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On the Origin Launch Video

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Last night we celebrated the virtual launch of Elaine Dewar’s On the Origin of the Deadliest Pandemic in 100 Years! Elaine Dewar had a fascinating discussion with Wayne Grady, Canadian writer, editor, and translator. Afterward, there was an audience Q&A and giveaway of a copy of On the Origin of the Deadliest Pandemic in 100 Years!

And if you weren’t able to join last night, don’t worry! You can still watch the event here:

ABOUT ON THE ORIGIN OF THE DEADLIEST PANDEMIC IN 100 YEARS

In this compelling whodunnit, Elaine Dewar reads the science, follows the money, and connects the geopolitical interests to the spin.

When the first TV newscast described a SARS-like flu affecting a distant Chinese metropolis, investigative journalist Elaine Dewar started asking questions: Was SARS-CoV-2 something that came from nature, as leading scientists insisted, or did it come from a lab, and what role might controversial experiments have played in its development? Why was Wuhan the pandemic’s ground zero—and why, on the other side of the Atlantic, had two researchers been marched out of a lab in Winnipeg by the RCMP? Why were governments so slow to respond to the emerging pandemic, and why, now, is the government of China refusing to cooperate with the World Health Organization? And who, or what, is DRASTIC?

Locked down in Toronto with the world at a standstill, Dewar pored over newspapers and magazines, preprints and peer-reviewed journals, email chains and blacked-out responses to access to information requests; she conducted Zoom interviews and called telephone numbers until someone answered as she hunted down the truth of the virus’s origin. In this compelling whodunnit, she reads the science, follows the money, connects the geopolitical interests to the spin—and shows how leading science journals got it wrong, leaving it to interested citizens and junior scientists to pull out the truth.

ABOUT ELAINE DEWAR

Elaine Dewar—author, journalist, television story editor—has been honoured by nine National Magazine awards, including the prestigious President’s Medal, and the White Award. Her first book, Cloak of Green, delved into the dark side of environmental politics and became an underground classic. Bones: Discovering the First Americans, an investigation of the science and politics regarding the peopling of the Americas, was a national bestseller and earned a special commendation from the Canadian Archaeological Association. The Second Tree: of Clones, Chimeras, and Quests for Immortality, won Canada’s premier literary non-fiction prize from the Writers’ Trust. Called “Canada’s Rachel Carson,” Dewar aspires to be a happy warrior for the public good.

 

Order your copy from Biblioasis here!

Celebrating Poetry Month with Biblioasis Poets!

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It’s National Poetry Month, and Biblioasis is celebrating virtually with our brilliant poets! Each day we’re featuring a different poet on our social media, who not only reads from their work, but gives a little insight into their poetry as well. Join us for this exciting month of paying tribute to poetic excellence by checking out their readings so far below!

 

Starting off the month was a throw-back to an event from last year, A Best Canadian Poetry Virtual Event, with Anita Lahey and Luke Hathaway. Featuring readings from, and discussions about, Best Canadian Poetry 2020 anthology!

Sanna Wani is the first of our individual poet readings, beginning with her poem “As I pray”, which was in Best Canadian Poetry 2020, and originally published in canthius:

Geoff Pevlin reads and discusses “clumper crackies/Ice Pan Puppies”, from Best Canadian Poetry 2020, originally published in The Fiddlehead:

Fiona Tinwei Lam leads us into her poem “Ode to the Potato”, featured in Best Canadian Poetry 2020, and originally published in The New Quarterly:

Next up, Dallas Hunt reads “Louise”, featured in Best Canadian Poetry 2020, and originally published in Contemporary Verse 2:

Susan Haldane gives a lovely reading of “Thin-Skinned”, featured in Best Canadian Poetry 2020, and originally published in Grain Magazine:

Rob Budde discusses his poem “Blockade”, featured in Best Canadian Poetry 2020, and first published in The Goose Journal:

Kevin Spenst’s poem, “It Will Rain Like Rods On the Hillside in Sweden” is read not by one, but various people to to articulate the presence of rain across the world. Spenst is featured in Best Canadian Poetry 2020, and his poem was originally published in Taddle Creek.

Dell Catherall brings us outside with her poem “Fig Sestina”, featured in Best Canadian Poetry 2020, and originally published in The New Quarterly:

Rounding out the first half of the month is Erín Moure, reading “Odiama”, which was featured in Best Canadian Poetry 2020, and first published in Arc Poetry Magazine:

 

But Poetry Month’s not over yet! Follow along on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube throughout the rest of April to continue listening to more from our amazing poets!

 

Purchase Best Canadian Poetry 2020 from Biblioasis here, or from your local bookstore!