Are you, like me, a lover of mystery novels?
Check out this presentation at the Burnaby Public Library this month.
Don Hauka - an author from New Westminster - will be reading from and talking about his new book She Demons: A Mister Jinnah Mystery, during a session at the McGill library branch in North Burnaby on Thursday, Jan. 19.
The novel is the second featuring Hauka's sleuth, the larger-than-life crime reporter who finds himself solving a crime while on the beat.
The event is free, but space is limited - register online at www.bpl.bc.ca/ events or call 604-299-8955.
The McGill library branch is at 4595 Albert St. in Burnaby.
SINGERS SOUGHT
Know a girl who loves to sing?
Burnaby girls are being invited to join the B.C.
Girls Choir, which is looking for new singers to start in January.
Rehearsals are held in New Westminster, and choristers come from around the Lower Mainland.
The choir offers several levels depending on age and ability - an introduction to choral singing for ages five through seven, two training choirs for ages seven to nine and 10 and up, and a senior choir by audition and invitation.
The girls will be learning new music to present at various concerts throughout the spring, including a community outreach concert and a final year-end celebration, as well as at the Vancouver Kiwanis Choral Festival.
Check out www. bcgirlschoir.org for more details.
SPOKEN INK READING SET
Lovers of the written word will want to note Tuesday, Jan. 17 on their calendars.
That's the date the Burnaby Writers' Society's Spoken Ink series kicks off for 2012.
The monthly readings feature open mike sessions and readings by featured guests. (As of the writing of this column, this month's featured guest had yet to be finalized.)
Open mike sign-up is at 7: 30 p.m., and the featured guest will read at 8 p.m.
The fun happens at La Fontana Caffe, 101-3701 Hastings St.
The Spoken Ink series is presented by the Burnaby Writers' Society on the third Tuesday of each month, except July and August.
Check out www. BurnabyWritersNews. blogspot.com or email [email protected].
LEARN ABOUT SELF-PUBLISHING
If you're always had a hankering to publish that novel you have stashed away in a drawer somewhere, this session might intrigue you.
Local author Michelle Demers will be leading a question-and-answer session on self-publishing at the Burnaby Public Library's McGill branch this Thursday, Jan. 12.
Demers self-published her first mystery novel, Baby Jane, to Amazon's Kindle in March 2011, and she followed that up in May with the print-ondemand trade paperback.
In November she published The Global Indie Author: How Anyone Can Self-Publish in the U.S. and Worldwide Markets, copies of which will be available at the event at a special rate.
Demers will answer questions about the industry, her experiences as a self-published author and the technical requirements of self-publishing, in particular ebooks.
The Q-and-A session is free, but space is limited.
Register online at www. bpl.bc.ca/events or call 604-299-8955. You can also stop by the library branch at 4595 Albert St. in North Burnaby to sign up in person.
ART OF TEXTILES
Textile art is on display in the next exhibition at the National Nikkei Museum and Heritage Centre.
Tengui: Design Excellence in Japanese Daily Life opens Jan. 13 and runs until March 24.
A press release notes that tengui literally means "hand towel" in Japanese, but the colourful cotton cloths are also used as headbands or scarves, for cleaning, for wrapping gifts and even for advertising.
Tengui have been used in Japan over the last 1,000 years - when cloth was precious and they were originally used in the eighth century as special accessories for Shinto rituals. In the 17th century, when the production of cotton increased, people were able to use the cloths in their daily lives.
The invention of chusen - a stencil and dye-pouring technique - increased the number of tengui readily available and allowed designers to incorporate multiple colours and shad-ing.
Today, tengui cloths come in thousands of designs and colours, with special patterns for each season and special occasions.
The exhibition at Nikkei Centre features new designs to celebrate the Year of the Dragon in 2012, as well as dyeing tools and stencil and a video showcasing the chusen technique.
An opening celebration is set for Saturday, Jan. 14 from 4 to 6 p.m.
The National Nikkei Museum and Heritage Centre is at 6688 Southoaks Cres. Check out the website at www.jcnm. ca for more about the exhibition and other events happening at the centre.
Do you have an item for Lively City? Send arts and entertainment ideas to Julie, jmaclellan@burnabynow. com. You can also follow her on Twitter, @juliemaclellan, or check out her blog about the arts scene at www. burnabynow.com.
