High fives to British Columbia Magazine contributor Frances Backhouse, who took home the City of Victoria Butler Book Prize last night for her adult non-fiction work, Children of the Klondike, published by Whitecap Books.
Frances, who had to awaken at 3:50 a.m. this morning to catch a flight to attend a writers’ conference, is still a little stunned. “Despite the lack of sleep, it was a thrilling night,” she reports.
Each year, the International Regional Magazine Association (IRMA) hosts its own version of the Academy Awards. This year, we were called to the podium nine times at the association’s 30th annual awards ceremony, held September 26 in Branson, Missouri.
Our awards for excellence in magazine publishing included Finalist of the Year, Gold for Nature Feature, and Gold for Special Focus for our Summer 2009 issue (our big 50th anniversary issue that featured the full-length special feature “50 Things to Do in B.C. Before You Die”).
With a mere month under my belt as editor here at the magazine, all I could say was, “Wow!”
Thanks and heartfelt congratulations to our talented staff and our fabulous contributors who worked so hard on these issues!
The awards are selected by a panel of independent writing and design judges across more than 20 magazine categories. Our nine awards included:
Cheers to British Columbia Magazine contributor Frances Backhouse. The Victoria writer and biologist was recently nominated for a City of Victoria Butler Book Prize for her non-fiction work, Children of the Klondike, in the adult book category. The award goes out each year, along with a children’s book prize, to a writer living in the Capital Region.
Frances, the author of five books, wrote “Children of the Chilkoot” for our Spring 2010 issue, and has contributed several other articles and features to our pages.The awards take place October 13, 2010, and Frances is among some excellent company. Congratulations, Frances! We’ll keep our fingers crossed.
I admit it. I’m a foodie. So when I received an invitation to attend the live, red carpet premiere of a new culinary travel television show last Sunday night, it didn’t take me long to RSVP.
I actually met the producers of Flavours of the West Coast, Karen and Dai Davies of Cedarwood Productions, last year, when they won our Meet Nick Bantock contest. (Small world, this province of ours!) In their new 13-part series, which airs Sunday nights at 6.30 p.m. on CHEK-TV, host Steve Walker-Duncan, executive chef and owner of Victoria’s Ambrosia Conference and Event Centre, travels across the province to profile local food and wine producers.
After enjoying a tasty selection of hot and cold hors d’ouevres, B.C. wines, and ciders from Saanichton’s Sea Cider Farm & Ciderhouse, guests settled in to watch the live airing of the first episode, which focussed on Vancouver Island’s Cowichan Valley area. We travelled with Steve, who is also a chef-instructor at Camosun College, to Cobble Hill to learn about Venture Schulze Vineyards and their fine, aged balsamic vinegars from owner Marilyn Venturi. Then we tromped through a meadow near the Cowichan River with First Nations chef Jared Williams to pick stinging nettle, of all things. Williams prepared a mouth-watering meal of stuffed local pork chop, served over mashed potatoes, with the cooked and pureed nettle. The audience sighed when the meal was plated. (Many of us, in fact, couldn’t help but murmur, “YUM!”)
The episode wrapped with Steve showing “Rookie Chef” CBC/CHEK news anchor Tony Parsons how to prepare one of the simplest, tastiest, late summer dishes of all time — bruschetta — using fresh local ingredients. Finally, the show’s wine expert, Tony Phillips, stepped in and offered suggested pairings with B.C. wines. Then the credits rolled, and the live audience erupted in applause.
Food has a way of building community, whether it’s around a kitchen table, or at a gathering like this one in a conference centre. Last Sunday in Victoria, media, program sponsors, guests from the first episode, chefs, and the folks who created Flavours of the West Coast all came together in the name of great B.C. food. Just thinking about it is making me hungry all over again!
Watch excerpts from the first episode here. Tune into episode two this Sunday at 6.30 p.m. PST on CHEK-TV.
Bibliophiles and magazine junkies will descend on downtown Vancouver this Sunday, September 26, for The Word on the Street, a nation-wide celebration of the written word–and British Columbia Magazine will be there to join in the fun! Will you?
Look for our booth in the “Mags BC Tent” at the Homer Street side of the Vancouver Library for a special subscription offer. Then, step up to our prize wheel for the chance to win great British Columbia Magazine swag. All proceeds go to Raise-a-Reader, and every spin wins.
And don’t miss contributing photographer Gary Fiegehen’s presentation “The Power of a Picture: My Work with the Lil’wat Nation” in the Magazine Life Tent at 1 p.m. Fiegehen recently received special permission to attend a traditional Lil’wat naming ceremony for the feature story “A little girl gets her name,” appearing in our Fall 2010 issue. You can get a sneak peek at some of his images here. Everyone who attends the presentation will receive a free copy of the Fall 2010 issue, while supplies last!
The Word on the Street, taking place at Library Square and CBC Plaza from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., also offers more than 100 author events, exhibits, and performances, and a marketplace. Admission is free. For more information visit www.thewordonthestreet.ca/vancouver.
The editorial team at British Columbia Magazine is pleased to introduce our new Editor-in-Chief, Jane Nahirny!
Jane officially took the Editor’s chair on August 23, but she’s no stranger to the magazine. Jane first joined us in November 2007 to fill a maternity leave. One of her first tasks was writing the 18-page sesquicentennial feature for our special B.C. 150 issue.
Further assignments followed, and, one year later, Jane returned to serve as promotions coordinator to market the magazine’s 50th anniversary. During that time, she developed the master plan for our popular “Share Your B.C.” campaign, in which participants contribute their favourite B.C. places and activities to a searchable, permanent database. For our current issue, Fall 2010, she explored and wrote about the charms of Nelson, available to read here.
Jane’s editorial background includes more than 20 years of experience as a writer and editor with such publications as Canadian HomeStyle, Hamilton Magazine, Golf Canada, and Wedding Bells Magazine. Most recently, she worked as Communications Director for the Montreal-based Canadian Sporting Goods Association.
“I truly feel honoured to guide this iconic publication into its next era,” says Jane. “I look forward to continuing to provide readers with the high-quality articles and inspiring photo spreads they’ve come to expect from British Columbia Magazine, and to creating editorial features that meet the needs of a new generation of readers.”
We’re all thrilled to have Jane here: for her numerous editorial talents and her infectious enthusiasm.
Watch for Jane’s first Front Lines column in our upcoming Winter 2010 issue, out on newsstands in early December.
As someone who has spent hours peering over the sides of ferries and wharfs, entranced by the rhythmic pulsing and delicate beauty of jellyfish, I wish to offer my condolences to the Vancouver Aquarium’s new cross jellies. It seems a pair of them have arrived with a most unfortunate problem — a parasitic anemone that “looks like a large, thick, white blob” hanging from their gonads.
I don’t mean to anthropomorphize, but . . . yikes.
The aquarium’s press release explains that, once ingested by a cross jelly, the parasitic anemone begins to chow down on its host’s stomach tissues. This continues for 11 days, before the “jelly-dwelling anemone” migrates to the jelly’s sex organs. “It will continue to feed on the jelly for roughly 31 days, until it acquires its adult characteristics.”
If you’d like to get a firsthand look at this gonad-feeding parasite, stop by the aquarium ASAP. They expect the anemones to stay attached to the host jellies for another few days before dropping to the floor (where, if left alone, they would live out the rest of their life cycle.)
No word on whether the cross jellies are expected to make a full recovery (or require counseling).
For more interesting jellyfish facts, see the “Secrets of Jellyfish” in our Winter 2006 issue.
History and art will mingle this weekend in the historic Cariboo gold-rush town of Barkerville and neighbouring community of Wells (featured in our Fall 2007 issue). The ArtsWells Festival, dubbed the “festival of all things art,” features everything from music, to film and ballet, to drumming, puppetry, stilt walking, and a whole slew of varied artistic disciplines in between. Take in concerts and performances, participate in workshops, peruse artisans’ wares, poke around Barkerville’s mining-era buildings — there are plenty of interesting options to occupy your August long weekend.
ArtsWells — which was recently named one of Canada’s top ten music festivals by CBC Radio 3 — runs July 30 to August 2nd, 2010. See www.artswells.com for more information.
Just try not to say awwww! This photograph of an adorable seal pup comes to us from reader Brenda Johima, a photographer and artist living in Vancouver Island’s Fanny Bay. She was exploring Tofino’s Long Beach recently when she happened upon the animal. Armed with a telephoto lens, Johima plopped down in the wet sand a good distance away, so as not to disturb the animal, and composed several shots.
“I LOVE wildlife, and as a photographer, it is always exciting to find something totally unexpected,” she says.
Have you had a close encounter with B.C. wildlife? Submit your experiences to www.shareyourbc.com for a chance to win a one-year subscription to British Columbia Magazine.
If you’re one of those thoroughbred West Coasters who prefers cool breezes and just a hint of sunshine over truly sweltering summer temperatures, than the heat wave currently baking southern B.C. is likely making you grumble. Luckily, Whistler Blackcomb has a novel remedy for cooling down — snow! The ski resort reports that enough of the white stuff remains in the alpine at the top of the Whistler Village Gondola that, for the first time ever in July, guests can go snow shoeing and tubing at a three-lane park. Blackcomb Peak’s Horstman Glacier is also open for summer skiing and snowboarding until July 25.
There are plenty of other, more traditionally summery things to do in Whistler as well, including golf, river rafting, biking, and ziplining. See www.whistlerblackcomb.com for more options.