“Poetry infused Tom’s life and shaped it as he ‘recarved’ words in a never-ending attempt to squeeze more meaning from them. His passing was swift and silent, leaving us with his poetry to ponder and consider as we navigate the troubled world he left behind.” —Ron Verzuh reflects on the restless decades of his lifelong friend.
“When with Jim Wickwire and listening in on the tales of his K2 climb, I was reminded of two Canadians, Jim Haberl and Don Culver who reached the summit of K2 in 1993, Culver dying in the descent. Jim Haberl died when skiing in the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park in 1999.” Ron Dart recalls his lunch with the accomplished mountaineer, the first American to summit K2, Jim Wickwire.
“’This book is an apology of sorts to the number of people I have stopped mid-sentence . . . to offer the aside that a word or term they have employed had its genesis in an old sea term.’ Apologies offered here to the author and a big thanks for many hours of amusing and educational exploration of word worthy and seaworthy turns of phrase.” Ron Verzuh reviews Sound Like a Sailor: The Book of Nautical Expressions, by R. Bruce Macdonald (Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 2025) $24.95 / 9781998526239
“Through her honest and open diary entries the reader learns details of her mental health struggles, early career moves, the court trial of her abuser and, how she ran away from the painful memories and shame to Ottawa, and her ever-present state of loneliness.” Cathalynn Labonté-Smith interviews co-authors Susan Aglukark and Andrew Warner and reviews Kihiani: A Memoir of Healing (Toronto: HarperCollins Canada, 2025) $36.99 / 9781443472944
“But mostly we see people alone, like the guy sleeping in a van or the haunting shot of two young women divided by a bus shelter pane, each intent on their phone. Why are we so alone, DeCroo’s poems wonder, and in one of them he hopes he will find a face that will provide the answer.” Sheldon Goldfarb reviews Night Moves: The Street Photography of Rodney DeCroo, by Rodney DeCroo (Vancouver: Anvil Press, 2025) $40 / 9781772142396
“The 36 chapters in My Soul Lives in these Mountains combine a series of linked stories, poems and paintings that makes this book a finely threaded together collection of geology, history, amusing treks taken, research done as part of the larger project for Chilliwack Search and Rescue-RCMP and a valuable telling of the three fatal airplane crashes in the area.” Ron Dart reviews My Soul Lives in these Mountains: A Collection of Stories, Poems and Paintings of the Chilliwack Cascades —Land of the Ts’elxwéyeqw, by Peter D. Scott (Surrey: Hancock House, 2024) $24.95 / 9780888397881
“In fact, gratitude is something I believe was on display in this enclave in the Coastal Room at the Gibson Public Market, an appreciation for the array of literary talent on the Sunshine Coast and across the province. That was certainly the message relayed by several literary award judges at this fifth annual event.” Trevor Marc Hughes reports on the recent Art & Words Festival events held in Gibsons this past weekend.
“Fillo more than survives, he blossoms during the pandem-y. As a talented musician, song-writer, and singer, he’s thrilled to become a source of comfort to the abandonees of urban life. He realizes his true value as a wandering minstrel in what could otherwise have been a dystopic tale.” Cathalynn Labonté-Smith reviews Singing with the Trees, by Rob Fillo (Victoria: Rob Fillo, 2025) $25 / 9798306571607
“In the late 1990s and 20-naughts, Stan and I lived six blocks apart in Victoria’s James Bay neighbourhood. Stan and Janet’s house on South Turner Street became a modern annex to Dorothy Burritt’s Suite Two. There was a guarantee of good company, good talk, and cups of tea—and films to watch in the big back bedroom, the Fox screening room. (I like to think of it as “The Stanley Theatre.”)” Dennis J. Duffy contributes an essay about trailblazing filmmaker, the late Stanley Fox.
“Now You Know Me should serve as guide for everyone on how to learn from each other about what truth and reconciliation really means. The book is uniquely composed, giving voice to both men through alternating passages. It is a perfect composition, touching on many topics in 54 short chapters of roughly 300 pages, that is quick to read.” Kenneth Favrholdt reviews Now You Know Me: Seeing the Unhidden Truth in Settler Colonialism, by k’ʷunəmɛn Joe Gallagher and John Matterson (Surrey: Hancock House, 2024) $24.95 / 9780888397829
“Mayer is keenly aware of the wider challenges that face all the islands of the Pacific and the contribution that museums can make to understanding, and perhaps even addressing them.” Robin Fisher reviews Sea of Islands: Exploring Objects, Stories and Memories from Oceania, by Carol E. Mayer (Vancouver: Museum of Anthropology and Figure 1 Publishing, 2025) $55 / 9781773271552
“Her garments are not mere adornments; they are declarations of cultural pride, visual manifestations of a living tradition.” Amy Tucker reviews Dorothy Grant: An Endless Thread, by Dorothy Grant (in collaboration with the Haida Gwaii Museum) (Vancouver: Figure 1 Publishing, 2024) $50 / 9781773272412
“Don’t be fooled by the wonderfully charming colour palette or whimsical and intricate art in these pages: this work is a unique, darkly austere look at the lives of the O’Dwyer family.” Jeffrey Stychin reviews Salt Green Death, by Katarina Thorsen (Wolfville: Conundrum Press, 2025) $30 / 9781772621068
“Phil, as we knew him back in law school, was a lovely man. His career path saw him become a Crown prosecutor and then a BC Provincial Court Judge. By all reports, he was very good at both. And very dedicated—as it turns out, to a fault.” Richard Butler reviews No Judgment and Other Busking Stories, by Philip Seagram (Qualicum Beach: Caitlin Press, 2025) $24 / 9781773861616
“Defiant 511 is not a book for everyone. For those who have survived childhood abuse, it could be a trigger. For younger readers, it could be a traumatising glimpse into the pit of human degradation. But for those who should know what happened to generations of Native children and their subsequent tragedies and triumphs, it is essential reading.” Linda Rogers reviews The Defiant 511 of the Alberni Indian Residential School, by Evelyn Thompson-George and Art Thompson (Victoria: FriesenPress, 2025) $21.99 / 9781038315359
“When I arrived at Burnaby’s Simon Fraser University in the spring of 1970, the dust had barely settled on the previous five years of growing pains. A Magical Time took me back to the many exciting moments that would leave a lasting impression on members of my student cohort for better or worse.” Ron Verzuh reviews A Magical Time: The Early Days of the Arts at Simon Fraser University by the Simon Fraser University Retirees Association (Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 2025) $38.95 / 9781998526062
“Paul Zizka’s compelling and creative images in The Canadian Rockies: Rediscovered are in the highest reach of ‘A’ level evocative photographs. The front cover of the book, ice climber ascending, soft purple northern lights backdrop, focused light on the climber a definite promise and hint of visual beauties to come—such creatively distinct approaches to the Rockies summon forth, for those who have lingered long in such enticing grails of the soul, a longing to return to deeper places.” Ron Dart reviews The Canadian Rockies: Rediscovered, Photographs by Paul Zizka (Victoria: Rocky Mountain Books, 2025) $40 / 9781771607391
“Before I read Liz’s book, I wondered how both Liz and David sourced the strength to navigate the myriad of disconnections caused by dementia. The loneliness, the grief, and, ultimately, his death. Against relentless adversity, they sustained their love.” Lee Reid reviews Love in a Different Way: A Journey Through Dementia by Liz and David Amaral (Nelson: Amazon, 2025) $28.10 / 9781834180823
“At once entrancing and deeply comforting, Bradbury takes readers on a journey to those places that are so near and dear to our hearts, but which we may have forgotten about in the noise and chaos and pressures of life.” Natalie Virginia Lang reviews Journeys To the Nearby: A Gardener Discovers the Gentle Art of Untravelling, by Elspeth Bradbury (Vancouver: Ronsdale Press, 2025) $22.95 / 9781553807247
“A few short paragraphs on the deep red inside cover lays out the deeply serious content. John Scott is identified by the years of his life (1949-2022) along with two of his main streams of images—graphically brutal war machinery and, in contrast, strange and vulnerable humanoids.” John Scott: Firestorm, by Dr. John O’Brian (Victoria: Figure 1 Publishing, 2024) $50 / 9781773272726