Vancouver and Its Writers

Vancouver has not been forgotten, but many of its early writers have been: Bertrand Sinclair, Frederick Niven, Isabel Ecclestone MacKay, Jean Burton...And the names of many current writers are equally unfamiliar to the average reader-on-the-street. Alan Twigg has compiled biographical and bibliographical information on over 100 literary figures of Vancouver's past and present, and arranged it to form a tour of literary landmarks in the city. Some of the sites: Pender Hall, commemorating Rudyard Kipling's 1907 visit to Vancouver; Morris' second hand store on Main Street where D.M. Fraser lived; Riverview Mental Hospital was the setting for Julia Henshaw's 1901 novel Why Not Sweetheart; the houses where Margaret Laurence, Margaret Atwood and Alice Munro lived when they stayed in Vancouver are located. Featured authors include native Vancouverites, immigrants from other parts of Canada and the world, and writers who stayed briefly in the city, contributing to the literary scene,before moving on to new places.