BC Books From Vancouver Island & the Coast

From the burnt-orange bark of the arbutus trees and jewel-green ferns, to the vibrant ochre sea star and the gradated hues of magical sunsets, the colours of British Columbia's coast have long inspired painters, including Yvonne Maximchuk, a versatile artist who is reknowned for her expressive depictions of the land, sea and wildlife. Working from her remote Echo Bay studio, Maximchuk has joined the adult colouring-book craze and created forty original illustrations for colourists to enjoy.

Colo …

In August 1989, Jane Rule – novelist, essayist, and the first widely recognized “public lesbian” in North America – summed up the first eight years of her correspondence with Rick Bébout, journalist and editor with the Toronto-based Body Politic: “It seems to me that what has concerned us is richly human and significantly focused on the concerns of our time and our tribe.”

Rule lived in a remote rural community on Galiano Island in British Columbia but wrote a column for the magazin …

A Queer Love Story presents the first fifteen years of letters between Jane Rule – novelist and the first widely recognized “public lesbian” in North America – and Rick Bébout, journalist and editor with the Toronto-based Body Politic, an important incubator of LGBT thought and activism. Rule lived in a remote rural community on Galiano Island in British Columbia but wrote a column for the magazine. Bébout resided in and was devoted to Toronto’s gay village. At turns poignant, scinti …

Silver prize-winning guidebook in the Society of American Travel Writers' Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Competition

Now is the perfect time to explore this vast country with your kids while finally experiencing the spectacular Canadian destinations you’ve been dreaming about.

Planning a family getaway can be overwhelming, but award-winning freelance travel writer and blogger Jody Robbins puts you on the right path with savvy suggestions for families who are keen to explore Canada with their li …

Silver prize-winning guidebook in the Society of American Travel Writers' Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Competition

Now is the perfect time to explore this vast country with your kids while finally experiencing the spectacular Canadian destinations you’ve been dreaming about.

Planning a family getaway can be overwhelming, but award-winning freelance travel writer and blogger Jody Robbins puts you on the right path with savvy suggestions for families who are keen to explore Canada with their li …

A stunning retrospective highlighting the playfulness, power, and subversive spirit of Northwest Coast Indigenous artist Sonny Assu.

Through large-scale installation, sculpture, photography, printmaking, and painting, Sonny Assu merges the aesthetics of Indigenous iconography with a pop-art sensibility. This stunning retrospective spans over a decade of Assu’s career, highlighting more than 120 full-colour works, including several never-before-exhibited pieces.

Through analytical essays and per …

A former Olympic rower reflects on his evolution from ultra-competitive athlete to supportive coach and offers his game-changing thoughts on achieving success.

Once the embodiment of an aggressive athlete, Jason Dorland used to identify himself according to the results of his competitions—winner or loser. The elite rower was raised with an “in-it-to-win-it” attitude and was trained to think of every competitor as an enemy. It took a devastating loss at the 1988 Olympic Games to shatter this …

An insightful look at the first mayor of Nanaimo, BC, drawing heavily on his prolific and insightful written observations.

Mark Bate, elected Nanaimo’s first mayor in 1875, was a renaissance man. He loved music, writing, literature, the outdoors, community affairs, and of course politics. Bate served as mayor for sixteen terms—most by acclamation. He retired three times, returning to office after being persuaded to serve again.

Historian Jan Peterson skillfully weaves Bate’s own writing—in …