Laughing Oyster Bookshop is very pleased to host five writers with local connections over the next few weeks. Amanda Hale will present her latest book 鈥淚n the Embrace of the Alligator鈥� on Friday, June 10 at 7 p.m.
Her linked stories create a sensual and compassionate image of the great alligator that is Cuba, and particularly its 鈥渆ye.鈥� Baracoa. Hale reveals mysteries of Cuba through the fictional journal of Karina as she learns on the streets, between the sheets and in the kitchens of Baracoa the real story behind the smiles and the music. Laughing Oyster Bookshop will open at 6:30 pm for this special event.
Saturday, June 11 at 2:30 p.m. Leo Buijs will be on hand to sign his latest book Beers of British Columbia, a full colour guide to over 300 beers including descriptions, evaluations and recommendations. Also available is Buijs' Best Dog Walks on Vancouver Island, a guide for dog lovers that live on or visit Vancouver Island, with over 60 easy to moderate trails comprehensively reviewed.
Award-winning playwright and poet Cornelia Hoogland has studied and taught the Tale of Red Riding Hood for years. In her latest collection of poetry, Woods Wolf Girl, Hoogland takes Little Red Riding Hood into the coastal rainforest and turns her tale on its end with sensuous and daring lyric poetry. On Sunday, June 12 at 1 pm, Hoogland will read selections from Woods Wolf Girl 鈥� Red Riding Hood as you might never have imagined, much more than a simple children's story.
On Saturday June 25 at 2:30 p.m. wildlife artist Allan Hancock will present his beautifully detailed illustrations in Amazing Animals, the Remarkable Things the Creatures Do - a book written by Margriet Ruurs that encourages children to observe and engage the natural world with a sense of wonder. Hancock's stunning illustrations introduce a host of creatures, many of them endangered.
Before retiring to the Comox Valley, John Peters worked for over 25 years as an engineer in Third World countries. During the 1980s, when the UN goal was to ensure safe water and sanitation for all people, Peters' work took him to Ghana and Nigeria to install and maintain water systems.
A keen observer of culture and human behaviour, Peters built on his experiences, the people he met and worked with, to tell this story first in Oasis for Expats and now its sequel Beyond the Oasis.
Peters writes with a wry humour that strips away the pretensions and earnestness of development work to show real people encountering the same conflicts and challenges, albeit in a setting that sometimes turns the outcome on its head. Peters will present the fictional and lived story that inspires his writing on Sunday, June 26 at 1 p.m.
All author events are at Laughing Oyster Bookshop, 286 Fifth St. in downtown Courtenay. For more information, call 250-334-2511.
