ABOUT THIS EPISODE:
In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Claudia Cornwall, author of British Columbia in Flames: Stories from a Blazing Summer, which is a finalist for the 2021 Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize. In this conversation Claudia talks about the importance of BC's old growth and shares some of the amazing stories she collected while writing her book.

ABOUT CLAUDIA CORNWALL:
Claudia Cornwall is most recently the author of Battling Melanoma and Catching Cancer (Rowman & Littlefield, 2016 and 2013). Her book At the World’s Edge: Curt Lang’s Vancouver, 1937–1998 (Mother Tongue, 2011) was shortlisted for the City of Vancouver Book Award, and Letter from Vienna: A Daughter Uncovers Her Family’s Jewish Past (Douglas & McIntyre, 1995) was awarded the Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize. Cornwall has taught creative writing at Simon Fraser University for many years. She lives in North Vancouver, BC.

ABOUT MEGAN COLE:
Megan Cole the Director of Audience Development for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes. She is also a writer based on the territory of the Tla'amin Nation. Megan writes creative nonfiction and has had essays published in The Puritan, Untethered, Invisible publishing's invisiblog, This Magazine and more. She has her MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of King's College and is working her first book titled Head Over Feet: The Lasting Heartache of First Loves. 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.

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.

S3 Episode 6: Claudia Cornwall talks about the lasting effects of BC's 2017 forest fires

ABOUT THIS EPISODE:
In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Sara Cassidy, whose book Genius Jolene is a finalist for the 2021 Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize. In their conversation Sara talks about why she wrote about food and the joy of eating, and how she learned a bit about what it's like to travel in an 18-wheeler.

ABOUT SARA CASSIDY:
Sara Cassidy’s books have been short-listed for many awards, including the Chocolate Lily Award for both Black Gold and Blackberry Juice, the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Award for A Boy Named Queen and the Bolen Books Children’s Book Prize for Skylark. Additionally, both A Boy Named Queen and Double Play were Junior Library Guild selections. Her poetry, fiction and nonfiction for adults have been widely published. She lives in Victoria, British Columbia.

ABOUT MEGAN COLE:
Megan Cole the Director of Audience Development for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes. She is also a writer based on the territory of the Tla'amin Nation. Megan writes creative nonfiction and has had essays published in The Puritan, Untethered, Invisible publishing's invisiblog, This Magazine and more. She has her MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of King's College and is working her first book titled Head Over Feet: The Lasting Heartache of First Loves. 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.

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.

Heat of the Summer

S3 Episode 17: Sara Cassidy talks about writing about the joy of eating in Genius Jolene

ABOUT THIS EPISODE:
In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Briony Penn, author of Following the Good River: The Life and Times of Wa'xaid, which is a finalist for the 2021 Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize. Briony talks about how she met Cecil Paul and how working with and building a friendship with Cecil opened her eyes to truths about colonization and capitalism in Canada.

ABOUT BRIONY PENN AND CECIL PAUL:
Briony Penn is an award-winning writer of creative non-fiction books as well as a contributor to many anthologies and chapter books. She has been a feature writer and columnist for decades, with over five hundred articles on environmental issues and natural history in newspapers, magazines, government publications, online news sources and peer-reviewed journals. She has also written numerous environmental guides and educational handbooks for teachers in British Columbia. Her first book with RMB, The Real Thing: The Natural History of Ian McTaggart Cowan, was the winner of the 2015 BC Book Prize. Her work with Cecil Paul will continue with the publication of a comprehensive and collaborative biography, Following the Good River: Stories from the Magic Canoe of Cecil Paul, which will be published by RMB in the autumn of 2019. Briony lives on Salt Spring Island, BC.

Cecil Paul, also known by his Xenaksiala name, Wa’xaid, is a respected elder, activist and orator, and one of the last fluent speakers of his people’s language. Cecil was born in 1931 in the Kitlope and raised on fishing, hunting, trapping and gathering. At the age of 10 he was torn from his family and placed in a residential school run by the United Church of Canada at Port Alberni, on Vancouver Island. For years, Cecil suffered from the pain of the abuse inflicted there. After three decades of prolonged alcohol abuse, he finally returned to the Kitlope and the positive influence of his people’s knowledge and ways. Once Cecil’s healing journey began, he eventually became an outspoken leader against the industrialization of his people’s land and traditional territory, working tirelessly to protect the Kitlope, the largest intact temperate rainforest watershed in the world. Now in his late 80s, Cecil still lives in his ancestors’ traditional territory, and his work protecting the Kitlope continues to this day.

ABOUT MEGAN COLE:
Megan Cole the Director of Audience Development for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes. She is also a writer based on the territory of the Tla'amin Nation. Megan writes creative nonfiction and has had essays published in The Puritan, Untethered, Invisible publishing's invisiblog, This Magazine and more. She has her MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of King's College and is working her first book titled Head Over Feet: The Lasting Heartache of First Loves. 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.

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.

S3 Episode 22: Briony Penn talks about the friendship with Cecil Paul that led to two books

ABOUT THIS EPISODE:
In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Dan Bar-El, author of Just Beyond the Very, Very Far North, which is a finalist for the 2021 Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize. Dan discusses how The Very, Very Far North became a series, and why he uses animals as the characters in some of his books.

ABOUT DAN BAR-EL:
Dan Bar-el is an award-winning children’s author, educator, and storyteller whose books include Audrey (Cow), Not Your Typical Dragon, and The Very, Very Far North series. Dan has worked with children ages three to thirteen as a school-age childcare provider, a preschool teacher, a creative drama teacher, and a creative writing teacher. He also teaches with the Creative Writing for Children Society. Dan lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, with artist and goldsmith Dominique Bréchault, and Sasha, the most adorable cat in the known universe.

ABOUT MEGAN COLE:
Megan Cole the Director of Audience Development for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes. She is also a writer based on the territory of the Tla'amin Nation. Megan writes creative nonfiction and has had essays published in The Puritan, Untethered, Invisible publishing's invisiblog, This Magazine and more. She has her MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of King's College and is working her first book titled Head Over Feet: The Lasting Heartache of First Loves. 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.

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.

S3 Episode 23: Dan Bar-El on the characters in the Very, Very Far North series who are like him

ABOUT THIS EPISODE:
In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Jordan Scott, author of I Talk Like A River, which was illustrated by Sydney Smith. I Talk Like A River was a finalist for the 2021 Christie Harris Illustrated Children's Literature Prize. In their conversation Jordan talks about why he wrote a children's book, and how poetry helped him approach the storytelling and writing in I Talk Like A River.

ABOUT JORDAN SCOTT:
Jordan Scott is the author of Silt; blert; Decomp, a collaboration with Stephen Collis and ecosphere of British Columbia; and Night & Ox. His chapbooks include Clearance Process and Lanterns at Guantánamo. Both chapbooks treat his experience after being allowed access to Guantanamo Bay in April 2015. Scott was the 2015/16 Writer-in-Residence at Simon Fraser University and the recipient of the 2018 Latner Writers’ Trust Poetry Prize for his contributions to Canadian poetry. Scott’s first children’s book, I Talk Like a River, is published by Holiday House / Neal Porter Books and illustrated by Sydney Smith. Scott also works as an editor with Broc Rossell at The Elephants. More of Scott’s work, including his multimedia projects, are found here  and here.

ABOUT MEGAN COLE:
Megan Cole the Director of Programming and Communications for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes. She is also a writer based on the territory of the Tla'amin Nation. Megan writes creative nonfiction and has had essays published in The Puritan, Untethered, Invisible publishing's invisiblog, This Magazine and more. She has her MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of King's College and is working her first book titled Head Over Feet: The Lasting Heartache of First Loves. 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.

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.

S3 Episode 26: Jordan Scott talks about maintaining a child-like wonder of language

ABOUT THIS EPISODE:
In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Elly MacKay and Kallie George. Their book The Secret Fawn is a finalist for the 2022 Christie Harris Illustrated Children's Literature Prize.  In their conversation, Elly and Kallie talk about how they met and became friends, and how they try to capture wonder for their readers, and their own kids.

ABOUT KALLIE GEORGE AND ELLY MACKAY:
Kallie George is an author, editor and creative writing teacher. She has written numerous books for early readers, including the first three books in the Anne chapter book series (Anne Arrives, Anne’s Kindred Spirits, Anne’s School Days), The Magical Animal Adoption Agency series, The Heartwood Hotel series and The Wings of Olympus series, as well as numerous picture books, such as Goodnight, Anne, If I Couldn’t Be Anne, Merry Christmas, Anne, The Secret Fawn and The Lost Gift. Kallie currently lives in Vancouver, BC.

Elly MacKay is an acclaimed paper artist and children’s book author and illustrator. She wrote and illustrated the picture book Red Sky at Night, as well as Waltz of the Snowflakes, If You Hold a Seed and Butterfly Park, among others. Elly’s art was also featured on the covers of Tundra’s reissues of L. M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables and Emily of New Moon series. Her distinctive pieces are made using paper and ink, and then are set into a miniature theater and photographed, giving them their unique three-dimensional quality. She frequently collaborates with author Kallie George and their first picture book together is The Secret Fawn. Elly lives in Owen Sound, Ontario, with her two children.

ABOUT MEGAN COLE:
Megan Cole the Director of Programming and Communications for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes. She is also a writer based on the territory of the Tla'amin Nation. Megan writes creative nonfiction and has had essays published in Chatelaine, This Magazine, The Puritan, Untethered,  and more. She has her MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of King's College and is working her first book. 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.

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.

S4 Episode 18: Kallie George and Elly MacKay talk about capturing wonder for their readers.

ABOUT THIS EPISODE:
In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Jessika Von Innerebner. Her book That's My Sweater! is a finalist for the 2023 Christie Harris Illustrated Children's Literature Prize. In their conversation, Jessika talks about the picture books she loved as a kid, and how she captures magic and thoughtful stories in her books.

Visit BC and Yukon Book Prizes: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/

About That's My Sweater! : https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/project/thats-my-sweater/

ABOUT JESSIKA VON INNEREBNER
Jess is an author, artist, creatrix, and real-life world adventurer. She’s worked with many awesome people bringing their ideas into reality through illustration. Her own books include It’s Not All Rainbows and Why Can’t We Be Bestie-Corns? and That’s MY Sweater! You can also find Jess relaxing, skateboarding, training to be a striker on the pitch, or sipping a delicious coffee somewhere in the world.

ABOUT MEGAN COLE:
Megan Cole the Director of Programming and Communications for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes. She is also a writer based on the territory of the Tla'amin Nation. Megan writes creative nonfiction and has had essays published in Chatelaine, This Magazine, The Puritan, Untethered,  and more. She has her MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of King's College and is working her first book. Find out more about Megan at megancolewriter.com

ABOUT THE PODCAST:
Writing the Coast is recorded and produced on the 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.

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.

S5 Episode 8:  Jessika Von Innerebner talks about Richard Scary, and making magic in picture books

ABOUT THIS EPISODE:
In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Susan Juby. Susan's book Me Three was a finalist for the 2023 Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize. In their conversation Susan talks about how she approaches book banning, and how the #metoo movement inspired her book.

Visit BC and Yukon Book Prizes: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/

About Me Three: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/project/me-three/

ABOUT SUSAN JUBY:
Susan Juby is the critically acclaimed and award-winning author of eight acclaimed novels for teenagers. Her debut novel, Alice, I Think (the first of the Alice MacLeod trilogy) was made into a successful television series. The Truth Commission was the winner of the Sheila A. Egoff Award, and was shortlisted for several other awards and named to several “Best of” lists. She is also the author of a memoir, Nice Recovery, and the adult comic novels The Woefield Poetry Collective and The Republic of Dirt. Susan Juby lives in Nanaimo, BC, Canada.

ABOUT MEGAN COLE:
Megan Cole the Director of Programming and Communications for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes. She is also a writer based on the territory of the Tla'amin Nation. Megan writes creative nonfiction and has had essays published in Chatelaine, This Magazine, The Puritan, Untethered,  and more. She has her MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of King's College and is working her first book. Find out more about Megan at megancolewriter.com

ABOUT THE PODCAST:
Writing the Coast is recorded and produced on the 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.

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.

S5 Episode 20: Susan Juby talks about how the #metoo movement inspired her middle grade novel

ABOUT THIS EPISODE:
In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Hope Lauterbach. Hope is the founder and creative director of Unbound Reading Series. In their conversation, Hope talks about creating a space that honours and creates community around black storytelling, and writing. She also talks about what inspired the Unbound Reading Series.

Visit BC and Yukon Book Prizes: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/

About Unbound Reading Series: https://hopeadrift.ca/unbound/

Unbound Reading Series Instagram: https://hopeadrift.ca/unbound/

ABOUT HOPE LAUTERBACH:
Hope Lauterbach is a Zambian Canadian writer and poet, a 2021 graduate of The Writer’s Studio at Simon Fraser University and founder of Unbound, a reading series and growing collective that celebrates Black writers. Her work has been commissioned for the Fraser Valley Literary Festival, and appears in Contemporary Verse 2, emerge 21: The Writer’s Studio anthology, and Pearls. Hope currently resides in that place between sleep and awake.

ABOUT MEGAN COLE:
Megan Cole the Director of Programming and Communications for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes. She is also a writer based on the territory of the Tla'amin Nation. Megan writes creative nonfiction and has had essays published in Chatelaine, This Magazine, The Puritan, Untethered,  and more. She has her MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of King's College and is working her first book. Find out more about Megan at megancolewriter.com

ABOUT THE PODCAST:
Writing the Coast is recorded and produced on the 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.

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.

Season 5 Episode 30: Hope Lauterbach celebrating and creating space for BIPOC writers

ABOUT THIS EPISODE:
In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Bradley Peters. Bradley is the author of Sonnets from a Cell, which is a finalist for the 2024 Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize. In their conversation Bradley talks about how the sonnet was the perfect form to write about prison. He also talks about how he was introduced to poetry.

Visit BC and Yukon Book Prizes: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/

About Sonnets from a Cell: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/project/sonnets-from-a-cell/

ABOUT BRADLEY PETERS:
Bradley Peters is a poet, actor, and carpenter from Mission, BC. His poetry has been published in numerous literary magazines, has been shortlisted for The Fiddlehead‘s Ralph Gustafson Award, has twice been the runner-up for Subterrain‘s Lush Triumphant Award, and in 2019 placed first in Grain Magazine‘s Short Grain contest. Sonnets from a Cell is his first book.

ABOUT MEGAN COLE:
Megan Cole the Director of Programming and Communications for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes. She is also a writer based on the territory of the Tla'amin Nation. Megan writes creative nonfiction and has had essays published in Chatelaine, This Magazine, The Puritan, Untethered,  and more. She has her MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of King's College and is working her first book. Find out more about Megan at megancolewriter.com

ABOUT THE PODCAST:
Writing the Coast is recorded and produced on the 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.

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.

Season 6 Episode 7: Bradley Peters on how he used the sonnet to write about prison

ABOUT THIS EPISODE:
In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Katherine Palmer Gordon. Katherine is the author of This Place Is Who We Are: Stories of Indigenous Leadership, Resilience, and Connection to Homelands, which is a finalist for the 2024 Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize. In their conversation, Katherine talks about the importance of reciprocity, and the need for respect and acknowledgement of Indigenous science.

Visit BC and Yukon Book Prizes: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/

About This Place Is Who We Are: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/project/this-place-is-who-we-are-stories-of-indigenous-leadership-resilience-and-connection-to-homelands/

ABOUT KATHERINE PALMER GORDON:
Katherine Palmer Gordon is the author of eight books of non-fiction, including several BC Bestsellers: The Slocan: Portrait of a Valley, The Garden That You Are, and Made to Measure: A History of Land Surveying in British Columbia, for which she was awarded the 2007 BC Haig-Brown prize. She is also an award-winning freelance journalist and lives on Gabriola Island, BC.

ABOUT MEGAN COLE:
Megan Cole the Director of Programming and Communications for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes. She is also a writer based on the territory of the Tla'amin Nation. Megan writes creative nonfiction and has had essays published in Chatelaine, This Magazine, The Puritan, Untethered,  and more. She has her MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of King's College and is working her first book. Find out more about Megan at megancolewriter.com

ABOUT THE PODCAST:
Writing the Coast is recorded and produced on the 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.

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.

Season 6 Episode 13: Katherine Palmer Gordon on the importance of reciprocity

ABOUT THIS EPISODE:
In this episode, we revisit our interview from 2019 with Darrel McLeod. Darrel passed away this week and his loss is being felt by the writing and reading community across Canada. Darrel's books were captivating and vulnerable letting people into his life and stories. Darrel McLeod was the author of Mamaskatch, Peyakow, and A Season in Chezgh'un. A Season in Chezgh'un is a finalist for the 2024 Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize.

ABOUT DARREL McLEOD: Darrel J. McLeod is Cree from Treaty-8 territory in Northern Alberta. Before deciding to pursue writing, he worked as an educator, chief negotiator of land claims for the federal government and executive director of education and international affairs with the Assembly of First Nations. He holds degrees in French literature and education from the University of British Columbia. He is the author of two memoirs: the award-winning Mamaskatch (2018; winner of the Governor General's Literary Award for Nonfiction; shortlisted for many other major prizes; translated into French and German editions), followed by Peyakow (2021) which was also shortlisted for several literary prizes. He currently lives in Sooke, BC, and divides his time between writing and singing in a jazz band.

ABOUT MEGAN COLE:
Megan Cole the Director of Programming and Communications for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes. She is also a writer based on the territory of the Tla'amin Nation. Megan writes creative nonfiction and has had essays published in Chatelaine, This Magazine, The Puritan, Untethered,  and more. She has her MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of King's College and is working her first book. Find out more about Megan at megancolewriter.com

ABOUT THE PODCAST:Writing the Coast is recorded and produced on the 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.
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.

Season 6 Episode 14: Remembering Darrel McLeod with his episode about Mamaskatch

ABOUT THIS EPISODE:
In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Jess Housty. Jess is the author of Crushed Wild Mint, which is a finalist for the 2024 Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize and the 2024 Bill Duthie Booksellers' Choice Award. In their conversation, Jess talks about prayer and poetry, they also talks about their role as an herbalist and how that inspires them creatively.

Visit BC and Yukon Book Prizes: bcyukonbookprizes.com/

About Crushed Wild Mint: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/project/crushed-wild-mint/

ABOUT JESS HOUSTY:
Jess Housty (‘Cúagilákv) is a parent, writer and grassroots activist with Heiltsuk (Indigenous) and mixed settler ancestry. They serve their community as an herbalist and land-based educator alongside broader work in the non-profit and philanthropic sectors. They are inspired and guided by relationships with the homelands, their extended family and their non-human kin, and they are committed to raising their children in a similar framework of kinship and land love. They reside and thrive in their unceded ancestral territory in the community of Bella Bella, BC.

ABOUT MEGAN COLE:
Megan Cole the Director of Programming and Communications for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes. She is also a writer based on the territory of the Tla'amin Nation. Megan writes creative nonfiction and has had essays published in Chatelaine, This Magazine, The Puritan, Untethered, and more. She has her MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of King's College and is working her first book. Find out more about Megan at megancolewriter.com

ABOUT THE PODCAST:
Writing the Coast is recorded and produced on the 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.

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.

Season 6 Episode 15: Jess Housty on how her grandmother played a role in the creation of her poems

ABOUT THIS EPISODE:
In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Dominique Bernier-Cormier. Dominique is the author of Entre Rive and Shore, which is a finalist for the 2024 Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize. In their conversation, Dominique talks about using the spine of the book in the structure of some of the poems, he also talks about the way his father became a character in the book.

Visit BC and Yukon Book Prizes: bcyukonbookprizes.com/

About Entre Rive and Shore: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/project/entre-rive-and-shore/

ABOUT DOMINIQUE BERNIER-CORMIER:
Dominique Bernier-Cormier is a Québécois/Acadian poet and translator. His first book, Correspondent, was longlisted for the Raymond Souster Award. He lives in Vancouver, where he writes and teaches in both English and French.

ABOUT MEGAN COLE:
Megan Cole the Director of Programming and Communications for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes. She is also a writer based on the territory of the Tla'amin Nation. Megan writes creative nonfiction and has had essays published in Chatelaine, This Magazine, The Puritan, Untethered, and more. She has her MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of King's College and is working her first book. Find out more about Megan at megancolewriter.com

ABOUT THE PODCAST:
Writing the Coast is recorded and produced on the 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.

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.

Season 6 Episode 16: Dominique Bernier-Cormier talks about the language of dreams

ABOUT THIS EPISODE:
In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Chelsea Wakelyn. Chelsea is the author of What Remains of Elsie Jane, which is a finalist for the 2024 Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize. In their conversation, Chelsea talks about who Elsie Jane is, and writing autofiction.

Visit BC and Yukon Book Prizes: bcyukonbookprizes.com/

About What Remains of Elsie Jane: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/project/what-remains-of-elsie-jane/

ABOUT CHELSEA WAKELYN:
Chelsea Wakelyn is a writer, musician, and mother to two lovely, eccentric humans. She lives on Vancouver Island.

ABOUT MEGAN COLE:
Megan Cole the Director of Programming and Communications for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes. She is also a writer based on the territory of the Tla'amin Nation. Megan writes creative nonfiction and has had essays published in Chatelaine, This Magazine, The Puritan, Untethered, and more. She has her MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of King's College and is working her first book. Find out more about Megan at megancolewriter.com

ABOUT THE PODCAST:
Writing the Coast is recorded and produced on the 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.

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.

Season 6 Episode 17: Chelsea Wakelyn talks about communal grief during the toxic drug crisis

ABOUT THIS EPISODE:
In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Hazel Jane Plante. Hazel is the author of Any Other City, which is a finalist for the 2024 Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize. In their conversation, Hazel talks about how music and art inspired the book, and how she's opening herself up to the next creative project.

Visit BC and Yukon Book Prizes: bcyukonbookprizes.com/

About Any Other City: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/project/any-other-city/

ABOUTHAZEL JANE PLANTE:
Hazel Jane Plante is a librarian, cat photographer, and writer. Her debut novel Little Blue Encyclopedia (for Vivian) (Metonymy Press, 2019) won a Lambda Literary Award and was a finalist for both a Publishing Triangle Award and a BC and Yukon Book Prize. She releases music under the name lo-fi lioness.

ABOUT MEGAN COLE:
Megan Cole the Director of Programming and Communications for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes. She is also a writer based on the territory of the Tla'amin Nation. Megan writes creative nonfiction and has had essays published in Chatelaine, This Magazine, The Puritan, Untethered, and more. She has her MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of King's College and is working her first book. Find out more about Megan at megancolewriter.com

ABOUT THE PODCAST:
Writing the Coast is recorded and produced on the 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.

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.

Season 6 Episode 18: Hazel Jane Plante on the witchiness of novel writing

ABOUT THIS EPISODE:
In this episode, Kirsten Pendreigh talks about her book Maybe A Whale. Maybe A Whale was a finalist for the 2024 Christie Harris Illustrated Children's Literature Prize. In her conversation with host Megan Cole, Kirsten talks about how nature and the environment has inspired her work. She also talks about the importance of writing children's books that tackle topics like grief and death.

Visit BC and Yukon Book Prizes: bcyukonbookprizes.com/

About Maybe A Whale : https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/project/maybe-a-whale/

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Kirsten Pendreigh is a children’s author and poet from Vancouver, BC. Her books celebrate our early instincts to care for the plants and creatures that share our planet. She is the author of Luna’s Green Pet, illustrated by Carmen Mok. Kirsten’s poems can be found in Canadian literary magazines and in Best Canadian Poetry 2021. Formerly a CBC and NPR journalist, Kirsten also writes non-fiction for children.

ABOUT MEGAN COLE:
Megan Cole the Director of Programming and Communications for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes. She is also a writer based on the territory of the Tla'amin Nation. Megan writes creative nonfiction and has had essays published in Chatelaine, This Magazine, The Puritan, Untethered, and more. She has her MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of King's College and is working her first book. Find out more about Megan at megancolewriter.com

ABOUT THE PODCAST:
Writing the Coast is recorded and produced on the 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.

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.

Season 6 Episode 25: Kirsten Pendreigh talks about writing about death in children's books

In this episode, Lindsay Wong talks about her book Tell Me Pleasant Things About Immortality. Tell Me Pleasant Things About Immortality was a finalists for the 2024 Jim Deva Prize for Writing that Provokes. In her conversation, Lindsay talks about why BIPOC writers are using horror to writer their stories. She also talks about the need for well-timed comedy when writing horror.

Visit BC and Yukon Book Prizes: bcyukonbookprizes.com/

About Tell Me Pleasant Things About Immortality: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/project/tell-me-pleasant-things-about-immortality/

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Lindsay Wong is the author of the critically acclaimed, award-winning, and bestselling memoir The Woo-Woo, which was a finalist for Canada Reads 2019. She has written a YA novel entitled My Summer of Love and Misfortune. Wong holds a BFA in creative writing from the University of British Columbia and an MFA in literary nonfiction from Columbia University. She currently teaches creative writing at the University of Winnipeg.

ABOUT MEGAN COLE:
Megan Cole the Director of Programming and Communications for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes. She is also a writer based on the territory of the Tla'amin Nation. Megan writes creative nonfiction and has had essays published in Chatelaine, This Magazine, The Puritan, Untethered, and more. She has her MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of King's College and is working her first book. Find out more about Megan at megancolewriter.com

ABOUT THE PODCAST:
Writing the Coast is recorded and produced on the 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.

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.

Season 6 Episode 27: Lindsay Wong talks about horror and subverting food tropes in BIPOC writing

In this episode, Wanda John-Kehewin talks about her book Hopeless in Hope. Hopeless in Hope won the 2024 Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize. In her conversation, Wanda talks about the real life experiences that inspired the book. She also talks about how the creative process for the novel differed from the work she's been doing on graphic novels.

Visit BC and Yukon Book Prizes: bcyukonbookprizes.com/

About Hopeless in Hope: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/project/hopeless-in-hope/

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Wanda John-Kehewin (she, her, hers) is a Cree writer who uses her work to understand and respond to the near destruction of First Nations cultures, languages, and traditions. When she first arrived in Vancouver on a Greyhound bus, she was a nineteen-year-old carrying her first child, a bag of chips, a bottle of pop, thirty dollars, and a bit of hope. After many years of travelling (well, mostly stumbling) along her healing journey, she shares her personal life experiences with others to shed light on the effects of trauma and how to break free from the “monkeys in the brain.”

Now a published poet, fiction author, and film scriptwriter, she writes to stand in her truth and to share that truth openly. She is the author of the Dreams series of graphic novels. Hopeless in Hope is her first novel for young adults.

Wanda is the mother of five children, two dogs, two cats, three tiger barbs (fish), and grandmother to one super-cute granddog. She calls Coquitlam home until the summertime, when she treks to the Alberta prairies to visit family and learn more about herself and Cree culture, as well as to continuously think and write about what it means to be Indigenous in today’s times. How do we heal from a place of forgiveness?
ABOUT MEGAN COLE:
Megan Cole the Director of Programming and Communications for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes. She is also a writer based on the territory of the Tla'amin Nation. Megan writes creative nonfiction and has had essays published in Chatelaine, This Magazine, The Puritan, Untethered, and more. She has her MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of King's College and is working her first book. Find out more about Megan at megancolewriter.com

ABOUT THE PODCAST:
Writing the Coast is recorded and produced on the 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.

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.

Season 6 Episode 28: Wanda John-Kehewin talks about books that build empathy in young readers

In this episode, Jennifer Bonnell talks about her book Stewards of Splendour: A History of Wildlife and People in British Columbia. Stewards of Splendour was a finalist for the 2024 Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize. In her conversation, Jennifer talks about returning home through the research in the book, she also talks about the need to cultivate abundance.

Visit BC and Yukon Book Prizes: bcyukonbookprizes.com/

About Stewards of Splendour: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/project/stewards-of-splendour/

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Jennifer Bonnell is a historian of people’s changing relationships with land, water, and wildlife in Canada. She grew up on Vancouver Island and spent several summers conducting field research on coastal forest hawks before returning to graduate school to explore her interests in environmental history. Jennifer is the author of Reclaiming the Don: An Environmental History of Toronto’s Don River Valley (University of Toronto Press, 2014) and co-editor of two collections of essays in environmental history. She teaches Canadian environmental history at York University in Toronto.

ABOUT MEGAN COLE:
Megan Cole the Director of Programming and Communications for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes. She is also a writer based on the territory of the Tla'amin Nation. Megan writes creative nonfiction and has had essays published in Chatelaine, This Magazine, The Puritan, Untethered, and more. She has her MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of King's College and is working her first book. Find out more about Megan at megancolewriter.com

ABOUT THE PODCAST:
Writing the Coast is recorded and produced on the 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.

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.

Season 6 Episode 29: Jennifer Bonnell talks about the changing perspectives around conservation in British Columbia

In this episode, Christopher Patterson. Christopher is an author and professor at the University of British Columbia, but for today’s episode he’ll be talking about his partner, Y-Dang Troeung’s book Landbridge. Landbridge was a finalist for the 2024 Jim Deva Prize for Writing that Provokes. Christopher talks about Y-Dang’s approach to writing in fragments, and how she approached rejection.

Visit BC and Yukon Book Prizes: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/

About Landbridge: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/project/landbridge/

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Y-Dang Troeung was Assistant Professor of English at the University of British Columbia, where she did research and taught in the fields of transnational Asian literatures, critical refugee studies, global south studies, and critical disability studies. She was also an Associate Editor of the journal Canadian Literature, and a 2020 Wall Scholar at the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies. Her recent publications can be found in Canadian Literature, Brick: A Literary Magazine, Amerasia Journal, and Inter-Asia Cultural Studies. Y-Dang passed away in November 2022, after completing the final draft of her extraordinary memoir, Landbridge.

ABOUT MEGAN COLE:
Megan Cole the Director of Programming and Communications for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes. She is also a writer based on the territory of the Tla'amin Nation. Megan writes creative nonfiction and has had essays published in Chatelaine, This Magazine, The Puritan, Untethered, and more. She has her MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of King's College and is working her first book. Find out more about Megan at megancolewriter.com

ABOUT THE PODCAST:
Writing the Coast is recorded and produced on the 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.

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.

Season 6 Episode 30: Christopher Patterson talks about Y-Dang Troeung's book Landbridge

In this episode, Cassie Smyth talks audiobooks. Cassie Smyth is the audiobooks manager at ECW Press. In her conversation with host Megan Cole, Cassie talks about why she loves audiobooks, she talks about how they find narrators for their audiobooks, and corrects many of the misconceptions around audiobooks and audiobook production.

Visit BC and Yukon Book Prizes: bcyukonbookprizes.com/

About ECW Press: https://ecwpress.com/pages/about-us

ABOUT CASSIE:
Cassie Smyth is the Audiobooks Manager at ECW Press. In her role, she manages the production of more than 120 audiobooks per year, all by Canadian publishers and authors, and narrated by Canadian voice talent. She holds a BA in English, minor in Business from Carleton University, and a certificate in Creative Book Publishing from Humber College. 

ABOUT MEGAN COLE:
Megan Cole the Director of Programming and Communications for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes. She is also a writer based on the territory of the Tla'amin Nation. Megan writes creative nonfiction and has had essays published in Chatelaine, This Magazine, The Puritan, Untethered, and more. She has her MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of King's College and is working her first book. Find out more about Megan at megancolewriter.com

ABOUT THE PODCAST:
Writing the Coast is recorded and produced on the 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.

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.

Season 6 Episode 31: Cassie Smyth talks about how ECW began making audiobooks in Canada

In this episode, Jazmin Welch talks about book design. Jaz Welch is the founder and book designer of fleck creative studio. In her conversation with host Megan Cole, Jaz talks about how she got into book design, what she thinks about the trends in book covers, and answers the age-old question, "should we judge a book by its cover?"

Visit BC and Yukon Book Prizes: http://www.bcyukonbookprizes.com/

About fleck creative studio: https://fleckcreativestudio.com/

About Luke Bird: https://www.lukebird.co.uk/

About Holly Ovenden: https://www.hollyovenden.com/

ABOUT JAZ:
Fleck is owned by creative director Jazmin Welch (call her Jaz). She has a love for the details and revels in the problem solving challenge that each new book poses. Her goal is always to create a compelling and page-turning design that stands out on the bookshelf, suits the target audience and respects each author’s own unique desires. She loves creating artful and meaningful solutions while fostering strong connections with authors. Jaz is a book lover who is here to advocate for your story and impress your readers! She holds an Honours Bachelor of Design (Ryerson University) and Master of Publishing (Simon Fraser University). Jaz is a dog mom with a love of fresh ocean air.

ABOUT MEGAN COLE:
Megan Cole the Director of Programming and Communications for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes. She is also a writer based on the territory of the Tla'amin Nation. Megan writes creative nonfiction and has had essays published in Chatelaine, This Magazine, The Puritan, Untethered, and more. She has her MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of King's College and is working her first book. Find out more about Megan at megancolewriter.com

ABOUT THE PODCAST:
Writing the Coast is recorded and produced on the 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.

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.

Season 6 Episode 32: Jazmin Welch answers the question "should we judge a book by its cover?"

In this episode, Ian Kennedy talks about his book The Best Loved Boat: The Princess Maquinna. The Best Loved Boat won the 2024 Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize. In his conversation with host Megan Cole, Ian talks about how he became interested in the Princess Maquinna and how it fits with British Columbia's complex maritime history.

Visit BC and Yukon Book Prizes: www.bcyukonbookprizes.com/

About The Best Loved Boat: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/project/the-best-loved-boat/

ABOUT IAN KENNEDY:
Ian Kennedy is the author of several books about BC history including Sunny Sandy Savary (Kennell Publishing, 1992) and he co-authored Tofino and Clayoquot Sound (cloth edition, 2014; paperback edition available in fall 2023). For many years, he has also served as one of Canada’s few rugby journalists and has written for numerous magazines around the world. He currently lives in Comox, BC.

ABOUT MEGAN COLE:
Megan Cole the Director of Programming and Communications for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes. She is also a writer based on the territory of the Tla'amin Nation. Megan writes creative nonfiction and has had essays published in Chatelaine, This Magazine, The Puritan, Untethered, and more. She has her MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of King's College and is working her first book. Find out more about Megan at megancolewriter.com

ABOUT THE PODCAST:
Writing the Coast is recorded and produced on the 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.

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.

Season 6 Episode 33: Ian Kennedy talks about why we should know the history of the Princess Maquinna

ABOUT THIS EPISODE:
In this episode, Maya McKibbin and Ellen Rooney share their thoughts and reflections the magic of illustration in picture books. Maya is the illustrator of The Song that Calls Them Home and Ellen Rooney is the illustrator of What to Bring, both were finalists for the Christie Harris Illustrated Children's Literature Prize.

Visit BC and Yukon Book Prizes: bcyukonbookprizes.com/

To watch the full Storied video: https://vimeo.com/1046872971

About The Song that Called Them Home: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/project/the-song-that-called-them-home/

About What to Bring: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/project/what-to-bring/



ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Maya McKibbin is a Two-Spirited Ojibwe, Yoeme and Irish filmmaker, illustrator and storyteller. Using their education in computer graphics and interactive media, Maya’s work is rooted in the natural world and our relations to it. Maya’s previous picture book, Swift Fox All Along written by Rebecca Thomas, was nominated for numerous awards including a Governor General’s Literary Award.

Ellen Rooney is a children’s book illustrator whose books include the critically acclaimed Her Fearless Run and Grandmother School. Ellen lives in the southern Okanagan Valley in British Columbia, where hot, dry summers bring tourists, peaches, swims in the lake, and the threat of wildfire. The uniquely beautiful landscape inspired the setting for this book.

ABOUT MEGAN COLE:
Megan Cole the Director of Programming and Communications for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes. She is also a writer based on the territory of the Tla'amin Nation. Megan writes creative nonfiction and has had essays published in Chatelaine, This Magazine, The Puritan, Untethered, and more. She has her MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of King's College and is working her first book. Find out more about Megan at megancolewriter.com

ABOUT THE PODCAST:
Writing the Coast is recorded and produced on the 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.

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.

Season 6 Episode 34: Maya McKibbin and Ellen Rooney on the magic of picture book illustration

ABOUT THIS EPISODE:
In this episode, host Megan Cole revisits a past episode featuring a conversation with the Honourable Janet Austin, Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia. In their conversation, Her Honour talks about the Lieutenant Governor's Award for Literary Excellence and its past recipients, as well as what excites her about books written and published in British Columbia. Wendy Cocchia, was recently sworn in as the 31st Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia.

ABOUT THE GUEST:
The Honourable Janet Austin was sworn-in as the 30th Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia on April 24, 2018. Prior to this appointment, she spent 15 years as Chief Executive Officer of YWCA Metro Vancouver, one of the province’s largest and most diversified non-profits. There she oversaw operations delivering services to tens of thousands of people annually at more than 40 locations.

Raised in Alberta, Her Honour spent her early career in public sector roles in Calgary, working in regional planning and public consultation and communications for the provincial government. She eventually moved to British Columbia, where she began working with BC Housing and discovered her passion and aptitude for public office. Prior to joining the YWCA, Her Honour served as Executive Director of Big Sisters of BC Lower Mainland, and actively volunteered for many organizations in commitment to helping improve the lives of others, as well as serving on various boards ranging from Translink to the Women’s Health Research Institute.

Her Honour is Chancellor of the Order of British Columbia and was invested as a Member of the Order in 2016. As Lieutenant Governor, she has identified three key themes for her mandate: the promotion of diversity and inclusion, democracy and civic engagement, and Reconciliation.

ABOUT MEGAN COLE:
Megan Cole the Director of Programming and Communications for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes. She is also a writer based on the territory of the Tla'amin Nation. Megan writes creative nonfiction and has had essays published in Chatelaine, This Magazine, The Puritan, Untethered, and more. She has her MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of King's College and is working her first book. 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.

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.

S6 Episode 35: Revisiting our episode with the Honourable Janet Austin on how reading helps understand community.

ABOUT THIS EPISODE:
In this episode, Sam George and Jill Yonit Goldberg talk about the book The Fire Still Burns: Life In and After Residential School. The Fire Still Burns was a finalist for the 2024 Bill Duthie Booksellers' Choice Award. In his conversation with host Megan Cole, Sam and Jill talk about how they started working together on the book, and Sam talks about the significance of telling his own story.

Visit BC and Yukon Book Prizes: www.bcyukonbookprizes.com/

About The Fire Still Burns: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/project/the-fire-still-burns/

ABOUT SAM GEORGE AND JILL YONIT GOLDBERG:
Sam George is a Squamish Elder and a survivor of the Canadian Indian Residential School system. A retired longshoreman and semi-retired drug and alcohol counsellor, Sam now works as an educator with the Indian Residential School Survivors Society and speaks with students and community groups about his experiences. Jill Yonit Goldberg is a writer, and a literature and creative writing instructor at Langara College in Vancouver, BC, where she teaches the Writing Lives course in which students collaborate with Indian Residential School survivors who are writing their memoirs. She worked with Sam George to bring his story to the page. Liam Belson, Dylan MacPhee, and Tanis Wilson are students who participated in the Writing Lives class where they worked with Sam George to write his story.


ABOUT MEGAN COLE:
Megan Cole the Director of Programming and Communications for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes. She is also a writer based on the territory of the Tla'amin Nation. Megan writes creative nonfiction and has had essays published in Chatelaine, This Magazine, The Puritan, Untethered, and more. She has her MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of King's College and is working her first book. 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.

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.

S6 Episode 36: Sam George and Jill Yonit Goldberg talk about why storytelling is important in learning and education

ABOUT THIS EPISODE:
In this episode, host Megan Cole revisits one of the most popular episodes of Writing the Coast. It features Michelle Good, author of Five Little Indians which was a finalist for the 2021 Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize and the 2021 Jim Deva Prize for Writing that Provokes. Michelle talks about what it means to be an emerging writer and how she developed the characters in her novel.

ABOUT MICHELLE GOOD:
Michelle Good is a writer of Cree ancestry and a member of the Red Pheasant Cree Nation in Saskatchewan. Her debut novel, Five Little Indians, won a Governor General’s Literary Award, the Amazon Canada First Novel Award, the Kobo Emerging Author Prize, and CBC’s Canada Reads in 2022. She was a finalist for the 2023 Balsillie Prize for Public Policy for Truth Telling: Seven Conversations about Indigenous Life in Canada. Good lives in southern Saskatchewan.

ABOUT MEGAN COLE:
Megan Cole the Director of Programming and Communications for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes. She is also a writer based on the territory of the Tla'amin Nation. Megan writes creative nonfiction and has had essays published in Chatelaine, This Magazine, The Puritan, Untethered, and more. She has her MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of King's College and is working her first book. 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.

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.

S6 Episode 37: Popular past episodes: Michelle Good, author of Five Little Indians, talks about humor as a decolonizing tool

ABOUT THIS EPISODE:
In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Robin Stevenson about her book My Body My Choice: The Fight for Abortion Rights. Robin discusses the choices she made about what needed to be included in this important book, how she met the young activists she included and the important life her books lead when she publishes them.

ABOUT ROBIN STEVENSON:

Robin Stevenson is an award winning author of more than twenty-five books for kids and teens. Her writing has been translated into a number of languages, published in more than ten countries, and has won or been nominated for numerous awards. She writes both fiction and non-fiction, for toddlers through teens.

She is a member of the Writers' Union of Canada, CANSCAIP and CWILL BC; and a team member and mentor at We Need Diverse Books. She regularly speaks at conferences, libraries and schools across North America.

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.

S2 Episode 2: Robin Stevenson talks about the history of reproductive rights in Canada and the US

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.

S2 Episode 7: Kyo Maclear talks getting lost in the research and collaborating with Julie Morstad

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.

S2 Episode 12: Roy Henry Vickers & Lucky Budd talk about the power of storytelling and oral history

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.

S2 Episode 14: Hazel Jane Plante talks about her love letter to art, pop culture and trans femmes.

ABOUT THIS EPISODE:
In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Alix Ohlin, author of Dual Citizens, which was a finalist for the 2020 Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize. In their conversation Alix talks about how the love story of two siblings formed the backbone of the book as well as how she paid tribute to Neko Case in the novel.

ABOUT ALIX OHLIN:
Alix Ohlin is the author of five books. Her novel Dual Citizens, like her novel Inside, was a finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Walrus, Best American Short Stories, on public radio’s “Selected Shorts,” and many other places. Her new book, We Want What We Want, is forthcoming in July 2021.

She lives in Vancouver, where she directs the School of Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia.

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.

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.

S2 Episode 36: Alix Ohlin talks about love stories, research and twinship

Welcome to Writing the Coast! This is the weekly podcast where we chat with the authors and illustrators of the books who make up the shortlist of the annual BC and Yukon Book Prizes. On the episodes you'll hear host and podcast coordinator Megan Cole chat with the folks who are creating some of BC and Yukon's best books. We'll also check in with the literary community in our region. For more information about the BC and Yukon Book Prizes visit: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/

Writing the Coast: BC & Yukon Book Prizes podcast

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