About
"Way back when, I wrote a book for Vancouver’s centennial in 1986 called Vancouver & Its Writers: A Guide to Vancouver Literary Landmarks. At the time, the city had only the Pauline Johnson memorial in Stanley Park so I allocated sites around the city for fiction writers. It was an exercise in wishful thinking. There were no plaques — it was just an idea to propagate an awareness that we have a rich literary history.
Twenty years later, the leadership of Vancouver Public Library and Dr. Yosef Wosk has resulted in twenty-six landmarks, with more to come. This progress makes me think of some lines at the end of a satirical poem that Earle Birney wrote here in 1947: “no Whitman wanted / it’s by our lack of ghosts / we’re haunted.” Now our city literally boasts thousands of authors and B.C. easily qualifies as one of the most active literary societies on the planet.
This is progress as much as skyscrapers and high property values."
Alan Twigg, BC BookWorld
Literary Landmarks…the intersection of notable authors, their compelling stories and the unique geography of our communities. This project, launched in March of 2015, is a partnership of Vancouver Public Library and BC BookWorld, with generous contributions of Dr. Yosef Wosk and the Vancouver Public Library Foundation.
There are 26 permanent Literary Landmark plaques installed on lampposts across the city, with additional authors to be added in 2016. If you would like to suggest an author for a future Literary Landmark, please contact the Vancouver Public Library: info@vpl.ca or phone 604.331.3603.
About the Collection
The collection of landmarks was curated by Alan Twigg, publisher of BC BookWorld. Alan also wrote the text for all but one of the landmarks.
