Writing the Coast: BC and Yukon Book Prizes Podcast

Writing the Coast: BC & Yukon Book Prizes podcast
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Welcome to Writing the Coast! This is the weekly podcast where we chat with the authors and illustrators of the books who make up the shortlist of the annual BC and Yukon Book Prizes. On the episodes you'll hear host and podcast coordinator Megan Cole chat with the folks who are creating some of BC and Yukon's best books. We'll also check in with the literary community in our region. For more information about the BC and Yukon Book Prizes visit: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/

  1. 2d ago

    Tanya Boteju talks about how books create belonging for young readers

    ABOUT THIS EPISODE: On this episode of Writing the Coast, Tanya Boteju talks about her book Messy Perfect. Messy Perfect is a finalist for the 2026 Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize. In his conversation with host Megan Cole, Tanya talks about how books can be safe spaces for young readers and why books weren't safe spaces for her when she was young. For more about Messy Perfect: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/project/messy-perfect/ To view the 2026 BC and Yukon Book Prizes shortlists: bcyukonbookprizes.com/2026/04/14/ann…es-shortlists/ ABOUT TANYA BOTEJU: Tanya Boteju lives on unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations (Vancouver, BC). Part-time, she teaches English to clever, sassy young people. The rest of her time, she uses writing as an excuse to eat pastries. Her debut novel, Kings, Queens, and In-Betweens, was named a Top Ten Indie Next Pick by the American Booksellers Association. In both teaching and writing, Tanya looks to bend the universe even the tiniest bit toward justice. ABOUT MEGAN COLE: Megan Cole is the Executive Director for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes. She is also a writer based on the territory of the Tla'amin Nation. Megan writes creative nonfiction and has had essays published in Chatelaine, This Magazine, The Puritan, Untethered, and more. She has her MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of King's College and is working her first book. Find out more about Megan at megancolewriter.com ABOUT THE PODCAST: Writing the Coast is recorded and produced on the traditional territory of the Tla'amin Nation. As a settler on these lands, Megan Cole finds opportunities to learn and listen to the stories from those whose land was stolen. Writing the Coast is a recorded series of conversations, readings, and insights into the work of the writers, illustrators, and creators whose books are nominated for the annual BC and Yukon Book Prizes. We'll also check in on people in the writing community who are supporting books, writers and readers every day. The podcast is produced and hosted by Megan Cole.

    Tanya Boteju talks about how books create belonging for young readers

  2. Aug 15

    Julian Brave NoiseCat talks about why we need to be teaching the Coyote Story in great works of the humanities

    ABOUT THIS EPISODE: On this episode of Writing the Coast, Julian Brave NoiseCat talks about his book We Survived the Night: An Indigenous Reckoning. We Survived the Night is a finalist for the 2026 Hubert Evans Nonfiction Prize. In his conversation with host Megan Cole, Julian talks about the place we're at in storytelling and print literature and how we might be in a better place to embrace oral storytelling. He also talks about how he brought his own interpretations and storytelling to the Coyote Story. For more about We Survived the Night: http://bcyukonbookprizes.com/project/we-survived-the-night/ To view the 2026 BC and Yukon Book Prizes shortlists: bcyukonbookprizes.com/2026/04/14/ann…es-shortlists/ ABOUT JULIAN BRAVE NOISECAT: Julian Brave Noisecat is a writer, Academy Award-nominated filmmaker, champion powwow dancer, and student of Salish art and history. His writing has appeared in dozens of publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post and The New Yorker. NoiseCat has been recognized with numerous awards, including the 2022 American Mosaic Journalism Prize and many National Native Media Awards. He was a finalist for the Livingston Award and multiple Canadian National Magazine Awards and was named to the TIME100 Next list in 2021. His first documentary, Sugarcane, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary. Directed alongside Emily Kassie, Sugarcane premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, where NoiseCat and Kassie won the Directing Award for U.S. Documentary. NoiseCat is a proud member of the Canim Lake Band Tsq’escen and descendant of the Lil’wat Nation of Mount Currie. We Survived the Night is his first book. ABOUT MEGAN COLE: Megan Cole is the Executive Director for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes. She is also a writer based on the territory of the Tla'amin Nation. Megan writes creative nonfiction and has had essays published in Chatelaine, This Magazine, The Puritan, Untethered, and more. She has her MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of King's College and is working her first book. Find out more about Megan at megancolewriter.com ABOUT THE PODCAST: Writing the Coast is recorded and produced on the traditional territory of the Tla'amin Nation. As a settler on these lands, Megan Cole finds opportunities to learn and listen to the stories from those whose land was stolen. Writing the Coast is a recorded series of conversations, readings, and insights into the work of the writers, illustrators, and creators whose books are nominated for the annual BC and Yukon Book Prizes. We'll also check in on people in the writing community who are supporting books, writers and readers every day. The podcast is produced and hosted by Megan Cole.

    Julian Brave NoiseCat talks about why we need to be teaching the Coyote Story in great works of the humanities

  3. Aug 8

    Laurence Fox talks about finding joy and hope in radical action.

    ABOUT THIS EPISODE: This is part two of a two part conversation with Laurence Fox, who writes as L.E. Fox. Laurence's book This Book is a Knife is a finalist for the 2026 Jim Deva Prize for Writing that Provokes. In the second part of their conversation with host Megan Cole, Laurence talks about finding hope and joy in radical action. For more about This Book is a Knife: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/project/this-book-is-a-knife/ To view the 2026 BC and Yukon Book Prizes shortlists: bcyukonbookprizes.com/2026/04/14/ann…es-shortlists/ ABOUT L.E. FOX: L.E. Fox is a queer, non-binary, working-class writer and journalist. Their work, which focuses on issues of class, gender, sexuality, the environment, and the messy places where these things intersect, has appeared with The Guardian, Vice, and The Globe and Mail, among many other outlets. This Has Always Been a War is their first book. ABOUT MEGAN COLE: Megan Cole is the Executive Director for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes. She is also a writer based on the territory of the Tla'amin Nation. Megan writes creative nonfiction and has had essays published in Chatelaine, This Magazine, The Puritan, Untethered, and more. She has her MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of King's College and is working her first book. Find out more about Megan at megancolewriter.com ABOUT THE PODCAST: Writing the Coast is recorded and produced on the traditional territory of the Tla'amin Nation. As a settler on these lands, Megan Cole finds opportunities to learn and listen to the stories from those whose land was stolen. Writing the Coast is a recorded series of conversations, readings, and insights into the work of the writers, illustrators, and creators whose books are nominated for the annual BC and Yukon Book Prizes. We'll also check in on people in the writing community who are supporting books, writers and readers every day. The podcast is produced and hosted by Megan Cole.

    Laurence Fox talks about finding joy and hope in radical action.

  4. Aug 1

    Laurence Fox talks about how working-class people are being gaslit about climate change

    ABOUT THIS EPISODE: In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Laurence Fox, who writes as L.E. Fox. Laurence's book This Book is a Knife is a finalist for the 2026 Jim Deva Prize for Writing that Provokes. In their conversation Laurence talks about how working-class people could change the oppressive systems we live in. They also talk about how we need to expand our visions for the future beyond communism and capitalism. For more about This Book is a Knife: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/project/this-book-is-a-knife/ To view the 2026 BC and Yukon Book Prizes shortlists: bcyukonbookprizes.com/2026/04/14/ann…es-shortlists/ ABOUT L.E. FOX: L.E. Fox is a queer, non-binary, working-class writer and journalist. Their work, which focuses on issues of class, gender, sexuality, the environment, and the messy places where these things intersect, has appeared with The Guardian, Vice, and The Globe and Mail, among many other outlets. This Has Always Been a War is their first book. ABOUT MEGAN COLE: Megan Cole is the Executive Director for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes. She is also a writer based on the territory of the Tla'amin Nation. Megan writes creative nonfiction and has had essays published in Chatelaine, This Magazine, The Puritan, Untethered, and more. She has her MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of King's College and is working her first book. Find out more about Megan at megancolewriter.com ABOUT THE PODCAST: Writing the Coast is recorded and produced on the traditional territory of the Tla'amin Nation. As a settler on these lands, Megan Cole finds opportunities to learn and listen to the stories from those whose land was stolen. Writing the Coast is a recorded series of conversations, readings, and insights into the work of the writers, illustrators, and creators whose books are nominated for the annual BC and Yukon Book Prizes. We'll also check in on people in the writing community who are supporting books, writers and readers every day. The podcast is produced and hosted by Megan Cole.

    Laurence Fox talks about how working-class people are being gaslit about climate change

  5. Jul 25

    Sarah Louise Butler talks about how memory shapes our personal narratives

    ABOUT THIS EPISODE: In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Sarah Louise Butler. Sarah's book Rufous and Calliope is a finalist for the 2026 Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize. In their conversation, Sarah talks about how she landed on the braided structure of her novel. She also talked about how important place and setting was in Rufous and Calliope. For more about Rufous and Calliope: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/project/rufous-and-calliope/ To view the 2026 BC and Yukon Book Prizes shortlists: bcyukonbookprizes.com/2026/04/14/ann…es-shortlists/ ABOUT SARAH LOUISE BUTLER: Sarah Louise Butler is a novelist based in the West Kootenay region of the BC Interior. With a background in physical geography and environmental studies, her stories seek to portray natural landscapes and their non-human inhabitants as characters in their own right. Her debut novel, The Wild Heavens, was a 49th Shelf Book of the Year, and a favourite of book clubs and libraries across the country, including being chosen as a Vancouver Public Library Top 20 Favourite Books of 2020. It was recently translated and released in France. Her second novel, Rufous and Calliope, is a “geographical fiction” that features runaway children, treehouse hideaways, early-onset dementia and the persistence of hope amidst ecological grief. Butler was named a CBC Writer to Watch in 2020. ABOUT MEGAN COLE: Megan Cole is the Executive Director for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes. She is also a writer based on the territory of the Tla'amin Nation. Megan writes creative nonfiction and has had essays published in Chatelaine, This Magazine, The Puritan, Untethered, and more. She has her MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of King's College and is working her first book. Find out more about Megan at megancolewriter.com ABOUT THE PODCAST: Writing the Coast is recorded and produced on the traditional territory of the Tla'amin Nation. As a settler on these lands, Megan Cole finds opportunities to learn and listen to the stories from those whose land was stolen. Writing the Coast is a recorded series of conversations, readings, and insights into the work of the writers, illustrators, and creators whose books are nominated for the annual BC and Yukon Book Prizes. We'll also check in on people in the writing community who are supporting books, writers and readers every day. The podcast is produced and hosted by Megan Cole.

    Sarah Louise Butler talks about how memory shapes our personal narratives

  6. Jul 18

    Jen Sookfong Lee talks about the final girls in her horror novel The Hunger We Pass Down

    ABOUT THIS EPISODE: In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Jen Sookfong Lee. Jen's book The Hunger We Pass Down is a finalist for the 2026 Jim Deva Prize for Writing that Provokes. In their conversation, Jen talks about the haunted house that inspired her book. She also talks about how women become monsters in folk stories. For more about The Hunger We Pass Down: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/project/the-hunger-we-pass-down/ To view the 2026 BC and Yukon Book Prizes shortlists: bcyukonbookprizes.com/2026/04/14/ann…es-shortlists/ ABOUT JEN SOOKFONG LEE: Jen Sookfong Lee was born and raised in Vancouver’s East Side, and she now lives with her son in North Burnaby. Her books include The Conjoined, nominated for International Dublin Literary Award and a finalist for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, The Better Mother, a finalist for the City of Vancouver Book Award, The End of East, The Shadow List, and Finding Home. Jen acquires and edits for ECW Press. ABOUT MEGAN COLE: Megan Cole is the Executive Director for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes. She is also a writer based on the territory of the Tla'amin Nation. Megan writes creative nonfiction and has had essays published in Chatelaine, This Magazine, The Puritan, Untethered, and more. She has her MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of King's College and is working her first book. Find out more about Megan at megancolewriter.com ABOUT THE PODCAST: Writing the Coast is recorded and produced on the traditional territory of the Tla'amin Nation. As a settler on these lands, Megan Cole finds opportunities to learn and listen to the stories from those whose land was stolen. Writing the Coast is a recorded series of conversations, readings, and insights into the work of the writers, illustrators, and creators whose books are nominated for the annual BC and Yukon Book Prizes. We'll also check in on people in the writing community who are supporting books, writers and readers every day. The podcast is produced and hosted by Megan Cole.

    Jen Sookfong Lee talks about the final girls in her horror novel The Hunger We Pass Down

  7. Jul 11

    Joseph Kidney talks about the intimacy created in poetry

    ABOUT THIS EPISODE: In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Joseph Kidney. Joseph is the author of Devotional Forensics, which is a finalist for the 2026 Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize. In this conversation, Joseph talks about why poetry is is preferred genre to write, he also talks about how art of all genres and mediums inspires him. For more about Devotional Forensics: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/project/devotional-forensics/ To view the 2026 BC and Yukon Book Prizes shortlists: bcyukonbookprizes.com/2026/04/14/ann…es-shortlists/ ABOUT JOSEPH KIDNEY: Joseph Kidney has published poems in Best Canadian Poetry 2024, Arc, Vallum, The Malahat Review, Oberon, The Fiddlehead, Periodicities, The New Quarterly, PRISM, The Ex-Puritan, and Al-Araby Al-Jadeed (in Arabic translation). He won the Poem of the Year award from Arc, the Short Grain Contest from Grain, and The Young Buck Poetry Prize (now the Foster Poetry Prize) from CV2 for the best poem submitted by an author under 35. He was shortlisted for the Bridport Prize, the Bedford International Poetry Award, The Malahat Review’s Far Horizons Contest, The Malahat Review’s Long Poem Prize, and a Canadian National Magazine Award. Originally from BC, he is currently a lecturer at Stanford University. His chapbook Terra Firma, Pharma Sea is available from Anstruther Press. ABOUT MEGAN COLE: Megan Cole is the Executive Director for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes. She is also a writer based on the territory of the Tla'amin Nation. Megan writes creative nonfiction and has had essays published in Chatelaine, This Magazine, The Puritan, Untethered, and more. She has her MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of King's College and is working her first book. Find out more about Megan at megancolewriter.com ABOUT THE PODCAST: Writing the Coast is recorded and produced on the traditional territory of the Tla'amin Nation. As a settler on these lands, Megan Cole finds opportunities to learn and listen to the stories from those whose land was stolen. Writing the Coast is a recorded series of conversations, readings, and insights into the work of the writers, illustrators, and creators whose books are nominated for the annual BC and Yukon Book Prizes. We'll also check in on people in the writing community who are supporting books, writers and readers every day. The podcast is produced and hosted by Megan Cole.

    Joseph Kidney talks about the intimacy created in poetry

  8. Jul 4

    Sam Wiebe talks about how The Last Exile and the Wakeland explore the past and present of Vancouver

    ABOUT THIS EPISODE: In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Sam Wiebe. Sam is the author of The Last Exile, published by Harbour Publishing, which is a finalist for the 2026 Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize. In their conversation, Sam talks about how he first became interested in crime novels and the stories of private detectives. He also talked about how mystery novels allow us to explore place and setting in ways other genres can't. For more about The Last Exile: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/project/the-last-exile/ To view the 2026 BC and Yukon Book Prizes shortlists: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/2026/04/14/announcing-the-2026-bc-and-yukon-book-prizes-shortlists/ ABOUT SAM WIEBE: Sam Wiebe is the author of the bestselling Ocean Drive (2024), as well as the Wakeland novels, one of the most authentic and acclaimed detective series in Canada, including Sunset and Jericho (2023) and The Last Exile (2025). His work has won the Crime Writers of Canada award, the Kobo Emerging Writers prize, and a silver medal from the Independent Publisher Book Awards, and been shortlisted for the Edgar, Hammett, Shamus and City of Vancouver book prizes. Wiebe lives in New Westminster, BC. ABOUT MEGAN COLE: Megan Cole is the Executive Director for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes. She is also a writer based on the territory of the Tla'amin Nation. Megan writes creative nonfiction and has had essays published in Chatelaine, This Magazine, The Puritan, Untethered, and more. She has her MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of King's College and is working her first book. Find out more about Megan at megancolewriter.com ABOUT THE PODCAST: Writing the Coast is recorded and produced on the traditional territory of the Tla'amin Nation. As a settler on these lands, Megan Cole finds opportunities to learn and listen to the stories from those whose land was stolen. Writing the Coast is a recorded series of conversations, readings, and insights into the work of the writers, illustrators, and creators whose books are nominated for the annual BC and Yukon Book Prizes. We'll also check in on people in the writing community who are supporting books, writers and readers every day. The podcast is produced and hosted by Megan Cole.

    Sam Wiebe talks about how The Last Exile and the Wakeland explore the past and present of Vancouver
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About

Welcome to Writing the Coast! This is the weekly podcast where we chat with the authors and illustrators of the books who make up the shortlist of the annual BC and Yukon Book Prizes. On the episodes you'll hear host and podcast coordinator Megan Cole chat with the folks who are creating some of BC and Yukon's best books. We'll also check in with the literary community in our region. For more information about the BC and Yukon Book Prizes visit: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/

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