Inside Vancouver

Experience ‘Vancouver after dark’—vicariously

by Shawn Conner in Food & Drink, Insider on March 26, 2020

Last fall, local imprint Arsenal Pulp Press published Vancouver After Dark. The fifth book by Vancouver historian Aaron Chapman, VAD explores the bygone days of local nightclubs, bars, and drunken reckonings. Through interviews with participants and a trove of never-before-seen images, Chapman evokes exactly the sort of thing we used to take for granted—going out for a drink with friends, new or old.

Considering none of us is going anywhere for awhile, we thought this would be a good time to talk to Chapman—whose myriad other hats include musician and live-music facilitator—about writing the B.C. bestseller, what he discovered along the way, and why every generation thinks no one ever had it so good.

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Experience ‘Vancouver after dark’—vicariously

Gladwell, Donoghue and Klein among guests at this year’s Vancouver Writers Fest

by Shawn Conner in Events on June 26, 2019

Giller Prize winner Lynn Coady is a guest at this year’s Vancouver Writers Festival.

Malcolm Gladwell, Naomi Klein, and Emma Donoghue are among the featured guests just announced by the Vancouver Writers Fest. They are among more than 100 authors from around the world that will attend the event, which runs Oct. 21-27.

For more on these and other VWF guests, see below.

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Gladwell, Donoghue and Klein among guests at this year’s Vancouver Writers Fest

True-crime author Lazarus on the notorious Vancouver ‘murder by milkshake’

by Shawn Conner in Insider on November 22, 2018

Vancouver true-crime author Eve Lazarus. Rebecca Blisset photo.

Earlier this month, Arsenal Pulp Press published Murder by Milkshake: An Astonishing True Story of Adultery, Arsenic, and a Charismatic Killer. The book, by bestselling historian-turned-true-crime-investigator Eve Lazarus, details the investigation into the death of Esther Castellani. The Vancouverite died after suffering through months of agonizing pain from arsenic poisoning. The killer was her husband, Rene Castellani, a local radio personality who was carrying on an affair with his station’s twenty-something receptionist.

We emailed Lazarus (whose other books include 2015’s Cold Case Vancouver: The City’s Most Baffling Unsolved Murders, a BC bestseller and 2016 finalist for the Bill Duthie Booksellers’ Choice Award) to ask about the book and the state of true-crime in general.

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True-crime author Lazarus on the notorious Vancouver ‘murder by milkshake’

Five events to check out at this year’s Vancouver Writers Festival

by Shawn Conner in Events on October 5, 2018

Tommy Orange’s There There, about the Native American experience in the U.S., is one of the year’s hot books. He’s coming to the Vancouver Writers Festival Oct. 15-21.

The Vancouver Writers Festival runs Oct. 15-21. During the festival, more than 100 others from here and around the world will talk about their books, topics of the day, and how rainy (or not) it is in Vancouver. In all, these author types will take part in over 80 events (almost all on Granville Island). Tickets are still available for many of them. Here’s a look at a few.

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Five events to check out at this year’s Vancouver Writers Festival

2018 Writers’ Fest lineup includes Rachel Kushner, Gary Shteyngart and Jodi Picoult

by Shawn Conner in Events on July 5, 2018

Rachel Kushner comes to Vancouver with this year’s Writers Festival.

Rachel Kushner, Gary Shteyngart, and Jodi Picoult are among the boldfaced names coming to this year’s Vancouver Writers Festival (Oct. 15-21 at various locations on Granville Island).

The lineup also includes singer/songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie and author Patrick deWitt (The Sisters Brothers). All told, the festival features over 100 authors from all over the world.

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2018 Writers’ Fest lineup includes Rachel Kushner, Gary Shteyngart and Jodi Picoult

Five local writers to check out at this year’s Vancouver Writers Festival

by Shawn Conner in Events on October 6, 2017

Vancouver writer Del Bucchia appears at True Confessions and Tall Tales, along with Hera Lindsay Bird and Leanne Dunic (Oct 20 at 8:30 p.m., Revue Stage).

This year’s Vancouver Writers Festival features dozens of guests, from essayists to memoirists to poets. Included amongst the national and international talent are many local pencil-pushers (though perhaps “laptop-luggers” or “café-dwellers” might be more accurate). Here are a few worth checking out, along with their events.

The 30th Vancouver Writers Festival runs Oct. 16-22. All events listed below take place on Granville Island. For tickets, visit writersfest.bc.ca, or click on event title.

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Five local writers to check out at this year’s Vancouver Writers Festival

Literary thrillers, song-and-dance cartoons, East Van gangs at this weekend’s Word Vancouver

by Shawn Conner in Events on September 19, 2017

Katherine Collins will talk about her groundbreaking Canadian comics creation, Neil the Horse, at this year’s Word Vancouver.

From the 1900 salmon strike to the 2017 women’s march, Vancouver boasts a long history of activism. This history is the subject of City on Edge: A Rebellious Century of Vancouver Protests, Riots, and Strikes, a new book by Kate Bird.

Bird is one of many authors featured at this year’s Word Vancouver Festival. The festival gets underway today (Tues. Sept 19) and features (free!) readings and events throughout the week.

But the whole thing culminates on Sunday, Sept 24 with a full, multi-author day of activities in and around the downtown branch of the Vancouver Public Library (350 W. Georgia). Events include readings, presentations, workshops, kids books, and even poetry (poetry! in this day and age!). Below, we’ve listed a few of Sunday’s authors and presentations we think might be worth checking out.

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Literary thrillers, song-and-dance cartoons, East Van gangs at this weekend’s Word Vancouver