Thanks so much to everyone who made it out to Heartwood Community Cafe on Friday night and joined me and many of the contributors for a fantastic Vancouver launch of Boobs: Women Explore What it Means to Have Breasts. (If you missed it, or just want more Boobs events in your future, don’t worry: more events are coming soon.) It was an unforgettable night, with an incredibly warm and supportive audience. I enjoyed chatting to everyone who came up to me to ask about the book or tell me what it means to them. I feel so privileged to be a part of bringing these stories and poems to a wider audience.

We had a terrific line-up of authors who read from their work in the book: Kate Braid, Maggie Wojtarowicz, Sara Graefe, Fiona Tinwei Lam, Sierra Skye Gemma, Emily Davidson, Emily Wight, Taryn Hubbard, and Laura Ritland.

Thanks to Heartwood for hosting the launch of Boobs: Women Explore What it Means to Have Breasts. I was so excited to see our packed house!

Kate Braid read her two poems from the book: “Always Keep Your Tools Sharp” and “Breasts.”

Maggie Wojtarowicz wowed the audience with her moving performance of “Reclaiming my Thorns”

Sara Graefe read from her shining, intelligent story, “Variety Pack”

Fiona Tinwei Lam made us all giggle with her thoughts on nipples

Sierra Skye Gemma read from her powerful story, “So Big Men Can’t Help Themselves”

Yours truly addressing the amazing crowd at Heartwood Cafe. Photo by Caitlin Press.

Emily Wight had us all in stitches with her hilarious story “Celebrate Your Curves with Free Shipping”

Emily Davidson read from her story of female friendship, “The Exhibitionist”

Taryn Hubbard entertained us with an excerpt from “Pinches,” her story about confidence, bras, and adolescent media

Laura Ritland closed off the evening with her gorgeous poem, “Your Body is Growing”

I wish I’d thought to get photos of the many other wonderful people who were there, including Matthew Walsh from Plentitude; Terri Brandmueller, Bonnie Nish, and Jónína Kirton from Room Magazine; and Anita who came from Pulp Fiction to sell copies of the book! Thank you so much for coming out and supporting the launch! And of course a huge thank you to Heartwood Cafe for hosting us. Thank you to Vici Johnstone, publisher of Caitlin Press, for believing in the project right from the beginning, and to Michael Despotovic who helped plan this party!

Photo by Matthew Walsh @croonjuice

I was also completely warmed to see Zuri Scrivens, Christina Myers, and Lynn Easton at the launch, who also have work in the anthology. Please keep watching the Caitlin Press website for info on future Boobs events and come out to hear them read from their own stories. Every single piece in the book is incredibly important. I can’t stress enough how proud I am that I get to be a part of a project that helps these important stories and poems get heard.

For more about the book, check out the information on the Caitlin Press catalogue for Boobs. And for more information about future events, check out the Boobs, the Anthology: Canada Tour listings.

Thanks also to everyone who dropped by Book Warehouse Broadway on Saturday between noon and 1pm to buy books and chat with me! I had a lot of fun participating in Authors for Indies. Thanks to Caitlin and everyone at Book Warehouse Broadway for having me!

Ruth Daniell: Honourary Bookseller

Authors for Indies 2016 at Book Warehouse Broadway