Andrew Nikiforuk’s most recent book, Tar Sands: Dirty Oil and the Future of a Continent, has been nominated for yet another award – this time the prestigious Grantham Prize for Excellence in Reporting on the Environment. The award is given jointly by the University of Rhode Island’s Metcalf Institute for Marine and Environmental Reporting and the Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment. In nominating Tar Sands, the jurors noted that Nikiforuk “is a careful and diligent researcher and writer, [whose book] makes excellent reading. It is also a valuable and timely reminder of the mounting environmental costs of our addiction to oil.” To read the entire press release, download the pdf below.]]>Six String Nation book. Get on Twitter, use the hash tag, #6SNSong, and let out your inner songwriter. We'll collect all the entries on June 30 and July 1 - Canada Day - we'll announce the winner. The top 20 will be listed on our website and the Six String Nation Facebook page. Good luck!]]>Six String Nation is launching. And at what better place than the 2009 guitar-themed Luminato Festival! Join author and visionary Jowi Taylor and the Six String Nation guitar to celebrate the launch of this special book. Date: Tuesday, June 9, 2009 Time: 8:00pm - 11:55pm Location: Gladstone Hotel Ballroom 1214 Queen Street West, Toronto, ON Stay tuned for more events happening around the book and the guitar throughout the summer.]]>109 Walks, was a longtime member of the British Columbia Mountaineering Club. This book came together with the help, encouragement, and dedicated enthusiasm of friends and family who knew how important its completion was to Mary. Mary and her husband David were avid outdoor adventurers and spirited people. Their legacy continues with this publication and with a memorial walk. On Sunday, June 28, join Greystone Books staff, Mary's family and the legions of hikers and walkers who shared the trails with her over the years for a Mary Macaree Memorial Walk. We'll be meeting at 9:30 am sharp in the Lighthouse Park parking lot and doing walk #44 from the book, Caulfeild Trail/Klootchman Park, which will take about 2 hours. Download the below attachment to see the map and the circuit. See you there!]]>Challenging Traditions: Contemporary First Nations Art of the Northwest Coast exhibition explores the art of nearly forty contemporary Northwest Coast artists. It examines the individual artistic interpretation each artist brings to their artwork based on their cultural and artistic traditions. It also looks at how these artists grapple with the challenges of interpreting traditional Northwest Coast design into the modern age." Visit the McMichael Gallery website for more information.]]>Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas's Flight of the Hummingbird won gold at the Independent Publishers Awards in the storytelling category. The hummingbird parable, with origins in the Quechuan people of South America, has become a talisman for environmentalists and activists who are committed to making meaningful change in the world. In this inspiring story, the determined hummingbird does everything she can to put out a raging fire that threatens her forest home. The hummingbird—symbol of wisdom and courage—demonstrates that doing something is better than doing nothing at all. Stay tuned for Michael's next amazing project, Red: A Haida Manga, an innovation in storytelling and art, coming in October 2009. Read more about the IPPY Awards here.]]>Dr. David Waltner-Toews is a specialist in diseases passed from animals to humans and has written two books on the subject: The Chickens Fight Back and Food, Sex and Salmonella. It was no wonder CBC's The Hour wanted to chat with him to get some perspective on the panic. Watch the full video here.]]>Twitter @bookpromogirl, or use the hash tag #DMfall09.]]>Stephen Bown. Bown wrote a biography of the often misunderstood character of Captain George Vancouver called Madness, Betrayal and the Lash. Bown's delight in recounting this history is palpable on every page. Read an excerpt from his first chapter here. And congratulations to Stephen!]]> at Precedent Magazine Online.]]>Jowi Taylor, this one-of-a-kind instrument is made of wood, bone, metal and stone from across the country. Indeed, to hold the guitar is to hold Canada’s amazing history, cultures and stories in one’s hands—an amazing sense of nationhood that countless musicians and spectators have experienced since the guitar was first played on Parliament Hill during the Canada Day celebrations in 2006." See the Six String Nation coin and read more about it here.]]>Rudyard Griffiths as he launches his already-acclaimed book Who We Are in cities across Canada. For more information on these and other Who We Are public events email: rsvp.whoweare@dominion.ca. Confirmed events and dates: Calgary March 31, 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. - Launch Event, Pages on Kensington, Calgary Toronto April 6, 12:00 to 2:00 p.m. Canadian Club, Luncheon, Royal York, Toronto For tickets, visit the Canadian Club website. Ottawa April 22, 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. - Launch Event, Parliament Pub, Ottawa]]>Read the full article online at the National Geographic site. And read Andrew's book Tar Sands: Dirty Oil and the Future of a Continent on this hot topic.]]>Tar Sands PDF page. Alberta’s tar sands along the banks of the Athabasca River are a growing concern among environmentalists, conservationists, and anyone with an interest in energy policy and the politics of trade between Canada and the US. Renowned journalist Andrew Nikiforuk has written a straightforward and hard-hitting account of what the extraction of this resource means for North America in his book Tar Sands: Dirty Oil and the Future of a Continent. As Andrew and various tar sands groups around the continent rally to have this information disseminated and understood, Greystone Books offers the book in its entirety for a limited time as a free downloadable PDF! Be sure to visit the Tar Sands PDF page starting Monday, March 16 - you'll only have five days to take advantage of this offer of a free book. So come visit, read a free book, tell your friends. This is information you won't want to miss.]]>Khubilai Khan’s Lost Fleet: In Search of a Legendary Armada. At the University of California press, acquisitions editor Blake Edgar has purchased US English rights to the title, and the Bodley Head, an imprint of Random House UK, has purchased UK & Commonwealth English rights, which includes 97 countries. To read the entire press release, download the PDF below.]]>Where the Pavement Ends: Canada’s Aboriginal Recovery Movement and the Urgent Need for Reconciliation, has made the shortlist for the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing, a category of the Writers’ Trust of Canada Awards. Read the entire press release in the PDF below.]]>Blue Water Cafe created the Unsung Heroes. His concept is simple: avoid species that are over-fished, or fished in ways that damage ocean beds or cause unnecessary by-catch, by introducing diners to new experiences and flavours using species found in abundance. From February 3 - 28, swing by Blue Water Cafe + Raw Bar in Vancouver's Yaletown and try one of Chef Pabst's incredible edibles from the sea.]]>Boy in Motion, written by Ainslie Manson & illustrated by Renné Benoit, has been nominated for the Chocolate Lily Book Award – a BC based children’s book award judged by a committee of teachers and librarians. The winner will be announced later this spring. To read the entire press release, download the PDF below.]]>