Tradition! Gabriola Chamber Ensemble - Leah Hokanson, Director

British Columbia Government to Proclaim April 9th BC Book Day

April 3rd, 2014 
(From The League of Canadian Poets)

The creative industries are hugely important to British Columbia's  economic well-being of which indigenous book publishing is a significant component. With global distribution in both print and digital formats, BC publishing brings our stories to the world. On April 9^th the BC Legislature will celebrate the achievements of BC's publishing industry with a proclamation and an exhibition of BC-published books at the Parliament Buildings in Victoria.

BC Book Day will be an opportunity for MLAs and staff to meet the province's publishers, authors, writers' festivals directors, librarians and booksellers, and for all to mark the extent of the BC publishing industry's contribution to BC's economy and culture. The Honourable Judith Guichon, Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia, will be in attendance and a Proclamation declaring April 9^th as BC Book Day will be read in the Legislature before it goes into session.

BC publishers estimate that 80% of their titles are authored by residents of the province indicating a strong cultural impact. BC authors such as Douglas Coupland, Jack Hodgins, Lorna Crozier, Patrick Lane, Polly Horvath and Andrew Weaver are household names, not just in BC but across the country and internationally. BC-published books such as Richard Wagamese's Indian Horse, Angie Abdou's The Canterbury Trail and Wayson Choy's Jade Peony have all been contenders in CBC’s Canada Reads and Charlotte Gill's Eating Dirt, a book about tree planting in BC, was an international bestseller. Our books have won national and international recognition through awards such as the Scotiabank Giller Prize, the Governor General's Literary Awards, the IMPAC Dublin Literary Awards and the RBC Taylor Prize.

Association of Book Publishers of BC (ABPBC) members are located all across the province and produce books in all genres that reflect their region, BC, Canada and the world back to their readers. BC is the home to the largest Aboriginal publishing company in the country, Theytus Books, and one of the best and largest of children's houses, Orca Book Publishers. Companies such as Harbour Publishing, Douglas & McIntyre and Caitlin Press have long contributed to our regional knowledge. Both Arsenal Pulp Press and Anvil Press in Vancouver are urban presses that focus on contemporary topics. Older and newer companies like Oolichan Books in Fernie, Brindle & Glass in Victoria and Talon Books in Vancouver continue their traditions of excellence in literary publishing. The University of British Columbia Press has one of the largest academic programs in the country.

ABPBC publishers serve diverse communities: art lovers, business people, scholars, travellers, history buffs, foodies and gardeners, urban and rural dwellers, educators and kids, and book lovers everywhere. BC books are also translated in languages across the globe and sold in over 75 countries including the US, UK, Australia, Korea, France, Germany, Iran and China.

In recent years, the book industry has undergone enormous and sometimes challenging changes in the retail environment and in the digital realm. In the face of these changes the flexibility and tenacity of the industry and its leaders in BC have served the community well. BC publishers have grown export markets, found alternative sales venues and taken the lead in Canada in digital initiatives. Our ebooks are available on all commercial sites and in public and university libraries across the country. In the autumn of 2014, the ABPBC will launch a collection of 2,000 books in EPUB format for BC's public libraries; the collection will be the first of its kind in Canada. Print and electronic editions from BC can be found across the world bringing BC literature and culture to millions.

"The publishing community is appreciative of the Provincial Government's role in fostering our strong industry through the BC Arts Council and other measures including the newly created Creative BC" states Ruth Linka, President of the ABPBC, "We look forward to celebrating our successes with our partners in Government on April 9^th, BC Book Day"

The ABPBC expects that BC Book Day will be repeated in future years so that communities in all parts of our province may share in the celebration of BC books and authors.

For more information, contact Margaret Reynolds, Executive Director, Association of Book Publishers of BC: Margaret@books.bc.ca or 604-684-0228.

Kerrie Waddington, Executive Assistant
Association of Book Publishers of BC
Suite 600-402 West Pender Street
Vancouver, BC V6B 1T6.
604. 684.0228

www.books.bc.ca

twitter @abpbc

Page's Resort presents Some Sort of Life

Nanaimo Poet Laureate Calling All Poets

April is poetry month and to celebrate, the Nanaimo Daily News is starting a new monthly column featuring a poem of the month to promote local poets and to encourage people to write poetry themed on Nanaimo.

A pair of anonymous poet judges will look through the submissions and choose one poem each month and it will be printed in the Daily News. I, as the City of Nanaimo’s inaugural poet laureate, will comment on the chosen poem so you can see why we liked it, and also to encourage you to write poetry.

The rules are simple:

1.    You should be a resident of the Nanaimo Regional District;

2. The poem should be solely written by you (If your poem is selected you will be asked to sign a declaration that the poem is your work alone and that you have the rights to it. Submissions from people under 18 will require a parent’s signature)

3. The poem must be about Nanaimo (places and events – its past, present, future, places you like visiting, the cultural aspects, sports… whatever inspires you) and should be no more than 30 lines (200 words)

4. The poems can be touching, funny, insightful, bitingly witty or angry, but will not be considered if they contain obscenities or promote hatred or prejudice

5. E-mail two copies of your poem as a pdf attachment (in Times New Roman, 12 point). One copy should have your name, address, e-mail, and phone # written above the poem; the other should contain only the poem

6. Send them to callingallpoets@nanaimo.ca with the subject matter “poetry submission.”

7. There is no deadline, so just keep those Nanaimo poems coming in whenever creativity strikes.

We thank all poets in advance for their submissions, but only those poets whose poems have been selected will be contacted. Keep a copy of your submission as it will not be returned to you. All poems submitted will be kept for consideration for inclusion in a possible anthology to be printed next year.

So calling all Nanaimo district poets – Let’s celebrate poetry. Let’s hear your voices. Get creative about Nanaimo and send us your results.

Naomi Beth Wakan

THIRD THURSDAY POETRY OPEN MIC TONIGHT!

Poetry Gabriola presents

Third Thursday Open Mic Night

Featuring a presentation by

Jason Kuffler

March 20, 7 – 9 pm at The Old Crow Café, doors at 6:45

Open Mic at 7 pm

All voices welcome, including original work & covers.

The first event is an Open Mic, then a writing exercise to tone your poetic muscle, followed at 8 pm with a presentation by Jason Kuffler, Librarian at the Gabriola Library about the ways that Vancouver Island Regional Library supports poetry in general and local poets specifically, from the number of poetry titles in their catalogue to the Poetry Gallery at the Harbourfront branch.

For further information or to sign up for the open mic - email Lisa Webster-Gibson altogetherlisa@yahoo.ca or Janet Vickers janetvickers@shaw.ca

Inherit the Wind - Gabriola Players

FROM EYEWEAR PUBLISHING - THE POET'S QUEST FOR GOD

The Poet's Quest For God: 21st Century Poems of Faith, Doubt and Wonder, edited by Dr Oliver Brennan, Todd Swift and Dominic Bury is the first global  poetry anthology about religion and doubt to include poets of all faiths and none, so atheists, agnostics, and true believers commingle in the common search for words to explore the absence and presence of the spiritual in our world.

Go here for more information.

P. C.. Vandall has a birthday today

Author of Woodwinds celebrates her birthday today and Lipstick Press wishes her the best for the coming year.

Poetry Gabriola: Third Thursday Open Mic

Third Thursday Poetry Open Mic Featuring WHY BUY THE COW?

If you’ve ever felt a strong need to spend an evening with an experimental poly-vocal performance ensemble, you’re in luck! Gabriola’s latest multi-voice poetry mash-up – consisting of

Lisa Webster-Gibson, Kathleen Miniely and Hilary Peach - is just that.

WHY BUY THE COW?

is an interdisciplinary artists’ trio – and will be featuring new works at the first

PGS Open Mic

of 2014, kicking off at the

Old Crow on January 16.

Come on out to the Crow and enjoy a great meal and a glass of wine, read a poem at the Open Mic or just enjoy the evening. 

Psssst…. these cow-gals are pretty fun!

As usual, doors at 645 pm, open mic at 7 o'clock, feature to follow

5 $ suggested donation.

ALSO THIS MONTH!

Kill two birds with one stone, get current on your PGS membership, only 5 bucks!

Janet Vickers reading from Impermanence January 12

Impermanence

• January 12, 2014
• at 11:00 am
• Presented by: Janet Vickers
• Today Janet will read from her book Impermanence (Ekstasis, 2012) some of the poems that trace her life-long interrogation of right and wrong to the open world of infinite possibilities – the world of impermanence.
• First Unitarian Fellowship of Nanaimo, 595 Townsite Road, Nanaimo.
• 
  
  

Poet Laureate: Naomi Beth Wakan

"If you only do a page a day, in one year you have a book"  Such is the practical way Naomi approaches big things.

This is a video interview from Kelly Robinson of Shaw TV Nanaimo.