Canadian literary event roundup: Feb. 10-16

It’s another busy week for literary events. Here’s a sample of what’s going on across the country:

• Asim Hussain launches Khadijah Goes to School, Toronto Women’s Bookstore (Feb. 11, 3 p.m., free)
• Sarah Ellis shares her experiences as a writer and librarian, Lillian H. Smith Library, Toronto (Feb. 11, 2 p.m., free)
• Vivek Shraya releases the second edition of God Loves Hair, Ryerson University Thomas Lounge, Toronto (Feb. 13, 6:30 p.m., free)
• Leslie Shimotakahara launches her memoir The Reading List, The Japan Foundation, Toronto (Feb. 14, 5:30 p.m., free, RSVP to info@jftor.org)
• Alan Lightman reads from his latest novel Mr g, Harbourfront Centre, Toronto (Feb. 15, 7:30 p.m., free)
• Ben Ehrenreich, Grace O’Connell, and Hal Niedzviecki share their stories about god, 61 Ossington, Toronto (Feb. 16, 7:30 p.m., free)
• Spoken word performer and motivational speaker Dwayne Morgan reads poetry, Danforth/Coxwell Library, Toronto (Feb. 15, 10 a.m., free)
• Saint Mary’s Reading Series presents poets Tammy Armstrong and Nick Thran, Saint Mary’s University, Halifax (Feb. 16, 7 p.m., free)
• Robson Reading Series presents Steve Burgess, author of Who Killed Mom? and Daniel Griffin, author of Stopping for Strangers, UBC Bookstore, Vancouver (Feb 16, 7 p.m., free)

Quillblog is looking for photos from literary events across Canada. Send your photos to scflinn@quillandquire.com

Joyland launches poetry hub

Online literary magazine Joyland has launched a new website, Joyland Poetry.

In a similar fashion to its short fiction and prose site, Joyland founders Emily Schultz and Brian Joseph Davis are working with regional editors to publish poetry from across North America. The hub features work by John K. Samson, Thom Donovan, Johnny Thunders, Mott Hoople, and Harold Abramowitz.

In January, the duo also published the first edition of Joyland Retro, a print anthology of stories from the magazine’s website.

Editor’s note: While we think that Johnny Thunders and Mott Hoople are the best poet names ever, they’re actually placeholders during the site’s soft launch.

Canadian literary event roundup: Feb. 3-9

It’s another busy week for literary events. Here’s a sample of what’s going on across the country:

• Dinner and reading with Pico Iyer, Grano, Toronto (Feb. 4, 7:30 p.m., $100)
• Ron Stevens signs Much Ado About Squat, McNally Robinson, Winnipeg (Feb. 4, 2:00 p.m., free)
• Debbie Hanlon and Grant Boland sign The Adventures of Gus & Isaac: Backyard Bullies, Chapters, St. John’s (Feb. 4, 1 p.m., free) and Coles (Feb. 5, 1.p.m., free)
• Lorenzo Reading Series presents an evening with Alexander MacLeod, University of New Brunswick, Saint John (Feb. 6, 7 p.m., free)
• Sue Goyette reads from her poetry collection Outskirts, Saint Mary’s University, Halifax (Feb. 7, 7 p.m., free)
• Kathy Dobson, author of With a Closed Fist, speaks about poverty, Algoma University, Sault Ste. Marie (Feb. 9, 7 p.m., free)
• CBC Canada Reads: True Stories, CBC Broadcast Centre, Toronto (Feb. 6-9, 9a.m., free)
• Susan Dodd discusses her new book, The Ocean Ranger: Remaking the Promise of Oil City, University of King’s College, Halifax (Feb 9., 7 p.m., free)
• David Rotenberg launches his new book, The Placebo Effects, Runnymede Library, Toronto (Feb. 8, 6:30 p.m., free)
• Pivot Readings presents readings with Meira Cook, Dani Couture, and Sarah Pinder, Press Club, Toronto (Feb. 8., 8 p.m.)

Quillblog is looking for photos from literary events across Canada. Send your photos to scflinn@quillandquire.com.

Wislawa Szymborska dead at 88

Poland’s Wislawa Szymborska, the woman the Nobel Prize committee called the “Mozart of poetry,” died in her hometown of Krakow on Wednesday.

From the Washington Post:

She has been called both deeply political and playful, a poet who used humor in unforeseen ways. Her verse, seemingly simple, was subtle, deep and often hauntingly beautiful. She used simple objects and detailed observation to reflect on larger truths, often using everyday images — an onion, a cat wandering in an empty apartment, an old fan in a museum — to reflect on grand topics such as love, death and passing time.

Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski said on Twitter that her death was an “irreparable loss to Poland’s culture.”

The Nobel Prize citation indicated that she was given the award “for poetry that with ironic precision allows the historical and biological context to come to light in fragments of human reality.” American poet Robert Haas said of her writing, “She’s a very pure poet and an unexpected choice because she writes poetry. There are no essays on man’s fate. There are no novels or theater. She’s lived in Krakow quietly most of her life and produced these marvelous, very simple poems.”

Szymborska, a lifelong smoker, succumbed to lung cancer at the age of 88.

Vancouver poet laureate Evelyn Lau offering free manuscript review

Photo: vancouververse.ca

As part of her three-year term as Vancouver’s poet laureate, Evelyn Lau is offering free manuscript consultations.

Starting March 5, Lau, who is working on her sixth poetry collection, will meet monthly with selected writers at the Vancouver Central Library to evaluate poetry manuscripts and answer questions about submitting to literary journals, giving readings, and other related topics.

To be considered for one of the 40-minute sessions, send a writing sample of up to three poems and a paragraph of what you hope to achieve to poetlaureate@vancouver.ca.

Canadian literary event roundup: Jan. 20-26

It’s a busy week for literary events. Here’s a sample of what’s going on across the country:

• Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild presents “Writing North: Writing the Extraordinary,” University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon (Jan. 20–21, free, www.skwriter.com)
• Poet Tanya Davis leads Stanzas in the Stacks: Poetry in the Library after Dark, Spring Garden Road Memorial Public Library, Halifax (Jan. 20, 8 p.m., free)
• Dragnet literary magazine launches its fourth issue, Academy of the Impossible, Toronto (Jan. 21, 9 p.m., pay what you can)
• Third annual Sparks Literary Festival, Memorial University, St. John’s (Jan. 22, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., free)
• William Gibson discusses his new book, Distrust that Particular Flavor, Bolen Books, Victoria (Jan. 23, 7 p.m., free)
• Robbie Burns marathon poetry reading with haggis and shortbread, Simon Fraser University Harbour Centre, Vancouver (Jan. 25, 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., free)
• CBC Radio and McNally Robinson host 5 Readers, 5 Writers, 5 Minutes, Winnipeg (Jan. 25, 8 p.m., free)
• Brian Brennan, author of Writing My Way From Ireland to Canada, and Frances Hern, author of Yip Sang and the First Chinese Canadians, read from their work and discuss the Canadian immigrant experience, Central branch, Calgary Public Library (Jan. 26, 12 to 1 p.m., free. Call 403-260-2620 to register)
• Ottawa Independent Writers presents “How to Write a Winning ‘How-To’ Book” with business author Dr. Denis Cauvier, Library & Archives Canada (Jan. 26, 7 p.m., $10, www.oiw.ca)
• Reading and book signing with UPEI writer-in-residence Michael Crummey, Confederation Centre Art Gallery, Charlottetown (Jan. 26, 7:30 p.m., free)

Quillblog is looking for photos from literary events across Canada. Send your photos to scflinn@quillandquire.com.

Spring preview 2012: international books

In the January/February issue, Q&Q looks ahead at the spring season’s new books.

FICTION

Two prolific American literary novelists are set to publish new titles this spring. Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize winner Toni Morrison is back with her 10th novel, Home (Knopf Canada, $25.95 cl., May). Exploring themes of masculinity and belonging, the short novel follows a self-loathing Korean War veteran as he surmounts defeat and finds a place to call home. • Also in May, part-time Toronto resident John Irving returns with his 13th novel, In One Person (Knopf Canada, $34.95 cl.), a tragicomedy narrated by a bisexual protagonist who reflects on life as a boy, a young man, and an adult.

Jack Kerouac’s first novel, The Sea Is My Brother (Da Capo Press/Raincoast, $26.50 cl., March), was written in the 1940s but never published. One of several Kerouac manuscripts that has recently resurfaced, the story follows the divergent fortunes of two sailors and explores an important theme in Kerouac’s later work: rebellion. • A book of little-known stories written by Anton Chekhov at the end of his career is forthcoming from Biblioasis. About Love ($12.95 pa., May), the Russian writer’s only linked collection, is translated by David Helwig and contains illustrations by Seth.

One of the most buzzed about debut novels of the season is Karen Thompson Walker’s The Age of Miracles (Bond Street Books/Random House, $29.95 cl., June), a unique coming-of-age story about a young girl who wakes up one morning to discover that the rotation of the earth has begun to slow, upending life as she knows it.

Jodi Picoult’s new novel, Lone Wolf (Atria/Simon & Schuster, $32 cl., Feb.), tells the story of two siblings who disagree over the treatment of their comatose father. • Best known for his 2003 novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, British author Mark Haddon returns with The Red House (Doubleday Canada, $29.95 cl., June). The book is narrated by eight characters, all related, who spend a week together in a countryside vacation home.

From the best-selling (co-)author of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies comes another new take on an old story. Seth Grahame-Smith’s Unholy Night (Grand Central Publishing/Hachette, $27.99 cl., April) reimagines the personalities of the three kings of the nativity, injecting the well-known Bible tale with thievery, escape, and intrigue. • The author of 12 previous novels, Christopher Moore continues in the surreal, satirical style of Lamb and Fool in his latest book, Sacré Bleu: A Comedy d’Art (William Morrow/HarperCollins, $34.99 cl., March), which follows friends of Vincent van Gogh as they vow to uncover the truth behind the painter’s death. • Neurosurgeon and medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta, whose non-fiction books Chasing Life and Cheating Death were New York Times bestsellers, makes his first foray into fiction with Monday Mornings (Grand Central/Hachette, $27.99 cl., March). In the vein of TV medical dramas, the novel follows the daily lives of five surgeons.

From Argentinean writer Liliana Heker comes The End of the Story (Biblioasis, $19.95 pa., April), a novel about Argentina’s Dirty War translated by Andrea Labinger. Set in 1976, the book follows a group of women living against a backdrop of state-sponsored violence. • Waiting for the Monsoon (House of Anansi Press, $24.95 pa., Feb.), by Threes Anna and translated from the Dutch by Barbara Fasting, is about a British woman’s relationship with the Indian tailor to whom she rents a room in her crumbling mansion.

Australian author Elliot Perlman’s third novel, The Street Sweeper (Bond Street Books/Random House, $32.95 cl., Jan.), explores the unlikely intersection of two characters’ lives: a history professor whose career and relationship are unravelling, and a black man from the Bronx who struggles to reintegrate after serving a prison term for a crime he didn’t commit.

MYSTERY, CRIME, AND FANTASY

Stephen King’s latest novel, The Wind Through the Keyhole (Scribner/S&S, $29.99 cl.), is set to publish in April. The eighth book in the Dark Tower series – chronologically set between volumes four and five – tells the story of gunslinger Roland Deschain’s first quest. • Camilla Läckberg is a household name in her native Sweden. In The Drowning (HarperCollins, $19.99 pa., April), translated by Tiina Nunnally, a man is found murdered and frozen beneath the ice. After discovering a similar incident, police realize the killings are connected and look into each victim’s past for clues. • Best-selling psychological suspense writer Brian Freeman returns with Spilled Blood (Sterling/Canadian Manda Group, $29.95 cl., May), the story of two Minnesota towns locked in a violent feud over the carcinogenic waste one town’s research corporation is releasing into the other community.

U.K. writer Benjamin Wood, who completed a master’s degree in creative writing at the University of British Columbia, is set to publish his debut mystery novel. In The Bellwether Revivals (McClelland & Stewart, $29.99 cl., March), bodies turn up near an elegant Cambridge house, and the young narrator and his lover become entangled in the search for the villain. • The 500 (Little, Brown/Hachette, $28.99 cl., June), a first novel from Matthew Quirk that is in development as a feature film, follows a young lawyer at a powerful Washington, D.C., consulting firm as he is pursued by two of the world’s most dangerous men. • A New York family is involved in a financial scandal in lawyer Cristina Alger’s debut thriller, The Darlings (Penguin, $28.50 cl., Feb.).

In Sara Paretsky’s latest crime thriller, Breakdown (G.P. Putnam and Sons/Penguin, $28.50 cl., Jan.), girls from some of Chicago’s most powerful families stumble upon a corpse in an abandoned cemetery. Detective V.I. Warshawski investigates childhood secrets to get to the bottom of the killing. • In Cloudland (St. Martin’s/Raincoast, $28.99 cl., March), the latest crime novel from Joseph Olshan, a newspaper reporter gets involved with the search for a serial killer after discovering a murder victim’s body. Meanwhile, a failed love affair surfaces and acquaintances emerge as suspects.

BIOGRAPHY AND MEMOIR

Sally Bedell Smith’s biography, Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch (Random House, $34 cl., Jan.), chronicles the public persona and private life of the reigning English monarch, offering a close-up view of her routines and relationships. • In Charles Dickens and the Great Theatre of the World (HarperCollins, $24.99 cl., Jan.), biographer Simon Callow explores the Victorian novelist’s status as an early celebrity and his little-known love of the stage.

Iconic American singer-songwriter Carole King is set to publish a memoir, A Natural Woman (Grand Central/Hachette, $29.99 cl., April). Chronicling King’s early years, her musical career, and her present-day activism, the book features behind-the-scenes concert photographs.

Revolution 2.0 (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt/Thomas Allen & Son, $29.95 cl., Jan.) is former Google executive Wael Ghonim’s first-hand account of his capture and interrogation in Cairo during the Arab Spring protests. The memoir also looks at how social media helped foment revolution. • Norwegian writer Halfdan W. Freihow reflects on his attempts to help his son, who has autism, make sense of the world in Somewhere Over the Sea (Anansi, $14.95 pa., June), translated by Robert Ferguson with a foreword by The Boy in the Moon author Ian Brown.

What Do You Want to Do Before You Die? (Artisan/Thomas Allen, $23.95 cl., April) follows four twentysomethings during their journey to complete a 100-item bucket list. Five years into their quest, Ben Nemtin, Dave Lingwood, Duncan Penn, and Jonnie Penn share what they’ve accomplished.

POETRY

Political activist, writer, and Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo has become a symbol of the struggle for human rights in China. His collection June Fourth Elegies (Graywolf/D&M Publishers, $27.50 cl., April), translated by Jeffrey Yang, honours the memory of fellow protesters in the Tiananmen Square massacre.

GRAPHICA

Following his internationally acclaimed debut, The Wrong Place, Belgian graphic novelist Brecht Evens is back with The Making Of (Drawn & Quarterly, $27.95 pa., May). Using watercolour images and deadpan humour, the book details the misadventures of an honoured guest at a country art festival. • Tom Gauld reimagines a familiar Bible story in Goliath (D&Q, $19.95 cl., Feb.). Focusing on the reluctant fighter, the graphic novel pairs minimalist drawings and witty prose. • In My Friend Dahmer (Abrams/Manda, $27.95 cl., March), cartoonist John “Derf” Backderf creates a haunting, intimate portrait of Jeffrey Dahmer, a high school friend who later became the notorious American serial killer.

POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS

New York Times Washington correspondent Jodi Kantor invites readers on a tour of the White House in The Obamas (Little, Brown/Hachette, $32.99 cl., Jan.), a detailed look at the family’s attempts to lead a normal life while juggling public roles and responsibilities. • The decade-long search for Osama bin Laden is the subject of CNN national security analyst and Holy War, Inc. author Peter L. Bergen’s new book, Manhunt (Doubleday Canada, $29.95 cl., May). • In Newstainment: Why the News Is Bad for You (Picador/Raincoast, $18.50 pa., June), Chase Whiteside and Erick Stoll argue that brief, up-to-the-moment bulletins are revolutionizing news media but failing political discourse.

Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid confronts crucial questions about U.S. foreign policy in Pakistan on the Brink: The Future of America, Pakistan, and Afghanistan (Viking, $28.50 cl., March). A follow-up to the acclaimed Descent into Chaos, Rashid’s latest explores solutions for achieving stability in the war-torn region. • In Heaven on Earth: A Journey Through Shari’a Law from the Deserts of Ancient Arabia to the Streets of the Modern Muslim World (Farrar, Straus and Giroux/D&M Publishers, $31 cl., April), U.K. human rights lawyer Sadakat Kadri takes an historical approach to explaining the evolution and implications of Islamic law.

An economics historian, British MP, and son of African immigrants, Kwasi Kwarteng explores the global reverberations of colonial history in Ghosts of Empire: Britain’s Legacies in the Modern World (Public Affairs/Raincoast, $34.50 cl., Feb.).

HISTORY

Long before the earthquake that ravaged Haiti in 2010, the country had a history of poverty and corruption. In Haiti: The Aftershocks of History (Henry Holt and Company/Raincoast, $29 cl., Jan.), Laurent Dubois traces the Caribbean nation’s troubles back to the 1804 slave revolt and sheds light on the country’s overlooked successes. • Jenny Balfour-Paul probes the roots of the world’s oldest dye in Indigo: Egyptian Mummies to Blue Jeans (Firefly Books, $39.95 pa., Jan.). Covering the history, science, and cultural significance of indigo dye, the full-colour book also explores its use in sustainable development initiatives.

LIFESTYLE, SCIENCE, AND SELF-HELP

Following his quests to read the Encyclopedia Britannica from cover to cover (The Know-It-All) and live according to a literal interpretation of the Bible (The Year of Living Biblically), A.J. Jacobs is back with another experiment. Drop Dead Healthy: One Man’s Humble Quest for Bodily Perfection (S&S, $29.99 cl., April) follows his efforts to become the healthiest man in the world. • Tae kwon do master Jim Langlas discusses seven principles of the martial art that also build character in Heart of a Warrior: 7 Ancient Secrets to a Great Life (Free Spirit/Georgetown, $17.50 pa., April). • For fans of Rhonda Byrne’s The Secret comes another guide to living a fulfilling life. The Tools (Random House Canada, $29.95 cl., June), by Phil Stutz and Barry Michels, identifies and offers solutions to four common barriers that hold people back.

FOOD AND DRINK

First Lady Michelle Obama argues for the need to improve access to healthy, affordable food in her first book, American Grown: How the White House Kitchen Garden Inspires Families, Schools, and Communities (Crown/Random House, $34 cl., April.). • Food writer (and son of Baskin-Robbins founder) John Robbins goes undercover in No Happy Cows: Dispatches from the Frontlines of the Food Revolution (Conari Press/Georgetown, $18.95 pa., March) to investigate the feedlots and slaughterhouses that satisfy modern appetites. • In The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food from My Frontier (Morrow/HarperCollins, $38.99 cl., March), best-selling author, blogger, and ranch wife Ree Drummond shares easy country cooking recipes.

The fine print: Q&Q’s spring preview covers books published between Jan. 1 and June 30, 2012. All information (titles, prices, publication dates, etc.) was supplied by publishers and may have been tentative at Q&Q’s press time. • Titles that have been listed in previous previews do not appear here.

Spring preview 2012: books for young people

In the January/February issue, Q&Q looks ahead at the spring season’s new books.

FICTION

Spring sees the Canadian launch of Penguin Canada’s Razorbill imprint for young readers, and the publishing house is banking on a couple of high-profile releases to set the ball in motion. The follow-up to Hiromi Goto’s Sunburst Award–winning Half World is Darkest Light ($21 cl., Feb.), in which 16-year-old orphan Gee embarks on a dark journey of discovery. Jillian Tamaki again lends her considerable talent to the illustrations. • Vancouver paramedic turned scribe Carrie Mac explores what happens when the messy life of 15-year-old Junie is further complicated by her mother’s compulsive hoarding in The Opposite of Tidy ($16 pa., April).

In Toronto author Helaine Becker’s How to Survive Absolutely Anything (Fitzhenry & Whiteside, $9.95 pa., April), Bonnie and her best friend, Jen, start an advice blog for the middle-school set. But can Bonnie’s wise ways prevail when it comes to her troublesome new stepbrother, Carter? • Alice Kuipers’ debut, Life on the Refrigerator Door, was published in 29 countries. In her third novel, 40 Things I Want to Tell You (HarperCollins Canada, $14.99 pa., Feb.), Amy (a.k.a. Bird) is another advice-doling teen who has trouble practicing what she preaches when a new “bad boy” shows up at school and threatens her relationship with her long-time steady. • Pajama Press has Nova Scotian Sylvia Gunnery’s new novel, Emily for Real ($14.95 pa., March), which revolves around a 17-year-old girl who, after a bad breakup and the revelation of some scandalous family secrets, finds solace in an unlikely friendship with a troubled classmate. • Eileen Cook has a reputation for writing funny, realistic junior chick-lit with a twist. Her latest, Unraveling Isobel (Simon & Schuster, $18.99 cl., Jan.) follows a similar path, with the titular character facing the challenges of her dippy mother’s hasty marriage to an Internet beau, her relocation to a remote small town, her dreamy stepbrother, and the possibility that she just might be losing her mind.

Teresa Toten, of the witty Blonde series, has teamed up with the unstoppable Eric Walters for The Taming (Doubleday Canada, $14.95 pa., Jan.), which bills itself as a cross between Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist and The Taming of the Shrew. • Debut novelist Leah Bobet creates a safe haven for outsiders and shape-shifters under the streets of Toronto in her dystopian romance Above (Scholastic Canada, $19.99 cl., March). • Degrassi Junior High scriptwriter Kathryn Ellis makes her YA debut with Home in Time for Dinner (Red Deer Press, $12.95 pa., May), in which a boy discovers he was the victim of parental abduction when he spots a digitally aged picture of himself on the news.

There is no denying the immense popularity of Kelley Armstrong’s sexy, dark teen fantasy novels. The Calling (Doubleday Canada, $19.99 cl., April) is the second instalment in her Darkness Rising trilogy. In it, Maya’s small Vancouver Island town is threatened by an arsonist’s forest fire. Her affinity with wild animals in the surrounding woods may be her only hope for survival. • From Great Plains Teen Fiction comes Jocelyn Shipley’s How to Tend a Grave ($14.95 pa., April), a story about a chance meeting in a cemetery between a teenaged boy who has lost his mother and a girl who has lost her baby.

Best known for her Stella and Sam series of picture books, Marie-Louise Gay once again teams up with husband David Homel for a sequel to their two previous travelogues. This time Charlie and his family explore their own metropolis of Montreal in Summer in the City (Groundwood Books, $15.95 cl., April). • Fourteen-year-old Johanna longs to see what life is like outside of the Jewish quarter in Anne Dublin’s 18th-century historical novel The Baby Experiment (Dundurn Press, $9.99 pa., May). When she discovers that babies in the Hamburg orphanage where she works are being used for experiments, she is forced to grow up quickly. • A Jewish girl and a Christian boy find friendship and hope together in pre-revolutionary Russia in Rachel’s Secret (Second Story Press, $12.95 pa., April) by first-time novelist Shelly Sanders.

Getting some boys to read can be a perennial challenge, so it’s a good thing Redcoats and Renegades (Thistledown Press, $15.95 pa., March) by B.C. journalist Barry McDivitt is aimed squarely at reluctant readers. McDivitt’s tale centres on a young malcontent from New York who gains the dubious distinction of being the first person arrested by the new North-West Mounted Police and is forced to endure the long, difficult trek to Fort Whoop-Up. • Jean Rae Baxter’s The Way Lies North told the story of Charlotte, a young Loyalist, and her family as they travelled north to Canada during the American Revolution; it was followed by a sequel, Broken Trail. Baxter wraps up the trilogy in Freedom Bound (Ronsdale Press, $11.95 pa., Feb.), in which Charlotte, now 18, ventures to Charleston, South Carolina, to find her new husband, Nick, and help a couple of runaway slaves as they try to survive the waning days of the revolution.

Governor General’s Literary Award winner Michael Bedard showcases his love of poetry in his latest novel for young readers, The Green Man (Tundra Books, $21.99 cl., April). The tragically monikered Ophelia (known only by her first initial) agrees to spend the summer helping her Aunt Emily recover from a heart attack, managing both the elder woman’s home and her chaotic antiquarian bookshop. But O gets more than she bargained for when she unearths a long-buried mystery. • After an auspicious start to his career writing adult fiction, Alberta’s Thomas Wharton has found success in the YA market as well. The Fathomless Fire (Doubleday Canada, $19.95 cl., Jan.), the second instalment of his Perilous Realm trilogy, continues the story of young Will, who returns to the land of Fable and learns that his beloved Rowen is missing. • Red Deer Press is set to publish a debut novel by Alberta’s Amy Bright. Before We Go ($12.95 pa., May) describes a New Year’s Eve like no other when teens Emily and Alex meet at the hospital where Emily is visiting her dying grandmother.

Actor, stable owner, and wife of former Ontario Premier David Peterson, Shelley Peterson showcases her love of horses in the Saddle Creek series for young readers. The sixth novel, Dark Days at Saddle Creek (Dancing Cat Books, $12.95 pa., March) once again features Bird, a girl who is able to communicate with animals. • Vancouver journalist John Lekich is set to publish his third YA novel, The Prisoner of Snowflake Falls (Orca Book Publishers, $12.95 pa., March), in which a 15-year-old burglar is sent to live with a strange family in a small town. When his uncle is sprung from the big house and comes up with a scheme to rob the town’s residents, he must choose between family loyalty and doing the right thing.

Lorimer has tapped sports fanatic Lorna Schultz Nicholson for its new six-book Podium Sports Academy series, the first of which, Rookie ($9.95 pa., March), tells the story of newbie hockey player Aaron Wong, whose team captain seems to have it in for him. • Métis writer Jacqueline Guest is known for her sports-themed and historical YA novels featuring native Canadian protagonists. Her latest, Outcasts of River Falls (Coteau Books, $8.95 pa., April), is a sequel to 2004’s Belle of Batoche. Belle is all grown up, and this time it’s her niece, a young Victorian lady named Kathryn from Toronto, who is in for a bit of culture shock when she arrives in Buffalo Hills, Alberta, and has to come to terms with a heritage she didn’t know about.

Apparently, Q&Q is a fan of Montreal illustrator and graphic novelist Matthew Forsythe. He illustrated My Name Is Elizabeth by Annika Dunklee, which was a 2011 Book of the Year. His debut graphic novel, Ojingogo, was a pick in 2008. The sequel, Jinchalo (Drawn & Quarterly, $19.95 pa., Feb.), follows the pint-sized heroine of Ojingogo on another adventure through Forsythe’s Miyazaki-esque world.

PICTURE BOOKS

Laurel and Hardy, Holmes and Watson, peanut butter and jam – some things just go better together. Robert Munsch and Michael Martchenko figured that out a number of years ago, and have been teaming up to produce silly, insanely popular books ever since. Their latest effort is It’s My Room! (Scholastic Canada, $7.99 pa., $19.99 cl., Feb.), in which Matthew has to battle his relatives and friends for space in the family trailer. • Vicky Metcalf Award winner Sheree Fitch’s latest picture book, Night Sky Wheel Ride (Tradewind Books, $16.95 cl., May) follows the same path as her previous works, with tongue-twisting lines and nonsense words describing a brother and sister as they explore a nighttime fair and embark on a Ferris wheel adventure. Boldly hued illustrations by Quebec artist and author Yayo accompany Fitch’s text.

Following her adorable and clever picture-book debut, Giraffe and Bird, author, illustrator, and designer Rebecca Bender returns with Don’t Laugh at Giraffe (Pajama, $19.95 cl., May), in which Giraffe’s awkward attempt at graceful rehydration is met with laughter from other animals on the savannah. • Canadian Jeremy Tankard (of Boo Hoo Bird and Grumpy Bird fame) illustrates New Yorker Rachel Vail’s story about Liam the pig, who just wants to rock a bunny suit and learn how to hop in Piggy Bunny (Feiwel & Friends/Raincoast Books, $16.99 cl., Feb.). • Nominated in its original French for a 2011 Prix TD de littérature canadienne pour l’enfance et la jeunesse, Martine Audet’s Martin on the Moon ($16.95 cl., April), translated by Sarah Quinn, is set to be published in English by Owlkids. Luc Melanson illustrates the story, about a boy whose imagination first gets him into trouble, then endears him to his classmates.

Simply Read Books is offering Wild Berries ($18.95 cl., April) by Métis and Cree multimedia artist and illustrator Julie Flett. The book, in which a young boy learns to pick wild blueberries with his grandmother on a sunny summer day, includes some words in Cree. • Find Scruncheon and Touton 2: All Around Newfoundland (Creative Book Publishing, $10.95 pa., May) is the sequel to the Where’s Waldo-esque 2011 effort about two dogs on the loose by mother-daughter illustrators Nancy and Laurel Keating.

Known for her adult fiction, Donna Morrissey makes her kidlit debut with Cross Katie Kross (Puffin Canada, $18 cl., Feb.), about a persnickety old woman who goes in search of a personal nirvana free of chores, animals, and bothersome people. Artist Bridgette Morrissey helps out her mom with illustrations. • It’s not all ogres and underwater monsters in the Arctic; there are dwarves too! CBC Radio personality Alan Neal and author Neil Christopher team up to tell the story of Ava and the Little Folk (Inhabit Media, $13.95 cl., March), in which an orphan left on her own by village elders stumbles upon a group of magical munchkins. Iqaluit resident Jonathan Wright’s illustrations offer instant visual appeal.

NON-FICTION

Deborah Ellis continues to do what she does best, chronicling the lives of children in war-torn and Third World countries in stories that resonate with First World readers. In Kids of Kabul: Living Bravely Through a Neverending War (Groundwood, $15.95 cl., April), she revisits the kids who inspired the Breadwinner trilogy 11 years ago to find out what their lives are like now. • Former Chickadee magazine editor Catherine Ripley teams up with illustrator Scot Ritchie on another fact book in the same format as their classic Why? series. How? The Most Awesome Question and Answer Book about Nature, Animals, People, Places – and You! (Owlkids, $19.95 cl.) appears in May. • Combining narrative, photos, comics, maps, and even fake tweets, Hey Canada! (Tundra Books, $21.99 cl., May) by former Vancouver educator Vivien Bowers (with illustrations by Milan Pavlovic) uses a fictional grandma and two grandkids to explore the country from coast to coast, relaying tidbits of history and geography along the way.

A science book with an environmental bent, The Big Green Book of the Big Blue Sea (Kids Can Press, $10.95 pa., $16.95 cl., April) by Helaine Becker, with illustrations by Willow Dawson, uses experiments with everyday objects to teach kids about oceanic ecosystems and the effects of pollution. • Junior CSI fans might enjoy Seeing Red: The True Story of Blood (Annick Press, $14.95 pa., $22.95 cl., Feb.) by Vancouver author Tanya Lloyd Kyi, who informs readers about all things sanguineous, from sacrifices to forensics. One hopes accompanying illustrations by graphic novelist Steve Rolston only required a bit of sweat and tears.

It’s a favourite kindergarten class project, and now there’s a handy guide from Carol Pasternak. How to Raise Monarch Butterflies: A Step-by-Step Guide for Kids (Firefly Books, $8.95 pa., $19.95 cl.) appears in April. • Literature for LGBT teens can be hard to come by, so Ivan E. Coyote’s collection of stories about her own experiences growing up queer, and of others who have inspired her, One in Every Crowd (Arsenal Pulp Press, $17.95 pa., March), is a welcome arrival.

INTERNATIONAL

In The Rumour (Tundra, $19.99 cl., May), Indian nonsense poet Anushka Ravishankar crafts a story about the village of Baddpaddpur, where telling tales is an art form. Kanyika Kini provides vivid illustrations. • It’s been 65 years since the Moomins first appeared in a Finnish-Swedish newspaper, but people just can’t get enough of those hippo-esque creatures. Drawn & Quarterly releases Moomin Book 7: The Complete Lars Jansson Comic Strip ($19.95 cl.) in March.

Was Precious precocious? Alexander McCall Smith answers that question when he takes readers back to his beloved character’s childhood in The Great Cake Mystery: Precious Ramotswe’s Very First Case (Anchor Canada, $7.99 pa., April), a YA addition to his Number 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series. • In Adrian Fogelin’s Summer on the Moon (Peachtree/Fitz & Whits, $15.95 cl., April), Socko’s mom just wants to get him out of their crummy neighbourhood and away from the threat of the local gang. When they move to a new community, he realizes he isn’t the only one with problems.

William Joyce may win the prize for lengthiest title for his E. Aster Bunnymund and the Battle of the Warrior Eggs at the Earth’s Core! (S&S, $16.99 cl., Feb.), a picture book in which the Easter bunny is much more than just a fuzzy, cotton-tailed source of chocolate eggs. • Katherine Applegate gives us Ivan the gorilla, who thinks he has it pretty good living in a glass cage at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade. At least until Ruby the baby elephant arrives and enlightens him. The One and Only Ivan (HarperCollins, $10.99 pa.) appears in January. • A deadly plague, alien invaders, androids, and even a prince feature in Marissa Meyer’s debut sci-fi novel, Cinder (Feiwel & Friends/Raincoast, $19.99 cl., Jan.), in which the titular character is a girl on a mission to save the world. (Did we mention she’s a cyborg?)

The fine print: Q&Q’s spring preview covers books published between Jan. 1 and June 30, 2012. All information (titles, prices, publication dates, etc.) was supplied by publishers and may have been tentative at Q&Q’s press time. • Titles that have been listed in previous previews do not appear here.

Lorna Crozier talks poverty in Canada on CBC

Last Friday, poet and University of Victoria professor Lorna Crozier hosted a special edition of CBC Radio’s The Current.

“I know what it’s like to come from a needy family. Though both my parents worked, we lived in substandard rental housing. We went without. And I keenly felt my mother’s worry as she tried, and failed, to make ends meet,” Crozier said by way of introducing “We Are the 10%: Poverty in Canada.” The special in three segments presented various experiences of poverty from around the country (and also featured poetry readings by Crozier’s husband, Patrick Lane).

The first segment profiled three very different people who are just scraping by. The second looked at child poverty and focused specifically on current socio-economic conditions in British Columbia — the province with one of the highest rates of poverty. Crozier wrapped up with a panel discussion on the paradoxically higher day-to-day costs facing those with the lowest incomes.

The special has been so well received that The Current host Anna Maria Tremonti announced a follow-up call-in show with Crozier this Thursday, in which CBC listeners will discuss what it’s like to be poor in Canada.

The original radio special is available online at The Current‘s website.

$10,000 Alberta prize now open to books published out of province

Organizers of the Alberta Readers’ Choice Award, now in its third year, have taken steps to quiet a muted strain of controversy that has attached itself to the prize since its inception.

The $10,000 award, organized by the Edmonton Public Library and voted on by Alberta readers, had until now been open to all books published in Alberta, regardless of the author’s origin or city of residence. But Alberta authors who happened to be published outside the province – someone like, say, Scotiabank Giller Prize nominee Lynn Coady, who lives in Edmonton but is published by Toronto-based House of Anansi Press – would be ineligible for the award.

That is all going to change this year, judging by new criteria posted to the EPL website:

This year, works of fiction and narrative non-fiction (i.e., first edition full-length novels, short story collections or books of poetry) will be accepted by any author who has been a resident of Alberta for a minimum of 12 consecutive months immediately prior to the publication of the submitted work, and who currently resides in Alberta, no matter where the book was published. The change makes this truly an Alberta award and recognizes the exceptional writing talent in our province while encouraging readers to support Alberta authors.

As it turns out, both of the prize’s prior winners – Helen Waldstein Wilkes’ memoir Letters from the Lost (AU Press) and Michael Davie’s novel Fishing for Bacon (NeWest Press) – are by authors currently residing in B.C.