Celebrate Pride with a reading and book signing for Nightwood author Andrew Binks' novel  The Summer Between, at Chapters Rideau (47 Rideau Street, Ottawa) on Saturday, August 28th from 1pm-4pm.

Like his attempts to swim over the dark water of the river that lies between him and the object of his affections, twelve year- old Dougaldo Montmigny struggles against oppression, homophobia and racism to realise his love for Tomahawk Clark, a thirteen-year-old Metis boy, during a summer destined to become a painful lesson on love and desire. ... click to see news item

Charles Sheideman, former RCMP officer and author of Policing the Fringe: The Curious Life of a Small- Town Mountie, will be signing copies of his book in Chapters Strathcona (10504 82nd Avenue, Edmonton) on Friday, August 6th from 1-4pm.

From 1961 to 1989, RCMP Sergeant Charlie Scheideman patrolled the much of the Interior of British Columbia, including Prince George and Hixon. This collection of stories includes events that range from the ridiculous to the horrific to the tragic, including the grisly story of the two highway robbers from Hixon, one of whom meets an untimely end. ... click to see news item

Sterling Haynes will be signing copies of his new book, Wake-Up Call: Tales from a Frontier Doctor at Mosiac Books (411 Bernard Avenue), on Saturday, September 11th at 12:00 noon.

In his second book, Wake-Up Call, Sterling Haynes begins by telling us that at the age of seventy a left hemisphere stroke rearranged his brain. “My right creative side took over and I started to write poetry and humour. I was left with a partially paralyzed right foot, but a writer’s creative right brain. I think I got the better of the deal, a new brain in trade for a foot. The funny episodes in my medical practice became hilarious. The sad, melancholy parts of my life’s memories looked less bleak.” ... click to see news item

Crossword Authority Gwen Sjogren is hosting two crossword workshops at the Calgary Public Library this summer.The first will take place at the Shawnessy Library Branch (33 Shawville Blvd. SE) on Friday, July 23 from 2-4pm. The second will be at the Shaganappi Library Branch (3415 – 8 Ave SW) on Thursday, August 5 from 10:00 am to 12 Noon.... click to see news item

The Vancouver Public Library and BC BookWorld are pleased to present the 16th George Woodcock Lifetime Achievement Award for an outstanding literary career in British Columbia to acclaimed writer Anne Cameron. Her name will be inscribed onto a commemorative plaque in the Writer’s Walk at Vancouver’s Library Square. Anne Cameron will read from her work and speak about her writing career on Thursday, July 29 from 7-9pm at the Central Library, 350 W. Georgia St. The event will be held in the Alma VanDusen & Peter Kaye Room, Lower Level. Admission is free but seating is limited.

The Writers’ Union of Canada and John Gleed are pleased to announce that Sarah Roberts is the recipient of the $10,000 DANUTA GLEED LITERARY AWARD for Wax Boats (Caitlin Press), judged the best first English-language collection of short fiction by a Canadian author published in 2009.

 Judges Ivan E. Coyote, Mary Soderstrom, and David Bezmozgis said “Sarah Roberts's Wax Boats is a truly remarkable collection. Roberts exhibits tremendous versatility, writing movingly and convincingly in every conceivable voice--of the men and women, girls and boys, natives and whites who inhabit her fictional Smokecrest Island. There are stories here of loss and renewal, of strange adventures, and of acts of profound kindness. The prose is clear and evocative and flawless. Roberts is a truly gifted storyteller and Wax Boats is a mature and ambitious work of literature. It is a Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town for the modern age.” Congratulations, Sarah!

The winner of the 2010 Griffin Prize for poetry has taken time to credit the Harbour Publishing publication that got her started as a published writer. Karen Solie was announced June 2 as winner of the $65,000 poetry prize, one of the richest in the world. According to a report today in the National Post, "She burst onto the Canadian poetry scene in 1995, when her work appeared in Breathing Fire: Canada's New Poets, edited by Lorna Crozier and Patrick Lane. 'That was my first publication.' she told the National Post last month, 'I thought there had to be some luck involved.'" Crozier and Lane followed the success of Breathing Fire with Breathing Fire 2, published by Nightwood in 2004.

The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Place Names: A Complete Reference to Coastal British Columbia by Andrew Scott, has won the BC Book Prizes Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize, which recognizes books that most contribute to the enjoyment and understanding of British Columbia. This award comes with a certificate and a $2,000 cash prize. ... click to see news item

Harbour Publishing authors dominated this year’s BC Historical Federation’s Writing Competition. Andrew Scott won first prize and the 2009 Lieutenant-Governor's medal for historical writing for his book, The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Place Names: A Complete Reference to Coastal British Columbia; Masako Fukawa, with Stanley Fukawa, won second prize for Spirit of the Nikkei Fleet: BC’s Japanese Canadian Fisherman; and Marie Elliott won third prize for her book Fort St. James and New Caledonia: Where British Columbia Began.

The BC Historical Federation awards its Lieutenant-Governor’s Medal to the author whose book makes the most significant contribution to the history of British Columbia. The judges look for quality of research and documentation, comprehensiveness, accuracy, organization and clarity, as well as readability and audience appeal. The medal comes with a $600 cash prize. ... click to see news item