Tag Archive for: Author

Strange Bodies, Fragile Worlds: Women, Horror and the Art of Survival

What happens when the greatest threats are both deeply personal and terrifyingly universal? Join debut novelists Emma Cleary (Afterbirth) and Sophie Ganic (Frequencies) for a conversation about women navigating bodily autonomy, isolation, obsession, and survival in worlds where the familiar becomes frightening. Moderated by horror aficionado JJ Lee, this discussion explores the power of horror to illuminate our deepest fears, challenge our assumptions about connection and resilience, and reveal what it means to endure when everything begins to unravel.

 

 

 

Emma Cleary was born and raised in Liverpool and now lives with her family in Vancouver, where she serves as editor-in-chief of Geist magazine. Her short fiction and essays have appeared in Best British Short Stories, James Baldwin Review, Canadian Literature, and elsewhere. She holds a PhD in Literature and Philosophy from Staffordshire University, and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia. Afterbirth is her first novel.

 

 

Sophie Ganic writes cyberpunk and dystopian stories that weave together the speculative and the profoundly human. Drawing upon her PhD in molecular biology and her experience in cancer research, she explores the what-ifs of technological evolution and the ways these advances can send us backward. From her home in Vancouver, BC, she uses the relentless pace of innovation as a catalyst for examining the relationship between our choices and their consequences. Frequencies is her first novel.

 

 

This session is a co-presentation with SFU Writers’ Studio.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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What Can Artists Do? Creating Theatre in a Time of Climate Change

How can theatre help us imagine, confront, and respond to the climate crisis? Join playwrights Pedro Chamale, Elaine Avila, and Chantal Bilodeau for a conversation about the role of storytelling, performance, and artistic practice in a rapidly changing world. Together, they will explore how theatre can amplify overlooked voices, foster empathy, and inspire action while grappling with the complex realities of climate change. This timely discussion asks what artists can create—and what audiences can learn—when the future of our planet is at stake.

 

This event will take place in person at the library and be streamed live on Zoom. All registered attendees will receive the Zoom link shortly before the event.

 

Chantal Bilodeau is a playwright and the founding artistic director of the Arts & Climate Initiative. For the past two decades, she has led projects at the intersection of storytelling and the climate crisis, encouraging artists, students, and audiences to engage in climate action through live performances, talks, publications, workshops, artist convenings, and a worldwide distributed theatre festival. Her plays have been presented in a dozen countries and translated into French, Norwegian, Greek, and Portuguese. Her ongoing project – The Arctic Cycle – is a series of eight plays about the social and environmental changes facing the eight Arctic states. She is currently pursuing a PhD in English at the University of Victoria and is a trainee in the Coastal Climate Solutions Leaders program. In 2019, she was named one of “8 Trailblazers Who Are Changing the Climate Conversation” by Audubon Magazine.

 

Pedro Chamale (he/him) is a Latiné-Canadian director, playwright, & performer who was born and raised on the unceded, ancestral, and traditional territories of the Treaty 8 Nations, in Chetwynd, BC. He completed the acting program at Douglas College and BFA in Theatre Performance from SFU’s School for the Contemporary Arts. He’s a co-founder and Artistic Director of rice & beans theatre and is a founding member and current board president of CALTAC (The Canadian Latinx Theatre Artist Coalition). Pedro was the Artistic Resident at Neworld Theatre in 2014, the guest curator of the 2018 rEvolver Festival, and was one of the playwrights in the 2019 Playwright’s Lab at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. He was recently the supporting playwright for the 2025 East Van Panto and will be the lead playwright for the 2026 Panto. His play Peace Country was published by Playwrights Canada Press. You can find out more about Pedro’s work at www.pedrochamale.com and www.riceandbeanstheatre.com

 

A Fulbright Scholar and co-founder of the Climate Change Theatre Action involving 75,000 participants worldwide, Elaine Ávila is described as “a wonderful writer, tremendously gifted, and innovative” (Suzan-Lori Parks), “fully engaged with the immense political, cultural, and aesthetic complexity of fado’s history” (Jeff Parker); her writing as “gorgeous…a piercing cry to the soul” (Katherine Vaz). Her award-winning plays have been produced in over forty cities/countries, from Panamá City to London, Lisbon to Los Angeles. Best New Play Awards include: Jane Austen, Action Figure (Festival de los Cocos, Panamá City), Lieutenant Nun (Victoria Critics Circle), and Café a Brasileira (Disquiet International Literary Program, Lisbon). Her books are available from NoPassport Press and Talonbooks. She is currently commissioned by the Lortel, an off-Broadway theatre, to write about seaweed’s astonishing potential to mitigate the climate crisis and a historic female scientist who founded the first seaside research station in B.C..

 

 

This event is also part of Climate Action Week in BC Libraries

 

 

 

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Storytime & Craft @ Kinder Books

Come celebrate two new books with local author and illustrator, Vicky Fang! Vicky will read aloud from her early reader chapter book, One Mad Cat and the Missing Book, and share a peek at her skip counting picture book, Lots and Lots of Ocelots. Inspired by One Mad Cat, Vicky will show kids how to draw their own emotional cats and discuss some calming tips for those emotional moments. Plus, there will be treats, stickers, and bookmarks!

Please register for this event by clicking the Registration button to the left. This event is suitable for children ages 4-8 and their families.

 

 

 

Vicky Fang is the author-illustrator of the One Mad Cat early reader chapter book series, the Ava Lin chapter book series, the Friendbots early comic series, and the AlphaBot novelty book. She is the author of the Layla and the Bots series, the Best Buddies series, the I Can Code board book series, the picture books Invent-a-Pet, The Boo Crew Needs You!, and Lots and Lots of Ocelots. A former Google product designer, she now writes and illustrates children’s books full-time in North Vancouver, BC. You can learn more at vickyfang.com.

 

 

 

This event is a co-production with Kinder Books

 

 

 

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School Field Trip Through Time

Children’s author Leah Payne takes children on a journey to discover how school has changed over the years. What kids think is normal now was certainly NOT normal in the past, and vice versa! Maybe your childhood school experience was different too!

Join us at the Main Branch for this special story time and activity is suitable for children in grades 2-5, learning about how we learn!

 

 

 

 

Leah Payne is an author, editor, and mom. She’s also an auxiliary librarian at the New Westminster Public Library. Leah holds a bachelor’s degree in Communication from Simon Fraser University and a master’s degree in Library and Information Studies (MLIS) from the University of British Columbia. Her books include Less Is More (2023), Get Outside! (2024), and Time for School (2026), all published by Orca Book Publishers. When Leah’s not working, you’ll probably find her doing a jigsaw puzzle while listening to an audiobook and drinking a cup of tea.

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Separated from Santo: Bringing History to Life Through a Graphic Novel

Step back in time to the 1930s, when Canada entered the Second World War and Italian Canadians were labelled “Enemy Aliens.” More than 600 Italian Canadians were arrested and interned, separated from their families, and in some cases, forced to give up their homes and businesses.

Separated from Santo, a graphic novel by Brian Barazzuol, and illustrated by Cam Drysdale, tells the true story of Brian’s great-grandfather, Santo Pasqualini, whose life was forever changed by internment. Through Santo’s story, the graphic novel explores a lesser-known chapter of Canadian history and the devastating impact it had on Italian Canadian families.

This session will explore both this important period in Canadian history and the creative process behind bringing a true historical story to life as a graphic novel.

 

Brian Barazzuol is a new media and digital learning teacher in Port Coquitlam, BC. He specializes in digital media curriculum design and implementation. His great grand-parents, Santo and Alice Pasqualini, are the focal points of Separated from Santo. Brian’s family is of Italian heritage, with some relatives on both his maternal and paternal sides coming from Friuli and Treviso.

 

 

 

Cam Drysdale is a well-respected animator who worked in the cartoon industry for twenty-five years, storyboarding and animating both locally and overseas on various productions, including X-Men, The Silver Surfer, Inspector Gadget, Dennis the Menace, Babar, and The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin. Today, he teaches art to secondary school students in Port Coquitlam, BC.

 

 

 

This event is co-presented with Arts New West

Poetry & Art Salon: A Reflection on Remembrance, Grief & Loss

Join us for an afternoon of poetry readings exploring the human emotions of grief and loss, and how we remember those we love. In conjunction with New West Hospice’s Dialogue on Death and Dying, this event features four local authors and will also have an open mic time at the end to add your voice to the conversation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ALAN GIRLING lives in Richmond, British Columbia. His writings have appeared in print, online, on the radio, and in the occasional shop window. He’s won a few prizes for poetry and fiction and has had a short play produced. 

He regularly publishes his poetry at his Substack newsletter called man of aran: https://alangirling.substack.com/

 

 

JANET KVAMMEN is a poet, mixed media and lens-based artist. A founding RCLAS board member in 2012, Janet is the President of Royal City Literary Arts Society. Active on both the literary and arts scene of New Westminster, Janet is a host and coordinator of local reading events and art exhibits. She is the recipient of the Bernie Legge Artist of the Year awarded by the New West Chamber at the 2023 Platinum Awards. Janet is the Poet Laureate of the City of New Westminster.

 

 

JERENA TOBIASEN is a native Vancouverite and proud Canadian. Her award-winning, historical fiction novels include The Prophecy, a 3-volume saga, and The Nightingale and Sparrow Chronicles, a (soon to be) 4-volume series.

Jerena has travelled extensively throughout Great Britain, Western Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Russia, the Arctic and the Americas, collecting data for her stories. She embellishes her stories by drawing from her experiences, including visiting museums and libraries, conducting interviews, and travelling in the footsteps of her characters. She is determined to write with accuracy and authenticity.

Jerena is a proud member of The Writers’ Union of Canada, Royal City Literary Arts Society, Canadian Authors Association, BC Federation of Writers, Burnaby Writers Society and the Royal Canadian Legion. If she’s not home writing, she’s likely travelling!

 

 

This event is co-presented with the Royal City Literary Arts Society

and the Anvil Centre

Jerena Tobiasen’s appearance at this event is made possible with funding support from the Canada Council for the Arts through the Writers’ Union of Canada. 

The Writer’s Chair: Maria Reva

Join us for the New Westminster gala at the 2026 Fraser River Literary Festival!

New Westminster’s own, Maria Reva, draws on her family background in Ukraine to craft novels and stories that explore connection, culture, climate, and the human condition. Her debut novel was longlisted for the Booker Prize and won the Atwood Gibson Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize, the Aspen Words Literary Prize and the Amazon Canada First Novel Award. The Writer’s Chair highlights Maria’s work in conversation with JJ Lee.

 

Maria Reva writes fiction and opera libretti. She is the author of Good Citizens Need Not Fear, set in an apartment block in Ukraine, as well as the novel Endling (longlisted for the 2025 Booker Prize, winner of the Atwood Gibson Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize). Her writing has appeared in The Atlantic, McSweeney’s, The Wall Street Journal, The Best American Short Stories, and elsewhere.

Maria’s opera libretti have been commissioned by organizations including City Opera Vancouver, Memorial University of Newfoundland’s Opera Roadshow, Ad Astra Music Festival (Russell, Kansas), Musique 3 Femmes, and most recently, Opéra de Montréal. Her musical works have been performed at venues such as Théâtre Maisonneuve in Montréal and Berlin’s ufaFabrik.

Maria was born in Ukraine and grew up in New Westminster.

Photo by Anya Chibis

 

Please note, this event is general admission in the Anvil Theatre. Free Tickets must be reserved through the registration below. If you require accessible seating, please book a spot and also send a message to askus@nwpl.ca so we can accommodate you.

Anvil Centre. New Westminster.

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Love, Panda, Storytime & Stuffy Party

Beloved New Westminster teacher-librarian, Elaine Su, will lead a special story time to read her new book, Love, Panda. Bring your own stuffy, and after the story we’ll make portraits of our stuffed friends, so they can write letters, just like Panda!

 

Attendance at this event is through registration. Please register below, indicating number of children. Intended for children ages 4-9 and their families.

 

 

 

 

Elaine Su 苏依泠 was born in Shanghai and now lives with her family in beautiful coastal BC. Her favourite childhood stuffie was an enormous green and white rabbit named Duffle. He has since been adopted by her children and now lives in their bedroom where he rules over a kingdom of a hundred other stuffies. One of them is Panda. Elaine is an author, a teacher, an artist, and an avid fan of jigsaw puzzles. 

 

Mobilizing Canada for the Climate Emergency: Local Leadership in an Era of Policy Rollback

Join us for an invigorating talk by Seth Klein on the state of the climate crisis in 2026. How does the climate crisis represent a civilizational threat? What does it look like to move into genuine emergency mode? What is the state of play in Canada and globally? Are we going backwards or forwards? What would it look like to move into genuine emergency mode? Why has climate dropped in public and political attention, and what can we do about it, especially at the local level?

 

Seth Klein served for five years (2021-2025) as the founder, Team Lead and Director of Strategy of the Climate Emergency Unit (a 5-year project of the David Suzuki Institute). the Climate Emergency Unit’s mission was to initiate joint campaigns and coalitions to advance the emergency policy ideas proposed in Seth’s book. The overarching goal of the CEU was to press for the implementation of wartime-scale policies to confront the crisis, like we tackled an earlier existential threat – the rise of fascism during the Second World War. The project sought to press leaders into genuine emergency mode and to implement policies to dramatically reduce Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions by building coalition tables – federally, provincially, and sectorally – around transformative emergency ideas.

Prior to that, he served for 22 years (1996-2018) as the founding British Columbia Director of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, a public policy research institute committed to social, economic and environmental justice. More recently, he helped to launch and now serves on the board of the BC Society for Policy Solutions. He is the author of A Good War: Mobilizing Canada for the Climate Emergency (published by ECW press in 2020). He is an adjunct professor with Simon Fraser University’s Urban Studies program.

A social activist for over 40 years, Seth’s activism started as a high school student in the peace movement, and in the anti-racism movement while attending university. He has lived in BC since 1993, and currently lives in East Vancouver. A frequent media commentator on public policy issues, Seth regularly gives talks across the province and nationally. His research deals primarily with climate policy and climate justice, fiscal policy, taxation, welfare policy, poverty, inequality, economic security, and job creation.

 

This event will be presented in person at the Main Branch. It will also be streamed live via Zoom. Unfortunately, the session will not be recorded. All registered attendees will receive the Zoom link shortly before the event.

 

This event is co-presented with the New Westminster Climate Action Hub

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Society of Crows

From a remote island to the urban jungle, the ever-popular Society of Crows will take you on a journey into the mind of the crow to explore its complex social interactions. Dr. Butler will enchant, amaze and entertain you as he describes from his latest best-selling book he and his wife’s explorations of crows from remote coastal islands in British Columbia to bustling urban centres. Bring your crow stories and join the fun.

Dr. Butler’s book, Society of Crows, is a best-seller, and the film of the same name has won a Leo Award.

Robert Butler, Canadian author, ornithologist, artist and conservationist, is an award-winning scientist and public speaker. From books, public speaking, television and radio appearances, through teaching, films, science and art he has brought birds and nature into the lives of tens of thousands of Canadians. Butler is a fellow of the American Ornithological Society, Royal Canadian Geographical Society, and a Signature Member of Artists for Conservation. He holds a doctoral degree from the University of British Columbia.

 

This event will be held in person and online via Zoom. All registered participants will receive the Zoom link close to the day of the event.

Dr. Butler will have copies of his book, Society of Crows, available for sale at the event.

 

**If event is full, please email askus@nwpl.ca to be put on the waitlist. If you’d like to attend via Zoom, please indicate that in your email**