Events

List

January 2026

Reconciling: A Night with Larry Grant and Scott Steedman

Join us for a special event with Elder Larry Grant and Scott Steedman to honour their new book, Reconciling: A Lifelong Struggle to Belong. This will be a can’t-miss event for anyone interested in Vancouver history and environmentalism. It’s taken most of Larry’s long life for his extraordinary heritage to be appreciated. He was born in a ...read more

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LITTY: A Launch Party!

On Sunday, January 25 at 6:30pm, we’re throwing a special launch party to celebrate litty! Founded by Hamish Clark, Mark Perez and Sarchen Starke, litty.ca gathers the most trusted end-of-year book lists from critics, publishers, and reviewers, then brings them together in one place. No endless scrolling — just the books worth your time, all neatly in one ...read more

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Community & Skills

Make Sneaky Art: A Drawing Workshop with Nishant Jain

How would your life change if, whenever you had a free moment, you could reach for a sketchbook instead of your phone? Join us on Saturday, January 24 at 6pm for a special “sneaky sketching” workshop with philosopher, scientist, engineer, writer — and now artist — Nishant Jain. After moving to the U.S., Nishant began carrying a ...read more

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In Translation

Translation Spotlight: Ukraine, Looking at History

Step out of the winter chill and into an evening of Ukrainian food, drink, and extraordinary translated literature. On Friday, January 9 at 6:30 p.m., join us for a special edition of our Translation Spotlight series — Ukraine — presented in partnership with Maple Hope Foundation. Not a typical literary talk, you’ll be gathered around our long table for ...read more

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December 2025

Best Canadian Poetry 2025 and 2026: Launch Party!

Celebrate the best in the nation’s verse and join us for an evening with the talented writers and editors of Best Canadian Poetry 2025 and Best Canadian Poetry 2026. That’s right, two poetry collections — one incredible night. These collections, published by indie press Biblioasis, offer up an impactful glimpse into our current literary landscape, expand our ...read more

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A Holiday Party in a Bookshop! Second Seating

We’re throwing a second seating of our candlelit, cozy party for book-lovers in our “literary living room” replete with impeccable wines and plenty of seasonal surprises to enjoy while you browse the shelves. Save yourself from the fluorescent torments of the shopping mall — our book sommeliers will help you check even the toughest-to-shop-for family ...read more

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A Holiday Party in a Bookshop!

This seating is sold out! Please see our second seating here. Shimmy into the festive season at Upstart & Crow! We’re throwing a candlelit, cozy party for book-lovers in our “literary living room” replete with impeccable wines and plenty of seasonal surprises to enjoy while you browse the shelves. Save yourself from the fluorescent torments ...read more

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November 2025

In Translation

In Translation Book Club: The Wax Child

Welcome to Upstart & Crow’s In Translation Book Club, a celebration of global literature and storytelling across languages and borders! This free, bi-monthly event in our studio space introduces readers to powerful voices writing in languages other than English, amplifying fresh perspectives, underheard narratives and bold ideas. After a brief summer reprieve, we’re back with a ...read more

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Poetry

Poetry as Research Method: “don’t panic! and don’t write nature poems!”

In this workshop, we’ll consider poetry as a kind of research method that can help us think through crucial questions — in a time of climate crisis, on stolen and unceded Indigenous lands: Where are we? How did we get here? What do we know, and what do we still need to know, about how ...read more

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Tangled in Tinsel: Join the Contributors of Better This Year!

You're cordially invited to an intimate evening celebrating the launch of Better This Year: More Tales from Christmas Survivors, the highly anticipated third volume in the beloved Better Next Year anthology series which collect stories that are as horrible as they are true, offering a refreshing and authentic perspective on the often-chaotic holiday time of year. This will ...read more

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Poetry

Sounding Out: Exploring, Creating & Performing Text Scores with Elee Kraljii Gardiner

A text score is, “a collection of verbally notated meditations that may be enjoyed by anyone in a variety of ways: read as poetry, performed alone or performed for an audience.” Pauline Oliveros, Sonic Meditations I – XXV (1971) Join us on Friday, November 21 at 6pm for a mini-intensive workshop with Vancouver Poet Laureate, Elee Kraljii ...read more

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‘Razing Palestine’: Vancouver Launch

Join us on Thursday, November 20 at 6pm as we commemorate two years of escalating violence in Gaza, and the histories of resilience through ongoing genocide. While many institutions have chosen silence, countless people around the world — including here in Canada — have refused to look away. Those who spoke about the carnage were ...read more