“I know this collection of work by these women is something readers will refer to time and time again, knowing each time they do, they will find something new to inspire them at exactly the moment they need it.” Valerie Green reviews Something Has Changed: An Anthology of Women’s Voices, by The Pen Pals Writers’ Collective (Nanaimo: Pen Pals Publishing, 2025) $20 / 97810694399505
“Anderson’s love for being in the kitchen and garden is unmistakeably real and infectious. Interspersed with Anderson’s own poetry and sketches, I find the physicality of the book, simply existing in my proximity, to be soothing.” Jessica Poon reviews I Love You: Recipes from the Heart, by Pamela Anderson (New York: Voracious, 2024) $35 / 9780316573481
“First-hand accounts are a wonderful way to experience history. These women were able to answer all sorts of questions that many of the interviewers and magazines from back in the day would never have thought to ask them, allowing Porter the privilege of discovering their stories. Though their stories always were valid, having them recorded as part of the larger narrative is an even more validating experience.” Myshara McMyn reviews Girl Gangs, Zines and Powerslides, by Natalie Porter (Toronto: ECW Press, 2025) $26.95 / 9781770417922
“Besides launching you on a hobby that needs only a bus pass, a big book for a press, good cardboard, and a few standard household items to start, the guide takes you through the steps from rank amateur to friend-of-the-museum-curator.” Briony Penn reviews Pressed Plants: Making a Herbarium, by Linda P. J. Lipsen, with illustrations by Derek Tan (Victoria: Royal BC Museum Publications, 2023) $19.95 / 9780772680563
“The fact, indeed, that Bovey writes with a refreshingly personal sense of appreciation, points towards one of the salient features of this curated exhibition—namely, the fact that just as artists may have “visual voices,” Bovey herself has a distinctive voice. Part of that, of course, is implicit in the selections she makes, but part, too, is explicit in her personal comments.” Theo Dombrowski reviews Western Voices in Canadian Art, by Patricia Bovey (Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 2023) $49.95 / 9780887550478
“These stories of resistance need to be shared to help understand the breadth of depravity of fascism and its impact that can evolve under unchecked hate and power. Rather than “fascism” being an abstract word or slogan, it becomes visceral when told as a story using sequential art.” David Lester writes an essay telling of how, “as the creeping noose of modern-day fascism encircles us, I found myself drawing a story from 80 years ago.” Partisans: A Graphic History of Anti-Fascist Resistance, by Raymond Tyler & Paul Buhle (eds.) (Toronto: Between the Lines, 2025) $34.95 / 9781771136525
“Liz Hammond-Kaarremaa begins with a conversation about her discovery and research into the one empirical example of an ancient practice, the raising of almost but not quite domestic animals who lived in isolation to protect them from inbreeding and physical damage, animals bred to provide the weft in essential weavings.” Linda Rogers reviews The Teachings of Mutton: A Coast Salish Woolly Dog, by Liz Hammond-Kaarremaa et al (Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 2025) $36.95 / 9781998526024
“Think of all the books that live in our heads that never become books or only make it to a few chapters on paper before they’re abandoned due to life’s interruptions. That makes it all the more exciting when a completed, edited, published book takes its place on bookshelves both physical and digital and has your name on it.” In advance of the entry period for the 2026 SCWES Book Contest, Cathalynn Labonté-Smith starts off her latest essay with “any book that gets written is a miracle.”
“Each of the artists portrayed in the book–like a unique piece of wood, bone, or argillite they carve–teaches us something significant about their communities, their clans, and their personal histories.” Christine Añonuevo reviews Curve! Women Carvers on the Northwest Coast, curated by Dana Claxton and Curtis Collins (Vancouver: Figure 1 Publishing, 2024) $45 / 9781773272542
“Amos has been clear about his purpose. ‘Because my work is first and foremost, of local interest, I did not pursue gallery representation. As it is unabashedly old-fashioned, I never bothered to try for government grants. My goal has been to create paintings, which people will like, and which will become part of the life of the community.'” Christina Johnson-Dean reviews Painting Victoria: Fifty Years of Memories From a City by The Sea, by Robert Amos (Victoria: TouchWood Editions, 2025) $30 / 9781771514873
“This book offers expression and relief from the wounded land of immobilisation, where people must shrink their lives and selves to fit into hell. Redemption appears in unusual ways. The stories are not completely mired in torture or isolation. Overall, the atmosphere emanates a compassionate moonscape, revealing people trapped in numbing routines or chaos, getting through each day with no hope, yet most keep going.” Lee Reid reviews Off the Map: Vancouver writers with lived experiences of mental health issues by Betsy Warland, Seema Shah, and Kate Bird (eds.) (Vancouver: Bell Press, 2025) $22 / 9781738716784
“With the School Board now onside, the Vancouver School of Decorative and Applied Arts began classes in September 1925, squeezed into two rooms on the top floor of the Board office, a three-storey stone building at the corner of Dunsmuir and Hamilton streets. It operated as part of the city’s school system, though unlike regular public schools it charged an annual tuition of $50.” Daniel Francis contributes an essay about the series of historical events that took place in order to create what we now know as Emily Carr University, which had its centenary last year.
“Hill presents a compelling case for Antifa relevance in its fight against racism, fascism, and authoritarianism, providing a detailed history of events in our past, so we can better understand our probable future.” Jeffrey Stychin reviews The Antifa Comic Book: Revised and Expanded, by Gord Hill (Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2025) $24.95 / 9781834050041
“Our interviewees have been many and varied: from seasoned poet George Bowering to newcomer, Giller Prize-shortlisted author, Eddy Boudel Tan, from bestselling history author Nancy Marguerite Anderson, to acclaimed memoirist Marion McKinnon Crook. It has been a privilege for me to shake the hands of all of the interviewees of 2025, sometimes in their own homes and workspaces, and ask them about their creative process.” Interview segment producer Trevor Marc Hughes looks back on a year of The British Columbia Review Interview Series.
“However, this book is not an art history book; it is aimed at immersing oneself in beading right now. It’s an excellent and easy-to-follow guide with clear instructions and illustrations. First published in 1996, its importance is ongoing. Don’t be limited by the word ‘beginners’ in the title. Though it is perfect for beginners, this book also offers much, much more.” Christina Johnson-Dean reviews Complete Beading for Beginners, by Karen Rempel (Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 2025) $26.95 / 9781998526222
“Tlingit women’s resilience and resistance shaped their communities historically and up to the present and hold promise for the future. In writing this book, Smetzer represents both the beauty and the pain inherent in beading practices in Tlingit territory.” Katy Dycus reviews Painful Beauty: Tlingit Women, Beadwork, and the Art of Resilience, by Megan A. Smetzer (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2025) $34.95 / 9780295754086
“Fox is a writer whose sense of humour translates well to the page, and who draws the reader in with his authenticity, a genuine approach that is satisfying to note given how much Hollywood glamour and publicity that has surrounded him in his adult life. His humour can also have a sardonic and even self-deprecating twist to it, and it’s clear that some of his rebellious nature came from his upbringing in British Columbia…” Trevor Marc Hughes reviews Future Boy: Back to the Future and My Journey Through the Space-Time Continuum, by Michael J. Fox and Nelle Fortenberry (New York: Flatiron Books, 2025) $26.99 / 9781250866783
“This publication is timely because it invites us to take a step back from the headlines, narratives, and counter-narratives, and to learn who the Secwépemc people were and are; to appreciate their connection with their lands; and to understand the social relationships and responsibilities which foster mutual belonging in their communities.” Richard Butler reviews Secwépemc People, Land, and Laws: Yerí7 re Stsq’ey’s-kucw, by Marianne Ignace and Ronald E. Ignace (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2025) $39.95 / 9780228026358 (paperback release)
“Salt Spring Island-based Acken has written a cookbook both inspiring and surprisingly practical. It’s an homage to the West Coast and the foods we can incorporate into our baking.” Trish Bowering reviews Thyme for Dessert: Sweets & Treats Inspired by the Flavours of the Pacific Northwest Coast, by DL Acken, with Aurelia Louvet (Victoria: TouchWood Editions, 2025) $30 / 9781771514804
“I find myself in somewhat similar circumstances to Honda, even though our life stories and backgrounds are quite different. I am also a person in her mid-fifties with a daughter who has recently left home, and I too am faced with a time of transformation. Thus, I was riveted by the book, connected in a way that was meaningful and relevant.” Trish Bowering reviews Hidden Flowers
by Keiko Honda (Vancouver: Heritage House, 2025) $29.95 / 9781772035605