Gay or straight, if you happened to catch the OUTloud reading last night, consider yourself lucky. It was an incredible event that showcased the tremendous diversity of some of Vancouver's best queer authors.

I try my best to be un-biased, but my friend Mette Bach was the first to take the stage and she nearly brought everyone to tears with her sweetly observant story about the complexities of all types of love and the curious friendships we forge with strangers.

Michael V. Smith made us smile with his wonderful poem about "hard love" in Toronto. A brief interlude with the lovely drag queen, Isolde N. Barron, felt out of place, but this was an organizational issue, not a performance one. Michelle Miller's excerpt from her foray into fiction helpfully coined the new phrase: "Soft-cunt confidence." The evening drew to a close with the remarkable Colin Thomas (Georgia Straight) who really did bring everyone to tears with his intimate and erotic four-part story about the unraveling of his 25-year relationship.

A photo slideshow of the night after the jump....

This is a shorty to keep y'all in the loop. Pulp Fiction Books on 2422 Main St. (near Broadway & Lugz Coffee Lounge, a block up, at 2525 Main St.), is now buying snazzy new books at US cover prices. What does this mean? It means their selection and stock has just taken a new turn towards new releases and publications that often cannot be found in used stock -- a lovely addition to what is still otherwise awesome inventory! If you've never been able to find this Virillio or that Deleuze book you've been seeking for ever, and if you refuse to support any chains, this is great news for you. Care to make requests for that Derrida book you've been unable to find anywhere? I do and...I have.

Looking for a book that is out of print? Or that much talked-about title abuzzed in the media? BUT not willing to submit yourself to the outrageous CAD prices despite the parity between the US and us? Some global chain book stores are trying to use some arcane excuse, but I would rather just support our local book businesses instead. Well, the Cheap Bastard has this to say-- go check out your local purveyor of pre-loved tomes/texts: ABC Book and Comic Emporium at their new location:

1539 West Broadway (W. Broadway and Granville)
ALL books are 20% off!!!!

Being the ridiculously huge nerd that I am, the Vancouver International Writers & Readers Festival is always a highlight of my autumn. Maybe it's something about the smell of fall, which I equate simultaneously with wet foliage and new books. Something about going back to school, sharpened pencils, ringing in a whole new year of academia. The 20-year-old Writers & Readers Fest is something like the knee socks to my plaid kilt and sweater vest. Committed to supporting literacy and exposing Canadian authors, the Fest is held on Granville Island from the 16th to the 21st of October.

Continue reading for the highlights I've already cursived into my shiny red agenda...

I always look forward to going to Word on the Street in the fall. It seems like the bookish and back-to-schooly thing to do and it's always a lot of fun. It always sneaks up on me though, and this year was no different. So now here we are just a few days away from when the library square should be filling up with tents full of books and publishers and authors... AND the space is still filled with strikers.

So what's a considerate festival to do? They will move to the Canada Post parking lot, across the street from the library. The Centre in Vancouver for the Performing Arts has apparently also offered the space in front of their building, so some things may be set up there as well.

Breakfast for Anarchists is Norman Nawrocki's newest collection of rebel verse, fantasy, rant, short fiction and anarcho-agit-prop recipes. It is, however, best fitting for you to come up with your own description after you've read it yourself. It contains over 30 stirring, provocative capsules of Nawrocki's trademark wit, passionate rage, love, and reflection. It also includes original artwork & photos by several North American artists including Vancouver's own David Lester. But, you ask, just who is this Norman character anyways? Well, here's where the Vancouverite gossip begins. It all starts with a book, its launch, and a lad named Norman.

Norman Nawrocki is an internationally acclaimed, Vancouver-born, Montreal-grown cabaret artist, musician, author, educator and actor. He has several books and over 50 albums (solo & with his bands Rhythm Activism, Bakunin's Bum, DaZoque!, The Flaming Perogies, The Montreal Manhattan Project, etc.). His last CD: 'Letters from Poland / Lettres de pologne.' His last book: 'The Anarchist & The Devil Do Cabaret' (Black Rose Books) has now been translated and published in French and Italian. So, you could say, this lad is pretty prolific. I will continue...

By all accounts he's a spectacular man. He teaches part-time at Concordia University and tours Canada playing music, giving workshops about 'Creative Resistance' (how to use the arts for radical social change) and performing funny shows about sex (like 'Lessons from a 7ft Penis'). Read on for more....