BC Book Prizes On Tour
April 04, 2012
From April 17–May 11, a selection of finalist authors will hit the road On Tour, with FREE readings at bookstores, libraries, and schools throughout BC. We will be visiting communities in Peace Country, Northern BC, Okanagan, Kootenays and the Lower Mainland.
Stay tuned for more information on the confirmed communities. Once the tour is underway, we’ll be posting blog updates, photos and more as the Tour visits a town near you, so make sure to Follow the On Tour Blog.
Peace Country Leg
April 17–20, 2012
Frances Greenslade | Rae Maté
View the full Peace Country tour schedule here
- Chetwynd
- Dawson Creek
- Fort Nelson
- Fort St. John
- Hudson’s Hope
Northern BC Leg
April 25–May 2, 2012
Charlotte Gill | Pamela Porter
View the full Northern BC tour schedule here
- Burns Lake
- Fort Fraser
- Fort St. James
- Fraser Lake
- Kitimat
- Prince George
- Prince Rupert
- Quesnel
- Smithers
- Terrace
Southern BC Leg
May 2–11, 2012
Dan Bar-el | Robert Heidbreder | JJ Lee | Susan McCaslin | Caitlyn Vernon
View the full Southern BC tour schedule here
- Abbotsford
- Canoe
- Kamloops
- New Westminster
- North Vancouver
- Salmon Arm
- Vancouver
Okanagan Leg
May 5–7, 2012
Gary Kent | JJ Lee
View the full Okanagan tour schedule here
- Cawston
- Keremeos
- Oliver
- Osoyoos
- Penticton
- Vernon
Kootenays Leg
May 8–11, 2012
Gary Kent | JJ Lee
View the full Kootenays tour schedule here
- Canyon
- Cranbrook
- Creston
- Elkford
- Fernie
- Nelson
- Sparwood
Posted by Kristie Poole | Filed under: Tour Schedule |
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May 10, 2012
What a long, arduous, exhilarating, inspiring first two days of the Southern Leg Tour of the BC Book Prizes! I couldn’t blog last night due to “technical difficulties” so I will try and catch you up on what has been going on with us up here in Kamloops.
We left Vancouver Wednesday morning with bright blue sunny skies and the highway laid out in front of us beckoning us forward. It was the perfect day for a road trip. I was so excited to have Dan Bar-el and Susan McCaslin in my car, I had a million questions to ask of them about their novels and writing, but I thought I would wait, at least until we got beyond Hope…
Did I mention it was a bright and beautiful day? We took our first pit stop in Merritt. It was very windy… 
Posted by Carey Erickson | Filed under: |
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May 10, 2012
Six days on the road and 7 elementary schools. And everyone darn one of them as different as can be. An A/V presentation adds an additional level of complication as not every teacher is conversant with the technology and I’m a hopeless klutz. So most presentations come down to the wire. Is there a disaster about to happen and up pops a 9 yr old and takes over?. Whew. Back at the ranch my contact with 9 yr olds is rare and mostly distant but for the past week I have been the focus of attention of up to 60 at a time and everyone one of them touched just a wee bit by the ‘cult of celebrity.’ Once the stampede for autographs begins there is not stopping it and just about every one of them is insistent upon having at least one signature.
The Koonenays afford some spectacular scenery but more interesting to me is, for want of a better expression, the culture. The eastern Kootenays have several communities totally dependent on the coal industry and massive operations in the Elk Valley (Sparwood, Elkwood)) afford a close up view of an industry that many folks, including myself, would rather be somewhere else, say Kazakhstan or Patagonia. But there is a fairly large population of people in the valley who have lived and breathed the financial, and community, benefits of this somewhat unholy operation. The ‘operations’ as they call them are a sight to behold and Bryan has posted some amazing photos of two of the mine sites. An ugliness that very slowly shifts into a certain beauty perhaps. And fairly close to these open pit mines we witnessed an array of wildlife: large herds of elk and deer and a small group of mountain goats that were close enough to us that I was tempted to hop on one and go for a ride. In fact the valley is so abundant in wild life that I was almost yearning for a few more glimpses of domestic herds.
A library event this evening in Fernie, a school tomorrow in Creston and then home. Sure hope I can do this again next year.
Gary
Posted by Gary Kent | Filed under: Kootenay Leg 2012 |
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May 10, 2012
Today, BC Book Prizes CEO and official driver Bryan Pike, children’s author Gary Kent, and I saw on the roadside deer, elk, and big horn sheep. A trifecta. As I bought a copy of The Travels of Marco Polo in Nelson’s Booksmyth, it would have been apropos to see a dromedary - but no such luck.
It made for a fine reward for a long trip road trip through the Okanagan and Kootenays.
Better yet, these last few days, I have met incredible students, teachers, librarians, booksellers and readers.
The work with students at schools such as LV Rogers Secondary in Nelson, Sparwood Secondary in Sparwood, and many more has been gratifying. I can’t thank the students and teachers enough for their hospitality and enthusiasm.
And I’ve found great road/car mates in Bryan and Gary. Gary’s stories of giving up a life as an ethnologist and becoming a fisherman have delighted. And his short graphic novel, Fishing with Gubby, is a beautiful graphic novel.
Plus, did I mention we saw the world’s largest truck. Monster. Note: the mileage is not so good.
Posted by JJ Lee | Filed under: |
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May 07, 2012
I had the great pleasure of being with Bryan on the northern leg last year and it was an experience I’m not likely to forget, thanks to my wonderful companions Gina McMurchy-Barber and Stephen Collis. The opportunity to travel with Bryan again, this time in the Okanagan was something I could not pass up and the brilliant, funny and indefatigable JJ Lee is my author companion. For goodness sakes I get to travel with someone who ties his own bow ties each morning and will no doubt alter forever my miserable take on things sartorial! I plan to visit a tailor as soon as I get home.
The gigs, especially the elementary schools are always full of surprises. Cawston, tiny little farm community Cawston, was a wonderful surprise nestled in the stunning Similkameen Valley a stone’s throw from Keromeos. Morning class so had their full attention unlike the lovely little darlings at the Osoyoos Elementary in the afternoon who itched and yawned much of their way through my brilliant offering. A ‘nice’ little touch was the laptop falling from its perch on the desk and knocking over a large container of marbles that spewed forth in every direction. All quite normal and acceptable of course.
And on to Nelson tomorrow morning. Three hours or so through more lovely country and expectations of good music, laughs and fashion tips.
More later,
Gary Kent
Posted by Gary Kent | Filed under: Okanagan Leg 2012 |
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May 04, 2012
As a fashion writer, these things matter - I’ve decided to rely on stripe shirts for my road trip through the Okanagan and the Kootenays. Can’t wait.
Posted by JJ Lee | Filed under: |
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May 03, 2012
On May 2nd I began a tour of schools in the Lower Mainland. We started at Chief Maquinna Elementary in East Vancouver. I grew up in East Van and it felt like I was coming home, entering a school not far from my old neighbourhood. I was pleased to be there, to share stories and photos and talk about my book Nowhere Else on Earth: Standing Tall for the Great Bear Rainforest. The highlight of school visits, for me, is always the questions from students. To witness the imagination, the unexpected tangents, the creativity, the interest in this planet that we all call home. I hope with my book to inspire and spark curiosity in the Great Bear Rainforest and in our own backyards, to encourage readers to pay attention to what is happening around them and to get involved, to know that they can make a difference. I love to see the looks on students faces when I tell them that barnacles are stuck to the rock with their heads and eat with their feet, or when I tell the story of how a 12 year old mobilized his entire community to protect a forest, or when I ask them to imagine being able to jump 5 times their own height like some microscopic soil creatures are able to do. Truly this coast is full of wonder, and there are so many things to be amazed by when we stop to look around. At this particular school, we talked a lot about spirit bears and climbing trees.
In the afternoon I was scheduled to talk with students at Westview Elementary in North Vancouver. Unfortunately, just as I had set up my presentation in the library, the fire alarm went off! This was no fire drill, there was actually a fire. All the children filed out to the gravel playing field and sat down in rows, thankful that the rain had temporarily stopped. We spent an hour waiting outside, surrounded by no less than 4 firetrucks, 2 ambulances, and 4 police cars. Fortunately, no one was hurt. The fire was put out and all the kids safe. While I was disappointed to not speak with the students, I was left with a sense of huge respect for all the teachers around this province who look after our children with such responsibility and caring. They do more than just teach curriculum, they are mentors and caregivers and so much more. Looking back, I can still name the teachers who most touched my life and I am so grateful for all that they offered me.
We left a copy of my book at the school, and let them know that a curriculum-linked resource guide has been developed, with activities that teachers can use to bring my book into the classroom. The resource guide can be downloaded for free from the book’s website at http://www.GreatBearRainforest.ca.
Posted by Caitlyn Vernon | Filed under: Southern Leg 2012 |
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April 26, 2012
It’s currently day 2 of the Northern Leg of the tour. Yesterday we enjoyed a wonderful flight up with long-time sponsor Hawkair, and the folks at the Terrace Public Library were excellent hosts for our evening event. Here is Charlotte Gill and Pamela Porter at the event:
Posted by Bryan Pike | Filed under: Northern Leg 2012 |
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April 20, 2012
- that Fort Nelson is the only place among much bigger northern places that appears on globes a few years old (I checked—it’s true)
- that natural gas and dinosaurs go together (ask Bryan Pike; he has a theory)
- that the Cree people live this far west
- that there’s such a thing as an albino moose
- that a cafe in Dawson Creek called Faking Sanity has the best buttermillk biscuits in the world (I tried them and I defy you to find better!)
- that Dawson Creek is mile zero of the Alaska Highway
- that two boys discovered dinosaur footprints in 2000 when they were out hiking near Hudson’s Hope. (I wish I was one of them)
- that the Alaska Highway was built by Americans in response to the bombing of Pearl Harbour
- that the Tumbler Ridge area was once home to over 21 kinds of dinosaurs
- the difference between black spruce and white spruce
Posted by Frances Greenslade | Filed under: Peace Country Leg 2012 |
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