Above all
a poem records speech:
the way it was said
between people animals birds
a poem is an archive for our times
-Dorothy Livesay, "Anything Goes"
Dorothy Livesay, who died in 1996, is considered a pioneer of Canadian poetry; her work is infused with an extraordinary grace and power, and shaped by a prescient feminist sensibility which le …

Robert Busch chronicles man's historical fascination with and affection for this marine mammal. No other whale routinely allows humans to touch it, and no other whale is watched by so many people each year. This complete natural history of the gray whale is illustrated with over 80 colour photographs, including a number of beautiful underwater shot …

It's fun, it's easy, and it's rewarding. There is nothing quite like a harvest of Dungeness crabs to set the tone for a perfect shoreline feast. Charlie White, with Nelson Dewey's clever illustrations, shows how beginners and experienced crabbers alike can benefit from his decades of experience. Whether you use crab traps or the traditional shoreli …

During WWII, Jed’s English father serves as a fighter pilot overseas, while Jed and his mother move back to her Tsimshian community on Canada's west coast. When the military sets up a naval base in town, Jed is hired to help out, honored it seems, for both his father's bravery and his own native skills as a hunter. Presented with a military jack …

This classic reference on flowering plants has sold over 30,000 copies. Full of gorgeous colour plates and authoritative yet wonderfully readable descriptions, this sumptuous volume is recognized as the definitive source book on Pacific Northwest wild flowers-everything from the Bachelor's Button and the Lady's Smock to Mouse-ear Chickweed and Rabb …

How I Joined Humanity at Last, David Zieroth's fifth book of poems, explores the mid-life road to renewal and tells the story of one man's journey toward compassion.

Zieroth's work delves deeply into the issues that affect all of us, from relationships between children and parents and "the old blood turbulence/ of families, tribes," to the day-to-d …

A decade ago, a nearly complete elasmosaur skeleton was found near Courtenay on Vancouver Island, in rocks dating from 80 million years ago, and it caused a sensation. Finds like this remind us that British Columbia is home to some of the richest marine fossil beds in the world, most of them on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands which lie along …

Populations of Woodland Caribou and other large mammals are declining across Canada. Hundreds of "problem bears" are killed each year on government orders. Salmon stocks in BC are in danger of going the way of the East Coast cod. The quality and quantity of Canada's fresh water, one of our most precious resources, can no longer be taken for granted …

With unique insight and straightforward prose, Wingwalkers tells the saga of Canada's other airline, a scrappy western mongrel that, through eight decades and numerous name changes--Canadian Airways, Queen Charlotte Airlines, CP Air, PWA, Wardair and Canadian Airlines International--transformed itself from a bush flying and mining operation into an …

Flo Anderson and her husband Trevor worked as lightkeepers for 20 years, at Lennard Island and then at Barrett Rock, McInnis Island, Green Island and Race Rocks. In this extraordinary memoir Anderson speaks candidly about the challenges of learning to live on an exposed, isolated island where precipitous cliffs and gale-force winds were everday haz …

The Yellow Pear is a brave and moving document, using words and art, of what it means to be Canadian.
Co-published with the Burnaby Art Gallery, this is a collection of deeply moving narratives (in both English and Mandarin) and illustrations about the artist's transition to a new life in a new land; his life in Canada resonates with the memories …

Paddling the Sunshine Coast will introduce both new and experienced sea kayakers to the matchless paddling opportunities stretching from Howe Sound in the south to Desolation Sound in the north, and including Sechelt Inlet and Jervis Inlet. One of the most scenic areas in the world, the Sunshine Coast offers everything from surging saltwater catara …

The life, through letters, of a most amazing couple.

In his debut book, Greg offers guidance to over 50 dives in five areas Metchosin and Race Rocks, Victoria, Sansum Narrows, Saanich Inlet, Sidney and the Southern Gulf Islands.

Diver’s Guide, Vancouver Island South is fully illustrated with Greg’s own computer-generated maps, based on his personal exploration of these underwater environments, an …

Jack Shaw spent a lifetime studying trout and the insects they feed on, with the aim of creating fly designs that would attract the wiliest of fish. In this edition of his bestselling book, he tells fly fishers how they too can challenge trophy trout with homemade flies. Jack provides information on basic equipment and materials and gives instructi …

This collection of west-coast fables combines the approach of Aesop with the oral tradition of First Nations storytellers. Woodpecker shows how to be a true friend. Beaver demonstrates how to achieve dreams through hard work. Rainbow Trout finds that all things in nature have a purpose.

Parents, grandparents and teachers will embrace Robert James C …

A publishing oddity, Death Writes: A Curious Notebook is both what you might expect--a handwritten notebook with doodles in the margins and clippings in the back; and what you might not expect--the perspective of Death him/herself, ruminating about the land of the living.
This unusual, stylish book is Death's personal notebook, which has been une …

The Derrick Humphreys Story is a superb biography, a life of adventure that begins in Dickensian England before World War I, then moves to the Western Australian mining frontier of the 1930s and '40s, with excursions into the New Guinea campaign in World War II, the De Beers' South African diamond empire, a foreign aid project in Brazil and the reb …

The reflective poems in Threadbare Like Lace comment on the world as Jacqueline Baldwin has experienced it. She is an expatriate New Zealander who has lived and worked in such far-flung places as Montreal and the remote Robson Valley in the Canadian Rockies. Her poems are a mediation between the private and public worlds and are reminiscent of many …

Specially edited, updated, revised and rewritten by the author, and for the first time complete in one volume, Great Lakes Suite includes A Trip Around Lake Ontario, first published in 1988, as well as A Trip Around Lake Erie and A Trip Around Lake Huron, both of which were first published in 1980. These books have come alive in a remarkable way an …

Blonds on Bikes is George Bowering’s first book of poetry since Urban Snow was published by Talonbooks in 1992. Characteristic of Bowering’s other work, this book is largely made up of sequences. The longest one, the title poem, is a composition of daily riffs during an autumn in Denmark and Italy. “Pictures” is an album of verbal portrait …

Shells and Shellfish of the Pacific Northwest is the indispensable guide for beachcombers, seashell collectors, divers or anyone who wants to know more about the shells and shellfish found along the saltwater beaches and intertidal areas of the Pacific Northwest. Everyone from weekend adventurers to serious collectors will love this book!

This comp …

Since 1919, the Memorial Cup championship has provided excitement for all hockey fans and happy hunting grounds for National Hockey League scouts. It has shaped the way junior hockey is played in North America. Harbour Publishing is proud to present the very first book devoted to our national junior final and its heart-pounding history.

So come on i …

Patrick Lane, one of Canada's most distinguished and acclaimed poets, has published over twenty books of poetry in his long career. This collection, the only comprehensive book of his poetry since 1988, gathers together the work of two decades, presenting his best work as a mature poet.

British Columbia's Vancouver Island is the outdoor recreationist's dream, with magnificent waterfalls, secluded fishing spots and wilderness trails. Many of the best out of the way places are accessible only by way of the roughest logging or mining roads, which makes the Island a perfect place for four-wheeling as well.

This third instalment in Harb …

Co-published with Presentation House Gallery, It Pays to Play: British Columbia in Postcards, 1950s--1980s reveals the province as it was represented in popular, photographic colour postcards from the early '50s through to the emergence in the '80s of the present post-industrial, global economy.
Following the Second World War, North America under …

Paterson Ewen is one of Canada's most accomplished and admired painters. He is famous for his monumental paintings of phenomena, powerful works that capture the grandeur of nature and extend the tradition of landscape painting in Canada. According to Michael Ondaatje, "Perhaps there is a balance and security in these precarious works because of the …

This collection of short stories is based on traditional values important to us all—respect, cooperation and kindness. Robert James Challenger's illustrations and tales reveal a world of magical birds, fish and other wildlife, who teach readers lessons about life and the world.

Seal shows us why we should not let fear of failing stop us from tryi …

His parents don't seem to understand what is going on in his life at all. He's not doing well at school. And a juvenile court judge has just ordered him to write a 2000-word essay on how he's going to turn his life around.

Now his mother has enrolled him in a writing class called The Tuesday Cafe, but it's not the kind of class she expected.

It all s …

Founder/Editor Howard White predicts that Raincoast Chronicles 17 will come to be known as the "bad medicine" issue. From the queasy feeling that pioneer medicine inspires in Margaret McKirdy's "The Doctor Book" to Robin Ward's profile of Francis Rattenbury - British Columbia's favourite architect - whose chequered career ended in a classic "Agatha …

He's baaaaack! Get ready for another batch of smart, funny, bang-on stories of the ups and downs of country living.

Ever wondered how to discipline an unruly chicken? How to kill a mouse with a hardcover book? How to survive the pettifogging bureaucrats at your daughter's school? How to save your own butt when a tough guy outside the convenience sto …

Everybody's beading! It's easy, it's fun, it doesn't cost much, and in one evening you can make something gorgeous to wear or give, just by learning a few simple techniques.

Complete Beading for Beginners shows you how to make your own pins, rings, necklaces, dream catchers, embroidered clothes - even your own beads. Just choose a project, check out …

Ancient Forests untangles the complexity of old-growth forests. Termites, slime molds, owls and flying squirrels seem more like neighbours, thanks to the activities in this engaging, scientifically accurate book, which helps children see the interconnections between nature and people. Winner of a MAPA Award–Honorable Mention for editing.

• Expl …

A hilarious, illustrated account of life in the previously sleepy town of Tofino, during the heated controversy over the proposed logging of BC's Clayoquot Sound. The Green Shadow, which was originally serialized in the Georgia Straight, earned Struthers a 1995 National Magazine Award for Humour and a nomination for two 1995 Western Magazine Awards …

During the years Al Purdy was becoming one of Canada's best-loved poets, he also wrote and published many pages of distinctive prose. This selection of almost forty years of essays and anecdotes is vintage Purdy. Part I, No Other Country, consists of essays on seeing the world as a Canadian. It begins as a fascinating travel diary as Purdy takes th …

When Frank Turnbull came from Toronto to join the staff of the Vancouver General Hospital in 1933 as a brain surgeon, he automatically became Chief Neurosurgeon because he was the only one in the province. When he retired at 81 he was among BC's most distinguished physicians, in sharp contrast to his early years, when regular physicians considered …

More and more North Americans have been moving away from a meat-centred diet, for health, ideological, environmental and/or economic reasons. This latest book by Jeanne Marie Martin, an internationally known natural food writer, is a complete guide to the new lifestyle.

There are more than 120 recipes for mouth-watering and guilt-free appetizers, so …

In this humorous book, Ron Purvis illustrates why after 14 years of teaching at St. George's Indian Residential School in Lytton, BC, he had a lingering suspicion that his First Nations charges had crammed a great deal more wisdom into him than he'd imparted to them.

This classic in Yukon gold rush literature was originally published in 1900 and has long been out of print. Tappan Adney, a New York journalist, was dispatched to the Yukon in 1897, at the height of the gold fever, to “furnish news and pictures of the new gold fields.” The pages contain excellent descriptions of the people, places, events, and …

In the manner of a good fireside chat with a favourite aunt or uncle, Life in the Cariboo chronicles the Lees' life in one of BC's most rugged areas. We hear about swamp ranches, education by mail, life before universal TV. Best of all, there are tales of some of the Cariboo's legendary - almost mythical - characters, such as Annie Basil and the ki …

Lonely in a Cool, Sweet Way is the latest collection of poems by a writer whom Al Purdy has compared to Emily Dickinson and Margaret Avison. "I have the sense of seeing things with her eyes and mind," Purdy said in his introduction to her first book, She Reminds Me of Vermeer, "of actually being in her situation, and it's this intimacy that gives h …

His books with Howard White made a bestselling author out of Jim Spilsbury - the BC coast's legendary pioneer, painter, photographer, aviator, inventor and raconteur. Now all three volumes of the Spilsbury saga are available in trade paperback!

Jim Spilsbury bought an airplane in 1943, when wartime restrictions prevented the use of his boat to visit …

Ghost towns looming silently out of the fog, villages torn apart by storms, forest fires fought with "flying boats" as big as jetliners, the Chilcotin War, grizzlies and sasquatches, life in a float camp tethered to a rocky shore - this is Raincoast Chronicles Eleven Up. The book comprises numbers 11-15 of the Chronicles, and about 35 pages of new …

Great Canadian hockey stars aren't born, they're made - many of them, like Bobby Clarke, in the teams that make up the Western Hockey League. This first history of the WHL, tracing the league from its establishment in the 1960s to the present day, has all the stories of all the teams, coaches and stars: who they are (or were), how their skills deve …

Successor to Island Adventures, More Island Adventures outlines - you guessed it - over two dozen more hiking, fishing, canoeing and camping trips across Vancouver Island. Destinations include Loon Bay, Tsusiat Falls, Klaskino Inlet and Mount Arrowsmith. Each entry notes key points of interest, contacts, directions, tips and nearest services; all a …

Geography as an academic discipline dates back to the last few decades of the nineteenth century. However, during the preceding centuries a large body of English-language literature relevant to the field of special geography was published. Four Centuries of Special Geography lists all the works published before 1888 and includes descriptions of eac …

Through diary entries, notes and photographs, In the Company of Whales explores Alexandra Morton's efforts to better understand the habits and behaviors of the killer whale off Canada's west coast. As a fascinating introduction to the life of a scientist working in the field, the book will entertain and inspire readers young and old. After fourteen …

In They Write Their Dreams on the Rock Forever, ‘Nlaka’pamux elder Annie York explains the red-ochre inscriptions written on the rocks and cliffs of the lower Stein Valley in British Columbia. This is perhaps the first time that a Native elder has presented a detailed and comprehensive explanation of rock-art images from her people’s culture. …