Writing the Coast: BC and Yukon Book Prizes Podcast
Writing the Coast: BC & Yukon Book Prizes podcast
222 episodes
1 week ago
ABOUT THIS EPISODE:
In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Danny Ramadan. Danny's memoir, Crooked Teeth: A Queer Syrian Refugee Memoir, was a finalist for the 2025 Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize. In their conversation, Danny talks about truth in memoir. He also talks about writing memoir as art and writing yourself as a character in your own memoir.
For more about Crooked Teeth: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/project/crooked-teeth/
To view the 2025 BC and Yukon Book Prizes shortlists: bcyukonbookprizes.com/2025/04/10/bc-…sts-announced/
ABOUT DANNY RAMADAN:
Danny Ramadan (he/him) is a Syrian-Canadian author, public speaker, and advocate for LGBTQ+ refugees. His debut novel, The Clothesline Swing, was longlisted for Canada Reads and named a Best Book of the Year by The Globe and Mail and Toronto Star. His second novel, The Foghorn Echoes, won a Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction and was shortlisted for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize and the Vancouver Book Award. He has an MFA in Creative Writing from UBC and currently lives in Vancouver with his husband.
ABOUT MEGAN COLE:
Megan Cole the Interim 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.
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ABOUT THIS EPISODE:
In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Danny Ramadan. Danny's memoir, Crooked Teeth: A Queer Syrian Refugee Memoir, was a finalist for the 2025 Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize. In their conversation, Danny talks about truth in memoir. He also talks about writing memoir as art and writing yourself as a character in your own memoir.
For more about Crooked Teeth: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/project/crooked-teeth/
To view the 2025 BC and Yukon Book Prizes shortlists: bcyukonbookprizes.com/2025/04/10/bc-…sts-announced/
ABOUT DANNY RAMADAN:
Danny Ramadan (he/him) is a Syrian-Canadian author, public speaker, and advocate for LGBTQ+ refugees. His debut novel, The Clothesline Swing, was longlisted for Canada Reads and named a Best Book of the Year by The Globe and Mail and Toronto Star. His second novel, The Foghorn Echoes, won a Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction and was shortlisted for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize and the Vancouver Book Award. He has an MFA in Creative Writing from UBC and currently lives in Vancouver with his husband.
ABOUT MEGAN COLE:
Megan Cole the Interim 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.
S7 E2: Leslie Gentile on how music helped her explore her characters
Writing the Coast: BC and Yukon Book Prizes Podcast
25 minutes 34 seconds
5 months ago
S7 E2: Leslie Gentile on how music helped her explore her characters
ABOUT THIS EPISODE:
In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Leslie Gentile. Leslie is the author of Elvis, Me and the Postcard Winter. Elvis, Me and the Postcard Winter is a finalist for the 2025 Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize. In this conversation, Leslie talks about the importance of representing the complexity and messiness of families in books for young readers. She also talks about how her music helped her write her books.
To find out more about Elvis Me, and the Postcard Winter visit: bcyukonbookprizes.com/project/always-on-call/
To view the 2025 BC and Yukon Book Prizes shortlists: bcyukonbookprizes.com/2025/04/10/bc-…sts-announced/
ABOUT LESLIE GENTILE:
Leslie Gentile is a singer/songwriter of Northern Salish, Tuscarora and Scottish heritage. She performs with her children in The Leslie Gentile Band, and with one of her sisters in The Half White Band. Her debut novel, Elvis, Me, and the Lemonade Stand Summer, won the City of Victoria Children’s Book Prize and the Jean Little First Novel Award and was short-listed for the Forest of Reading Silver Birch Award, the MYRCA Sundogs Award, the SYRCA Diamond Willow Award, and many more. Gentile currently lives on Vancouver Island with her husband.
ABOUT MEGAN COLE:
Megan Cole the Interim 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.
Writing the Coast: BC and Yukon Book Prizes Podcast
ABOUT THIS EPISODE:
In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Danny Ramadan. Danny's memoir, Crooked Teeth: A Queer Syrian Refugee Memoir, was a finalist for the 2025 Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize. In their conversation, Danny talks about truth in memoir. He also talks about writing memoir as art and writing yourself as a character in your own memoir.
For more about Crooked Teeth: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/project/crooked-teeth/
To view the 2025 BC and Yukon Book Prizes shortlists: bcyukonbookprizes.com/2025/04/10/bc-…sts-announced/
ABOUT DANNY RAMADAN:
Danny Ramadan (he/him) is a Syrian-Canadian author, public speaker, and advocate for LGBTQ+ refugees. His debut novel, The Clothesline Swing, was longlisted for Canada Reads and named a Best Book of the Year by The Globe and Mail and Toronto Star. His second novel, The Foghorn Echoes, won a Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction and was shortlisted for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize and the Vancouver Book Award. He has an MFA in Creative Writing from UBC and currently lives in Vancouver with his husband.
ABOUT MEGAN COLE:
Megan Cole the Interim 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.
