Raw emotions involved in two separate world issues are making a voice for themselves.
Two Canadian authors are on a cross-Canada book tour with their separate works, coming to Vernon for a free reading Thursday, Sept. 25 at 7 p.m. at the library.
CBC Literary Awards prize-winning writer and Kelowna resident Joanna Cockerline is author of the novel Still. The book is set amid the unhoused and street-level sex work communities, following a woman who lives and works on the streets of Kelowna, who is looking for a fellow sex worker who has gone missing.
Based on the streets of Kelowna, Still explores survival, friendship, resiliency and hope. It's based on Cockerline's own experiences as a long-time street outreach volunteer and co-founder of a new non-profit street outreach organization in Kelowna, JustUs Street Outreach.
Also addressing pressing social questions, Kevin Andrew Heslop's book is called The Writing on the Wind's Wall: Dialogues about ‘Medical Assistance in Dying.’
A doctor killing a patient at the patient’s request was a crime in Canada on Feb. 5, 2015. But the next day, the Supreme Court directed Parliament to amend the Criminal Code to allow for what came to be called medical assistance in dying: MAID — which one in 20 Canadians who die each year receive, more than any other country in the world.
Now with medical assistance in dying for the mentally ill on the table, The Writing on the Wind’s Wall presents an atonal chorus: a disability-studies scholar, an ethicist, doctors, a death-doula, a reverend, a medium, a Member of Parliament, a psychiatrist, relatives of people who have died with medical assistance, and someone who intends to die.
“We’re deeply excited to connect with readers and audiences across the country,” Cockerline said, noting they will be touring throughout B.C., Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritime provinces throughout September and October.
Cockerline and Heslop both released their books in September with the Canadian indie press The Porcupine’s Quill, and are touring across Canada to connect with audiences about issues close to their hearts and homes.
Cockerline is a nominee for the international Pushcart Prize, and author of works in publications ranging from Room to En Route to International Human Rights Arts. Still has been long listed for the prestigious 2025 Giller Prize. She teaches literature and creative writing at UBC Okanagan.
Heslop, from London, Ont., is the author of works for the page, stage, and screen.
