news | Thursday September 12, 2024

You're Invited to the Talonbooks Fall 2024 Launch

You’re invited to celebrate the new autumn releases from Talonbooks! Please join us at Pyatt Hall on October 16 to welcome the following books to the world:

Chambersonic by Oana Avasilichioaei
Conversations with the Kagawong River by sophie anne edwards
cop city swagger by Mercedes Eng.
The Middle by Stephen Collis and
No Signal No Noise by A Jamali Rad.

The launch will be hosted by ryan fitzpatrick, author of Coast Mountain Foot.

Pyatt Hall is wheelchair and scooter accessible. Attendance is free! Snacks and drinks will be served. A live stream will be available on the Talonbooks YouTube channel, so tune in remotely if you can’t attend in-person. We hope to see you there!

Talonbooks Fall 2024 Launch
Pyatt Hall
Vancouver, BC
October 16, 2024
Doors open at 7:00 p.m.; readings begin at 7:30 p.m.

news | Wednesday September 11, 2024

Talonbooks's Full Fall Poetry Line on CBC Poetry Collections to Watch For

CBC Books has put out a list of poetry collections to check out in the back half of 2024 and we couldn’t be more proud to announce that all five of the forthcoming poetry books on our fall 2024 list have been named as collections to keep your eyes peeled for! The titles launching this fall are Conversations with the Kagawong River by sophie anne edwards, Chambersonic by Oana Avasilichioaei, The Middle by Stephen Collis, No Signal No Noise by A Jamali Rad, and cop city swagger by Mercedes Eng.

Peruse all of CBC Books’ autumn poetry recommendations here, and if you want to watch our authors reading from these stellar titles live, come to the Talonbooks fall 2024 launch on October 16 at Pyatt Hall! For more details on the fall launch, click here.

news | Tuesday September 10, 2024

Another Order Reviewed in BC BookWorld

Trevor Carolan reviewed Another Order: Selected Works by Judith Copithorne and edited by Eric Schmaltz in the latest issue of BC BookWorld.

From the review: “Her probing crossmedia experiments with visual and concrete poetry broadened the limits of what Canadian literary adventuring could be … With this compelling, 340-page book compiled by editor Eric Schmaltz, the fuller nature of Copithorne’s creative explorations … is displayed convincingly.”

news | Tuesday September 3, 2024

ryan fitzpatrick Announced as University of Alberta's Writer-in-Residence

Author and editor ryan fitzpatrick has been announced as University of Alberta’s Writer-in-Residence! fitzpatrick is the author of Coast Mountain Foot, Fortified Castles and more. They are currently working on a collection of essays on asexuality that is forthcoming from Book*hug Press in 2025. Congratulations, ryan!

Read the formal announcement here.

news | Sunday September 1, 2024

Junie Désil Named 2024 Ellen and Warren Tallman Writer-in-Residence!

Author of eat salt | gaze at the ocean and Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize–finalist Junie Désil has been named the 2024 Ellen and Warren Tallman Writer-in-Residence at SFU! Désil will be available for student consultation from September 13th until December 13th, 2024.

Keep your eyes peeled for Désil’s forthcoming spring 2025 poetry collection allostatic load. Congratulations, Junie! We are so excited for the work you’re doing and all of the students who’ll have the opportunity to work with you.

Check out the formal announcement here.

news | Wednesday August 28, 2024

sophie anne edwards on CBC

sophie anne edwards chatted with CBC Sudbury about her forthcoming poetry and visual art collection Conversations with the Kagawong River.

An excerpt from the article: ‘“So over two or three years, I started leaving little cardboard and paper letters on the river for the river to engage with. So I would find, for instance, an otter trail and leave [poetry] along the otter trail, or I would hang pens from trees for the trees and the wind to write together.”

The letters might get moved around by animals, and the resulting combinations might not spell words in either English or Anishinaabemowin, but Edwards saw the process as one of collaborating, she said.

The process forced her to slow down and pay attention and taught her how the ecosystem changes over time.’

Read the article here.


news | Wednesday August 28, 2024

Sangeeta Wylie on On The Coast with Gloria Macarenko

On Friday, tune into CBC Radio’s On the Coast with Gloria Macarenko to hear an interview with debut Talonbooks author Sangeeta Wylie! Learn about Wylie’s outstanding debut play we the same, her upcoming launch, and much more. You didn’t hear it from me, but there may even be a chance to win a copy of we the same, so don’t miss this segment on August 30th at 3:30 p.m. PDT. We can’t wait!

news | Tuesday August 27, 2024

Leanne Dunic Interviewed in Plenitude

L’amour Lisik interviewed Leanne Dunic about her new poetry and photography collection Wet for Plenitude Magazine.

An excerpt from their conversation: “At one point in the novel, we learn “I remember being / on a trip with my ex. / […] He was asleep in my arms / and still / I was empty.” There’s a distinct sense of loneliness, compounded by the photos featuring empty urban landscapes, lifeless figurines, and occasionally people, their faces obscured by shadows, masks, or distance—a juxtaposition between how the narrator feels and the bustling city-state she lives in. How did you go about taking and choosing the photos to include in this project? What was the process for arranging them amongst the poems?

I’m glad that loneliness came through. I think the idea of loneliness as a consequence of climate disaster is often overlooked. If folks didn’t have to quarantine, or stay indoors due to extreme weather, I’d like to think we’d be connecting. I went to Singapore after a seven-year absence, only to arrive with Covid for the first time, and so I was isolated for nearly two weeks—very similar to the character in Wet. The cover is a photo I took in the hotel bathroom while isolating. I took the rest of the photos in the two days that I was no longer testing positive. It was very hard to narrow down and curate the sequences, but I’m happy with the arrangements.”

Read their full interview here and be sure to catch Leanne Dunic at the Victoria Festival of Authors this October! Details here.

news | Friday August 23, 2024

Sangeeta Wylie Interview

Charlie Smith interviewed Sangeeta Wylie about her debut book we the same and her forthcoming book launch with TAIWANFest Vancouver.

An excerpt from the article: ‘The play was inspired by a family’s true story. However, Wylie created different characters and added various elements to the story based on her research and imagination.

“I was in such awe and admiration of this woman to have survived in those conditions with six children under the age of eight,” Wylie, who’s also a dentist, tells Pancouver. “I know the family—so many of the people—and the way that they have survived has been with a lot of grace and kindness and warmth.”

The playwright travelled to Vietnam and Malaysia to trace the family’s journey. And this first trip to Vietnam changed her.’

Read the full article here, and don’t miss Wylie’s book launch on September 2. Get your tickets here.

news | Wednesday August 21, 2024

Two Talonites in BC Booklook's Alphabet

Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize–finalist Samantha Nock, author of A Family of Dreamers and author of lettuce lettuce please go bad Tiziana La Melia are letters “N” and “T” respectively in BC BookLook’s Who’s Who alphabet. Learn your authorial ABCs here.

news | Wednesday August 21, 2024

Dorothy Dittrich Interviewed in Monday Magazine

Tim Collins interviewed Dorothy Dittrich about The Piano Teacher: A Healing Key, her Governor General’s Literary Award–winning play, in Monday Magazine.

An excerpt from the article: ‘“The play explores the power of music and the power of the human spirit,” Dittrich says. “It’s also about the power of friendship. Erin meets a friend who guides her from her nightmares. The lesson, I suppose, is that while the emotion of grief is a private one, it doesn’t mean that we have to go through it alone.”’

A production of The Piano Teacher runs at Chemainus Theatre starting September 26. To purchase tickets, click here. To read the complete article in Monday Magazine, click here.