“In this interview segment, Vanessa Winn tells The British Columbia Review about how her research into British Columbia’s historical characters, such as Catherine Work and Charles Wentworth Wallace, and more famed figures in the fur trade such as William Fraser Tolmie, makes vibrant and energizes aspects of Victoria’s early colonial and settler history.” Trevor Marc Hughes presents an interview with Victoria author Vanessa Winn
How did Victoria-based writer, artist, and art historian Robert Amos become the person responsible for chronicling one of Western Canada’s greatest artists? In this candid interview, Robert Amos tells The British Columbia Review the story of his meeting Hughes before his death in 2007 and getting to know the man behind the extraordinary paintings. Interview segment producer Trevor Marc Hughes presents “Becoming the biographer of E. J. Hughes.”
In their wide-ranging interview Lorna Crozier and Laurence Hutchman discuss the grasslands of southwest Saskatchewan, Carl Jung, the poet’s early inspirations (and later ones), Adrienne Rich, a feminist “vow to to live differently,” and Sinclair Ross.
Over the course of 18 questions, recent Writers’ Trust fiction prize winner Sheung-King discusses influences, ideal literary dinner companions, Sakamoto Ryūichi, autofiction, McDonald’s, Hong Kong, and QR codes.
—Interview by Jessica Poon.
2024 donors to the British Columbia Review, a thank you from Richard Mackie.
“In her introduction, Denter herself explains ‘When we find our thing, the thing we’re good at, it’s like a life raft in the stormy sea of life.’ For some of the women she writes about it is writing. For others it is to start a business, to become a photographer, or to act. There are so many excellent examples of women who were driven to do what they simply must.” Valerie Green reviews Bloom Across Canada: 50 Inspiring Conversations by Beka Shane Denter (Victoria: Heritage House Publishing, 2024) $42.95 / 9781772035001
“Harrington devotes a separate chapter to each of the fifteen largest islands, namely Gabriola, Thetis, Salt Spring, North and South Pender, Saturna, Mayne, Galiano, Hornby, Denman, Quadra, Cortes, Savary, Bowen, Gambier, and Lasqueti, in that order.” Jack Little reviews Voices for the Islands: Thirty Years of Nature Conservation on the Salish Sea
by Sheila Harrington (Victoria: Heritage House, 2024) $34.95 / 9781772034929
“Varner’s book isn’t just a field guide, it will alter how you see the botanical world: invasive plants are everywhere.” Dave Flawse reviews Invasive Flora of the West Coast: British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest by Collin Varner (Victoria: Heritage House, 2022) $24.95 / 9781772034134
“Burn, baby, burn, they must have said and this is the fire in Bowering who…is on a feminist re-investigation of the legacy of a lost lady poet.” Linda Rogers reviews More Richly in Earth: A Poet’s Search for Mary MacLeod by Marilyn Bowering (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2024) $34.95 / 9780228021124
“People who attended summer camp, or who wish they had, or who, like myself, sent their children to camp, will enjoy the shared memories.” Phyllis Reeve reviews My Paddle’s Keen and Bright: Summer Camp Stories by Rika Ruebsaat (Vancouver: New Star Books, 2023) $24 / 9781554201884
Captivating essays trace authors’ careers from childhood onward…
Brett Josef Grubisic reviews Off the Record, by John Metcalf (editor) (Windsor: Biblioasis, 2023) $26.95 / 9781771965453
When we launched The British Columbia Review — then The Ormsby Review — in September 2016, little did we expect that seven years later we’d post our 2000th review. I’m grateful to everyone — reviewers, publishers, authors, booksellers, and readers — for making it such a success and promoting BC writers, writing, and culture. It…
Read more No. 2000 for the BC Review!
Outsider: An Old Man, a Mountain and the Search for a Hidden Past by Brett Popplewell Toronto: Harper Collins, 2023 $25.99 / 9781443457859 Reviewed by Daniel Gawthrop * British Columbia has long been a magnet for eccentric new settlers with mysterious backgrounds who come here seeking to reinvent themselves. Thanks to an investigative journalist from Ontario,…
Read more 1974 Marathon man like no other
Fire Weather: The Making of a Beast by John Vaillant Toronto: Alfred A. Knopf Canada, 2023 $38.00 / 9780735273160 Reviewed by Trevor Marc Hughes * John Vaillant opens his book with a quote from the fire chief of Fort McMurray, Alberta: “No one’s ever seen anything like this…this is rewriting the book.” We are soon…
Read more 1956 The fire dragon
Don’t Call It Hair Metal: Art in the Excess of ‘80s Rock by Sean Kelly Toronto: ECW Press, 2023 $26.95 / 9781770416437 Reviewed by Catherine Owen * Sometimes a book comes along that is simply a dream to read and review. Don’t Call It Hair Metal is one of those reveries: fiercely well-written, nostalgic, energetic,…
Read more 1955 Reaching for 1980s rock’s roots
Bloom Where You Are Planted: 50 Conversations with Inspiring British Columbians by Beka Shane Denter Victoria: Heritage House Publishing, 2022 $39.95 / 9781772034295 Reviewed by Valerie Green * This book by Beka Shane Denter is an inspirational collection of interviews in the form of Q&As with photographs, of a group of fifty (forty-nine women and…
Read more 1935 United through art
The Matryoshka Memoirs: A Story of Ukrainian Forced Labour, the Leica Camera Factory, and Nazi Resistance by Sasha Colby Toronto: ECW Press, 2023 $24.95 / 9781770417359 Reviewed by Theresa Kishkan * More than 3 decades ago, on a family camping trip, I bought a set of matryoshka dolls in an art gallery in Wells, BC….
Read more 1930 From one generation to another
Interview channel update by Richard Mackie * Since January 2023 Trevor Hughes, interim non-fiction editor of The British Columbia Review, has branched out as Video Segment Producer and curator of our new Interview Channel, hosted by YouTube. So far, Trevor has uploaded thirteen interviews that capture in words a broad spectrum of British Columbian authors,…
Read more 1841 BC Review interviews update
BC & Yukon Book Prizes shortlist evening Book Warehouse Broadway Vancouver, May 11, 2023 by Trevor Marc Hughes, non-fiction editor * It was hot, but the breeze kept the sun in check. I entered the Broadway book shop to see the BC & Yukon Book Awards banner. It was surrounded by several people, wine…
Read more 1817 An evening on Broadway
Welcome Trevor and Brett by Richard Mackie * On behalf of the Board of the Ormsby Literary Society and our Advisory Board I’d like to welcome Trevor Marc Hughes and Brett Josef Grubisic as interim editors of The British Columbia Review for the year May 1, 2023 to May 1, 2024. The position was made possible…
Read more 1813 Welcome Trevor and Brett