Events

List

October 2025

Race to the Cape: Book Launch with Theresa O’Leary

Join us for an evening celebrating the launch of Race to the Cape, the debut book by journalist Theresa M. O’Leary, which shares the thrilling history behind one of the most trusted names in news: the Associated Press. O’Leary will be joined in conversation by the CBC’s Laura Lynch. Nearly two centuries ago, a quiet revolution began: a ...read more

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‘We Bring You an Hour of Darkness’: Book Launch

Join us on Wednesday, Oct. 15 to celebrate the launch of local writer Michael Bourne’s captivating new small-town mystery, We Bring You an Hour of Darkness. Bourne will be in conversation with actor and writer Jerry Wasserman. Inspired in part by a real-life 1998 arson at the Vail ski resort and with echoes of more recent events, this propulsive ...read more

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September 2025

Community & Skills

Icarus: A Collaborative Storytelling Game Night

Looking for a cozy, creative way to spend an evening? We’re hosting a games night to stretch your creative muscles! Join us on Friday, September 26 at 6pm for a round of Icarus, a collaborative storytelling game where groups of five orchestrate the rise and inevitable fall of a civilization. Through prompts and dice rolls, you’ll create original characters, ...read more

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Lit and Libations: An Evening at Upstart & Crow

Come to Upstart & Crow on Friday, Sept. 19 to enjoy the sweet and sultry final days of summer with a evening celebrating beautiful B.C. wines and books. Because this place makes exquisite stuff! Join us for a glass and a hobnob with your fellow readers in our romantic “literary living room.” We’ll be sharing ...read more

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‘Slice the Water’: A Book Launch with PP Wong

Join us for an evening to celebrate the launch of PP Wong’s second novel, Slice the Water, a magical new work called “a knockout,” by novelist Annabel Lyon and one of 49th Shelf’s Most Anticipated Fall Fiction. Wong will be in conversation with tech journalist Lisa Tanh to explore themes in her novel, including how social media and AI ...read more

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Encrypted: A Reading with Arleen Paré

Join us on Wednesday, Sept. 17 at 6:30 p.m. for an evening reading with award-winning poet Arleen Paré to celebrate her new collection, Encrypted. Encrypted is a tribute to family and youth in a time of complex anxiety and loneliness. In September 2020, Arleen's almost 20-year old grandson moved into the basement of her home to attend courses nearby. ...read more

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Climate Solutions

Free Gifts: Capitalism and the Politics of Nature

Join us on Thursday, September 11 at 6:30pm for an author talk with writer and political scientist Alyssa Battistoni in celebration of her new book, Free Gifts: Capitalism and the Politics of Nature. Capitalism is typically treated as a force for relentless commodification. Yet it fails to place value on vital aspects of the nonhuman world, whether carbon ...read more

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‘A Precarious Enterprise’: An Evening with Publishing Legend Scott McIntyre

Join us for an evening celebrating a cornerstone of Canadian publishing history with the launch of A Precarious Enterprise: Making a Life in Canadian Publishing by Scott McIntyre. McIntyre has lived, and shaped, the story of Canadian literature. From his early days at McClelland & Stewart to cofounding Douglas & McIntyre in 1970, his career spans the ...read more

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Poetry

Praise and the Practice of Naming: A Generative Writing Workshop for a Complex World

In this 90-minute online session, Preeti Kaur Dhaliwal—our 2025 resident poet—will guide you through an exploration of praise poems as a radical, expansive form—not just for gratitude and joy, but for holding the contradictions of being alive. Together, we’ll explore how praise can be a practice of witnessing the full complexity of our lives: the beauty and ...read more

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Community & Skills

Say No With Love: A Writing Workshop with Chelene Knight

Join Chelene Knight, award-winning author and founder of Breathing Space Creative Studio, for a transformative in-person workshop that could change the way you live and write. For one special evening, Chelene brings her renowned Say No With Love Workshop to our studio. This offering is for writers who want to set nourishing boundaries, protect their creative energy, and ...read more

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August 2025

Sun Shining on Morning Snow: Book Launch with Ingrid Dahl

Join us for a wonderful evening celebrating the new book, Sun Shining on Morning Snow: A Memoir of Identity, Loss, and Living Boldly, by Ingrid Hu Dahl. The author will be in conversation with Donna Seto, author of Chinatown Vancouver: An Illustrated History. Sun Shining is a fearless and deeply moving memoir that celebrates the power of authenticity, love, ...read more

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July 2025

Climate Solutions

The Way Around: A Q&A with Nicholas Triolo

Join us on Tuesday, July 15 at 7pm for an intimate Q&A with writer, editor, and athlete Nicholas Triolo, whose new book The Way Around has been hailed as a “beautiful, intricate rebuke to our obsession with linearity and outcome” (Robert MacFarlane). Raised in a family of elite athletes—and in a culture obsessed with goals, grit, and linear achievement—Nicholas Triolo ...read more