New ebooks From Canadian Indies

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list price: $21.95
edition:Paperback
also available: eBook
category: History
published: Aug 2004
ISBN:9781553800187
publisher: Ronsdale Press

First Invaders

The Literary Origins of British Columbia

edited by Alan Twigg

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Description

This unprecedented volume about British Columbia's earliest authors and first explorers (prior to 1800) provides a fascinating range of characters, events and intrigues. The names Cook and Quadra ring a bell for most of us, as do Bering and Vancouver, but what about the first year-round European resident of B.C., the Irish drunkard John Mackay? He voluntarily wintered at Nootka Sound in 1786 well before the more famous John Jewitt became the so-called "white slave" of Chief Maquinna in1803. A year later the first European woman to visit and write about British Columbia was the eighteen-year-old bride Frances Barkley. She circumnavigated the globe with her husband after making a lasting impression with her long red hair at Friendly Cove in 1787. And how much do we know about the Greek-born navigator Juan de Fuca? Or the Machiavelli of the maritime fur trade, John Meares? More than 50 pre-nineteenth-century characters are presented - each with his or her own entry and bibliography. Alan Twigg has researched and skilfully introduced the first people to write about the west coast of Canada, provided extracts, gathered images, taken photographs and let the composite story unravel like a mini-series. First Invaders concludes with Alexander Mackenzie and his over-land trek to the Pacific in 1793, after providing ample coverage of the many lesser-known Spaniards and Americans who arrived in the wake of Captain James Cook in 1778 - and Captain Juan Pérez, the "discoverer" ofBritish Columbia, in 1774.

About the Author

Alan Twigg was the founder and for 33 years editor of BC Book World, Canada's largest-circulating publication about books. He has also been contributing editor of Quill & Quire, Canadian books columnist for the Vancouver Province, books columnist for Vancouver magazine, a contributor of profiles to the Toronto Star and the Writers Union of Canada representative on the board of directors of the Canadian Centre for Studies in Publishing. In 2000, he was the first recipient of the Gray Campbell Distinguished Service Award for outstanding contributions to literature and publishing. In 2015 he received the Order of Canada and in 2016 the BC Lieutenant Governor's Award for Literary Excellence. In 2022 Simon Fraser University awarded him a Doctor of Letters, Honoris Causa, citing his “immense contribution to the promotion of B.C. literature and authors."

Alan is the author of twenty books to date including For Openers: Conversations with 24 Canadian Writers, Hubert Evans: The First Ninety-Three Years, Vancouver and Its Writers, Vander Zalm: from Immigrant to Premier, First Invaders: The Literary Origins of British Columbia and Cuba: 101 Top Historical Sites and Out of Hiding: Holocaust Literature of British Columbia (Ronsdale 2022).

Contributor Notes

Alan Twigg has written and published BC Bookworld, a cultural newspaper, since 1987. His sixteen books include: First Invaders (Ronsdale, 2004), Aboriginality (Ronsdale, 2005), Thompson's Highway (Ronsdale, 2006), 101 Top Historical Sites of Cuba (Beach Holme, 2004), Intensive Care: A Memoir (Anvil Press, 2002), and Strong Voices: Conversations with 50 Canadian Writers (Harbour, 1988). He has also produced six films about authors and a music CD with David Lester for poet Bud Osborn. Hehas conceived and coordinated numerous literary prizes, and created and compiled a public service reference site, abcbookworld.com, to offer free information on more than 9,000 British Columbia authors. In 2000 he received the first annual Gray Campbell Award for outstanding contributions to the writing and publishing community of British Columbia. He was the Shadbolt Fellow at Simon Fraser University. He makes his home in Vancouver.

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