An anthology that refracts the experience of writers, new and established, who have been part of Vancouver’s notorious Downtown Eastside in some way. Their work reappropriates the coding of the area and recasts the neighborhood as a site of creative energy and human dignity.

Stephen Reid has grown old in prison and seen more than his share of its solitude, its vicious cycles, and its subculture relationships. He has participated in the economics of contraband, the incredible escapes, the intimacies of torture, the miscarriages of justice, and witnessed the innocent souls whose childhood destinies doomed them to prison life. He has learned that everything is bearable, that the painful separation of family, children, and friend is tolerable, and that sorrow must...

Travel in the entertaining company of a man made of equal parts bullshit and inspiration, in what is ultimately a twisted panegyric to the power of strange music to change people from the inside outAt turns funny and strangely sobering, this "found memoir" is a picaresque tale of inspired, heroic deceit, incompetence, and -- just possibly -- triumph. Follow the flailing escapades of maverick music manager Campbell Ouiniette at the Calgary Folk Festival, as he leaves a trail of empt...

Nora Ephron struck a chord with I Feel Bad about My Neck. Women’s advocate and acclaimed writer Shari Graydon set out to counter the supposed downhill slideinspired grief by inviting notable women from across Canada - all over 50 - to provide an alternative perspective.I Feel Great about My Hands is a collection of stories, essays and poems embracing the changes, discoveries and wisdom that come with age. This colourful anthology...

A funny, poignant, and at times heartbreaking memoir about one mother and her love of beautiful objets — and how it ultimately proved destructive.Being left with a strand of even the highest quality milky-white pearls isn’t quite the same thing as pearls of wisdom to live by, as Karen von Hahn reveals in her memoir about her stylish and captivating mother, Susan — a mercurial, grandiose, Guerlain-and-vodka-soaked narcissist whose search for glamour and ful...

A book in which some of our best writers address their own losses — and help us endure our own…A heartbreaking, comforting and beautiful collection of true stories about grief and mourning from some of Canada’s best known writers.When Jean Baird’s daughter, Bronwyn, died suddenly, Jean’s deep instinct was to turn to books to help her in her time of sudden loss. Although she found that the thoughts of counselors, psychologists, Buddhists, and self-help gurus were perhaps som...

A new short story by award-winning author Pasha Malla.Set during the summer in a small town on the edge of the Arctic Circle, To Sweep the Light is a love story about solitude and companionship, proximity and distance, and the quest for intimacy between a boy and a girl.

City of Vancouver Book Award winnerLambda Award winner Amber Dawn’s sophomore book reveals a poignant and personal landscape-the terrain of sex work, queer identity, and survivor pride. This memoir told in prose and poetry offers a frank, multifaceted portrait of the author’s experience, from hustling the streets of Vancouver in the mid-90s to her present life as an outspoken feminist storyteller.This publication meets the EPUB Accessibility requirements an...

For each of the 101 topics, a question from that topic is provided along with a model answer to that question. The questions are typical of those asked in part 1 of the IELTS speaking module and the model answers are suitable responses, though candidates are advised to modify the model answers and add to them as appropriate.

This book is designed for people who are learning English as a foreign language and wish to improve their use of English conversation phrases. This set of conversation phrases contains many similar entries to the 101 connectives book in the 'English 101' series.This book contains 101 conversation phrases that are frequently used in English, arranged alphabetically. Each conversation phrase is provided with two examples of its use. The examples are provided as answers to questions f...

"For anyone who has ever dreamed of owning a bookstore . . . a memoir sure to warm the cockles of the hearts of readers. . . . A treasure of a book about books." ―Nina Sankovitch, author of Tolstoy and the Purple Chair: My Year of Magical ReadingWendy Welch and her husband had always dreamed of owning a bookstore, so when they left their high-octane jobs for a simpler life in an Appalachian coal town, they seized an unexpected opportunity...

A divorced father and his small son wait at an airport departure gate, bracing themselves for the separation that lies ahead. If only they could always be together ...In this heart-rending story about fathers and sons in the age of divorce, critically acclaimed author, Simon Worrall, gives voice to feelings that millions of men have - but don't always share.