Writing the Coast: BC and Yukon Book Prizes Podcast

ABOUT THIS EPISODE: In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Hope Lauterbach. Hope is the founder and creative director of Unbound Reading Series. In their conversation, Hope talks about creating a space that honours and creates community around black storytelling, and writing. She also talks about what inspired the Unbound Reading Series. Visit BC and Yukon Book Prizes: https://bcyukonbookprizes...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE: In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Susan Sanford Blades. Susan is the author of Fake It So Real, a past finalist for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, and the organizer and host of the Wild Prose Reading Series. In their conversation, Susan talks about how a need for community following the pandemic lockdowns inspired the Wild Prose Reading Series. She also talks about her...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE: In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Jesse Donaldson and Erika Dyck. Jesse and Erika are the authors of The Acid Room: Psychedelic Trials and Tribulations of Hollywood Hospital, which was a finalist for the 2023 Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize. In their conversation Jesse and Erika talks about how they ended up working together on The Acid Room, the characters in the bo...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE: In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Otoniya J. Okot Bitek. Otoniya's book A is for Acholi won the 2023 Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize. In their conversation Otoniya talks about how she became fascinated by maps and cartography, where she finds magic in writing, and she talks about mullet poems. Visit BC and Yukon Book Prizes: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/ About A is for Ac...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE: In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Jesse Finkelstein. Jesse is the co-founder and co-chief executive officerof Page Two Books. Page Two published Namwayut: We Are All One: A Pathway to Reconciliation by Chief Robert Joseph which won the 2023 Bill Duthie Booksellers Choice Award. In their conversation Jesse talks about how she became involved in the BC publishing communit...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE: In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Monique Gray Smith. Monique's book I Hope was a finalist for the 2023 Bill Duthie Booksellers' Choice Award. In their conversation Monique talks about the author-illustrator relationship, and why she wanted to write a book about hope for young readers. Visit BC and Yukon Book Prizes: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/ About I Hope: https://...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE: In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Billy-Ray Belcourt. Billy-Ray's novel A Minor Chorus won the 2023 the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize. In their conversation Billy-Ray talks about how he approached the challenges of the novel form, and where he finds joy in writing. Visit BC and Yukon Book Prizes: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/ About A Minor Chorus: https://bcyukonbookprize...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE: In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Rachel Hartman. Rachel's book In the Serpent's Wake won the 2023 the Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize. In their conversation Rachel talks about how she ended up writing from multiple points of view for In the Serpent's Wake, and how writing fantasy allows her to break the norms of the "real world." Visit BC and Yukon Book Pri...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE: In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Tsering Yangzom Lama. Tsering's book We Measure The Earth With Our Bodies was a finalist for the 2023 Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize and the 2023 Jim Deva Prize for Writing that Provokes. In their conversation Tsering talks about how she deals with doubt and writing, and she talks about why she avoids answering questions about writing about...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE: In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Gary Wyatt. Gary's book Echoes of the Supernatural: The Graphic Art of Robert Davidson was a finalist for the 2023 Bill Duthie Children's Literature Prize. In their conversation Robert talks about how he met Robert Davidson, and the role Robert has had in indigenous art. Visit BC and Yukon Book Prizes: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/ Abo...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE: In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Susan Juby. Susan's book Me Three was a finalist for the 2023 Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize. In their conversation Susan talks about how she approaches book banning, and how the #metoo movement inspired her book. Visit BC and Yukon Book Prizes: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/ About Me Three: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/pr...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE: In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Grant Lawrence. Grant's book Return to Solitude: More Desolation Sound Adventures with The Cougar Lady, Russell the Hermit, The Spaghetti Bandit and Others, was a finalist for the 2023 Bill Duthie Booksellers' Choice Award. In their conversation Grant talks about how these solitude seekers ended up turning to community, and how he used...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE: In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Janice Lynn Mather. Janice's book Uncertain Kin was a finalist for the 2023 Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize. In their conversation, Janice talks about her love of short fiction, food, and folk lore. Visit BC and Yukon Book Prizes: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/ About UNCERTAIN KIN: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/project/uncertain-kin/ ABOUT J...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE: In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Christopher Patterson. Chris is Y-Dang Troeng’s husband. Y-Dang is the author of Refugee Lifeworlds: The Afterlife of the Cold War in Cambodia, which was a finalist for the 2023 Jim Deva Prize for Writing that Provokes. Y-Dang died of pancreatic cancer in fall 2022. In their conversation, Chris talks about Y-Dang's research and writing,...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE: In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Michael Hathaway. Michael's book What A Mushroom Lives For: Matsutake and the Worlds They Make won the 2023 Jim Deva Prize for Writing that Provokes, and was a finalist for the 2023 Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize. In their conversation, Michael talks about human exceptional, the varying cultural relationships to mushrooms, and how he ma...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE: In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Cecily Nicholson. Cecily's book HARROWINGS was a finalist for the 2023 Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize. In their conversation, Cecily talks about the politics of food, the places that inspired the book, and how she approached the research for the poems. Visit BC and Yukon Book Prizes: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/ About HARROWINGS: https:...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE: In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Robin Stevenson. Robin is an author of over 30 books for kids and teens, and the winner of the 2023 Lieutenant Governor's Award for Literary Excellence. In their conversation Robin talks about how we can support authors during times of censorship and book bans, and how she brings queer joy to children's books. Visit BC and Yukon Book Pr...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE: In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Harrison Mooney. Harrison's book Invisible Boy: A memoir of self-discovery was a finalist for the 2023 Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize and the 2023 Jim Deva Prize for Writing that Provokes. In their conversation Harrison talks about researching his own life, writing about Abbotsford and the Fraser Valley, and his creative hygiene routine...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE: In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Cole Pauls. Cole's book Kwändǖr. In their conversation, Cole talks about his process, what he misses about Haines Junction, and how self-publishing comics at 15 helped his career. Visit BC and Yukon Book Prizes: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/ Read about Kwändǖr: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/project/kwandur/ ABOUT COLE PAULS: Cole Pauls...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE: In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Katherine Munro, who publishes as kjmunro. Katherine is the recipient of the 2023 Borealis Prize: Commissioner of Yukon Award for Literary Contribution In their conversation, Katherine talks about what drew her to poetry as a young writer, and what makes the Yukon literary and creative community so special. Visit BC and Yukon Book Prize...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE: In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Eve Lazarus. Her book Cold Case BC: The Stories behind the Province’s Most Intriguing Murder and Missing Persons Cases is a finalist for the 2023 Bill Duthie Booksellers' Choice Award. In their conversation, Eve talks about why the Babes in the Woods case stuck with her, and the challenges in telling the stories of cold cases. Visit BC...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE: In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Emily Seo. Her book The Science of Boys is a finalist for the 2023 Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize. In their conversation, Emily talks about how she used interviews to bring her back to her tween and teen years, to help write The Science of Boys. Visit BC and Yukon Book Prizes: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/ About The Scienc...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE: In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Jessika Von Innerebner. Her book That's My Sweater! is a finalist for the 2023 Christie Harris Illustrated Children's Literature Prize. In their conversation, Jessika talks about the picture books she loved as a kid, and how she captures magic and thoughtful stories in her books. Visit BC and Yukon Book Prizes: https://bcyukonbookprizes...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE: In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Marion Ehrenberg. Her book The Language of Dreams is a finalist for the 2023 Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize. In their conversation, Marion talks about how her career as a psychologist led to her first novel, The Language of Dreams. She also shares the story of how she published her book. Visit BC and Yukon Book Prizes: https://bcyukonbookpr...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE: In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Kim Spencer. Her book Weird Rules to Follow is a finalist for the 2023 Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize. In their conversation, Kim talks about growing up in Prince Rupert and how that shaped the setting of the book, and what it means to her to call herself a writer. Visit BC and Yukon Book Prizes: https://bcyukonbookprizes.c...