Canuck Authors Protest Potter

Making the rounds of various media outlets across the country...











AUTHORS STAGE MOCK PROTEST DURING HARRY POTTER WEEKEND

In a cross-country effort, three Canadian authors are joining hands to celebrate writing for young people by promoting their books on the weekend of the release of J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows".

“Other people write books too, you know.” That’s the message James Bow, an Ontarian writer of fantasy novels for young people, hopes to get across with his one-man picket beside the midnight line-up of fans waiting to get their hands on the last book in the Harry Potter series.

Bow, wearing a wizarding hat and a “will write for food” placard, will be stationed outside the Toronto independent bookstore Another Story, as it opens at midnight to accommodate eager muggles. He will return the next day at noon to read from other novels and sign his own.

In Vancouver, authors James McCann and kc dyer will launch their latest novels at the Summer Dream Literary Arts Festival in Stanley Park "in defiance of the Potter juggernaut".

"As a writer of books for young adults, I know how much my industry owes to the imagination of J.K. Rowling," says dyer. "I discovered Harry just after the second book was published and am a huge fan. But we'd like to use this occasion to bring attention to some of the other wonderful books that are being published for young people in this country."

Both McCann and dyer are affiliated with Children's Writers and Illustrators of BC (CWILL BC), an organization that helps promote writers and illustrators of books for youth in British Columbia.

These tongue-in-cheek protests, are designed to bring attention to Canadian books children and young adults could read once the final page turns on Rowling's Harry Potter epic.

Who:James Bow, author of "Fathom Five" (the Dundurn Group)
www.unwrittenbooks.ca
kc dyer, author of "Ms. Zephyr's Notebook" (the Dundurn Group) http://www.kcdyer.com/
James McCann, author of "Pyre" (Simply Read Books) http://www.jamesmccann.info/

When: Friday, July 20, 2007 - 11:59 p.m. - 1:00 a.m. EDT (James Bow)Saturday, July 21, 2007 - noon - 1:00 p.m. EDT (James Bow)

Saturday, July 21, 2007 - 1:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. PDT (kc dyer, James McCann)

Where: Another Story Bookshop, 315 Roncesvalles Avenue, Toronto (James Bow)
Summer Dream Festival, Lumberman’s Arch, Stanley Park, Vancouver (kc dyer, James McCann)

-30-

~kc

Congratulations...

...to fellow Dundurn author and Compuserve scribe James Bow. His new book FATHOM FIVE arrived on his doorstep today. If you want to have a peek, check out his blog: Bow. James Bow. The address is in the Blog sidebar.

We are slowly making progress on the SiWC website -- but if you want a hint of some of the outstanding writers who will attend as speakers this year, check out the main page at www.siwc.ca The rest of the site is not live just yet, but it's coming! Next up will be bios and pix of the presenters this year, and once the board approval has come through, a listing of the workshops will go up.

One other thing new this year is the SiWC Writing Contest Deadline. It's been moved up to August, so check it out. Still one of the richest prizes associated with a writing conference contest, and now with four categories: Fiction (The Storyteller's Award, sponsored by Diana Gabaldon and Jack Whyte), Non-fiction, Poetry and Writing For Children. The new dates and requirements are all posted on the website -- so get those story ideas on paper in time for the August deadline!


And just because I can, here's a picture my daughter took of a funny sign at the base of the Filbert steps in San Francisco.

If you've seen a sign you'd like to share, send it in!



~kc