BC Books Online was created for anyone interested in BC-published books, and with librarians especially in mind. We'd like to make it easy for library staff to learn about books from BC publishers - both new releases and backlist titles - so you can inform your patrons and keep your collections up to date.
Our site features print books and ebooks - both new releases and backlist titles - all of which are available to order through regular trade channels. Browse our subject categories to find books of interest or create and export lists by category to cross-reference with your library's current collection.
A quick tip: When reviewing the "Browse by Category" listings, please note that these are based on standardized BISAC Subject Codes supplied by the books' publishers. You will find additional selections, grouped by theme or region, in our "BC Reading Lists."
Near Miss considers the relationship between close calls and the tenuous conditions of contemporary life. From actual cataclysms such as meteor collisions and volcanic eruptions to everyday failures and accidents, these inventive poems collide with the perpetual unease created by life’s unpredictability while contemplating mortality, fragility, gratitude and hopefulness.
... When the Emergency Broadcast
System proclaims this is only a test, you
leave the TV on because you’ve gotten
used to the sound. You keep waiting
for the heat to come on, for the regular
broadcast to resume, for a new sensation
to quicken inside you like the sight
of that fleet of ghost-planes lifted
from the desert, reanimated, hovering
over your house as if everything is fine.
— “Decommissioned Planes”
“...a remarkable debut. I strongly urge you to read this book…”
“The ‘tectonic rumble’ of unease throughout the collection is often leavened by wry humour.”
“Matiwichuk expertly captures everyday catastrophes and missed chances in a simultaneously affectionate yet matter of fact fashion. This is a book you will not want to put down. In short, Near Miss hits the mark.”
“This collection is up-to-the-minute contemporary, and Matwichuk’s skillful use of erasure technique creates segues that lead the reader forward, as we look for safer ground. Happily, course corrections are not required, as solid ground is indeed what we find ourselves standing on, shaky though the firmament above may occasionally seem, for this is a book that ‘…has taught me something about / the direction we’re headed, the suddenly / shifting energy of what we know.’”