Elaine Ávila is a playwright and educator whose work bridges art, activism and climate awareness.

A pipeline, a goldrush and the hummingbird

A new play tells stories of environmental destruction in 2021 and the 1860s, with time periods woven together by the small yet mighty hummingbird—symbol of wisdom and courage.

“But I was not prepared for what I saw. There were chain-link fences and signs that read: Any person who obstructs access to this site is in breach of an injunction order and may be subject to immediate arrest and prosecution.” FULL STORY

Hear me roar

“I believed with every fibre of my being that Medicare was a sacred trust, that we couldn’t go back to… FULL STORY

Teenage blues

“Each new generation brings fresh challenges the last one didn’t see, demanding new looks at new concerns. Cell phones, new… FULL STORY

The Faustian bargain

“One workday [Colin] meets a solitary being, ‘tall and cadaverous and dressed in a three-piece suit the colour of dried… FULL STORY

Go west young man

“[The story] is a historical artefact centred on a pivotal year in Canadian history and in a broader transformative decade,… FULL STORY

Race for the news

“[Daniel] Craig’s greatest legacy may be that he introduced journalistic standards: he wanted fact-based, objective reporting.”—reviewer, Mark Forsythe on a… FULL STORY

The light that remains

“After arriving at the airport or Greyhound terminal I would find my way to a hotel or motel room downtown… FULL STORY

The street’s music

“DeCroo’s photos have spotlit a Vancouver that’s about something more than unlimited growth and runaway commerce.”—Mike Usinger, Georgia Straight senior… FULL STORY

Salmon River Valley, 1968

“Honest in the bone, [the story] unfolds with the mastery of a wise, seasoned storyteller that your gut tells you… FULL STORY

Mothers & daughters

“People who are damaged can’t make good choices, or rarely. Crystal [the novel’s main protagonist] has passed on the damage… FULL STORY

Huckleberry pies & salmon stew

“The learning on the boat was a slow, immersive process,” says Alan Haig-Brown, adding “university was an intense rush of… FULL STORY

Grandma’s curried bologna

Mia is now in secondary school dealing with the loss of her white best friend. In the midst of balancing… FULL STORY

Beautiful “Brutish” Columbia

As industrial logging of old growth forests continues amidst protests, Christine Lowther bears witness to the blockade over thirty years… FULL STORY

Surviving Mystery Mountain

The Mundays wrote stories about their discoveries that were published across the country, setting off a national craze to conquer… FULL STORY

Sqʷəmey̓ blues

Now extinct, the Coast Salish Woolly Dog was a beloved companion, sacred kin and valuable textile source as its silky,… FULL STORY

How did I become the face to your fist?

“Even in the worst situations, there is always hope. Just like the wildflowers that bloom in unexpected places, between cracks… FULL STORY

Lovers in a dangerous time

“There’s a love scene between snails that’s raunchier and more tender than ninety per cent of the CanLit erotica being… FULL STORY

Southern man

Reviewer Susan Sanford Blades says that Jill Yonit Goldberg’s entire novel “acts as a comment on the patriarchal southern United… FULL STORY

When a tree falls in the city

While early influences include Pat Lowther, Margaret Atwood and Michael Ondaatje, Derksen now looks to his current communities of writers… FULL STORY

On the addiction frontlines

In an interview about his memoir, journalist and musician Garth Mullins shares his addiction experiences, activism and joining the Vancouver… FULL STORY

The passion of a writer and a hermit

“Deanna Kawatski’s (left) Wilderness Mother returns in a revised and raw edition, revealing the true hardships and resilience behind her off-grid life in northern BC.” FULL STORY