Ah, Christmas ... the season of stockings and snowflakes - and corpses?
Mystery authors Elizabeth Elwood and Colleen Cross are holding a special Murder, Mayhem and Mistletoe reading event at Renaissance Books on Sunday, Nov. 24.
The two members of the Canadian Crime Writers' Association will read excerpts from their books.
"Find out why crime writers love to combine the season of peace and goodwill with a juicy murder mystery," a press release invites. "Come and celebrate the start of the festive season at Renaissance Books with book talk, carols and Christmas fun, concluding with an open-mike session where you can read your own holiday poems and stories."
The fun is all happening from 1 to 3 p.m. at Renaissance Books, 43 Sixth St. in downtown New West.
Call 604-525-4566 for information.
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The New Westminster Public Library is honouring veterans with its latest art exhibition.
Celebrating the Art of Our Veterans, which features works from the Artworks Studio at the George Derby Centre, is currently on display on the library's ramp gallery.
The exhibition incorporates work in a variety of styles and media - including painting on a guitar, silk painting and mosaics.
It features work by Dennis Scott-Jackson, Barbara Matthews, Violet MacKenzie, Jacques Belanger, Murray Leege, Joyce Armstrong, Donald MacDonald, Allan Jeffries, Norman Wise, Henry Garneau and Don Reeve.
Upstairs, you can find an exhibition by the New Westminster Photography Club - 8x10x19 - with nature, architecture and art photography by 19 of the club's members.
Both are on until Nov. 30, so drop by the library at 716 Sixth Ave. to check them out.
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Poetry lovers, if you haven't checked out Poetic Justice yet, why not try this weekend?
The Poetic Justice reading series is sponsored by the Royal City Literary Arts Society, and it runs every Sunday (except holiday weekends) at the Heritage Grill, in the backroom.
The Sunday, Nov. 17 session features Liz Bachinsky, Mickey Bickerstaff and Elliot Slinn, and it's hosted by Candice James.
On Sunday, Nov. 24, it's hosted by Sho Wiley and features Warren Dean Fulton, Sean McGarragle and Sonja Littlejohn.
The sessions also feature open mike readings.
Check out www.poeticjustice.ca for the full schedule.
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Four acclaimed authors will be joining forces in an intimate reading night to benefit the Queens Avenue Daycare Society.
Fire-Side Stories, featuring Kevin Chong, Steven Galloway, Rawi Hage and Madeleine Thien, is set for Wednesday, Nov. 20.
The four authors will read selections from their work on the theme of fire and ice, in an evening hosted by New Westminster author JJ Lee.
It's all being held in the heritage home of Tekla Fulton and Doug Brown in Queen's Park, and it will include beverages and appetizers.
The event runs from 7:30 to 10 p.m., with readings beginning at 8 p.m.
Tickets are $30. To buy, call JJ Lee at 604-540-1973 or buy on Eventbrite
See nwfireside.tumblr.com for more details about the night.
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Here's another don't-miss event for the literary types out there.
New Westminster author Renee Sarojini Saklikar is holding a book launch on Sunday, Dec. 1 for her new book of poetry, children of air india ... un/authorized exhibits and interjections.
The work is described as "a series of elegiac sequences exploring the nature of individual loss, situated within public trauma."
"This is a deeply personal collection, rendered in poetic voice by Renee Sarojini Saklikar as she shaers her family's tragic connection to the June 23, 1985 bombing of Air India Flight 182," a press release explains. "Decades after the horrific mass murder, the years of investigation and one of the nation's longest and most expensive inquiries (with no findings released yet), Air India continues to haunt not just the individuals touched by loss, but our collective human psyche."
The book launch will be hosted by the city's poet laureate, Candice James, and will be followed by the Poetic Justice reading series.
It's happening at the Heritage Grill in the backroom, with Saklikar's book launch from 2 to 3, and Poetic Justice from 3 to 5 p.m.
If you want to know more about the work, check out a feature article that ran in the Oct. 25 Record.
Check out www.rclas.com for more on both the book launch and Poetic Justice.
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Also on the book launch front - don't miss the release of the Royal City Poets Anthology 2013, presented by Silver Bow Publishing.
The launch is set for this Sunday, Nov. 16, from 1 to 4:30 p.m. in the backroom at the Heritage Grill.
It's hosted by Candice James and Janet Kvammen, and it's sponsored by the Royal City Literary Arts Society.
The 2013 book is the third instalment in the Royal City Poets Anthology series, and a press release notes it's the largest volume yet - with 40 poets and 129 pages.
Check out www.rclas.com for more.
Do you have an item for Lively City? Send arts and entertainment ideas to Julie, [email protected], or find her on Twitter, @juliemaclellan.
