Do you love books and live in or visit Vancouver? Well! If you haven’t already had the privilege, I am thrilled to tell you about a little piece of paradise at the corner of 8th and Alma called Christianne’s Lyceum of Literature and Art. It’s one of those cozy spaces that make you feel you’d like to move in. The walls are covered with illustrations by some of Canada’s best artists for children, there is comfy furniture provided, including giant pillows, for relaxing with one of the amazing books with which the place is so well stocked.
What is the Lyceum for? in brief, it’s designed to celebrate every aspect of literature. The proprietor, Christianne Hayward, a guru of children’s lit, has designed programming for everyone. There are book clubs for every age and programs for writers. There are professional development courses, book launches and early childhood education programs. In other words, a banquet of plenty for those of us who love words and books!
This week I had the opportunity to speak with an excellent kid-parent book club called the Bibliophiles about Another Kind of Cowboy. Jessica asked the first question. It was about why I used alternating first and third person point of view for my narrators. In other words, it was a great question and it was the first of many. We all filled out a Cowboy crossword puzzle (designed by Christianne) which, I’m ashamed to say, I had some trouble with. We ate terrific snacks, all inspired by the novel. Spencer (at least I think it was Spencer. It might also have been Morgan) made me a very cool pin with a horse doing an extended trot which is going to take up permanent residence on Tango’s stall. All in all, a terrific evening. If I lived closer, I would HAUNT the Lyceum. I strongly recommend all writers and readers check it out.
Okay. I will stop gushing now. And start plotting how to get myself invited back.
Thanks, Christianne and the Bibliophiles!