Just in time for some cozy fireside holiday reading, seven Caitlin Press titles are now available through Kobo and Barnes & Noble. Keep your eyes peeled for more Caitlin titles, and for their impending arrival in iBooks.

You can read these ebooks on any ereader or tablet, your smartphone or your computer, or send them as gifts. You can highlight and share quotes, save multiple bookmarks, and integrate your e-reading with your Facebook or Twitter account to spark conversations with your friends. The only thing you can't do with an ebook is lick your finger before you turn the page (unless you've got your screen cleaner handy).

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On December 6, 1989, fourteen women were shot and killed at the École Polytechnique in Montreal. The women were killed for their gender. Today, twenty-two years later, we remember the lives lost and the lives changed by this event, and by all instances of gender-based hatred and violence.

Here are Arleen Paré's powerful words on the subject.

December 6, 1989

      ask yourself how you bear this state   everyday   this chromosomal state of x and x   like the day you step from the number 17   cross the street   up the concrete steps  faster  along the everyday academic corridor into the university classroom   late   and a boy with a semi-automatic rushes in and starts shooting   starts shouting   a December everyday  the sixth  says he hates women   or says he hates feminists   he tells the men in the classroom to leave   and they do   and then he shoots   round after round   you are all shot  the x on your sweater fronts marks you  you bear this state of target   and in the news your mothers cry for you and your sisters cry and your aunts and girlfriends cry    you are every woman in the city  this December everyday    the hard-packed snow still moans beneath your everywoman boots as you hunch home from your job as a nanny or your job in a greasy spoon dishing poutine and gravy   you ask yourself how you bear it

     you are every woman   you understand warnings   by your parents  don't take candy  don't expect too much  by your husband in the kitchen when you arrive late with the kids from daycare and the groceries and set the bags on your counter and he says  see what happens  what did they expect

     how you bear it  ask yourself why  you are in all the cities  you are up and down fence-bound laced-up country lanes  you are on wailing beaten coastlines  on islands  in shiploads of refugees  in prisons  in bedrooms  on streets pacing for the next trick   you bear it   the state of want   the state of use   the state of disrespect of ridicule of wishing you were dead  ask yourself why  and if no good answer comes

     tear down every poster every newsstand every high-tension wire every bill board every high-rise  every highway sign leading out of town  every aeroplane in the sky  every high and mighty penthouse hotel every bar and grill  tear up every alley where you were hurt  every research paper that described you and got it wrong  every house that trapped you  every letter  every spite  every thought that thought you less  every x and y with too much breath in your face  or too much blade at your throat  every shout  every temper  every gust of grit around your feet  every car parked outside your door  every doorway  every bank every bonnet  every promise  every classroom   every boy with a semi-automatic under his right arm  rushing in  yelling freeze  just before you do

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We are proud to announce that John Schreiber's masterful account of the people and places of the Chilcotin backcountry, Old Lives, has been shortlisted for the City of Victoria Butler Book Prize for adult literature. John is in excellent company, sharing the list with the likes of Carla Funk, Jack Hodgins, Stephen Hume and Sylvia Olsen. The winner will be announced October 12th. Congratulations to all five talented authors.

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Just in time for the season to turn, the first two of our Fall 2011 books have arrived in the warehouse. The Sunshine Coast is painted orange and red, and in the mornings the bite in the air belies the sunny skies. We have pulled our sweaters out from the depths of our closets and we are battening down the hatches for winter. That means a lot less time spent hiking the hills and a lot more spent curled up with a book in front of the wood stove.

Luckily, Versions of North and Attemptations are here to keep you busy through the colder months. Versions is a post-modern poetic exploration of the cultural and geographical landscape of Northern British Columbia. Attemptations is a collection of short fiction about women navigating life, love, sex, family and disability with wit and aplomb. Stay tuned for the next batch of fresh-baked text from Caitlin, featuring Scribes and Good Hope Cannery.

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Yesterday, the last of our Spring titles, Chicken Poop for the Soul, arrived in the office this week and it's looking pretty sharp. Get your copy today, at your local bookstore!

Of her sovereignty project, Kristeva Dowling writes,

Being philosophically opposed to corporate agriculture's inhumane treatment of animals and wishing to limit my footprint on the earth, I decided to simplify my life, limit my retail consumption, provision for myself and my family as much as possible, supplement the foods I could not grow myself through the efforts of my neighbours whenever possible, and become as close to a modern-day hunter-gatherer as I could be.

Get your copy and read on to hear Kristeva's inspiring story of personal food sovereignty and to learn how to free yourself from the food chains.

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Adam Pottle was interviewed by Sheryl MacKay of CBC's North by Northwest. Listen to Adam reading from Beautiful Mutants and talking about the book, about his writing background, and about the treatment of disability in Canadian literature here.

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Tor Forsberg and Sheryl MacKay talk about North of Iskut in this week's episode of North by Northwest. Sunday's podcast addressed "contemporary adventures in northern BC and pioneer ranching in the Nicola Valley"; Forsberg is joined by Robert Budd, author of Voices of British
Columbia.

You can download the episode here or subscribe to the podcast here.

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David Thompson, author of Talking at the Woodpile, is the subject of a recent profile by the Yukon News. Thompson discusses a recent "cosmic moment," the use of facts in fiction, the life of an author and the culture of the Yukon:

“I see us as a distinct culture, just as valid as Quebec or Newfoundland,” said Thompson. “I think we’re overlooked by the rest of Canada.”

Click through to read more about Thompson's writing process and his plans for a follow-up book.

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On August 7, Janet Romain will join Gurjinder Basran for the New Voices event at the 2011 Sunshine Coast Festival of the Written Arts, hosted by Sheryl MacKay. Both authors released their first novels this year. Basran's And Everything Was Goodbye won this year's Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize. Janet Romain's Grandpère, a novel about memory, community and the meaning of family, has been called "an instant classic."

Please join us at the event in Sechelt this August. Tickets will be available May 25th. More information about tickets and events can be found at the Festival's website.

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Jane Stevenson receives Honorable Mention in BC Historical Federation Prizes

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