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A very nice review of my new book appears in the May issue of Literary Review of Canada. 

"As Francis skillfully demonstrates," writes reviewer Marisa Grizenko, "the place called Vancouver has always had a rich story -- if you know where to look and to whom to listen." You can read her piece in the pages of the magazine or it is...

I nicked this book from my parents' shelves when I left home back in the Sixties. Don't know why. At the time I had no interest in the subject but I must have known it would come in handy someday, which it has. Anyway, it has stayed with me through many moves.

I was reminded of it when I read Liz Hammond-Kaarremaa...

April is National Poetry Month in Canada. Let's celebrate by recalling the Vancouver Poetry Society, one of the earliest arts organizations in the city.

The founding meeting of the VPS took place on the third floor of the Rogers Building downtown on Granville Street on October 21, 1916. It was organized by Dr. Ernest Fewster, physician, theosophist, tireless networker and...

Entrepreneur Ben Fox figures he has found a way of recreating online the experience of browsing through a bookstore. He calls it Shepherd.com, where the idea is to put readers in touch with books and authors they might not discover otherwise.

Check out my own page on books...

Strolling along Commercial Drive in the weekend sunshine I was pleased to encounter this front window at Pulpfiction. That's me on the top right.

The Drive has become something of a literary precinct with three important independent booksellers in residence: The People's Co-op Bookstore at #1391, Pulpfiction at  #1744 and Spartacus Books at #1983. Plan accordingly.