News & Events

News & Events Listing

BC Book Publisher New Star Books Announces its Winding Down of Operations

January 17th, 2025

Books BC is saddened by the recent announcement of publisher Rolf Maurer, posted on January 13th, regarding Maurer’s decision to wind down New Star Books. New Star will continue to promote and distribute titles in print through their distributor, the New Star website, and Amazon. However, it will no longer be acquiring new books for publication.

While this is not an official statement from Books BC, we wanted to respond to the moment with a few words from our organization while we process the impact of New Star’s announcement:

“Attending poetry readings at The People’s Co-Op Bookstore on Commercial Drive, voluntarily run by Rolf Maurer was how I, and many of us in Vancouver got intimately connected to the local literary scene. Though the bookstore will remain open, the winding down of the press is a painful reminder of how these spaces can never be taken for granted. For Books BC, this is a moment for reflection and deepening resolve to support our members in the face of myriad challenges.”

Matea Kulić, Books BC Executive Director

For his part, Maurer ends his announcement by stating:

“I’m grateful for the opportunity I’ve had to engage in meaningful work, and to work with writers in bringing their books to readers. I’m grateful to have lived and worked in an era when the value of the work we do, as publishers, writers, and others involved in publishing, was valued, and supported by citizens through the taxes they pay. I am proud of the role, however small, that New Star, over the last 55 years, has played in creating a dialogue in this country about how we live. There will be time to celebrate the press’s history and contributions; this is not the moment for that.”

Internship Opportunity: Books BC Community Engagement intern

December 3rd, 2024

Books BC invites applications to an upcoming internship opportunity.

Supported by the Canada Book Fund, the internship will run from January 13th to May 23rd of 2025. Over the course of 20 weeks, the Books BC Community Engagement intern will work on community engagement projects that develop awareness and appreciation of BC books for various audiences, and support our strategic goal of being a community “hub” for publishers, and book-related stakeholders. 

Please send your resume and a brief email outlining your interest in the position to careers@books.bc.ca by January 3rd, 2025. 

We particularly encourage applicants who identify as being from diverse communities, including those who identify as Black, Indigenous, and people of colour; people with disabilities; people identifying as LGBTQ2S+, and people facing economic barriers. 

*Please note this position is only open to Canadian citizens and those who have not previously benefited from a Canada Book Fund supported internship.

A full job description can be found here and on our careers page.

Books BC announces its 2024-25 Books for Schools program and online database for K-12 educators

October 16th, 2024

The Association of Book Publishers of British Columbia (Books BC) is excited to announce the 2024-25 edition of our Books for Schools database. Books for Schools helps BC and Canadian publishers to effectively reach the K-12 market while providing teachers, teacher-librarians, other educators, and booksellers in BC and Canada with a free community resource to find suitable and appropriate books for the K-12 audience.

Our BC Books for Schools and Indigenous Books for Schools collections have been long-standing initiatives of the Association since 2007. BC Books for Schools comprises BC-published titles, and Indigenous Books for Schools includes Canadian-published titles by Indigenous creators. Both collections are now available as a combined database on BooksForSchools.ca supported by enhanced search functionality and accessibility for users. The database is updated annually, with a total of 324 titles in the BC Books for Schools collection and 260 titles in the Indigenous Books for Schools collection so far.

“We are incredibly proud of the evolution of this book program, which began as print catalogues mailed to every school in BC and has now become a free searchable database. It’s the easiest way to find BC books for BC students, as recommended by BC teachers and with links to curriculum,” says Leslie Bootle, Executive Director of Books BC, of the BC Books for Schools program.

The titles are selected and evaluated by qualified K-12 educators from BC, and annotations include a descriptive review, grade level and curriculum matches, and theme mapping. The titles in the Indigenous Books for Schools collection undergo an additional evaluation for authentic Indigenous Voice, an evaluation process developed by the program’s lead education consultant Jackie Lever based on Dr. Greg Younging’s Elements of Indigenous Style.

Books BC would like to thank our funders for their continued support of this program, in particular the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund, the Canada Council for the Arts, Creative BC, and the City of Vancouver.

Learn more about the database and our unique evaluation process and find hundreds of evaluated K-12 books at BooksForSchools.ca.

Books on Screen at VIFF 2024

October 10th, 2024

On October 3rd, 2024, Books BC partnered with the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) and Creative BC to present the first Books on Screen event since 2018. This half-day event in partnership brought together BC screen-based content creators with BC publishers to pitch and discover intellectual property, build relationships and leverage existing material for optioning and development. The event took place during the Vancouver International Film Festival at their main venue and included a public-facing industry panel with members of the creative team from Murder In a Small Town (Global/FOX), a new drama series co-produced by local producers and based on BC writer L.R. Wright’s novel. Curated B2B meetings between producers and publishers took place in 25 minute sessions throughout the event. Thank you to all of the publishers and producers whose participation made this event a success!

Poetry in Transit 2024/25 launch at Word Vancouver

September 20th, 2024

In partnership with TransLink and BC Transit, Read Local BC presents the launch of this year’s Poetry In Transit campaign at Word Vancouver on September 28, 2024. Now celebrating its 28th year, this beloved community-engagement project displays the work of ten BC poets on public transit vehicles throughout the province. Join us to hear a selection of the featured 2024-25 poets read from their work, followed by a short discussion and Q&A in which you can engage with the poets over your love of the written verse! Hosted by Evelyn Lau.

Read the Poetry in Transit 2024/25 press release to learn more.

Poetry in Transit: On the Radio!

August 13th, 2024

Last week, Leslie Bootle, the executive director of Books BC, appeared on CBC Radio to chat about the Poetry in Transit program and this year’s program! Listen to the clip here.

Poetry in Transit 2024/25 Selections Announced!

August 7th, 2024

In partnership with TransLink and BC Transit, Books BC produces a collection of poetry car cards annually, which feature the work of BC-authored and Canadian-published poets. Now celebrating its 28th year, this project is an opportunity to share these wonderful poems with the larger community!

This year’s selected BC poets and featured poetry collections were announced earlier this week, over on Read Local BC! Find the complete list of poets here: poetryintransit.ca

BC Book Publishers Funding Announcement 2024!

July 16th, 2024

BC Book Publishers Resilience Funding, 2024

On April 23, 2024, BC Book Day at the Legislative Assembly of BC, the Honourable Lana Popham, Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture & Sport, announced the BC Book Publishers Resilience Funding: $500,000 in one-time funding targeted to BC book publishers. This is in addition to the $600,000 provided to book and magazine publishers, over three years, in April 2023. The new funding envelope will be delivered by Creative BC in partnership with Books BC.

“The publishing industry in B.C. is known for its creativity, diversity, and innovation,” said Lana Popham, Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, and Sport. “We take pride in the unique voices that are showcased through various publications in B.C. This funding brings much-needed relief to the book publishing industry, ensuring that our stories, culture, and literature continue to reach readers at home and around the world.”

This BC Book Publishers Resilience Funding is intended to address ongoing challenges with inflation, supply chain pressures and federal investment, while also supporting opportunities for B.C.’s creators. The recipients are publishers who are BC Arts Council project and operating clients. The funds will be administered by Books BC and distributed directly to publishers.