news | Friday September 18, 2026

Cecily Nicholson Delivers the 2026 Sharon Thesen Lecture

Cecily Nicholson, author of Crowd Source, HARROWINGS, and more, is delivering the 2026 annual Sharon Thesen lecture presented by the University of British Columbia Okanagan. Check out this article about Nicholson penned in the lead up to the lecture.

news | Thursday September 17, 2026

Dina Del Bucchia's WeirdLit Book Recs

Dina Del Bucchia (You’re Gonna Love This, It’s A Big Deal!, and more) recommends some great, weird Canadian literature to check out including The World Afloat by M.A.C. Farrant and the latest novel by Daniel Zomparelli (author of Jump Scare, Davie Street Translations, and more). See all of Del Bucchia’s recommendations here on 49th Shelf.

news | Wednesday September 16, 2026

George Bowering and Jónína Kirton Selected for Poetry in Transit

We are thrilled that the iconic George Bowering and the incredible Jónína Kirton have been chosen as two of the writers for this year’s Poetry in Transit program! Our commutes around the lower mainland and the Greater Victoria area just a whole lot better. Keep an eye out for Bowering’s poem “There Is Delight in Singing” from Pearl and Kirton’s poem “what widows know” from Save Your Prayers – Send Money on vehicles and bus shelters near you.

Pearl is Bowering’s final poetry collection. Holding grief and levity together, this book reflects on a life well-lived.

Save Your Prayers – Send Money is a hybrid work of poetry and prose that shoulders the heft of chronic illness and takes aim at the wellness industry. Save Your Prayers – Send Money weaves intergenerational trauma and its impact on health through the daily realities of chronic pain and illness.

Poetry in Transit (brought to us by Books BC in partnership with TransLink and BC Transit) is a program that features the work of 10 BC poets on transit cars and shelters throughout the province. The program is in its milestone 30th year. Congratulations to this year’s awesome roster of authors!

news | Tuesday September 15, 2026

Tao of the World in The New York Times

Helen Shaw writes about themes of forgiveness at this year’s Stratford Festival in The New York Times with a special shout out to the brand new play The Tao of the World by Jovanni Sy. The Tao of the World is a hilarious and incisive look at the lives and foibles of Singapore’s ultra-rich. Read Shaw’s article here.

news | Thursday September 10, 2026

Dear Chekhov Is Here!

The latest play by the iconic Michel Tremblay is here! Familial bonds and tensions are on glorious display over a Thanksgiving dinner in Dear Chekhov, translated into English by Linda Gaboriau. An aging playwright re-examines an old, unfinished script that pays tribute to the great Anton Chekhov. And then there is Benoît, the author-brother, who settles his accounts with a detestable young critic, the current flame of their sister. This Great Actress has given her career a boost by working with a trendy millennial director, trashing Chekhov – and their mother’s memory in the process.

An excerpt from Dear Chekhov:

“GISÈLE
Please, don’t start fighting before we even sit down to dinner.

LAURENT
Why not? Will it be more acceptable once we’re facing our raw turkey?

GISÈLE
That’s not what I meant.

LAURENT
(to GISÈLE) That seems to be your refrain tonight.

CHRISTIAN
If I’d known my presence would be such a problem –

BENOIT
No kidding …

CLAIRE
Anyway, I’m not eating outside …

GISÈLE
Well, you can eat in the house all alone. With your critic.

CLAIRE
Fine, the two of us will eat inside … nice and warm while you all freeze.

CLAIRE walks over to the table, takes a glass of tomato juice, drinks it in one shot, and bangs the glass back onto the table.

Now there’ll be two empty glasses. Maman would’ve killed me, but I was thirsty.

JEAN-MARC

Benoit should say something.

BENOIT
So you’re allowed, but not Laurent?

CLAIRE
I’m at home here.”

Delve into the deliciously dramatic holiday of this erudite clan, clashing over passionate, varied opinions about the intersections of art, authenticity, and career (and maybe a little personal history, too). Simultaneously, enjoy the inner workings of a playwright in the vicious process of revising. Order your copy here.

news | Wednesday September 9, 2026

You're Invited to the Talonbooks Fall 2026 Launch

Join us at the Martha Lou Henley Rehearsal Hall for the Talonbooks fall 2026 launch! Help us celebrate this season’s authors and books. Here’s the lineup! It’s going to be an amazing evening.

Celebrate the release of A Child’s Seance by Weyman Chan, Grace of Centuries by Hope Anderson, notes from recently by Chris Turnbull, and Panax by Rob Budde. The launch will be hosted by the author of dream / arteries, Phinder Dulai!

The Martha Lou Henley Hall is a fully accessible venue. A parking lot is available in the alley between East 3rd Avenue and East 4th Avenue. Attendance is free! Drinks and light refreshments will be available. Hope to see you there!

Talonbooks Fall 2026 Launch
Martha Lou Henley Rehearsal Hall
Vancouver, BC
November 6, 2026
Doors open at 7:00 p.m., readings begin at 7:30 p.m. PT

news | Tuesday September 8, 2026

Talonbooks Titles on 49th Shelf

Forthcoming Talonbooks titles Grace of Centuries by Hope Anderson, Panax by Rob Budde, A Child’s Seance by Weyman Chan, and notes from recently by Chris Turnbull are on 49th Shelf’s article about their most anticipated forthcoming poetry collections. Read it here.

news | Monday September 7, 2026

Dear Chekhov on All Lit Up

Dear Chekhov by Michel Tremblay, translated by Linda Gaboriau is included in All Lit Up’s post about books to check out for National Translation Month! Familial bonds and tensions are on glorious display over a Thanksgiving dinner in this new play in which an aging playwright re-examines an old, unfinished script that pays tribute to the great Anton Chekhov. See all of All Lit Up’s suggestions here.

news | Sunday September 6, 2026

Uiesh / Somewhere on CBC Books

Uiesh / Somewhere by Joséphine Bacon, translated by Jessica Moore was recently highlighted by CBC Books! Get to know the creatives who won major Canadian literary awards in the last year and their works in this article showcasing award-winning talent.

news | Saturday September 5, 2026

The Boys' Club on the Québec Bestseller List

The Boys Club: The Many Worlds of Male Power by Martine Delvaux, translated by Katia Grubisic is on Québec’s bestseller list for nonfiction titles published in Canada for August 2026! The winner 2020 Grand Prix du Livre de Montréal, The Boys’ Club exposes a culture of consumption which profits off female experiences while disregarding female voices. Check out all of Québec’s bestsellers here.

news | Friday September 4, 2026

Two Talonbooks Titles on CBC Books's List of Most Anticipated Fall Poetry Collection

Wonderful to see Grace of Centuries by Hope Anderson and A Child’s Seance by Weyman Chan in CBC Books’s article about Canadian poetry collections to look forward to this fall.

Grace of Centuries is an act of redress. Beginning with the African presence in the Bible and travelling through inheritances both collective and personal, Hope Anderson celebrates Black voices across centuries and continents.

A Child’s Seance opens with a brother and sister attempting to contact their dead mother with a Ouija board. From there, it unfolds into a witty, grieving, surreal, astral travelogue that looks at loss, mental health, sexual misfires, and the threat of alien abduction.

If you’re looking to dive into some great verse, see all of CBC Books’s recommendations here.

news | Thursday September 3, 2026

Crowd Source a Finalist for the 2026 Vancouver Book Award!

We are delighted that Crowd Source by Cecily Nicholson has been named a finalist for the 2026 City of Vancouver Book Award! ⁠
⁠
Tracking the crows that dot Vancouver’s skies each day at dawn and dusk and continuing Nicholson’s attention to contemporary climate crisis, social movements, and Black diasporic relations, Crowd Source is for all concerned with practising ecological futurities befitting corvid sensibilities.⁠
⁠
A huge congratulations to Cecily and to all of this year’s shortlisted authors!⁠
⁠
See more details about all of this year’s finalists here.

news | Tuesday September 1, 2026

Sailors Can't Swim on All Lit Up

Sailors Can’t Swim by Dominique Scali translated by Jessica Moore is featured in the All Lit Up fall 2026 preview! See what the All Lit Up staff has to say about this forthcoming novel (and others) here.

news | Wednesday August 26, 2026

The Tao of the World Reviews

Reviews are in on the Stratford Festival’s production of The Tao of the World by Jovanni Sy! Joshua Chong pens a review in The Toronto Star, Aisling Murphy writes it up in The Globe and Mail, Daphne Gordon reflects on viewing the play in Stratford Today, Hussam Elghussein reviews it for My Stratford Now, Geoffrey Coulter digs into the production for Our Theatre Voice, Lauren Gienow raves about her experience taking in the play in Broadway World, Aaron Kyte reviews the production in The Stratford Beacon Herald, there’s a review on the theatre blog frontmezzjunkies and another on the blog Fête Chinoise, and one more still in Encore Michigan. And Scott Sneddon writes a wonderful examination of The Tao of the World for Sesaya Arts Magazine, read it here. Shunsho Ando Heng celebrates the show in Next Magazine, Galen Simmons reviews it in Grant Haven Media and ONtario STAGE covers the production here.

One thing recurring like a chorus through the many reviews? The Tao of the World is a laugh-out-loud affair, rich with sizzling social commentary. Be sure to catch a production of the play while it’s on at Stratford Festival. The production runs until September 26. More details can be found here.

news | Tuesday August 25, 2026

Jenn Ashton Receives Commendation!

Multidisciplinary artist Jenn Ashton receives an honourable mention from the Sunshine Coast Writers and Editors Society’s Book Awards for BC Authors for her new work of autofiction, Growing My Way Home. Congratulations, Jenn! Ashton received this commendation in the Indigenous Voices category. Check out all of this year’s winners and commended parties here.

news | Tuesday August 25, 2026

The Toronto Star on The Tao of the World

Joshua Chong writes about Stratford Festival’s production of The Tao of the World by Jovanni Sy and its use of Singlish in The Toronto Star.

An excerpt from the article:

“Sy’s play critiques the country’s ultra-rich, following their sexual escapades and how they use marriage merely as a means toward consolidating power.

Think Crazy Rich Asians. But with more bite. And with some delicious blasphemy thrown in. (It’s hard to see how Tao could ever pass muster with Singapore’s strict media censors.)

One of the most challenging parts of staging this show, however, is nailing the local Singapore dialect. Moulded by decades of cross-cultural exchange, Singlish blends English with a variety of other linguistic influences, including Malay, Tamil and various Chinese dialects.

It’s one of the most difficult dialects to imitate, and also one of the most misunderstood aspects of Singapore culture. And yet, for some of the actors in Tao, they’ve had to learn Singlish is just a matter of weeks.”

news | Monday August 24, 2026

Jovanni Sy on Q with Tom Power

Jovanni Sy is a guest on CBC’s Q with Tom Power speaking on his new play The Tao of the World at Stratford Festival. Sy and guest host Garvia Bailey speak about why this is the moment for an updated Restoration comedy, looking the classical canon through an Asian lens, and the value of impatience. Listen to the interview here or read it here.

news | Sunday August 23, 2026

An Interview Between Hajer Mirwali and Kathryn Mockler

Kathryn Mockler interviews Hajer Mirwali, author of the award-winning book of poetry Revolutions! Check out their conversation on Mockler’s blog, Send My Love to Anyone.

An excerpt from their discussion:

“KM: Do you have a preferred emotion to experience? What is it and why? Or is there an emotion that you detest having and why?

HM: I love experiencing gratitude. It makes me feel really full and connected with myself and the universe. I used to hate feeling angry, but recently I’ve started to learn how to accept and express it.”

Read the full conversation here.

news | Saturday August 22, 2026

Space Girl Has Landed!

Space Girl: A Cosmic Comedy by the award-winning playwright Frances Koncan is a hilarious exploration of colonialism, digital culture, and the ways we wield power. We follow Lyra – the first person born on the moon – who is living comfortably as a beloved social media influencer. On her twenty-first birthday, two disasters strike: the birth of a rival “baby influencer” and the discovery of an enormous asteroid that may just destroy Earth (and all of her social media followers). Forced to flee the moon during a meteor shower, Lyra unexpectedly finds herself on Earth, a strange new world where she must decide what matters more: her personal dreams of social media fame or the safety of humanity as a whole.

An excerpt:

“THE VANGUARD
You’re in so deep you can’t even see it.
At least Noah knew what he was doing.
Noah, he knew building a city on the moon would come with
a cost.
The cost of destroying the Earth.
But he was greedy and made that choice anyway.
And now Nikolaj.
He knows he could save the Earth if he wanted to.
But he’s too much of a coward to do that.
So he’s going to colonize Mars instead.
Tell me, former @SpaceGirl …
What choices have you made recently?

LYRA
That’s a lot of smack coming from a guy who basically does the
exact same job as me.

THE VANGUARD
No one controls me.

LYRA
And no one controls me anymore either.
Yesterday was my birthday.

THE VANGUARD
Happy birthday.

LYRA
Thanks.

THE VANGUARD
Do you want a cake?
Or a pony?

LYRA
What I want is to charge my phone and go home.

THE VANGUARD
Go home …
Back to the moon …
Create more content …
Get back to number one …
And leave the rest of us here on Earth to die.

LYRA
What do you want me to do?
I can’t stop the asteroid.

THE VANGUARD
Asteroid?

LYRA
Never mind!!!
Are you going to let me charge my phone or not?”

Order your copy of this witty, whimsical, and insightful new comedy here.

news | Thursday August 20, 2026

Hot Off the Press! The Tao of the World Is Here!

Looking to laugh? Looking to celebrate life? Looking to examine the insidious structures that allow the wealthy and glamorous to maintain their lives on the back of the invisible labour of others? Then you’ll want to pick up a copy of the sparkling new play The Tao of the World by Jovanni Sy! Recently liberated from the constraints of the COVID-19 pandemic, Singapore’s wealthy elite – armed with taste, bon mots, and the invisible labour of the working class – scheme, woo, connive, and behave badly.
An excerpt:

“ARABELLA
(to audience) Back at our tea, I had assumed that Edward was
being his usual drama queen self when he said my mother hated
him. He was not. Behold the origin of her profound loathing of
Edward. This occurred just before the pandemic at a function
for Singapore’s elite.

LADY HELENA
Don’t you hate these charity fundraisers?

EDWARD
More than you can imagine.

LADY HELENA
Why are you all the way over there?

Smiling, she seductively summons him to sit closer; he does.

LADY HELENA
(raising her glass) To … whatever disease we’re eradicating.

EDWARD
This is for the ballet.

LADY HELENA
May they never get sick.

They clink glasses.

LADY HELENA
I find that first encounters like ours are so much simpler when
the two parties already know one another.

EDWARD
Definitely.

LADY HELENA
None of the awkward “what do you do?”

EDWARD
“Oh you know so-and-so.”

LADY HELENA
“Are you here with someone?” (beat) You know, I don’t feel like
slugging this back. On the other hand, I don’t feel like waiting
to finish it slowly.

EDWARD
Waiting for what?

LADY HELENA
(playing with his hair) In the time it takes to finish this drink,
you and I could already be heading out. Together.

EDWARD
Where?

LADY HELENA
(caressing his face) Somewhere private.

EDWARD
(looking confused) You mean, the school?

LADY HELENA
What are you talking about?

EDWARD
Um, I think, I think there’s uh … I’m Edward Lim.

LADY HELENA
I know, of course. Who did you think I was?

EDWARD
I uh thought you were my Primary 4 teacher.

LADY HELENA throws her drink in EDWARD’s face and
storms off. The lounge bar disappears. EDWARD is left in
limbo with ARABELLA, now doubled over in laughter.”

Inspired by William Congreve’s The Way of the World and Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asians, The Tao of the World is a Restoration comedy for modern times, a hilarious, bawdy romp that asks what it means for things to return to normal. The Tao of the World is having its world premiere at the famous Stratford Festival! The play runs until September 26, so be sure to catch a production! Order your copy here.