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The author Bill Stenson discusses his new fiction collection Half Brothers and Other Stories (Mother Tongue Publishing, 2021), with Joseph Planta.

Click to buy this book from Mother Tongue: Half-Brothers

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca.

Bill Stenson joins me again. The writer and educator has just published a new collection, Half Brothers and Other Stories. It contains four short stories and a novella. These are stories set in the Cowichan Valley, where he joins me from today. I’ll ask him about this part of British Columbia, and what Island life means to him. I’ll ask him about reading and its part in writing, and more. Bill Stenson won the Great BC Novel contest with his novel Ordinary Strangers. He first appeared on this program when it was published in 2018. His work has been published in various publications. He was a teacher of English and creative writing in high schools, the Victoria School of Writing, and the University of Victoria. The website for more is at www.billstenson.com. This new book is from Mother Tongue Publishing. Please welcome back to the Planta: On the Line program, Bill Stenson; Mr. Stenson, good morning.

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The artistic director of the Vancouver Writers Fest Leslie Hurtig previews the 34th annual festival which begins today and runs until Sunday, 24 October 2021, with Joseph Planta.

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca.

Leslie Hurtig joins me again. The 34th Annual Vancouver Writers Fest starts today (18 October 2021) and runs until next Sunday, 24 October 2021. As artistic director, Leslie joins me again as she does each year to talk about the festival, what to expect, who and where. It’s a hybrid festival this year with events in person and online. Visit www.writersfest.bc.ca for tickets and information. The festival will feature over 115 authors in over 70 events. I’ll ask Leslie about what she’s looking forward to and more. We taped this interview in late September. Please welcome back to the Planta: On the Line program, Leslie Hurtig; Ms. Hurtig, good morning.

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The writer and 2019 Giller Prize winner Ian Williams discusses his new book, Disorientation: Being Black in the World (Random House Canada, 2021), with Joseph Planta.

Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: Disorientation

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca.

Ian Williams joins me again. He’s just published a new work of non-fiction, Disorientation: Being Black in the World. It’s a thoughtful, profound book on race and racism. Mr. Williams talks about what drove him to write this book now, especially now when we’re all trying to have conversations about race. Using the word “disorientation,” he orients the reader to past experiences of being Black, and how some encounters cause racialised people to confront race when they don’t have to, like when one is minding their own business. One’s race comes into focus in these moments and the effect can be irritation or sometimes violence or even death. He provides examples, experiences other people have had with police, something we all saw come to the fore in 2020 with street protests not just in the United States but here in Canada as well. This book comes at a unique time, from one of the country’s unique voices. Ian Williams was born in Trinidad and raised in Canada. In 2019, he received the Scotiabank Giller Prize for his first novel Reproduction, which he appeared on this program with earlier that year. His short story collection Not Anyone’s Anything, his poetry collection Personals, and his first book You Know Who You Are, were all critically acclaimed and finalists and or the winner of major literary prizes. He was a professor of poetry in the Creative Writing program at the University of British Columbia for several years, and is now a tenured professor at the University of Toronto, where he received his Ph.D in English. @ianwillwrite is the Twitter handle, and his website is at www.ianwilliams.ca. This new book is published by Random House. We taped this interview in late September. Please welcome back to the Planta: On the Line program, Ian Williams; Professor Williams, good morning.

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The journalist and author Elaine Dewar discusses her new book On the Origin of the Deadliest Pandemic in 100 Years (Biblioasis, 2021), with Joseph Planta.

Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: On the Origin of the Deadliest Pandemic in 100 Years

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca.

Elaine Dewar joins me again. She’s just published a new book, the fourth title in the Biblioasis Field Notes series. It’s not a pamphlet rather a comprehensive look at the COVID-19 pandemic. On the Origin of the Deadliest Pandemic in 100 Years reads like a novel in some parts, it orders the timeline, the events of the last eighteen to twenty-four months of living with this virus. Ms. Dewar looks at Wuhan, the epicentre of the pandemic, the actual role bats played in the spread, as well as laboratories there and even in Canada. The government of China comes into focus, as its refusal to cooperate with the World Health Organization has cost countless lives not just in their country but around the world. Elaine has done tremendous, compulsive daily research, reading everything she can from news reports to scientific journals. I’ll ask her about the reliability of those journals, because a lot of us think when it says scientific it must be unimpeachable. She follows the money and shows us its part in getting some things wrong. Elaine Dewar is an author, journalist, and television story editor. Her journalism has been honoured with nine National Magazine awards. She was first on in 2017 with her acclaimed book The Handover. Her other books include Cloak of Green, Bones, and The Second Tree. Visit www.elainedewar.blogspot.com for more. She joined me from Toronto last week. Please welcome back to the Planta: On the Line program, Elaine Dewar; Ms. Dewar, good morning.

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The historian and author Lucky Budd discusses the new book he’s written with Roy Henry Vickers A is For Anemone: A First West Coast Alphabet (Harbour Publishing, 2021), with Joseph Planta.

Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: A is for Anemone

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca.

Lucky Budd joins me again. The historian and author, with the artist Roy Henry Vickers recently published a new book for children A is for Anemone: A First West Coast Alphabet. It features the legendary artwork of Vickers, and rhythmic text to go with it. Lucky will tell us about the writing of this book, as well as his collaboration with Roy. The book is also beautifully embossed, providing a richer experience for young and not-so young readers alike. Robert Budd holds an MA in history and has digitised many high-profile history collections, including that of the Nisga’a First Nation. He is the author of Voices of British Columbia, which was short listed for a BC Book Prize, and Echoes of British Columbia. Visit www.memoriestomemoirs.ca for more. Last year, Lucky received the Distinguished Alumni Award from his alma mater the University of Victoria. This new book is from Harbour Publishing. We taped this interview in mid-September. Please welcome back to the Planta: On the Line program, Lucky Budd; Mr. Budd, good morning.

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The academic, writer, and former journalist Andrew Potter discusses his new book On Decline (Biblioasis, 2021), with Joseph Planta.

Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: On Decline

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca.

Field Notes is a series of short books published by Biblioasis, conceived by its founder Dan Wells. They range in rhetorical essays, longform journalism, polemics, case studies, or anything in between. The series began last fall with the publication of Mark Kingwell’s On Risk, and continued in the spring of this year with Rinaldo Walcott’s On Property. In the summer, they published On Decline by Andrew Potter, who joins me now to discuss the notion that the West is in decline. That for all our faith in the enlightenment, and reason and progress, we’re on the way down. I’ll ask Andrew what decline is, because I tend to think that means extinction. He’s got a clever line in the book that we didn’t progress upward, going up a ladder through accomplishment and achievement, rather we stumbled into a buffet. There’s a lot of thoughtful stuff in the book, and then when he gets to how our society and culture has been affected by COVID-19, well, a lot of what he’s thought about has come to pass. Inequality has made sure the affects of COVID aren’t shared equally. It’s an often-entertaining book, one that makes a lot of sense and that doesn’t foretell the best of us. Andrew Potter is an associate professor at the Max Bell School of Public Policy at McGill University. He was managing editor then editor in chief of the Ottawa Citizen between 2011 and 2016. Before that he was a columnist in Maclean’s magazine. He is also former Director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada. He is author of The Authenticity Hoax: How We Get Lost Finding Ourselves, which he was first on the program with when it when it was published in 2010, and with Joseph Heath, he co-authored The Rebel Sell: Why the Culture Can’t be Jammed. He’s not on Twitter, and I’ll ask him about that. Please welcome back to the Planta: On the Line program, Andrew Potter; Professor Potter, good morning.

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The author and journalist, 2009 recipient of the Giller Prize Linden MacIntyre discusses his new novel The Winter Wives (Random House, 2021), with Joseph Planta.

Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: The Winter Wives

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca.

Linden MacIntyre joins me again. The distinguished journalist and novelist has just published a new book, The Winter Wives. It’s described as a psychological drama that weaves threads of crime, disability, dementia, as well as love, loyalty, and delusion. It’s a compelling read about two old friends who met in university, Allan and Byron. They’re different. The latter is quiet, sensitive, as well as walks with a childhood disability, while the former is successful, worldly and a hero on campus. The book opens in the present, when both are a little older, where they’ve loved and lost. Well, Byron married Annie, when he pined for Peggy, her sister, who ended up with Byron. I’ll get Mr. MacIntyre to tell us as much as he’d like about the book, about the themes therein, especially growing older. Linden MacIntyre received the 2009 Giller Prize for his novel The Bishop’s Man, which was also a bestseller. His other novels include The Long Stretch, his first, as well as Why Men Lie, Punishment, and The Only Café, those three, he all appeared on this program with on their release. He is also the author of the memoir Causeway: A Passage from Innocence, and a non-fiction book The Wake, which was published in 2019. He is the winner of ten Gemini Awards for his work as a broadcast journalist, spending twenty-four years as co-host of the fifth estate. The Twitter handle is @macintyrelj. This new book is published by Random House. He joined me from Newfoundland in late August 2021. Please welcome back to the Planta: On the Line program, Linden MacIntyre; Mr. MacIntyre, good morning.

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The author and poet George Elliott Clarke discusses his memoir Where Beauty Survived: An Africadian Memoir (Knopf, 2021), with Joseph Planta.

Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: Where Beauty Survived

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca.

George Elliott Clarke joins me now. He recently published a new book, Where Beauty Survived: An Africadian Memoir. It is a fascinating book, one that looks at his early life in the Black Canadian community in Halifax, Nova Scotia. It’s a proud heritage, with distinguished members of the family from both parents. It’s also a complicated family, and the emotional stress in his immediate family between his parents, as well as his parents and Clarke and his siblings, provide insight into racism and how race is perceived in George’s formative years. His mother Gerry, and father Bill, are often captivating characters. I’ll get him to tell us about his memories of community, and get his thoughts on legacy. George Elliott Clarke is a poet, novelist, playwright, screenwriter, librettist, and scholar. He is a professor of African-Canadian Literature at the University of Toronto. An Officer of the Order of Canada, he was appointed Canada’s 7th Parliamentary Poet Laureate in 2016. This book is published by Knopf. We taped this interview in mid-August. I reached him at his home in Toronto. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, George Elliot Clarke; Professor Clarke, good morning.

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The writer Carlyn Zwarenstein discusses her new book On Opium: Pain, Pleasure, and Other Matters of Substance (Goose Lane Editions, 2021), with Joseph Planta.

Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: On Opium

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca.

A new book this fall is latest from the writer Carlyn Zwarenstein, On Opium: Pain, Pleasure, and Other Matters of Substance. It’s a highly readable book about opioid use. Whether they’re used to cope with painful chronic conditions, or used recreationally, or depended upon because of addiction, North Americans are the world’s most prolific users of opioid painkillers. Ms. Zwarenstein, who joins me now, looks at figures in history and their own writing and experiences with opioids, like Thomas De Quincey and Frida Kahlo. She also discusses her own use of medicines to cope with a painful disease. Another fascinating and important part of the book is where she looks at the overdose crisis. I’ll ask her all about that and more, especially the way forward. Carlyn Zwarenstein’s writing has appeared in the Guardian, the Toronto Star, and Vice. A previous book is Opium Eater: The New Confessions. Her Twitter handle is @CarlynZwaren. This new book is published by Goose Lane Editions. We taped this interview on 30 August 2021. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, Carlyn Zwarenstein; Ms. Zwarenstein, good morning.

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The director Courtney Montour discusses her new NFB documentary Mary Two-Axe Earley: I Am Indian Again, which screens as part of the Vancouver International Film Festival, online and an in person.

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca.

The life and activism of Mary Two-Axe Earley is the subject of a new documentary from the director Courtney Montour, who joins me now. Mary Two-Axe Earley: I Am Indian Again screens as part of the Vancouver International Film Festival, that begins today, Friday, 01 October 2021 (the festival runs until October 11th). They’re screening films in person, as well as online. Visit www.viff.org for tickets and information. Ms. Montour’s film, is an important look at the life of Earley, an activist who came to public life at nearly 60, and who fought against sex discrimination against First Nations women due to Canada’s Indian Act. It’s a personal conversation that Ms. Montour depicts in this film, wanting to find out more about Earley, what drove her activism and what was achieved. When Earley married a non-Indian man, she lost her Indian status. A lot of First Nations women and children encountered that, and that’s what Earley sought to change. The discrimination didn’t just come from the government, but from First Nations men as well. The film’s highlights are audio tapes of Earley speaking, recounting her story. I’ll ask Courtney about these tapes, as well as why Earley is a significant figure in our history, one who was depicted in a Google Doodle earlier this year. Courtney Montour is a Mohawk filmmaker from Kahnawake whose work explores issues of indigenous identity. She is a prolific documentary filmmaker and director and writer whose work appears regularly on television, APTN for one. Visit www.nfb.ca for more information on the film which is a National Film Board of Canada production. It plays at VIFF as part of VIFF Short Forum: Programme 1, where a number of shorts screen. That’s available for streaming as part of VIFF Connect between now and October 11th, and there’ll be two screenings in person, at The Annex, where Courtney will be appearing, Monday, 03 October 2021 at 09.00pm, and Tuesday, 04 October 2021 at 4.00pm. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, Courtney Montour; Ms. Montour, good morning.

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