“Daphne Sleigh has made a good effort in addressing the Indigenous past of the region in this updated version of her book. Her preface not only expresses her delight in seeing her local history book having a new lease, but it also includes, and notes, changes in how Indigenous names are perceived since 1990 when the original book was self-published.” Trevor Marc Hughes reviews The People of the Harrison, by Daphne Sleigh (Harrison Mills: Fraser Heritage Society, 2021) (1st printing 1990) $24.95 / 9780973538519
“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
“After receiving his MAS degree, Gary embarked on what became a lifelong career as a records and archives professional with the BC government. He served as a Senior Records Analyst from 1985 to 1988, then becoming Manager of Advisory and Training Services for the BC Archives, a position he held from 1988 to 1991. From 1991 to 1998, he was Deputy Provincial Archivist and Director of the BC Archives. In 1998 Gary became Provincial Archivist, leading the institution through many years of growth and change.” Irene Zaffaroni and Laura Millar write about archivist Gary Mitchell, who passed away on February 9, 2026.
“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
“I had been helping Craig with his book. It also happened that my wife and I had plans to visit the Okanagan for a week in September which corresponded with the dates for the 2025 Okanagan Columbia run. I was very eager to be introduced to Chief Clarence and perhaps even hang out.” Richard Butler reflects on his time attending the 2025 Salmon Celebration.
“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
“A Perfect Day for a Walk by the Water is an excellent example of the mix of observation, reflection, interpretation, and rich language that brings Bill’s books onto the bestseller list time after time.” Marianne Scott reviews A Perfect Day for a Walk by the Water: Exploring Vancouver’s Shores, by Bill Arnott (Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2025) $24.95 / 9781834050201
“‘The authors of this book are the Kitwancool themselves…’ was the first line of the introduction when this book was first published in 1959. It was also, at that time, hugely significant. The line was written by Wilson Duff, the senior anthropologist at the British Columbia Provincial Museum, whose vision and patience had produced the book even though he made it clear that he was not the author. It was significant because, when First Nations voices told their own stories, usually they were not heard and they seldom appeared in print. In its time this book was, in the words of another Provincial Museum anthropologist, a ‘brilliant move.’ It was an example of reconciliation before its time.” Robin Fisher reviews Histories, Territories and Laws of the Kitwancool by Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs (edited and with an introduction by Wilson Duff)(Victoria: Royal BC Museum, second edition, 2022) $19.95 / 9780772680327
“In this intimate account, Comox Valley writer Joline Martin uniquely focuses on the draft resisters who came to Vancouver Island and became Canadians.” Ron Verzuh reviews War Resisters: Standing Against the Vietnam War, by Joline Martin (Qualicum Beach: Caitlin Press, 2025) $26 / 9781773861685
“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
“BC Ferries indeed proved very popular from the beginning. In fact, the corporation underestimated its popularity. By 1965, seven larger ships were added, all basically the same design, plus three smaller ships for the inter-island routes. By 1970, five million passengers had been carried. By 1979, that number had doubled. Routes had been added, terminals built. Even larger ships were called for.” Steven Brown reviews Coastal Connections: A History of British Columbia Ferries and Passenger Ships, by Derek Hayes (Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 2025) $50 / 9781998526383
“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
“Haig-Brown has said for many years that his 13 years in the fishing fleet educated him every bit as much as his going to university to prepare for being a writer in his life…” DC Reid reviews Raincoast Chronicles 25 – m̓am̓aɫa Goes Fishing, by Alan Haig-Brown (Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 2025) $24.95 / 9781998526185
“Roy documents Hart’s careful negotiations with Ottawa at federal-provincial conferences often to the province’s advantage. For example, during the Depression when unemployment was a major concern, Hart made arrangements with the federal government to take steps to address the problem.” John Hart: A Businessman in British Columbia Politics, by Patricia E. Roy (Vancouver: UBC Press, 2025) $34.95 / 9780774872515
“Ho has written his story with full sensory impact. We smell the difference between classes on the ship that brings Cheung and his son Wing to Canada and between wealthy and poor neighbourhoods in Victoria. Rich people get more room and proper sanitation. He also contrasts the exquisite cooking odours of Chinese cuisine with the smell of cabbage and boiled beef and the beautiful tremolo of the erhu and the pleasant clicking of mah-jong tiles in Fantan Alley…” Linda Rogers reviews Hopes Dreams Lies by Edward H. K. Ho (second edition) (Kindle, 2025) $4.30
“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.
“’The quest for a new child-centred and humanistic education in Canada was born in British Columbia in the first years of the 1960s, significantly earlier than in the rest of the country,” Dr. Rothstein writes. “Alternative schools in BC were also more prolific and varied than in any other province.’” Patrick A. Dunae reviews Alternative Schools in British Columbia 1960-1975: A Social and Cultural History, by Harley Rothstein (Victoria: Friesen Press, 2024) $30.99 / 9781039135574
“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.
“In this, the third (Giblin says last) of his books on the fishing-guide life and the odd, quirky characters of this profession and region, The Trophy Hunter: The Final Chronicles of a West Coast Fishing Guide, we renew acquaintance with the Lodge’s residents and their favourite fishing holes.” Marianne Scott reviews The Trophy Hunter: The Final Chronicles of a West Coast Fishing Guide, by David Giblin (Victoria: Heritage House, 2025) $24.95 / 9781772035551
“Personal interjections of Martin and her friends and family bring lightness and humour to the book, giving the reader a real sense of what it was like to live ‘on the edge’—the excitement of boat days when the steamships would pull into town (the road didn’t go through until 1959); learning to drive on Long Beach; exploits, and broken bones, of kids riding their bikes off the government wharf; swimming lessons in the ocean or at Kennedy Lake.” Adrienne Mason reviews Calm Harbour, Turbulent Seas: A History of Ucluelet, by Shirley Martin (Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 2025) $39.95 / 9781998526161
