Join us round the (metaphorical) campfire for songs and celebrations as we launch Rika Ruebsaat’s My Paddle’s Keen and Bright!

Camp veterans of all ages and backgrounds reflect on their memories of summers spent away at camp; of passionate friendships forged in the course of days; of crushes on counsellors; the campfires and songs; the skinned knees and overcome fears; and the indelible lifelong impressions these experiences have left on them.

Monday February 27
7:00pm
St James Community Square – Mel Lehan Hall
3214 W 10th Ave, Vancouver

RSVP on Facebook

Rika Ruebsaat is the past president of the Princeton & District Museum & Archives, and has been a professional singer and, for most of her working life, a teacher. With Jon Bartlett she’s released seven albums, mostly of traditional Canadian songs; and one book, a collection of vernacular verses from the pages of the local presses in the Similkameen valley. A resident of Princeton, BC, she attended Camp Galilee in the West Kootenays in the late 1950s and then Camp Artaban on Gambier Island in the early 1960s.

The countdown to camp is on! Rika Ruebsaat’s My Paddle’s Keen and Bright is set to hit the shelves February 9.

Every facet of camp experience is described, from the bus or boat that takes you away from the familiars into a new world of strangers, to the bittersweet partings and memories lasting a lifetime. Campers describe the terror, and exhilaration, of learning about new people and different lives outside of their own families; the food, strange rituals, and exciting new adventures involving boats, or horses, or hikes, chores, even practical jokes.

Grown–ups from all social classes and outloooks established summer camps. The storytellers reflect on their experiences in the more traditional summer camps organized by Boy Scouts or Girl Guides; the camps organized by religious organizations or around political viewpoints. The differences – and, more often, the continuities – provide a fascinating and unique perspective into a world that continues to leave an indelible mark on society, even as the world of summer camp slips into history.

Find the book at your local independent bookstore, including:
Biblioasis :: Misty River Books :: Booklore :: McNally Robinson :: The Book Keeper :: The New Octopus :: Book City :: Another Story :: Yellowknife Book Cellar :: Laughing Oyster Books :: Books on Beechwood :: Blue Heron Books :: Black Bond Books

You can also pick up a copy of Paddle online at:
Amazon.ca
Amazon.com
Indigo

Or the ebook is available on:
Kobo
Kindle

Keen to get around the campfire and share a few songs and stories? Here’s a quick sneak peek at some upcoming events across BC, watch this space or subscribe to our newsletter for updates!
February 17 – Nanaimo Folk Connection
February 27 – St James Community Hall
March 16 – Princeton Library
March 17 – Keremeos Library
April 4 – Penticton Museum

Join us at the historic Leir House in Penticton next month for the launch of Don Gayton’s latest book, The Sky and the Patio hosted by former CBC broadcaster, Bob Nicholson.

Ecologist Don Gayton holds a frame up to his own backyard Okanagan Valley, revealing that there’s more to be told by a tree’s rings than just its age, more to be learned from the sockeye than a suitable wine pairing (though Gayton also offers his expertise there). From the wonders of composting to the finicky particulars of at-home-viticulture and cannabis growing, these 25 essays draw together lessons learned over a career of ecological research guided by both an attentive, scientific eye and a careful, reverent pen.

WHEN: Friday December 9 – 7PM PST
WHERE: The Leir House
220 Manor Park Avenue, Penticton

There will be books, wine, and plenty of wisdom to be shared! RSVP and check the event page here on Facebook for updates.

Watch this space for announcements about future BC launches for The Sky and the Patio.

We’re thrilled to announce that George Bowering‘s latest collection of poetry, Could Be, has been longlisted for the 9th annual Fred Cogswell Award For Excellence In Poetry. 

Presented by the Royal City Literary Arts Society and judged this year by poet and novelist Evelyn Lau, the award honours poetic excellence in the same way Fred Cogswell did through his iconic press, Fiddlehead Poetry Books, and the still-running literary magazine that he founded, The Fiddlehead.

Could Be is a collection gathering work since his close call five years ago, Bowering shows off a wiser, though not necessarily mellower, aspect alongside the wit and unerring ear readers have come to expect from one of our greats. These are poems that look out into the world with fresh eyes, curious as any young poet’s. Only now the shadow of mortality finally takes its proper place alongside life’s many other sources of magic and wonder. Sunlight and warmth suffuse these poems, formally spanning short lyric verse, “found” stuff, and a long poem (“Sitting in Jalisco”). Rewarding attention as always, with Could Be George Bowering adds to a substantial body of work.

The winners will be announced at a virtual awards ceremony on Saturday December 4.

The Department of English & Creative Writing at the University of Windsor is hosting a Poetry-Party Triple-Launch extravaganza, presented with the fine folks at Talonbooks, Juniper Books, and us here at New Star.

Gustave Morin (Gongo Dodan), Danielle LaFrance (#postdildo), and Anahite Jamali Rad (still) will be reading at Chapter Two Brewing Company in Windsor on November 25. Treats and drinks provided, along with a poetry display from Juniper Books.

WHEN: Friday November 25 7:00PM
WHERE: Chapter Two Brewing Company
2345 Edna St, Windsor ON

GUSTAVE MORIN has spent a life carving out his bold and courageous body of work by mounting a singular investigation into the countless idiosyncrasies through which the poetic impulse may be made manifest. This work has found purchase in a host of diverse titles which, taken as a whole, make him one of the more accomplished literary innovators in recent memory, committed to the opposite of whatever the official culture would presume to endorse.

Following the would-be poetics mapped in JUST LIKE I LIKE IT (Talonbooks, 2019) DANIELLE LAFRANCE arrives at thinking and acting from a position where illusions are just that, illusions, and can be destroyed. She authors Friendly + Fire (Talonbooks, 2016) and species branding (Capilano University Editions, 2010). Their fourth poetry project #postdildo thinks and writes through the limitlessness and limitations of sexuality, communication, and desire. They try to live and hate to rent and work on the stolen lands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh and səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ peoples.

ANAHITA JAMALI RAD is a text-forward artist currently living, working, and making on the traditional territory of the Anishnaabeg people of the Three Fires Confederacy (Ojibwe, Potawatomi, and Odama). Jamali Rad’s work is founded on techno-materialist histories of dominant ideologies, class struggle, desire, place, displacement, silence, negation, and the void. They run House House Press with David Bradford and their most recent collections of poetry are still (Talonbooks, 2021) and for love and autonomy (Talonbooks, 2016). For more see anahitajamalirad.com.

The weather is finally changing and our fall books have arrived! Check below for where to find them!

GUILTY OF EVERYTHING – JOHN ARMSTRONG

John Armstrong, Buck Cherry of The Modernettes, had an unexcelled view of Vancouver’s punk music scene from its discordant late 1970s birth in the city’s suburbs through its glorious peak and heroin-addled decline. A natural story teller armed with with a sharp eye and a caustic keyboard, Armstrong brings the scene to life in this classic account, now digitally remastered from the original recording, and restores some never-before-seen scenes in Guilty of Everything.

Find Guilty of Everything at your local bookstore:
:: Massy Books – Vancouver, BC
:: Black Bond Books – Vancouver, BC
:: 32 Books – North Vancouver, BC
:: Volume One Bookstore – Duncan, BC
:: Another Story – Toronto, ON
:: Type Books – Toronto, ON
:: Book City – Toronto, ON (Queen St E, Danforth Ave, Bloor St W, & Yonge St)
:: Novel Idea – Kingston, ON
:: The Book Shelf – Guelph, ON
:: McNally Robinson – Winnipeg, MB & Saskatoon, SK
Online at:
:: Chapters Indigo
:: Amazon.ca
:: Amazon.com
:: Rakuten Kobo
:: Amazon Kindle

978155201914 :: $18.00 :: 136pp :: 5.5 x 8.5

THE SKY AND THE PATIO – DON GAYTON

The Sky and the Patio, a collection of 25 essays blending the personal with the ecological, reveals that there’s more to be told by a tree’s rings than just its age, more to be learned from the sockeye than a suitable wine pairing (though author and ecologist Don Gayton also offers his expertise there).

From ponderosa to cheatgrass, forest fires to turtle basking, and the intricacies of backyard viticulture, Gayton takes the lessons learned over a long career and sets them to paper with both a keen scientific eye and a careful, reverent pen.

The Sky and the Patio is available at:
:: Massy Books – Vancouver, BC
:: Munro’s Books – Victoria, BC
:: Mosaic Books – Kelowna, BC
:: Otter Books – Nelson, BC
:: Pages on Kensington – Calgary, AB
Online at:
:: Chapters Indigo
:: Amazon.ca
:: Amazon.com
:: Rakuten Kobo
:: Amazon Kindle

9781554201945 :: $18.00 :: 216 pages :: 5.5 x 8.5

Surprise! The ebook editions of our upcoming fall releases, The Sky and the Patio and Guilty of Everything are available now!

We’re a bit too excited to wait for the print books to trundle off the presses and across the country, so as a bonus for our digital readers, we’re releasing the ebooks early.

Don Gayton’s The Sky and the Patio blends the personal and the ecological in 25 fascinating essays portraying both the natural and human histories of his adopted Okanagan Valley homeland. While in the anniversary edition of Guilty of Everything, John Armstrong revives the glorious peak and heroin-addled decline of Vancouver’s iconic punk rock scene, now with never before seen scenes.

You can still get your hands on print copies of both of these great non-fiction titles when they hit the shelves on November 10, but if you have your eReader handy head to the links below to start reading now.

The Sky and the Patio:
Amazon Kindle
Rakuten Kobo

Guilty of Everything:
Amazon Kindle
Rakuten Kobo

Our friends at Biblioasis Bookshop are hosting a reading and (lost) launch for a few fantastic books!

Our very own Louis Cabri will be reading from Hungry Slingshots. Cabri’s most recent collection opens up the resonating chambers of constraints imposed by poetry conventions — most noticeably in the title sequence, “Hungry Sling Shots,” which hearkens to the French 17th century civil war and the widespread use of the triolet form — to make our oldest literary genre vibrate in new ways and in unexpectedly contemporary directions.

He’ll be joining Nicole Markotic with After Beowulf, a reinvigorated rendition of the original epic, and Susan Holbrook with Ink Earl, erasure poetry in an intriguing new form, both from Coach House Books.

Wednesday October 26
1520 Wyandotte St. E
7PM EST
Check out the full event details and RSVP here.

Catch Gary Barwin reading from Bird Arsonist at the Staircase Theatre in Hamilton next month alongside a lineup of fantastic readers for the Indie Reading Room series!

Presented by the Literary Press Group of Canada, the Indie Reading Room series is hosting four events across Canada. Check their social media for events in Vancouver, Edmonton, and St. John’s!

Also reading at the Hamilton event: Rod Carley, Kimia Eslah, Fareh Malik, C. I. Matthews, Radha S. Menon, Peggy Nash, Erin Pepler, Lorrie Potvin, and Janet Trull

WHEN:
November 1 – 6:00PM ET
WHERE:
The Staircase Theatre
27 Dundurn St N, Hamilton
Check the Facebook event here for updates!

AN EVENING WITH MARIE ANNHARTE BAKER

After a great run of summer events here on the west coast, Annharte will be reading from and discussing her latest collection of poetry, Miskwagoode, at an event with our good friends at McNally Robinson in Winnipeg, presented by Our Line in the Sand Manitoba in collaboration with the Winnipeg International Writers Festival for THIN AIR 2022.

Saturday October 1 – 7:00pm
McNally Robinson – Grant Park (in the Atrium) Winnipeg
Check out all the event details here.

The event will also be streaming live on YouTube if you’re not able to make it!

Watch the livestream below or here on McNally’s YouTube channel!

Don’t forget to check out the Winnipeg Writers Festival – running from September 20 through October 18 – you can catch a handful of exciting in-person events if you happen to be in Winnipeg. Not a local? Never fear! A hybrid program is on the books this year, register for the festival website today to check out a fantastic program of online events and content!

[ Image: McNally Robinson Booksellers ]