Shaena Lambert, Author at Shaena Lambert

Two events at the 2024 Vancouver Writers Fest, Oct. 21-27

Graphic for Vancouver Writers Fest with a blue and a red hand, one tossing a book to the other. The date of the event, October 21-27, 2024, is displayed under the name of the event.

I’m so delighted to be holding two on-stage conversations at the Vancouver Writers Festival this year. One on short stories — with Caroline Adderson, Shashi Bhat and Aaron Kreuter — where we will talk about the extraordinary range of characters these three authors have dreamed up, the writing of short stories, why the genre can often offer more thrill than a novel, openings and closings — and all things craft and character….

The other event is an hour-long intimate conversation with author Heather O’Neill about all her books, but particularly focusing on the new, and brilliant The Capital of Dreams. Heather O’Neill is the author of a wide-ranging and extraordinary series of novels, from Lullabies for Little Criminals to The Lonely Hearts Hotel, to the fairytale, kafka-esque The Capital of Dreams. I had a deep dive into her work, reading all her novels this fall. It was deep and rewarding treat. Hope you can join us! You can buy tickets and find out more at the Vancouver Writers Fest website.

Event 25: Short Stories, Infinite Identities
Wed. Oct. 23, 5:30 p.m. — Performance Works Theatre, Granville Island

From the VWF program: “Good short stories can share expansive truths with the smallest details. Each of these authors offer mesmerizing insights into what it means to be human in their collections. Bestselling author and Festival favourite Caroline Adderson considers what it means to find happiness — and how we so often seem to understand it through our encounters with others — in A Way to Be Happy. Shashi Bhat shares the everyday trials and impossible expectations that come with being a woman in the sharply funny Death by a Thousand Cuts. Aaron Kreuter’s Rubble Children tackles Jewish belonging, settler colonialism, Zionism, and anti-Zionism, love requited and unrequited, and cannabis culture, all drenched in suburban wonder and dread. Discover more about the intricate craft of short stories, which offers a necessary tapestry of humanity. Moderated by Shaena Lambert.” GET TICKETS →

Event 44: Heather O’Neill in Conversation
Thurs. Oct. 24, 8:30 p.m. — Waterfront Theatre

From the VWF program: “Few authors can transport us quite the way Heather O’Neill does. Whether gritty, small town Quebec, or strange circuses or — in the case of her latest work — the magical woods of a forgotten country — we are immersed in vivid worlds of heightened emotions and possibility. Savour a conversation with this multi-award-winning author. In conversation with Shaena Lambert.” GET TICKETS →

Two events at the 2024 Vancouver Writers Fest, Oct. 21-27Shaena Lambert2024-10-16T14:58:25-07:00

Journalist and author Sarah Hampson reviews Off the Record

Here’s another great review for Off the Record, this one from noted journalist and author Sarah Hampson in The Literary Review of Canada:

“For her part, Shaena Lambert describes a wonderful childhood memory of a huge red cedar tree in the forest near the family home in West Vancouver. ‘This tree was my first love,’ she writes. Named Monkey Business, it had perfect notches for climbing and boughs that made a comfortable seat, thirty feet in the air. She could see across the woods and watch her mother from afar. The reader immediately understands that voyeuristic habit of a wordsmith and can imagine Lambert up there, with scraped knees, not knowing what she would later become…” READ FULL REVIEW →

—Sarah Hampson, The Literary Review of Canada

Journalist and author Sarah Hampson reviews Off the RecordShaena Lambert2024-10-16T12:32:08-07:00

Tapping the Stream open for registration

Last year’s writing retreat, Tapping the Stream, at the lush, restorative and deeply creative space Hollyhock, on Cortes Island, was a huge success. Here are some photos of the 7-day retreat, where writers write deeply into their works-in-progress — often making huge creative leaps — host a salon, talk deeply about craft, nurture their creativity and build community. All while letting their hair down, paddling in the bioluminescence, and spending time in the garden. Poets, memoirists, visual artists and musicians (if engaged in a writing project), and novelists. I co-host this annual retreat with renowned teacher and writer Betsy Warland, winner of the Vancouver City arts award and founding artistic director of SFU’s Writers’ Studio.

2024’s Tapping the Stream is now open for registration. It will take place June 21-28. See photos from last year’s edition below, then follow this link to find out more and/or to register.

Tapping the Stream open for registrationShaena Lambert2024-02-03T15:01:24-08:00

Off the Record: “A dazzling collection”

“Metcalf’s latest project, the anthology OFF THE RECORD brings together six of the writers with whom Metcalf has worked, in what becomes a dazzling collection of memoir and fiction. If Caroline Adderson, Kristyn Dunnion, Cynthia Flood, Shaena Lambert, Elise Levine, and Kathy Page aren’t quite household names, OFF THE RECORD is a powerful argument for just what a mistake that oversight is.” —Robert Wiersema, The Toronto Star

Read the entire review here.

Off the Record: “A dazzling collection”Shaena Lambert2024-02-03T10:42:09-08:00

Interview on How I Wrote This

I’ll be interviewed February 8th on the podcast series, How I Wrote This, with writer and host Pamela Hensley. Other authors in the series include: Heather O’Neill, Anita Rau Badami, Mikhail Iossel, Sean Michaels, Baharan Baniahmadi, Kim Thúy, Neil Smith, H. Nigel Thomas, and Michelle Syba. Details at the How I Wrote This website.

Interview on How I Wrote ThisShaena Lambert2024-02-03T10:41:58-08:00

Launch of Breathing the Page

I was honoured to participate in the launch of Betsy Warland’s Breathing the Page, a seminal book on writing, along with authors Darrel McLeod and Wayde Compton. If you haven’t read Breathing the Page, it’s a fascinating exploration of the craft of writing. You can watch the launch here:

Launch of Breathing the PageShaena Lambert2024-02-03T03:35:36-08:00

Interview at The Artisanal Writer

Read an April 2023 interview with me conducted by Sabyasachi Nag at The Artisanal Writer website, where I discuss my books and my process. Please note: this website requires you to sign up for a free account to read content.

Interview at The Artisanal WriterShaena Lambert2023-05-21T07:21:19-07:00

Looking forward to 2023…

Recently got word that The Walrus will publish my new short story, “Antonius Snorp” in 2023. “Antonius Snorp” was one of those stories that just landed one morning – and which I wrote quickly (for me), though the editing went on for months.

Editing 101. January 25^th, 7:00-8:30 pm PT. By Zoom. Danielle Geller, Cadence Mandybura and I will give mini-lectures and then have a rousing conversation on various aspects of editing. There will be a Q and A. We’ll explore substantive editing, line editing, copy editing, proofing.

Fernie Reading Series – BOOKED! So delighted to be part of Fernie, BC’s, reading series, where from 7:00 to 8:30 renowned author Angie Abdou and I will talk about writing, publishing, my most recent novel, Petra, and what is coming next from both her and me. Hope you can join us. I’ve read so much about Fernie in Angie’s fascinating memoirs.

Tapping the Stream – May 21-28 at Hollyhock on Cortes Island. This is a unique seven-day retreat that allows writers to work in a sustained way on their manuscript-in-progress, free from interruption, but meeting regularly with other writers by fireside, to discuss craft, publishing, and other key aspects of the writing life. I am co-facilitating with Betsy Warland, who created the Writers’ Studio at SFU and the Vancouver Manuscript Intensive, and won the mayor’s arts award for literary excellence.

Looking forward to 2023…Shaena Lambert2023-05-21T07:21:50-07:00

Tapping the Stream, May 2022

Amazing writers, rich conversations, bonfires, swims and hot tubs, and deep and passionate discussions about fiction and character. Old work got burnt and new plans got planned. What a cornucopia. Sign up for the 2023 event here.

Tapping the Stream, May 2022Shaena Lambert2023-05-21T07:21:51-07:00

Writer in Residence, Nelson’s Elephant Mountain Literary Festival, June 2022

So delighted to be Writer in Residence at Nelson’s Elephant Mountain Literary Festival. Blue pencil sessions with writers, a lecture on fiction, and hearing and appearing on stage with authors I deeply admire, including Suzanne Simard – who wrote Finding the Mother Tree – daring and thoughtful author Angie Abdou, iconic poet Tom Wayman, Magpie Ulysses, performer and playwright Lucas Myers, and others. Many thanks to Anne De Grace for inviting me to come to Nelson and be Writer in Res. This is a wonderful festival…

Photo of authors Shaena Lambert and Suzanne Simard standing together — Shaena Lambert and Suzanne Simard

Writer in Residence, Nelson’s Elephant Mountain Literary Festival, June 2022Shaena Lambert2023-05-21T07:21:51-07:00

slamb-004

About Shaena Lambert

Event 25: Short Stories, Infinite IdentitiesWed. Oct. 23, 5:30 p.m. — Performance Works Theatre, Granville Island

Event 44: Heather O’Neill in ConversationThurs. Oct. 24, 8:30 p.m. — Waterfront Theatre

Event 25: Short Stories, Infinite Identities
Wed. Oct. 23, 5:30 p.m. — Performance Works Theatre, Granville Island

Event 44: Heather O’Neill in Conversation
Thurs. Oct. 24, 8:30 p.m. — Waterfront Theatre