It’s Thursday, 4 p.m. and you sit waiting. Then, the thump at the front door. You spring from your seat. It’s there, finally. Something new to read. You begin with the flyers savouring every tiny description, but you wait to open The Chief. “Delay the gratification,” you say to yourself.
In these COVID times, how many of us have seen that reading pile we promised one day get to dwindle? How many find ourselves vacantly reading the backs of cleaning products just for something to do? For many of us, this pause in our routines has meant that we’ve rediscovered some passions that, maybe, we had put away on a shelf.
And in these times, as we’re encouraged to shop locally, shouldn’t we also read locally? There is lots of fabulous writing done in the Sea to Sky Corridor.
Here are a few suggestions.
John Moore describes Raincity: Vancouver Reflections (Anvil Press, 2020) as a “greatest hits,” and the collection of essays included demonstrates Moore’s eclectic interests. The essays range from a nostalgic look at the disappearing North Vancouver landscape to skewering of the members of the Terminal City Club to an almost erotic reflection on tattooing. All done in Moore’s insightful, cutting, pull-no-punches style.
Another new book by a local writer is Katherine Fawcett’s The Swan Suit (Douglas & McIntyre, 2020). Fawcett’s short stories never fail to surprise. She is a master at taking the commonplace and turning it on its head so that we can see things in an unexpected way. The title story imagines a swan that removes its “suit” to reveal a beautiful naked woman, much to the delight of a watching fisherman. “East O” tells the story of a woman’s life from the point of view of an ovum. In “Ham,” the third little pig from the story becomes a successful entrepreneur.
There are some good online options as well. If you are a regular reader of Mountain Life or Pique Newsmagazine, then you know Lisa Richardson. Her blog, Bylines (lisarichardsonbylines.com) has much of her published work as well as other pieces. Richardson’s writing often has a reflective, almost wistful, quality and her language is lyrical. There are images and turns-of-phrase in her writing that will stop you in your tracks.
If you already have too many words in your world and you just miss adventuring, then go to local writer/photographer Jim Martinello’s webpage (jimmymartinello.com) and watch the extraordinary images. Put it on a big screen — these images are jaw-droppingly beautiful.
The public library has ebooks available (https://squamish.bc.libraries.coop/) and Dan, from Armchair Books (whistlerbooks.com) in Whistler, delivers in Squamish.
Paul Demers is a long-time Squamish resident and high school teacher.
