This playwright had never heard of being embarrassed to be Italian. But his father's experience of feeling like an outsider prompted this award-winning solo show
'He wore a suit to school and he would take these elaborate Italian lunches — pastas or cured meats, like salami — and the other students would make fun of him,' said Timoteo on a Zoom call from his home in Edmonton.
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Winnipeg Free Press
an hour ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Riveting wartime read next for book club
The Free Press Book Club and McNally Robinson Booksellers are pleased to welcome Vancouver-born, New York-based author Jack Wang to the next virtual meeting on Tuesday, August 26 at 7 p.m. to read from and discuss his historical-fiction novel The Riveter. Published by House of Anansi Press in February 2025, The Riveter explores the life of Josiah Chang, a Chinese-Canadian living in Vancouver in 1942. Because Chinese people were not allowed to join the army at that time (or become Canadian citizens, for that matter), Josiah is unable to enlist to serve in the Second World War, and instead becomes a riveter working on parts for cargo ships. Shortly after, he meets Poppy Miller and the two begin a whirlwind romance that is just as swiftly halted when Poppy's father expresses his disapproval. Holman Wang photo Jack Wang In order to prove his worth, Josiah figures out a way to get himself enlisted, and volunteers for the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion, who jumped into Normandy on D-Day; he is one of few Chinese Canadians in the army at this time. Fighting battles on the field, as well as his own complex emotional battles — navigating a relationship with Poppy half a world away, dissecting feelings about his late father and examining his own place in Canada as a non-citizen putting his life on the line — Josiah presses on to find his way back home, wherever that means to him. In her Free Press review of The Riveter, Zilla Jones said the novel 'disrupts expectations of war novels, introducing us to a unique and unforgettable main character from a community whose contributions to Canada's war effort have too often been minimized or ignored' and called Wang's writing 'clear and confident; the story is compelling. 'It's also extremely relevant — a Canadian story by a Canadian author about a time when Canadians, if only temporarily, put aside their differences to fight a greater enemy. The Riveter is a riveting must-read for our times.' Wang will join Free Press literary editor Ben Sigurdson, McNally Robinson Booksellers co-owner Chris Hall and Free Press audience engagement manager Erin Lebar. He'll read from The Riveter, discuss the book and field questions from viewers and readers. Weekday Evenings Today's must-read stories and a roundup of the day's headlines, delivered every evening. Copies of The Riveter are available to purchase at McNally Robinson Booksellers; there's no cost to join the book club or virtual discussion. Video of the meeting will be available for replay on the Free Press YouTube channel following the event. To join the Free Press Book Club and for more information on current and future book picks, visit Book Club.
CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
So Chappell Roan wants to move to Sask.? BTS of her viral video and new single
Chappell Roan is giving Saskatchewan some love in her new single, The Subway. The breakup song released Thursday night talks about escaping it all and moving to the Canadian Prairie province. In the leadup to the song's release, Saskatchewan's own Captive Media was hired by Universal Music Canada to film a special teaser video right here at home. We take a look behind-the-scenes of that viral post and at all the passionate reactions online.
Montreal Gazette
3 hours ago
- Montreal Gazette
Louise Penny chooses Ottawa instead of Washington for her latest novel's launch
New York Times bestselling author and Knowlton resident Louise Penny made headlines when she announced in March that, in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff threats against Canada, she would not travel to the United States to promote The Black Wolf, the 20th book in her enormously successful Gamache series. It comes out Oct. 28. She realizes she is fortunate to be in a position to make that choice, she said: It will surely affect books sales and, by extension, the bottom line for her publisher, Minotaur. 'My publisher was so incredibly supportive and understands,' she said in an interview. The book's U.S. launch was set for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. But in February, after Trump dismissed half the appointed trustees and the remaining board members, most of them his appointees, made him the chair of the historic institution, Penny joined the growing list of those deciding not to appear there. Instead, she moved the launch to the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, where the 2,065 tickets for the Oct. 28 event sold out within hours. She'll travel to several Canadian cities for the book's publicity tour and a couple of virtual events will be live-streamed from the U.S., but it's the first time in 20 years that one of Penny's tours won't include stops south of the border. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Louise Penny (@louisepennyauthor) Trump has said repeatedly that he would like to annex Canada, turn it into the 51st state and take its vast mineral resources. In an instance of fiction presaging reality, one of the threads in The Black Wolf is a movement to make Canada the 51st state. Penny was concerned that people would think she 'just ripped off the headlines' — this although The Black Wolf was conceived three years ago and completed a year ago, long before the issue made the headlines. The Grey Wolf, published last October, and The Black Wolf were designed together and intended as companion pieces, she said. Some of the pivotal scenes of The Black Wolf are set in the Haskell Free Library and Opera House, a cultural building straddling Canada and the U.S. A black stripe running across the library floor and under the opera house seats marks the border between Quebec and Vermont. The book's publicity tour will end at the Haskell Nov. 1 and 2. In-person tickets are sold out but virtual event tickets can be purchased in Canada through Brome Lake Books and in the U.S. through Phoenix Books. 'It was fun to do that quick pivot from the Kennedy Center and the U.S. tour to National Arts Centre and then to end the tour at the Haskell Free Library and Opera House,' Penny said. Since the Haskell opened in 1904, the citizens of both countries have used it without going through passport control and customs. In March of this year, Kristi Noem, the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, approached the tape in the library denoting the border and stepped back and forth across it. On the American side, she said, grinning: 'U.S.A. No. 1.' Crossing the line into Canada, she said: 'The 51st state.' 'She did it at least three times and was very clear in saying, 'U.S.A. No. 1,' and didn't even say 'Canada.' Just, 'the 51st state',' Haskell executive director Deborah Bishop, who is Canadian, told the Boston Globe. 'When I wrote The Black Wolf, I worried I'd gone too far, ' Penny said. 'I no longer have that fear.' What frightens her, she told The Gazette, 'is that this is exactly what tyrants do: Who do they target? They target the libraries, the arts centres, the universities: places open to anyone who might have a dissenting thought.' Penny said she believes that many people who voted for Trump 'thought he was one thing and now are beginning to realize that he is not what he pretended to be. The challenge is going to be for the Democrats to come up with a viable, thoughtful, articulate candidate.' While it is true that many are glum about the current Trump administration, she said, it's important not to lose sight of the fact that his term will end. And meanwhile, 'it is so important to be optimistic, to look at friendships and support and do a lot of laughing. It is so important to know what we have. 'It is so easy to see the darkness,' she said. 'The tragedy would be if we allowed it to overshadow everything else.'
