Sharon Lax (Member at Large) is pleased to announce the book launch of her short story collection, Shattered Fossils, published by Guernica Editions. The launch will feature Sharon in conversation with Su J Sokol, author of Cycling to Asylum, Run J Run and Zee, and will be held via Zoom at 5:00 pm EST on Sunday, February 28, 2021.
Jean Kay (Metro─Vancouver Branch) is a published poet who has written a poem every morning for 23 ½ years. She contributes monthly to a local newsletter and IAUSM magazine. Her interview with Silver Lining Conversations is here https://bit.ly/3dPuC53. Some of her poems are on her website: https://poetrytoinspire.com.
Rosanna Battigelli (Toronto Branch) is pleased to announce that she has two upcoming book releases: her fourth book for Harlequin, Rescued by the Guarded Tycoon (March 1st and 9th, Chapters and Amazon), and Easter Morning, Easter Sun (March 16th, Pajama Press). “With Rosanna Battigelli’s bouncing rhyme and Tara Anderson’s cozy art, Easter Morning, Easter Sun is sure to become a tradition of its very own.” https://pajamapress.ca/book/easter_morning_easter_sun/. The book trailer of Rosanna’s novel La Brigantessa (Inanna, 2018), winner of a 2019 Gold IPPY Award for Historical Fiction, is now on You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vmc4f0_Drsk.
Keith Inman (Niagara Branch) has work published, or upcoming, in seven anthologies for 2020/21, most from Ontario, one from Saskatchewan, and two international. He will again co-ordinate The Banister Poetry Contest and Anthology for 2021. It’s the contest’s 36th edition; Keith’s 15th year on the board and sixth as chair. This year’s judge is Dr. Elspeth Cameron. Last fall, Keith participated in Black Moss Press’s video zoom recordings of authors discussing and reading their poetry. You can find the VZR’s at blackmosspress.com. He also continues to participate in monthly poetry meetings based on the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop style of round table discussion and sharing.
Karen Gansel (Niagara Branch) is pleased to announce her new novel Celeste Unraveled is available on both Amazon and Kobo. This adult fiction tells the story of Celeste, whose former role as a high-profile nurse manager in a busy urban hospital ends abruptly when restructuring hits her personally. Like her peers, she has dreamed of retirement as a time for herself. Instead, her careful plans lay around her in shreds. You can find it on the CAA Member Book Catalogue along with Karen’s first novel Differences Between Us.
Catherine Graham (Toronto Branch) is pleased to announce that her seventh poetry collection Æther: An Out-of-Body Lyric will be launched this spring. “Graham has created a luminous homage to family, to cancer and to the strange windings of truth. Memories mesh with visitations and multiple stories unfold of pain and loss, hidden tragedy, forgiveness and growth. With an otherworldly delicacy Graham stitches it all together to create a book-length lyric essay of lingering and profound beauty, a paean to the complexity of love and survival.” Pre-order here.
Erin MacNair (Metro Vancouver Branch) received the Honourable Mention in Pulp Literature’s 2020 Raven Short Story contest. It Can Be Done with Words is set to be published in the Spring Issue (#30). Erin also has a speculative fiction piece coming out in the 2021 spring issue of Prairie Fire Magazine. Detour Ahead, an online lit mag showcasing stories of navigating Covid-19, has published her nonfiction piece Zoom Meeting in Progress. Three of her short stories, Where Things Rise, Unannounced, and The Chemistry of Unhappiness, published in EVENT Magazine, are now featured on the podcast Fresh New Shorts.
Rick Prashaw (National Capital Region Branch) has Tantor Media (USA) releasing the audiobook of his Soar, Adam, Soar (Dundurn Press, 2019) on February 16, 2021. Incredibly, John Dickhout, the recipient for Rick’s son Adam’s heart, is the narrator. https://tantor.com/soar-adam-soar-rick-prashaw.html
Gordon Jones (Toronto Branch) will be participating in 2 live virtual Author Events with Bookland Press at this years Ontario Library Association Super Conference, Ontario’s largest book trade show. One will be on February 4, 2021, for his latest novel Saving Tiberius, and the other is on February 5, 2021, for his non-fiction book Defending the Inland Shores. See details at https://www.eventscribe.net/2021/OLASC/searchGlobal.asp.
Jerena Tobiasen (Metro Vancouver Branch) is pleased to announce that her novel The Crest is available as an audiobook, narrated by the talented James Meunier of the UK. The multi-award-winning story is a fast-moving historical tale of war, prejudice, crime, love and heartbreak that spans more than 70 years and both World Wars. Find it on Amazon, Audible and iTunes. http://jerenatobiasen.ca/
Gail Sidonie Šobat (Alberta Branch) has won the 2020 International Eyelands Book Awards Grand Prize for her poetry manuscript, Lessons from the Greeks. The book will be published by Strange Day Books in both English and Greek, and Gail will spend a week at Three Rock writers’ resort on the island of Crete.
Karen Gansel’s (Niagara Branch) new novel, Celeste Unraveled, was recently published on Amazon.com and Kobo.com. A member of the Canadian Authors Association since 2009, she was president of the Niagara branch between 2011 and 2017, joined the Association’s Board of Directors in 2017, chaired the Program Committee from 2017 to 2020, and was elected as 1st Vice-Chair at the Annual General Meeting in 2020. Her short story, Canal of Destiny, was published on the Quick Brown Fox blog in 2010. In March 2018, Karen released her first novel, Differences Between Us, a psychological suspense available on Amazon.com and Kobo.com.
Ligia Carvalho (Metro Vancouver Branch) published her third children’s book, My dragon doesn’t want to wear shoes, in November 2020, to bring the message about bullying and confidence to kids. The book follows the journey of a little dragon named Freddy, who is struggling with self-confidence because his friends make fun of his green shoes. https://ligiacarvalho.ca/books
Karim Bhaloo (Toronto Branch) and Shirley Lum have published a book called Italy – Some Day! through Kindle Direct Publishing. A story of their journey that started with a fateful meeting in 2009 and resulted in discovering new places, including a trip to Italy and a food and wine tour. Purchase a copy (e-books also available) here.
Dan Buchanan (Peterborough Branch) is pleased that his new book, The Wreck of HMS Speedy: The Tragedy That Shook Upper Canada, is up front in bookstores across the country through the holiday season. Interest has been growing for this Canadian history story since its release on August 18, 2020. Makes a great Christmas present! www.danbuchananhistoryguy.com
Dr. Ian Prattis (National Capital Region Branch) is releasing PAST, PRESENT and FUTURE: Stories that Haunt, in 2021 through Manor House. This collection contains stories, personal essays and futuristic writings illuminating facets of humanity that are both wholesome and deadly. www.ianprattis.com
Aaron Barry (Metro Vancouver Branch) announces his latest release, Young Adult Prompts Gone Wild. It’s a continuation of his first book, Writing Prompts Gone Wild, and offers fresh, offbeat, and hilarious YA writing prompts for wordsmiths who like to challenge the conventional. For sample pages or additional info, check out @promptsgonewild on Instagram!
Rick Prashaw (National Capital Region Branch), author of Soar, Adam, Soar (Dundurn Press, 2019) has a 4-episode video podcast with actor John Dickhout, his son’s heart recipient. The first two episodes for the Canada Council for the Arts airs on December 15. Here’s the trailer: https://bit.ly/3ojTsMn
Kamal Parmar (Metro Vancouver) published his new book of poems titled Still Waters in October 2020. The book launch, organized by the publisher Silver Bow Publishing B.C. and hosted by Cynthia Sharp, was held on November 22. Kamal will be doing an online reading from a poetry anthology launched by the Nanaimo Library VIRL Branch titled Alone, but not Alone, on December 5.
Carol L. MacKay (Vancouver Branch) was the featured author at Qualicum Reads, at the Qualicum Beach (BC) Museum on August 27, where she read from and discussed her historical children’s book, Lily in the Loft. On September 28, Carol read her poem about meeting prairie icon Grant MacEwan at the Zoom Launch of YYC POP, an anthology by Frontenac House. Her article “From Stranger to Familiar Face” appeared in the September/October 2020 issue of Internet Genealogy. Carol’s children’s story, Soured on Pickles, will appear in the February 2021 issue of Spider, while the October 2020 issue of Ladybug featured her silly story for early readers, Not the Same Squirrel, about a costume-changing critter.
A Light from Below, written by Chadham Thomas (Toronto branch), was published on October 7th, 2020. The novel, Thomas’s debut, was self-published with the aid of FriesenPress. It is available for purchase through both Amazon and FriesenPress, and links for both are available on his website, chadhamthomas.com.
Michael Newman (Toronto Branch) has received national recognition through the 2020 New York City Big Book Award for his debut novel Between These Walls, which was recognized as a Distinguished Favorite in the category of Historical Fiction.
Sue Farrell Holler (Alberta Branch) is pleased to announce the publication of her new picture book Raven, Rabbit, Deer (Pajama Press). Writte n in English, it introduces words in Ojibwemowin. A starred review in Publishers Weekly said, “Holler’s story gains from the interplay of dimensions: the affectionate relationship between the boy and his grandfather, the growing vocabulary they share, and their slow-paced appreciation of the natural world.”
Gordon K. Jones’ (Toronto Branch) novel, Saving Tiberius (Bookland Press), is being released as an e-book available through Chapters/Indigo and Apple Books on November 1, 2020.
Michael Newman’s (Toronto Branch) debut historical fiction novel Between These Walls received a “Lightening Bolt” review in the October 12th, 2020 print edition of Publishers Weekly. In the magazine’s BookLife section, the review gave Michael’s book a “Lightening Bolt”, indicating an Editor’s Pick book of outstanding quality.
Susana Molinolo‘s (Toronto Branch) poem I, Humminbird has received an acceptance from Contemporary Verse 2: The Canadian Journal of Poetry and Critical Writing, also known as CV2. Susana first submitted poetry to the journal back in 2003, and has held onto the paper rejection because it contained such constructive and encouraging feedback. Although it’s taken 17 years, Susana’s over the moon to receive an acceptance from CV2!
Rick Prashaw (National Capital Region Branch), author of Soar, Adam, Soar (Dundurn Press, 2019), has an audiobook deal with Tantor Media and Dundurn. His son’s heart recipient, John Dickhout, an actor, is the narrator! https://www.facebook.com/RickPrashaAuthor
Ingrid Betz (Member at Large) is pleased to announce the October 22nd, 2020, online launch of her sixth novel, The Borrowman Cell, by the feminist press Inanna Publications. Animal-rights activists are not the only ones involved when China starts poaching bears in Algonquin Park. The bears may be saved, but human lives will be forever changed.
Myrtle Siebert (Metro Vancouver Branch) has written Float House Family Favourites for young people and new cooks who may need a few dependable recipes and methods to help prepare tasty and healthy meals for themselves, their housemates, and their family members. The author has developed these recipes and used them her entire life. Learn more about the author at https://www.myrtlesiebert.com/
Alison Clarke’s (Alberta Branch) book of poetry, Phillis: A Poetry Collection, will be published by the University of Calgary Press on October 15, 2020. Phillis Wheatley was the first African American to publish a book of poetry, and she was a slave, publishing her book of poetry in 1773.
Nan Williamson (Peterborough Branch Poetry Chair) has had her poem, Poet’s Practice in these Times, accepted for publication online and in print by High Shelf Press, Issue XIII, December 15 2020.
Julie Whitley (Waterloo-Wellington Branch) is pleased to announce that the sequel to her Secrets of the Home Wood series, The Stalker, has been recently released and is already a 5-star Readers’ Favourite and receiving great reviews. It can be found on KINDLE at https://amazon.com/dp/B089QVCJBX and in paperback at https://amazon.com/dp/0228816378.
Renée Sgroi (Toronto Branch) is hosting a virtual book launch to celebrate her debut poetry collection, life print, in points (erbacce-press) on Thursday, September 24th, at 7:30pm. FREE event, but registration required: https://us04web.zoom.us/meeting/register/upUode-hrTwuHND5glatPeAJYVWSUzWZdvIO.
Michael Newman’s (Toronto Branch) debut historical fiction novel Between These Walls received a sterling book review with four out of four “A”s from BookLife Reviews. Mr Newman is also collaborating with a BC screenwriter to bring a screen adaptation of the novel to the TV screen in a six part series.
Jerena Tobiasen (Metro Vancouver Branch), author of The Prophecy saga – The Crest, The Emerald and The Destiny – is pleased to announce that The Destiny won Readers’ Favorite 2020 Bronze Medal for Historical Fiction. In 2020, The Prophecy also received awards from Canada Book Awards, Independent Press and Next Generation Indie Book. http://jerenatobiasen.ca/.
Keith Inman’s (Niagara Branch) new book, The Way History Dries, a poetry book/novel about walking the Camino-Frances, is scheduled for an October release from Black Moss Press. Keith has also had 19 poems published in print so far this year, four of which were named Honourable Mentions, and had another 16 poems published online. In addition, he wrote two cover blurbs for fellow writers launching new books, provided an introduction for an online journal, helped judge two teen poetry contests and coordinated an Ontario-wide Anthology contest for CAA-Niagara’s The Banister.
Rick Prashaw (National Capital Region Branch), author of Soar, Adam, Soar (Dundurn Press, 2019), was interviewed by Yvonne Heath, author of Love Your Life to Death, on her Rogers TV/You Tube Channel show Real Life Talk. https://bit.ly/3g8K21G
Guglielmo D’Izzia (Toronto Branch) is pleased to announce that his debut novel, The Transaction (published by Guernica Editions), was a 2020 International Book Awards Finalist in the Literary Fiction category.
Purabi Das (Toronto Branch) released her debut collection of essays, What Will It Be This Time, in April 2020. Published by Amazon Digital Services as an e-book, it is a selection of essays touching on the differences and similarities in life between India, where Purabi immigrated from, and Canada. Purabi was the featured guest on Episode 2 of Words with Writers Podcast in June 2020.
Margaret Lynch (Toronto Branch) is the winner of the 2020 Penguin Random House best nonfiction book proposal prize for TRANSFORMED: When My DNA Changed, So Did I. The National Post published an excerpt on July 4, 2020, “How my sister’s cells attacked my body, and changed my life.”
Karen Schauber (Metro Vancouver Branch), editor of The Group of Seven Reimagined: Contemporary Stories Inspired by Historic Canadian Paintings, is happy to announce the book has just been awarded the “Silver Medal” for “The Very Best” Book Award for Short Fiction 2020 by The Miramichi Reader, Canada’s best regarded source for the finest in new literary releases.
Diana Chan-Salitter (Peterborough Branch) is pleased to announce her debut novel, The Search for Sally, is now available as an eBook and a soft-cover edition from Amazon. Take a journey with Elena, a young woman who struggles with poverty, as she gathers all her courage to leave her home country. She travels alone for the first time halfway around the world to search for her family in a cold, unfamiliar place.
Ron Hore (Winnipeg, MB; Member-at-Large), writing as R.J. Hore, is pleased to announce that Hammer Across the Stars, the middle book in his Of Destiny’s Daughters trilogy, was released on July 13, 2020. It is currently available in ebook format through the usual outlets and through the publisher, Champagne Books, and will be available in a print edition at a later date. The final chapter, Expeditions to Earth, is set to be available by the end of this year. Hope you enjoy Canadian-flavored space opera!
The memoir written by Leila Kulpas (Metro Vancouver Branch), Into the Eyes of Hungry: Growing up in the Wilds of Australia (published in 2019), was a finalist for the 2019 Book Excellence Awards.
Sam Thiara’s (Metro Vancouver Branch) Lost and Found: Seeking the Past and Finding Myself, is a moving memoir documenting an impossible quest to find her grandfather’s village – with just a faded photograph. The story is for anyone who has felt adrift in the world; what was once lost can be found. Available for sale through Amazon.
Bestseller Bill Arnott (Metro Vancouver) is pleased to announce the New Edition release of his adventure travelogue Gone Viking: A Travel Saga (WIBA Awards Finalist) from RMBooks, which has been awarded Finalist at the ABF International Book Awards. Bill’s eight year trek and exploration writing his travel memoir has also earned him a Fellowship in the Royal Geographical Society of London (fellow fellows include Darwin, Shackleton, Livingstone and Palin).
Ed Seaward (Toronto Branch) held the official book launch of his debut novel Fair on July 21, 2020, as a virtual event via Zoom. Fair was published June 22, 2020 by The Porcupine’s Quill.
Rajesh Sehgal’s (Toronto Branch) book NOT GUILTY: Fabricated Implication Report – FIR is now available on Amazon. This book describes how the laws in India have been misused and the criminal justice system abused over the years—leading to arrest, humiliation, and sufferings of tens of thousands of innocents who are implicated in false cases. It also touches on police abuse and atrocities.
Alberta author Sue Farrell Holler (Grande Prairie, AB, member-at-large) won the 2020 R. Ross Annett Award for Children’s Literature. Her YA novel Cold White Sun is based on the true story of a child refugee from Ethiopia. Jurors said, “The writing is vivid, often raw, and the protagonist’s story lingers far after the final page.”
Gordon K Jones (Toronto Branch) is pleased to announce that his crime thriller, Saving Tiberius, is scheduled for release by Bookland Press in July 2020. When word is leaked that Morgan Watson’s cat, Tiberius, miraculously cured itself of diabetes and may hold the key to a cure, he is attacked and almost killed. As he and a strong-willed police officer, Paula Rogers, search for who is behind the brutal attempts to get Tiberius, they find themselves intertwined with the growing list of dead bodies.
With twenty-five reading events postponed (so far!), Bill Arnott (Metro Vancouver Branch) created Gone Viking Online, a virtual book tour with actual reading. Join Bill for quick, lighted readings from his Whistlers Independent Book Award finalist travel memoir Gone Viking: A Travel Saga, with mini-video tours, here on YouTube.
Author Nina Shoroplova (Metro Vancouver Branch) is planning a week of activities from June 22–28 inclusive, to promote the release of her book Legacy of Trees: Purposeful Wandering in Vancouver’s Stanley Park with Heritage House. The week will begin on June 22 with a live online Facebook conversation with Bill Stephen, recently retired Superintendent of Urban Forestry, Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation and author of the foreword in Nina’s book.
On Friday, Nina and Margaret Anne Hume, National Chair of CAA, will be discussing Nina’s book, their first books, the writing process, and the changes COVID-19 is bringing about for authors, some of which are quite challenging. This will be another live, online Facebook event.
Three one-hour walks stopping at historic trees in Stanley Park on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of that week will be filmed and later posted on YouTube.
Details for these events will be available on Nina’s Author & Book Editor Facebook page, her own website (ninashoroplova.ca), and will be announced in a press release available from Heritage House.
Pigeon Soup & Other Stories by Rosanna Micelotta Battigelli (Toronto Branch) will be released in Fall 2020 by Inanna Publications. (Fall Catalogue can be downloaded at www.inanna.ca). The characters in Pigeon Soup & Other Stories are navigating relationships and grappling with issues of translocation, language and identity, religion and culture, and food. These tales portray the dark places they inhabit physically, emotionally, or metaphorically, with twists that sometimes provide a flicker (or even a bright beam) of hope. Rosanna was to have spoken about her novel La Brigantessa at the Writers and Editors Network Breakfast Meeting on April 18th; it will be rescheduled. https://wenetwork.ca/site/breakfast-meeting-april-18-2020
Canadian Authors–Toronto co-president Lee Parpart received an honourable mention in the Negative Capability Press Spring 2020 poetry contest for her poem “Deadheading in Late August,” and won Arc Poetry Magazine’s inaugural Award of Awesomeness in May 2020 for her poem “Hello goodbye.”
Michael Newman (Toronto Branch) is launching his debut novel Between These Walls and invites you to his virtual book launch on May 14, 2020, at 7:00 pm EDT. He will have several special guests, including Wendy Gruner, author of Children of a Faraway War, and an exclusive performance by award-winning singer, songwriter Jill Barber. RSVP at mnewman@boardwalkcapital.ca and join the Zoom meeting at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86509584495?pwd=WGI3TkFxTHBFQUFFTEVuNmZtTHdLdz09
Naomi Steinberg’s (Metro Vancouver Branch) first book, Goosefeather – Once Upon a Cartographic Adventure, catalogues her artistic journey around the world by land and sea, from the West Coast of Canada—and all the way back again. Five hundred hardcover, silver gilded, first edition books will be available for purchase on June 9, 2020. The book launch will be broadcast from Naomi’s Facebook artist page https://www.facebook.com/sheisNEPS and YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbAy36rqdhAxh2DDqqJ7euQ/featured?view_as=public. More information is available on www.goosefeather.ca.
Pamela Yuen-Elkerbout and Susana Molinolo (Toronto Branch) co-wrote the poem “Postcards We Never Sent”, which has been published in the anthology COVID-19: Poems from the Lockdown. It’s now available on Amazon.They co-read their poem at the Canadian Authors’ Toronto poetry month event on April 23.
Susana Molinolo‘s (Toronto Branch) 5-word poem “Nervous gut like garbage truck” was published in Neutral Spaces, Issue Concrete, available at neutralspaces.com/concrete. She also read poems at the first virtual edition of Draft Readings on April 26.
Melanie Marttila (Sudbury ON, member at large) has had five poems accepted for publication over the next five issues of Polar Borealis Magazine. The first one, “Relativity Speaking,” was published in issue #14 on April 27th. The magazine is free to read online here: http://polarborealis.ca/currentback-issues/
With twenty-five reading events postponed (so far!), Bill Arnott (Metro Vancouver Branch) created Gone Viking Online, a virtual book tour with actual reading. Join Bill for quick, lighthearted readings from his WIBA Finalist travel memoir Gone Viking: A Travel Saga, with mini video tours, here on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqqHfvXtRDc
Guglielmo D’Izzia’s (Toronto Branch) debut novel, The Transaction, winner of the Marina Nemat Award, was released by Guernica Editions on May 1, 2020. On May 9, he will also appear as a featured author at this year’s edition of Librissimi – Toronto Italian Book Festival.
Margaret Lynch (Toronto Branch) published her essay, “Déjà Vu in the time of COVID-19” on the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) blog April 2020. She recently published an excerpt from her memoir-in-progress in the January 2020 Issue 5.1 of literary journal untethered. “Witness” is about her experience as an accidental caregiver for her father towards the end of his life, and the unlikely connection they forged after a difficult relationship.
On June 2, Heritage House (Victoria, BC) will publish Nina Shoroplova’s (Metro Vancouver Branch) second trade book (sixth overall, including four self-published titles). Legacy of Trees: Purposeful Wandering in Vancouver’s Stanley Park tells the stories of the many trees growing in this world-famous urban park. In 2014, TripAdvisor called Stanley Park the best urban park in the world. These trees tell the story of Vancouver.
Do you write for a travel journal? a plant-focused journal? a magazine for landscape gardeners? Nina is looking for review and interviews. Anyone interested?
Nan Williamson‘s (Peterborough Branch) poem “Poet’s Practice ” was published in High Shelf Press, Issue XIII, and her poem “Georgian Bay Meditation” was one of the 15 poems chosen for the League of Canadian Poets’ “Poem in your Pocket” for Poetry Month. She will receive the booklet with the 15 poems, postcards of these poems for handout on National Poetry Day, April 30th and $150.
Spiritual writer Donald Lee (Alberta Branch) recently published his first book, The Band Director’s Lessons About Life (available at online & real stores). It’s a book of modern-day parables inspired by his career as a band director. In the style of Chicken Soup for the Soul, Donald draws spiritually inspirational lessons from everyday classroom foibles.
Author R.J.Hore (Winnipeg, MB, member at large) with 13 novels and 9 novellas published, is trying out something new starting February 12. He will be posting a chapter of an unpublished novel each Wednesday on his Facebook author page https://www.facebook.com/RonaldJHore/ to provide a sample of one of his writing styles. This project will continue until all of the novel has been displayed, or demand for a free reading dies.
Ingrid Betz (London, ON member at large) will be reading from her latest prize-winning short story, Colours In the Rain, at the launch of this year’s CAA – Niagara Branch anthology, Fifteen Stories High. Date: March 28th. Time: 2 pm. Place: St. Catharines Public Library, 54 Church Street, St. Catharines, Ontario. [This event was cancelled due to COVID-19.]
Nancy Taber (Niagara Branch) published her short story, “Secrets and Stockings,” in The Blake-Jones Review, available at https://www.blakejonesreview.com/short-stories/secrets-and-stockings/ The story is about a journalist who steals her grandmother’s journal from the code-breakers museum at Bletchley Park. It is part of an in-progress collection inspired by her research in war museums; the collection immerses the reader in diverse tales about strong and complicated women whose stories have been overlooked or forgotten.
Monique Layton (Metro Vancouver Branch) ended 2019 with two new books: Everyday Evil: Why Our World Is the Way It Is (Tidewater Press), launched at the Vancouver Book Warehouse in October, and Voices from the Lower Deck: Folklore and Folkways of the Sea (FriesenPress), published in December. Both are available from their respective publishers and on Amazon.
Romantic writer Robert Joseph Greene (Metro Vancouver Branch) believes there is a tangible format to understanding love and will be presenting his findings on the age-old question “What Is Love?” to an academic as well as public audience at UBC’s Green College. This free event takes place on Tuesday, February 11, 2020, at Coach House, Green College, UBC 6201 Cecil Green Park Rd, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1 from 5:00 to 6:30 pm, with a reception to follow. Wikipedia lists Greene as Canada’s only male author dedicated solely to romantic fiction. This will be his second appearance at Green College. For more information, to go https://greencollege.ubc.ca/civicrm/event/info/.
Anita Kushwaha‘s (National Capital Region Branch) novel Secret Lives of Mothers & Daughters about the ties that bind mothers and daughters together and the secrets that tear them apart, will be released on January 28th by HarperCollins Canada.
Nan Williamson‘s (Peterborough Branch) poem “Kindled” was published in Issue 3 of Dreamers Creative Writing magazine.
Gill Foss (National Capital Region Branch) is announcing the publication of her new poetry book Personal Perspectives. It covers her journey from the north east coast of the UK, through a variety of travels to her life now as a Canadian citizen and CAA Member of many years standing. It concludes with her anxiety about climate change on our future. The book is currently available through Amazon.ca at a cost of approximately $10 CDN.
Bernice Lever’s (Metro Vancouver Branch) poem Taking Spiders Out received Honourable Mention in The World Around Us poetry anthology contest by The Ontario Poetry Society. In November, two of her poems were included in The Prairie Journal (editor: Anne Burke). In December, Bernice did a reading of her poems from Tenfold on World Poetry Café on Vancouver Co-op Radio. (World Poetry Café is a multilingual and multicultural radio show with listeners in 106 countries. They feature poetry both local and from around the world, including book launches with poets and writers and CD launches with a number of musicians, artists, and filmmakers. For more info, go to https://www.coopradio.org/content/world-poetry-cafe-2 and https://worldpoetry.ca/).
Hannah Long (Barrie, ON member at large) has sold her Viking-inspired adult fantasy Hall of Smoke to Titan Books in a 2-book deal, with audio rights sold at auction to Recorded Books. The book follows a disgraced warrior-priestess as she evades armies and meddling gods to regain her goddess’s favour. Publication is set for Spring 2021.
Elizabeth McLean‘s (Metro Vancouver Branch, formerly NCR) story “95%” was shortlisted for the Bridport 2019 Short Story Prize in the UK. The story is about the coming into adulthood of a young man who finally has to take responsibility for a child he had fathered in his younger years. See https://www.bridportprize.org.uk/results
Nancy Taber (Niagara Branch) published her short story, Climbing, on CommuterLit, available at http://commuterlit.com/2019/10/thursday-climbing/. The story explores the intersection of the female protagonist’s personal and professional lives. It combines the allegory of Greek Gods and Goddesses with an archeological bent using a Nike statuette. She is currently working on a collection of short stories, inspired by her research in war museums, which immerse the reader in diverse tales about strong and complicated women whose stories have been overlooked or forgotten.
Jerena Tobiasen (Metro Vancouver Branch) recently released The Destiny, the third volume of an intriguing historical saga called The Prophecy. As prophesied by Punita Kota, future generations of the Lange (“The Crest”) and Kota (“The Emerald”) families collide, resulting in manipulation, deception and false beliefs, resulting in an international kidnapping and vicious court battles.Jerena’s books are available on Amazon (print and e-book). Print copies can also be ordered through most bookstores.
Suparna Ghosh, (Toronto Branch) one of the founding members of the Art Bar, the longest-running, weekly poetry readings in Canada, was one of the poets at the Dead Poets Society Night on December 17, 2019, at the Supermarket on Augusta Avenue. She read Rabindranath Tagore’s poems, the first non-European to receive the Nobel Prize for literature in 1913. Tagore’s short story, Post Office, was staged at the Arts and Letters Club of Toronto in 1914. Please visit suparnaghosh.com.
Rosanna Micelotta Battigelli (Toronto Branch) read from her award-winning novel La Brigantessa at the Parry Sound Festival of Authors on October 29 and at Ronald McDonald House in Toronto on October 3. La Brigantessa (Inanna Publications, 2018) has received five honours and awards to date. https://www.inanna.ca/index.php/catalog/la-brigantessa/
Kathleen Jones (Toronto Branch) signed copies of her novel Love Is the Punch Line at IndigoSpirit, First Canadian Place, in Toronto, ON, on September 5. Get more information about the book and read reviews at https://kathleenjones.org/category/love-is-the-punch-line/.
Ed Burrows (Peterborough Branch) has published his book Putting Your Affairs in Order through Self-Counsel Press. His book allows the reader to enter into it all the information that will be needed on their death, saving substantial costs for the estate. It is available at Chapters and Staples stores across Canada.
Peter Freeman (Metro Vancouver Branch) has been selected by the editing team for The Fieldstone Review, the University of Saskatchewan’s literary magazine, as the winner of The Fieldstone Review‘s literary prize, for his short story Hidden Message. His story was published in their annual magazine in September 2019 and is available to read online.
Peter has also launched Growth, a collection of poetry using historical events to identify its impact on a young boy’s life as he matures from childhood to adulthood, at the Salt Spring Island Library in BC. Growth was published by Adelaide Books of New York and is available on Amazon and Adelaide Books in paperback and Kindle versions. http://petersfreeman.ca.
Joan Boxall (Metro Vancouver Branch) has authored DrawBridge: Drawing Alongside My Brother’s Schizophrenia (Caitlin Press), which includes a colour insert of her brother’s drawings. The book lends itself well to book clubs in its handling of the subject of mental health and the power of art to heal. For discussion questions and reviews, go to www.joanboxall.com and http://caitlin-press.com/our-books/drawbridge/
Tommy Schnurmacher‘s (Montreal Branch) memoir Makeup Tips from Auschwitz: How Vanity Saved My Mother’s Life is now available through Amazon, Indigo, and Barnes and Noble. It was recently listed in the bestseller rankings on Amazon.ca as #1 in both Hot New Releases/Judaism and Hot New Releases/Jewish Biography, #3 bestseller in Judaism, #5 in Hot New Releases in Humorous Essays and #6 bestseller in Jewish Biography. talkradiotommy.com and https://www.amazon.ca/Makeup-Tips-Auschwitz-Vanity-Mothers/dp/0228805155/
Edythe Anstey Hanen (Metro Vancouver Branch) is a finalist in the Whistler Independent Book Awards for her novel Nine Birds Singing. The winners will be announced at the Whistler Writers Festival on October 18, 2019.
Purabi Das (Toronto Branch) was invited once again by Poetry and Spoken Word Quarterly Readings and Performances (@PoetryandSpokenWordQuarterly) to share her art on September 17, 2019. The event took place at the Berry Hill Co. in Oshawa. Poetry and Spoken Word Quarterly Readings and Performances connects with a community of thinkers and lovers of language through verse and voice, examining the world and what it means to be human.
Patricia Sandberg‘s (Metro Vancouver Branch) short story The Colour of Us, first published in The Cabinet of Heed, is newly published in an anthology from the Lit Mag Love course community. The anthology features work from 25 writers with comments on their road to publication. Free copies available at litmaglove.com/anthology.
Rick Prashaw (National Capital Region Branch), author of Soar, Adam, Soar, joins Amanda Jette Knox (Love Lives Here) and host Matthew Pearson for a Modern Family panel at the Ottawa Writers’ Festival on October 27, 2019, sharing stories on love’s power to overcome obstacles and the many ways families can support each other in a world that is too often cruel and unwelcoming. https://writersfestival.org/events/fall-2019/modern-family Rick was also invited to speak to the Canadian Human Rights Commission on October 2, 2019. Details at www.rickprashaw.com.
Rosanna Battigelli (Toronto Branch) launched her children’s book Pumpkin Orange, Pumpkin Round, (Pajama Press), illustrated by award-winning Tara Anderson, at Chapters in Sudbury, Ontario, on Saturday, September 28. https://pajamapress.ca/book/pumpkin_orange_pumpkin_round/
Karen Schauber‘s (Metro Vancouver Branch) upcoming book launch for The Group of Seven Reimagined: Contemporary Stories Inspired by Historic Canadian Paintings, will be held along with a celebration and author readings at 7:00 – 9:00 pm on November 20, 2019, at Aperture Coffee Bar, 4124 Main Street in Vancouver.
Gord Grisenthwaite (Kingsville, ON member at large) and the works of roughly 14 of Canada’s best Indigenous writers are collected in Bawaagigan: Stories of Power, available on November 1, 2019. Gord will give a reading at the Toronto book launch in early December.
In September, JF Garrard‘s (Toronto Branch) Dark Helix Press published their twelfth book, Immersion: An Asian Anthology of Love, Fantasy, and Speculative Fiction, which is Book 2 in the Ricepaper Magazine book series. Featuring 15 speculative fiction stories, characters include a lost samurai, shape shifters, hopping vampires to an unground society of janitors. http://www.darkhelixpress.com/acww/immersion/.
Ann Shortell (Toronto Branch) is a finalist in the Whistler Independent Book Awards for her novel Celtic Knot: A Clara Swift Tale. The winners will be announced at the Whistler Writers Festival on October 18, 2019.
Sharon Frayne (Niagara Branch) was the Young Adult Novel Winner with Chain of Broken Hearts at the 2019 Muskoka Novel Marathon. This 72-hour write-a-thon raised funds for the Muskoka/Simcoe YMCA Adult Literacy Program. Sharon was also the 2019 Winner of the South Simcoe Arts Festival Short Story Award and was shortlisted for the 2019 Eden Mills Writers Festival. www.fraynesharon.com.
Elaine Cougler (Woodstock, ON member at large) is launching The Man Behind the Marathons: How Ron Calhoun Helped Terry Fox and Other Heroes Make Millions for Charity on Sept. 8, 2019 at Quality Hotel in Woodstock ON from 2–4 pm. Area book club members are invited to a special session with the author and the subject, Ron Calhoun, at 1:30 pm. The first launch was very well attended in London ON in June and the third launch will be in the Beaty Room at the Thamesford, ON Library on October 10, 6:30–8:30 pm. www.elainecougler.com and www.themanbehindthemarathons.com
Jean Kay (Metro Vancouver Branch) has had her story (shared at CanWrite! in Vancouver) published in the Coffee News.The weekly newspaper is published in 10 countries around the world. The story tells how one of Jean’s poems, which she gave as a gift thirty years ago, is taped to the owner’s mirror and read every day. The recipient is now 96. One never knows how our words can touch lives. https://poetrytoinspire.com
Dean Eilertson (Metro Vancouver Branch) has been announced as the finalist in the Fiction category in the 2019 Book Excellence Awards for his now Gold Seal adorned book Dreammaker.
In May, Jerena Tobiasen (Metro Vancouver Branch) published her second book The Emerald, which is Book II in The Prophecy saga.This is a story about a Roma family forced to flee Germany to avoid Hitler’s round-up of undesirables. Jerena’s first novel The Crest and this recent publication are both available on Amazon. http://jerenatobiasen.ca/
Carol L. MacKay (Metro Vancouver Branch) received word that her debut picture book, Lily in the Loft (YNWP, Regina), illustrated by Val Moker, was a finalist in the 2019 Next Generation Indie Book Awards in the Regional Fiction category. These awards honour small press and independently published books. Carol’s poems for children were published in the following magazines: “Ocean Surprises” in Pockets, June 2019; “In the Tulip Field” in Highlights, June 2019 and “Moving Day Villanelle” in Caterpillar (Ireland), Summer 2019. Her story, “Knock-Knock!” was published in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Life Lessons from the Cat, May 2019. Carol lives in Qualicum Beach, BC. www.facebook.com/CarolMacKayAuthor
Dick Bourgeois-Doyle‘s (National Capital Region Branch) What’s So Funny? Lessons from Canada’s Leacock Medal for Humour Writing is being reprinted by Burnstown Publishing House. It is also available in digital format. Find out more at https://burnstownpublishing.com/product/whats-so-funny-lessons-from-canadas-leacock-medal-for-humour-writing/.