Di Cintio's "Walls" Gets Rave Review

Marcello Di Cintio is a hell of a writer. He's one of Canada's only true travel writers, a modern day Bruce Chatwin. Marcello journeyed to the Sahara and West Africa to capture the stories of nomadic people in his first book (Harmattan). For his second book, he learned Farsi, wrestled with Persians and discussed poetry to unearth the link between creativity and combat in Iran (Poets and Pahlevans: A Journey Into Iran).

His third book, Walls: Travels Along the Barricades, is an extraordinary feat of reportage and political narrative as he documents the stories of people and their families that live in worn torn nations and are divided by walls. It is a gripping, timely read.

Marcello gets a deserved rave review in the Globe and Mail. Read it here.

Better yet, buy it here.

Vancouver is Awesome

"There is a pervasive attitude that men, especially rural men, must be strong at all times."

I sat down with Vancouver is Awesome to discuss the violence in BULL HEAD, the journey in getting it published, and one of my favourite characters in the book.

Read the interview here.

Read All Over

What do Marilynne Robinson, Anne Patchett, Fyodor Dostoevesky, Flannery O'Connor, Breece D'J Pancake, William Faulkner and my wife, the author Nancy Lee, have in common?

Read here to find out.

Interview with the OP

I had the unusual but fun experience of sitting down on the other side of the table to be interviewed by one of my former students, Sharon Miki, Editor in Chief of the Douglas College student newspaper, The Other Press.

Interview and review of Bull Head here.

Raise a Reader

The Vancouver Sun runs an incredible series called Raise a Reader at least once a year. Local celebrities take to the streets and handsell newspapers, athletes write about literacy and writers recommend books that influenced them as young children.

I spoke about The Mad Scientist's Club, a book I read as a child in a Texas bowling alley. More here.

Of Bulls, Bourbon and Books

Photo credit: Janis Brass

So much love at last night's launch. We packed The Bourbon, hoisted a few, caught up with old friends, met new ones, and of course rode the mechanical bull.

It was a fantastic evening and a great head start for Bull Head. Thanks to everyone who attended and special thanks to the incredible crew at Arsenal Pulp Press.

There's a whole slew of photos posted taken by Daniel Sarunic Photography. Enjoy.

“Heart-Scalding…”

A rave review appeared in the Vancouver Sun on the weekend.

"Vigna's stories read like the work of a drug-sick angel wired to crystal meth and cheap whiskey, haunted by the homemade sin and imperfect redemption of country music...his men are violent and self deluded, but the spare, disciplined beauty of Vigna's prose and his evident but unsentimental compassion for them floods this dark material with a kind of tender light." The full review can be read here.