The twenty contemporary writers featured in this anthology have one thing in common: a connection to British Columbia, to a specific time, landscape, or community in BC. Their essays and memoirs have been inspired by, or are in some way affected by, the particular “sense of place” that sets that left-hand corner of the country apart from other provinces. Some are humorous; others are poignant. Whether describing a family history in Kitsilano, the difficulties fitting in as an immigrant, or a close encounter with a grizzly bear, these stories communicate a sense of belonging to, or a trying to find, a sense of place.
Some of Canada’s best-known writers, all members of the Federation of BC Writers, are featured in this anthology, including Pauline Holdstock, Harold Rhenisch, George Fetherling, Howie White, Katherine Gordon, and, M.A.C. Farrant. The book features an introduction by editor Daniel Francis, a historian and author of twenty books.
Daniel Francis served as editor for The Encyclopedia of British Columbia (Harbour, 2000), which won the Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize and the Bill Duthie Booksellers’ Choice Award in BC. Francis also wrote the definitive biography of Louis Denison Taylor, the newspaperman who served as mayor of Vancouver more times than anyone else. His biography of Taylor, L.D.: Mayor Louis Taylor and the Rise of Vancouver (Arsenal Pulp, 2004), received the City of Vancouver Book Award in 2004. Francis has his BA from UBC (1969) and an MA in Canadian Studies from Carleton University (1975). He worked as a newspaper reporter for two years before turning fulltime to historical writing and research. He has also been an editor with Geist magazine and has served on the executive of The Writers’ Union of Canada, the BC Federation of Writers, The Vancouver Word on the Street Festival, and the West Coast Book Prize Society.
