News

Come celebrate B.C. Book and Magazine Week at The Victoria Magazine Cabaret!

Presented by the British Columbia Association of Magazine Publishers and The Malahat Review, this literary cabaret will feature readings by Madeline Sonik, David Leach, Kerissa Dickie and John Threlfall, with Lynne Van Luven as the MC. Enjoy the no-host bar as you mingle with writers and publishers. This event will kick off a four-day, province-wide extravaganza celebrating B.C. writers and magazines in Victoria, Vancouver, Kamloops and Prince George.

Come to the cabaret Sunday, April 20, 7 p.m. at the Victoria Event Centre, 1415 Broad Street. Tickets are $5 at the door.

About the readers:

David Leach has been the arts editor of Monday Magazine and, most recently, the managing editor of explore: Canada's Outdoor Magazine. His freelance writing has appeared in The Globe & Mail, The National Post, TIME Canada, Reader's Digest, Toro, Paddler, Focus, The Torch, THIS Magazine, Canadian Geographic, British Columbia, and 2 Magazine. His articles have been nominated for seven National Magazine Awards (and shared a Gold in 2005 and a Silver in 2006), received a Western Magazine Award for arts and culture, won a Northern Lights Award for Travel Journalism and been anthologized in Way Out There: The best of explore (GreyStone). Visit his website: www.davidleach.ca

Madeline Sonik’s first novel, Arms, and her collection of short fiction, Drying the Bones, were published by Nightwood Editions. A children’s novel, Belinda and the Dustbunnys, was published by Hodgepog Books. Her poetry collection Stone Sightings, (Inanna Publications), is forthcoming this spring. Her poetry has been published in numerous literary journals including, A Room of One’s Own, Grain, Contemporary Verse 2, Canadian Woman Studies, and Event.

Kerissa Dickie was born and raised on the small Fort Nelson First Nation reserve of north-eastern BC. She worked for her First Nation for a few years, in roles allowing her a wide range of experience, including working alongside the Residential School survivors in her community and helping publish a book of their stories. Kerissa is now attending the University of Victoria as a Writing student, and hopes writing will be a major part of her future. She is the winner of a 2007 National Aboriginal Writing Challenge award.

John Threlfall is a writer, editor and writing instructor based in Victoria, BC. Currently the editor in chief of Monday Magazine, John Threlfall was dubbed “a walking encyclopaedia of pop culture” by CBC Radio’s DNTO, for which he is a regular contributor, and his work has appeared in numerous BC magazines over the years. He also spent a decade working in live theatre, has done stints as a television host, firefighter and movie projectionist, was profiled in a National Film Board documentary and has been been nominated for an Association of Alternative Newsweeklies Award.

Lynne Van Luven has taught creative-non-fiction and journalism at the University of Victoria for the past decade. She has a PhD in Canadian Literature from the University of Alberta. She is the editor of several anthologies, including Going Some Place: Creative Non-Fiction Across Canada and Nobody's Mother: Life Without Kids.

For information about B.C. Book and Magazine Week, go to www.bcbookandmagazineweek.com or email Amber Dawn Upfold at projects@bcamp.bc.ca.