December 9.

Stephen Collis and Diana Hayes will be sharing work from A Dream in the Eye and Rahat Kurd will be giving a reading in response to the work of Phyllis Webb.

About A Dream in the Eye: The Complete Paintings and Collages of Phyllis Webb:

A Dream in the Eye presents the paintings and photocollages of the brilliant poet Phyllis Webb, a major Canadian cultural figure from the 1950s through the 1980s. Webb published ten collections of poetry and prose and co-founded the CBC Radio program Ideas (in 1965). When “words abandoned” her in the early 1990s, she took up photography, photocollage, and eventually painting. Webb’s visual work in many ways responds to and expands upon concerns that she explored in her poetry: the natural world of the West Coast, global political strife, the artist’s struggle to express themself.

Attendance is free. Snacks and beverages will be provided. Please join us in welcoming this wonderful book to the world.

Phyllis Webb’s art will be displayed at Pale Fire Gallery on December 9 and 10 from 12:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m., stop by to visit her work.

Venue accessibility information:
The gallery is at grade with the sidewalk.
The doorways are 30.5” wide.
Accessing the washroom requires ascending two steps.

Saturday December 9
A Dream in the Eye Launch and Art Exhibit
Pale Fire Gallery, 866 E Broadway
Vancouver, BC
7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

news | Wednesday November 15, 2023

"Another Order: Selected Works" Has Arrived!

We are pleased to announce the arrival of Another Order: Selected Works by Judith Copithorne and edited by Eric Schmaltz!

Another Order gathers the dynamic and previously inaccessible works of Judith Copithorne, the boundary-pushing writer, artist, community worker, and outspoken feminist who has been a key figure in Vancouver’s literary scene since the 1960s. Including poetry, fiction, visual art, comics, and life writing, Another Order captures Copithorne’s tireless experiments with media – from typewriters and pens to computer software – in texts that engage issues of gender, sexuality, desire, subjectivity, spirituality, and revolution.

A visual poem from Another Order:

Edited and introduced by Eric Schmaltz, this volume affirms Judith Copithorne’s position among the leading avant-garde poets and artists of her time. Order your copy here!

news | Wednesday November 8, 2023

"Canoes" Reviewed in the Daily Mail

Eithne Farry reviewed Canoes in the Daily Mail. Written by Maylis de Kerangal and translated by Jessica Moore, this remarkably evocative new short story collection introduces us to several unforgettable women navigating pivotal chapters of their lives.

From the review:

“De Kerangal is a wonderfully attentive writer with an ear for the most apposite word (a challenge elegantly met by Jessica Moore, who translated the book from the French) as this pitch-perfect collection reveals.”

Read the full piece here.

news | Tuesday November 7, 2023

You're Invited to the Launch of Gaman – Perseverance: Japanese Canadians' Journey to Justice

Join Art Miki for the launch of his powerful new memoir, Gaman – Perseverance: Japanese Canadians’ Journey to Justice on November 22 at McNally Robinson!

Enjoy a reading from Gaman – Perseverance and a conversation between Art Miki and Emmy-nominated journalist Terry MacLeod!

The event will take place in the Atrium of McNally Robinson Booksellers, Grant Park and a simultaneous livestream will be cast on McNally Robinson’s YouTube Channel.

About Gaman – Perseverance:

This revealing memoir by the former president of the National Association of Japanese Canadians describes the long journey towards resolution for the historic injustice that deprived Japanese Canadians of their basic human rights during and after World War II. Gaman – Perseverance details the intense negotiations that took place in the 1980s between the Government of Canada and the NAJC – negotiations which finally resulted in the historic Japanese Canadian Redress Agreement of September 1988 and the acknowledgment by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney that Canada had wronged its own citizens.

More information is available here. We can’t wait to see you there!

Wednesday November 22
Live at the Atrium of McNally Robinson Booksellers, Grant Park
A livestream will be available on McNally Robinson’s YouTube Channel.
1120 Grant Avenue, Unit 4000. Winnipeg, MB
Doors open at 6:00 p.m. CST. Readings begin at 7:00 p.m. CST

Seating is first-come, first-served.

With thanks to McNally Robinson Booksellers and the Canadian Race Relations Foundation for helping make this launch possible.

news | Monday November 6, 2023

Hot Off the Press: Lha yudit'ih We Always Find A Way: Bringing the Tŝilhqot’in Title Case Home Is Here!

We are delighted to announce that Lha yudit’ih We Always Find A Way: Bringing the Tŝilhqot’in Title Case Home by Lorraine Weir with Chief Roger William is here! Eight years in the making, Lha yudit’ih We Always Find a Way is a community oral history of Tsilhqot’in Nation v. British Columbia, the first case in Canada to result in a declaration of Aboriginal Rights and Title to a specific piece of land. Told from the perspective of the Plaintiff, Chief Roger William, joined by fifty Xeni Gwet’ins, Tŝilhqot’ins, and allies, this book encompasses ancient stories of creation, modern stories of genocide through smallpox and residential school, and stories of resistance including the Tŝilhqot’in War, direct actions against logging and mining, and the twenty-five-year battle in Canadian courts to win recognition of what Tŝilhqot’ins never gave up and have always known.

An excerpt from Lha yudit’ih We Always Find a Way:

“By the time we found out that they were doing a bridge expansion at Henry’s Crossing so the big logging trucks could cross the river and go into Tachelach’ed and the Trapline, they’d taken the deck of the old bridge off. My older stepbrother, Gene Cooper, was on Council at that time, and we were both at the Tŝilhqot’in National Government office on May 6, 1992. We found out about the bridge when one of the operators at Henry’s Crossing messaged us at TNG about what was happening. They wanted to get heavy equipment like logging trucks over, and they needed to replace the centre beam of the bridge to do that. It’s amazing that they removed it without telling us. …So we said we were gonna roadblock. Like it or not, we’re gonna go, we’re gonna move to Henry’s Crossing and roadblock.”

Order you copy of this vital and incredible work here.

news | Sunday November 5, 2023

"Canoes" Reviewed in the Financial Times

Lucy Popescu wrote a lovely review of the new short story collection Canoes by Maylis de Kerangal and translated by Jessica Moore in the Financial Times.

From the review:

“The beauty of Kerangal’s poetic, multi-layered stories, full of sensory detail and expertly translated by Jessica Moore, lies in their emotional resonance. Anyone dealing with change cannot fail to be moved.”

Read the full review here.

news | Friday November 3, 2023

"The Ballad of Ginger Goodwin & Kitimat: Two Plays for Workers" Has Landed!

Discover how Canada got the eight-hour workday! Visit the first town to vote on Big Oil! The Ballad of Ginger Goodwin & Kitimat: Two Plays for Workers by Elaine Ávila has landed at Talonbooks. “The Ballad of Ginger Goodwin” recreates the events surrounding the mysterious death of Albert “Ginger” Goodwin, who led a strike at a Canadian zinc smelter in Trail, BC, that brought the WWI British war machine to a halt. In “Kitimat”, residents of an industry town in the BC wilderness struggle to decide between economic prosperity and environmental protection.⁠
⁠
An excerpt from “The Ballad of Ginger Goodwin”:

“ANNA enters, hauling buckets of water. She pours them into

her laundry equipment. GINGER enters and offers to help, but

ANNA shrugs him off. She marches over to get his jacket off

the line, then hands it to GINGER. He puts it on, extremely

impressed – it’s like new. He touches it, pleased.

GINGER: Ta. (pause ) Thank you. (pause ) Why won’t you speak to me?

ANNA: You organize the strikes.

GINGER: Aye.

ANNA: Strikes are trouble.

GINGER: Does the strike bring trouble? Or was the trouble there before?

ANNA: Why did you come here?

GINGER: For work.

ANNA: Why?

GINGER: I was blacklisted.

ANNA: Trouble. You’re an agitator. Like Mr. Blaylock says.

GINGER: Selwyn Blaylock?

ANNA: Yes. I work for him on the weekends.

GINGER: At the mansion? At the top of the hill?

ANNA: Right.

GINGER: It must be nice there.”

These timely plays about labour rights and the human costs of business will move, educate, and entertain. Order your copy here.