My little brother Tyler was a still lump under a pile of light baby blankets. He was six weeks old and weighed less than five pounds — about the same as a small cat. He lay motionless in his crib. Only his quiet, trembling breaths gave any indication that he was alive. Upstairs in the foster home, his three older siblings played on the floor of the bright living room while he slept in darkness.
When UVic alumnus D.W. Wilson first decided he wanted to be a writer, he didn’t plan to write about his hometown. He started out with science fiction and fantasy inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien. But partway through university, he decided to take the adage “write what you know” seriously.
Dennis E. Bolen is gearing up for his book tour phase.
“Nineteen years ago, when I started out, it was a three-week thing. But now, with social media and all the permutations of getting the word out, it goes a year,” said the Vancouver author.
Ivan E. Coyote has earned a break.
The award-winning author has produced six short story collections, one novel, three CDs, four short films and recently co-edited an anthology called Persistence: All Ways Butch and Femme. But she’s not about to sit back and relax.
Miriam Toews doesn’t know how to use Twitter.
The award-winning novelist, whose new book, Irma Voth is being released in April, recently signed on to the social networking site to help promote her work. But she’s still working out the kinks.
WHAT: Book launch for Steven Price’s Into That Darkness
WHERE: UVic Bookstore
WHEN: Thursday, March 24, 7:00 p.m.
HOW MUCH: Free
Three UVic poets are poised to publish their debut books of poetry this April. Chelsea Rushton, Neil Surkan and Sarah Burgoyne are all current or former UVic students, and they all share a passion for the written word. But they couldn’t be more different.
I saw this girl recently at the Rose and Crown Pub in my hometown. She was pale and bald and she didn’t have eyebrows.
I met a Kiwi bartender in Thailand last summer. He had a full sleeve tribal tattoo, a close-cropped mohawk and he loved to play soccer in the sand. As far as I could tell, he took home a different girl every night.
Mosaic is about to celebrate its first birthday.
The popular Victoria lifestyle blog, founded by Edmund Teh and Grady Mitchell in December 2009, has been growing steadily. The site now has four principal writers and consistently averages over 100 views a day.
I was driving through the slush as snow drifted down when I spotted a particularly determined girl hiking to school through the ankle-deep mush. She was wearing a short skirt, a pea coat and high heels. Her legs were pink, blotchy and bare. She was smoking a cigarette angrily and looked like she wanted to put it out in somebody’s eye.
Bryce Bladon believes there is no such thing as a completely original idea.
The Warren, UVic’s open-concept undergraduate literary journal, is preparing for its second issue, and editor-in-chief Liam Sarsfield is proud of how far the journal has come.
I met an 18-hour-old on Nov.13. Her name is Penelope O’Neill, and she was born at Victoria General Hospital.
I love swear words.
When I was growing up, my parents called them “jail” words, a vast category that included such innocuous syllables as “stupid” and “shut up” and “dumb-dumb” (basically anything I could potentially say when one of my little sisters stole my Ninja Turtles).
I met a Swedish guy named Linus this summer. We were sharing a three-hour van ride to Vang Vieng, Laos. He was scrawny and a little mean-looking and had GUILTY AS SIN tattooed on his forearm. It didn’t seem like we had much in common.
Most mainlanders don’t take Vancouver Island seriously.
To them, Victoria is a quaint little mini-Vancouver, a nice place to spend a few years in university until you’re ready to head back to the real world. Sure, it’s fun to be rich and young and idealistic. It’s cool to dress like a hippie and go to political rallies and be close to the ocean. But the assumption is that sooner or later you will have to return to the reality of the Big City.
WHO: Itsazoo Productions
WHAT: Death of a Clown
WHERE: Phoenix Theatre
WHEN: Oct. 14–23
COST: $12 for students
It could have been worse.
I could have a swear word tattooed on my neck or a naked lady on my stomach. I’ve seen misspelled translations and smudged artwork. Google “bad tattoos” and you will be inundated with hundreds of images of horrifying ink work. So maybe I shouldn’t be too upset about the small tribal dolphin tattooed on my forearm.
Eliza Robertson has had a crazy year.
The fourth-year UVic writing student won three prestigious literary journals’ fiction awards in a 12-month period, picking up top prize from Prism International, The Malahat Review and The Fiddlehead. But she’s trying not to let the success go to her head.