ABOUT THIS EPISODE:

In this episode, Megan Cole talks to Hazel Jane Plante about her book Little Blue Encyclopedia (for Vivian). In the conversation they talk about navigating the elements of the real world and fictional world included in Little Blue Encyclopedia (for Vivian) as well as the role TV shows play in creating shared spaces for people.

ABOUT HAZEL JANE PLANTE:

Hazel Jane Plante is a queer trans librarian, cat photographer, and writer. In a previous life, she co-founded a micro-press, co-edited a little literary journal, and co-hosted a podcast.

She currently lives in Vancouver on the unceded ancestral territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and sə̓lílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.

ABOUT MEGAN COLE:

Megan Cole the Director of Audience Development for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes. She is also a writer based in Powell River, British Columbia. She also works at the Powell River Public Library as the teen services coordinator where she gets to combine her love for books and writing with a love for her community. Megan has worked as a freelance journalist and is working on a memoir which tackles themes of gender and mental health. Find out more about Megan at megancolewriter.com

ABOUT THE PODCAST:

Writing the Coast is recorded and produced on the traditional territory of the Tla'amin Nation. As a settler on these lands, Megan Cole finds opportunities to learn and listen to the stories from those whose land was stolen.

The BC and Yukon Podcast, tentatively titled *Writing the Coast*, is a recorded series of conversations, readings, and insights into the work of the writers, illustrators, and creators whose books are nominated for the annual BC and Yukon Book Prizes. We'll also check in on people in the writing community who are supporting books, writers and readers every day. The podcast is produced and hosted by Megan Cole.

ABOUT THIS EPISODE:

In this episode, Megan Cole talks to Bob Joseph whose book Indigenous Relations: Insights, Tips & Suggestions to Make Reconciliation a Reality is nominated for the Bill Duthie Booksellers Choice Award. Bob talks about the direction he chose to take with his new book and the viral response to his book 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act.

ABOUT BOB JOSEPH:

Bob Joseph, founder of Indigenous Corporate Training Inc., has provided training on Indigenous relations since 1994. As a certified Master Trainer, Bob has assisted both individuals and organizations in building Indigenous relations. His Canadian clients include all levels of government, Fortune 500 companies, financial institutions, including the World Bank, small and medium-sized corporate enterprises, and Indigenous Peoples. He has worked internationally for clients in the United States, Guatemala, Peru, and New Caledonia in the South Pacific. Bob Joseph is an Indigenous person, or more specifically a status Indian, and is a member of the Gwawaenuk Nation. The Gwawaenuk is one of the many Kwakwaka’wakw tribes located between Comox and Port Hardy on Vancouver Island and the adjacent mainland of British Columbia. He comes from a proud potlatch family and is an initiated member of the Hamatsa Society. As the son of a hereditary chief, he will one day, in accordance with strict cultural laws, become a hereditary chief.

ABOUT MEGAN COLE:

Megan Cole the Director of Audience Development for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes. She is also a writer based in Powell River, British Columbia. She also works at the Powell River Public Library as the teen services coordinator where she gets to combine her love for books and writing with a love for her community. Megan has worked as a freelance journalist and is working on a memoir which tackles themes of gender and mental health. Find out more about Megan at megancolewriter.com

ABOUT THE PODCAST:

Writing the Coast is recorded and produced on the traditional territory of the Tla'amin Nation. As a settler on these lands, Megan Cole finds opportunities to learn and listen to the stories from those whose land was stolen.

The BC and Yukon Podcast, tentatively titled *Writing the Coast*, is a recorded series of conversations, readings, and insights into the work of the writers, illustrators, and creators whose books are nominated for the annual BC and Yukon Book Prizes. We'll also check in on people in the writing community who are supporting books, writers and readers every day. The podcast is produced and hosted by Megan Cole.

ABOUT THIS EPISODE:

In this episode, Megan Cole talks to Roy Henry Vickers and Lucky Budd about their book Voices from the Skeena: An Illustrated Oral History, nominated for the Bill Duthie Booksellers' Choice Award. In this conversation Roy and Lucky talk about how they began collaborating, the impact these stories have had on those around them and the power of storytelling in preserving knowledge and history.

To find out more about Voices of the Skeena and to here more recordings by Imbert Orchard visit: https://memoriestomemoirs.ca/portfolio/voices-from-the-skeena/?portorder=menu

ABOUT LUCKY BUDD AND ROY HENRY VICKERS:

Robert (Lucky) Budd is the co-author of the Northwest Coast Legends series and the author of Voices of British Columbia (Douglas & McIntyre, 2010), which was shortlisted for the 2011 Bill Duthie Booksellers’ Choice Award, and its sequel, Echoes of British Columbia (Harbour Publishing, 2014), which won second prize in the BC Historical Federation’s writing competition in 2014. He lives in Victoria, BC.

Roy Henry Vickers is a Canadian Master Artist best known around the world for his limited edition prints. He is also an accomplished carver, design advisor of prestigious public spaces, a sought-after keynote speaker, and publisher and author of several successful books.In addition, he is a recognized leader in the First Nations community, and a tireless spokesperson for recovery from addictions and abuse.

ABOUT MEGAN COLE:

Megan Cole the Director of Audience Development for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes. She is also a writer based in Powell River, British Columbia. She also works at the Powell River Public Library as the teen services coordinator where she gets to combine her love for books and writing with a love for her community. Megan has worked as a freelance journalist and is working on a memoir which tackles themes of gender and mental health. Find out more about Megan at megancolewriter.com

ABOUT THE PODCAST:

Writing the Coast is recorded and produced on the traditional territory of the Tla'amin Nation. As a settler on these lands, Megan Cole finds opportunities to learn and listen to the stories from those whose land was stolen.

The BC and Yukon Podcast, tentatively titled *Writing the Coast*, is a recorded series of conversations, readings, and insights into the work of the writers, illustrators, and creators whose books are nominated for the annual BC and Yukon Book Prizes. We'll also check in on people in the writing community who are supporting books, writers and readers every day. The podcast is produced and hosted by Megan Cole.

ABOUT THIS EPISODE:

In this episode, Megan Cole talks to Kayla Czaga whose book Dunk Tank is nominated for the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize. Kayla talks about how she uses the role of the speaker in her poems, what inspires her work and the important role Vancouver's Storm Crow Alehouse played in the creation of Dunk Tank.

ABOUT kAYLA CZAGA:

Kayla Czaga is the author of one previous collection of poems, For Your Safety Please Hold On (Nightwood Editions, 2014), and the chapbook Enemy of the People (Anstruther Press, 2015). Her work has been awarded the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award and the Canadian Authors Association’s Emerging Writer Award and has been nominated for the Governor General’s Literary Award, the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize, and the Debut-litzer. She lives in Victoria, B.C.

ABOUT MEGAN COLE:

Megan Cole the Director of Audience Development for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes. She is also a writer based in Powell River, British Columbia. She also works at the Powell River Public Library as the teen services coordinator where she gets to combine her love for books and writing with a love for her community. Megan has worked as a freelance journalist and is working on a memoir which tackles themes of gender and mental health. Find out more about Megan at megancolewriter.com

ABOUT THE PODCAST:

Writing the Coast is recorded and produced on the traditional territory of the Tla'amin Nation. As a settler on these lands, Megan Cole finds opportunities to learn and listen to the stories from those whose land was stolen.

The BC and Yukon Podcast, tentatively titled *Writing the Coast*, is a recorded series of conversations, readings, and insights into the work of the writers, illustrators, and creators whose books are nominated for the annual BC and Yukon Book Prizes. We'll also check in on people in the writing community who are supporting books, writers and readers every day. The podcast is produced and hosted by Megan Cole.

ABOUT THIS EPISODE:

In this episode, Megan Cole talks to Ivan Coyote about their book Rebent Sinner, which is nominated for the Jim Deva Prize for Writing that Provokes and the Hubert Evans Nonfiction Prize. In this conversation Ivan talked about the burnout they faced leading up to the release of Rebent Sinner as well as life on the road and what it's like to be home bound during the pandemic.

ABOUT IVAN COYOTE:

Ivan Coyote is the award-winning author, co-author or co-editor of eleven books, including Tomboy Survival Guide, shortlisted for the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Nonfiction Prize and an American Library Association Stonewall Honor Book. They are also the creator of four short films as well as three CDs that combine storytelling with music. Ivan is a seasoned stage performer and an audience favourite at storytelling, literary, film, and folk music festivals. Ivan lives in Vancouver.

ABOUT MEGAN COLE:

Megan Cole is a writer based in Powell River, British Columbia. She also works at the Powell River Public Library as the teen services coordinator where she gets to combine her love for books and writing with a love for her community. Megan has worked as a freelance journalist and is working on a memoir which tackles themes of gender and mental health. Find out more about Megan at megancolewriter.com

ABOUT THE PODCAST:

Writing the Coast is recorded and produced on the traditional territory of the Tla'amin Nation. As a settler on these lands, Megan Cole finds opportunities to learn and listen to the stories from those whose land was stolen.

The BC and Yukon Podcast, tentatively titled *Writing the Coast*, is a recorded series of conversations, readings, and insights into the work of the writers, illustrators, and creators whose books are nominated for the annual BC and Yukon Book Prizes. We'll also check in on people in the writing community who are supporting books, writers and readers every day. The podcast is produced and hosted by Megan Cole.

ABOUT THIS EPISODE:

In this episode, guest contributor Jason Schreurs talks to Francine Cunningham about her book on/me, which is nominated for the Jim Deva Prize for Writing that Provokes. Francine talks about how her mental illness effects her writing and how she learns about herself through writing.

ABOUT FRANCINE CUNNINGHAM:

Francine Cunningham is a Canadian Indigenous writer, artist and educator. Her creative non-fiction has appeared in The Malahat Review, the anthologies Boobs: Women Explore What It Means to Have Breasts (Caitlin Press) and Best Canadian Essays 2017 (Tightrope Books), and was longlisted for the 2018 Edna Staebler Personal Essay. Her fiction and poetry have appeared in Grain as the winner of the Short Grain Writing Contest in 2018, The Puritan, Joyland, Echolocation, The Maynard and more. She is a graduate of the UBC Creative Writing MFA program, winner of the 2019 Indigenous Voices Award for unpublished prose, winner of The Hnatyshyn Foundation’s REVEAL Indigenous Art Award, and a recipient of Telus’ 2017 STORYHIVE web series grant. On/Me is her first book.

ABOUT JASON SCHREURS:

Jason Schreurs is a writer specializing in music and health. He is a student in the MFA in Creative Nonfiction program at the University of King’s College. Jason hosts a podcast called Scream Therapy, about the link between punk rock and mental health.

ABOUT MEGAN COLE:

Megan Cole is a writer based in Powell River, British Columbia. She also works at the Powell River Public Library as the teen services coordinator where she gets to combine her love for books and writing with a love for her community. Megan has worked as a freelance journalist and is working on a memoir which tackles themes of gender and mental health. Find out more about Megan at megancolewriter.com

ABOUT THE PODCAST:

Writing the Coast is recorded and produced on the traditional territory of the Tla'amin Nation. As a settler on these lands, Megan Cole finds opportunities to learn and listen to the stories from those whose land was stolen.

The BC and Yukon Podcast, tentatively titled *Writing the Coast*, is a recorded series of conversations, readings, and insights into the work of the writers, illustrators, and creators whose books are nominated for the annual BC and Yukon Book Prizes. We'll also check in on people in the writing community who are supporting books, writers and readers every day. The podcast is produced and hosted by Megan Cole.

ABOUT THIS EPISODE:

In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Sabina Khan about her book The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali. In this conversation Sabina talks about the importance of having diverse stories and books available to teens and young adults, and why she's drawn to writing stories about characters who straddle cultures.

ABOUT SABINA KHAN:

Sabina Khan writes about Muslim teens who straddle cultures. She was born in Germany, spent her teens in Bangladesh and lived in Macao, Illinois and Texas before settling in British Columba with her husband and two daughters.

Sabina is an educational consultant helping young people with academic and personal challenges. She started writing because she couldn’t find stories with characters who looked like her daughters or her students. She discovered that while Canada has a very diverse population, in schools, students are required to read the same books that have been in the curriculum for decades. “There is not much to engage them since they never see themselves reflected in the books they read,” she says. Her mission became to write books, both fantasy and contemporary, where the young people around her could see themselves as heroes overcoming obstacles to find love and happiness.

Sabina is passionate about creating awareness around LGBTQIA+ issues and for representation of all peoples in literature. She has spoken at events across North America including TeenBookCon, the Montreal YA Festival and the ABA Winter Institute. Her upcoming book Zara Hossain Is Here will be released in November 2020.

ABOUT MEGAN COLE:

Megan Cole is a writer based in Powell River, British Columbia. She also works at the Powell River Public Library as the teen services coordinator where she gets to combine her love for books and writing with a love for her community. Megan has worked as a freelance journalist and is working on a memoir which tackles themes of gender and mental health. Find out more about Megan at megancolewriter.com

ABOUT THE PODCAST:

Writing the Coast is recorded and produced on the traditional territory of the Tla'amin Nation. As a settler on these lands, Megan Cole finds opportunities to learn and listen to the stories from those whose land was stolen.

The BC and Yukon Podcast, tentatively titled *Writing the Coast*, is a recorded series of conversations, readings, and insights into the work of the writers, illustrators, and creators whose books are nominated for the annual BC and Yukon Book Prizes. We'll also check in on people in the writing community who are supporting books, writers and readers every day. The podcast is produced and hosted by Megan Cole.

ABOUT THIS EPISODE:

In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Kyo Maclear who co-created the book It Began with a Page: How Gyo Fujikawa Drew the Way with Vancouver illustrator Julie Morstad. Kyo talked about how the pair started working together and the connection they've both built to the story and legacy of Gyo Fujikawa.

ABOUT KYO MACLEAR:

Kyo Maclear is an essayist, novelist and children’s author. She was born in London, England and moved to Toronto at the age of four with her British father (a foreign correspondent and documentary filmmaker) and Japanese mother (a painter and art dealer).

Her books have been translated into fifteen languages, published in over twenty countries, and garnered nominations from the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction, the Trillium Book Award, the Governor General’s Literary Awards, the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Awards, the Amazon.ca First Novel Award, the National Magazine Awards, among other honours.

ABOUT MEGAN COLE:

Megan Cole is a writer based in Powell River, British Columbia. She also works at the Powell River Public Library as the teen services coordinator where she gets to combine her love for books and writing with a love for her community. Megan has worked as a freelance journalist and is working on a memoir which tackles themes of gender and mental health. Find out more about Megan at megancolewriter.com

ABOUT THE PODCAST:

Writing the Coast is recorded and produced on the traditional territory of the Tla'amin Nation. As a settler on these lands, Megan Cole finds opportunities to learn and listen to the stories from those whose land was stolen.

The BC and Yukon Podcast, tentatively titled *Writing the Coast*, is a recorded series of conversations, readings, and insights into the work of the writers, illustrators, and creators whose books are nominated for the annual BC and Yukon Book Prizes. We'll also check in on people in the writing community who are supporting books, writers and readers every day. The podcast is produced and hosted by Megan Cole.

ABOUT THIS EPISODE:

In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Chantal Gibson about her poetry collection How She Read. In this conversation they discuss the way the work in How She Read examines the portray of black women in culture and history and how erasure impacts how we read and learn.

ABOUT CHANTAL GIBSON

Chantal Gibson is an artist-educator living in Vancouver with ancestral roots in Nova Scotia. Her visual art collection Historical In(ter)ventions, a series of altered history book sculptures, dismantles text to highlight language as a colonial mechanism of oppression. How She Read is another altered book, a genre-blurring extension of her artistic practice. Sculpting black text against a white page, her poems forge new spaces that challenge historic representations of Black womanhood and Otherness in the Canadian cultural imagination.

How She Read is Gibson’s debut book of poetry. Her work has been published in Room magazine and Making Room: 40 years of Room Magazine (Caitlin Press, 2017), and she was shortlisted for PRISM magazine’s 2017 Poetry Prize. An award-winning teacher, she teaches writing and visual communication in the School of Interactive Arts & Technology at Simon Fraser University.

ABOUT MEGAN COLE:

Megan Cole is a writer based in Powell River, British Columbia. She also works at the Powell River Public Library as the teen services coordinator where she gets to combine her love for books and writing with a love for her community. Megan has worked as a freelance journalist and is working on a memoir which tackles themes of gender and mental health. Find out more about Megan at megancolewriter.com

ABOUT THE PODCAST:

The BC and Yukon Podcast, tentatively titled *Writing the Coast*, is a recorded series of conversations, readings, and insights into the work of the writers, illustrators, and creators whose books are nominated for the annual BC and Yukon Book Prizes. We'll also check in on people in the writing community who are supporting books, writers and readers every day. The podcast is produced and hosted by Megan Cole.

ABOUT THIS EPISODE:

In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Emily Lycopolus about the cookbook Cedar and Salt that she co-authored with Danielle Acken. Emily talks about some of the amazing food producers she met along their journey of writing the cookbook as well as why she thinks regional cookbooks like theirs are so popular in Canada.

ABOUT EMILY LYCOPOLUS

Emily Lycopolus is a recipe developer, the author of six olive oil-focused cookbooks, a level two olive oil sommelier, the co-founder of eatcreative.ca, a food-driven creative content agency, and the founder of The Olive Oil Critic (oliveoilcritic.com). Her family owns an olive grove in central Italy, where her love of olive oil began. She lives in Victoria, BC.

ABOUT MEGAN COLE:

Megan Cole is a writer based in Powell River, British Columbia. She also works at the Powell River Public Library as the teen services coordinator where she gets to combine her love for books and writing with a love for her community. Megan has worked as a freelance journalist and is working on a memoir which tackles themes of gender and mental health. Find out more about Megan at megancolewriter.com

ABOUT THE PODCAST:

The BC and Yukon Podcast, tentatively titled *Writing the Coast*, is a recorded series of conversations, readings, and insights into the work of the writers, illustrators, and creators whose books are nominated for the annual BC and Yukon Book Prizes. We'll also check in on people in the writing community who are supporting books, writers and readers every day. The podcast is produced and hosted by Megan Cole.