One of B.C.’s fastest-rising writers will be speaking in Sechelt on Sept. 24 at 8 p.m. at the Sunshine Coast Arts Centre (corner of Medusa and Trail). Comox-based author Brian Payton is equally at home in the realms of fiction and creative non-fiction, and excels at both. He is a powerful storyteller who often explores – with startling originality and brutal honesty – themes of survival and isolation.
Payton has written two novels, the second of which, The Wind is Not a River (2013), is set largely in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, site of a bloody and little-known Second World War battle. Aritha van Herk described the book as a “mesmerizing tale of loss and connection, love and determination.” It has been published in Canada, U.S., U.K., Spain and Portugal, and nominated for the Ethel Wilson Prize. A highly praised first novel, Hail Mary Corner, appeared in 2001.
Payton’s non-fiction work is also compelling. Shadow of the Bear (2006) makes a series of remarkable journeys in search of the planet’s eight bear species (six of which are now endangered), revealing little-known aspects of humankind’s long, intertwined relationship with this iconic animal. The Ice Passage (2010) is a gripping account of 19th-century Arctic exploration and disaster that reconstructs the final voyage of HMS Investigator. An astonishing story of endurance and courage, and a finalist for the Hubert Evans Prize, it was described by The Tyee as “a tale of Shackletonian proportions.”
Doors open at 7:30 p.m. Admission by donation. Sponsored by the Sunshine Coast Arts Council, with the generous assistance of the Canada Council for the Arts.
