The Secret Double Lives of VO Staff
Our Communications Manager, Selina Rajani, spent several years in the publishing industry before joining VO. Old habits die hard, though, as Selina has just been appointed President of the Board of the West Coast Book Prize Society.
The West Coast Book Prizes Society is a non-profit organization that celebrates the achievements of BC writers and publishers through the BC Book Prizes. There are seven Prizes, plus the Lieutenant Governor's Award for Literary Excellence, presented annually at the Lieutenant Governor's BC Book Prizes Gala.
This year's nominees for the BC Book Prizes were just announced last week. You can find the list of finalists here. The 2012 BC Book Prizes Gala will be held on Saturday, May 12 at the SFU Woodwards Goldcorp Centre for the Arts. The Lieutenant Governor, the Honorable Steven L. Point, O.B.C., will be in attendance.
Nominated authors also get to go on tour! In early April, some of the finalist authors will hit the road and give free readings to bookstores, libraries and schools all across the province. Follow their progress on the Tour Blog.
The West Coast Book Prize Society also administers the Adopt-A-Library program, in which groups or individuals can sponsor a school library anywhere in BC: a $500 sponsorship provides a library with a selection of brand-new BC Book Prize-nominated books. This program has, to date, put more than $25,000 worth of books into schools that may not otherwise be able to afford them.
Many of the staff here at VO are readers (as demonstrated by General Director James Wright's frequent book reviews on this blog!), so we're happy to support Selina's involvement in the BC Book Prizes. Visit www.bcbookprizes.ca to find out how you can help.
