Join us for Author Talks in the 27th & Main Plaza on August 13, 2026 @ 6pm!

The Mount Pleasant BIA is excited to be teaming up with Book Warehouse Main St and James Avramenko from the Friendless Podcast to present Author Talks in our outdoor 27th & Main Plaza. This event will be an evening of meaningful conversation, shared with an amazing panel and with each other!

The Book Warehouse Main St is a community bookstore where people come for an experience of literary magnitude. From checking out their many recommendations to attending a book launch, the Book Warehouse is the go to spot for all things books on Main St.

James Avramenko is the host of the Friendless Podcast. A podcast that focuses on exploring connection, intimacy, and self-compassion through honest conversations and practical insights. Listeners are invited to pay attention to themselves and the world around them.

August 13th Panel Lineup:

Timothy Taylor- Author ‘The Rise and Fall of Magic Wolf’

A Canadian novelist, journalist and creative writing professor.

Unlike many such profs, Taylor didn’t start out in the creative writing field. He studied economics and business while serving as an officer in the Canadian Naval Reserves, first with HMCS Nonsuch and later with HMCS Cataraqui. He has an MBA from the Queens University’s Smith School of Business and a BA Economics from the University of Alberta. He spent time with the Toronto Dominion Bank and later as a management consultant before becoming a freelance journalist and novelist in the late 1990s.

Find Timothy at timothytaylor.ca

Carleigh Baker – Author ‘Last Woman’

Carleigh Baker is an author and teacher of nêhiyaw âpihtawikosisân (Cree-Métis) and European descent. Her debut story collection, Bad Endings (Anvil Press, 2017), won the City of Vancouver Book Award and was a finalist for the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize and the Indigenous Voices Award for fiction. Born and raised on Stó:lō territory, she currently lives on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ilwəta (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples. Her short stories and essays have been translated into several languages and anthologized in Canada, the United States, and Europe. Her newest collection, Last Woman, is published by McClelland & Stewart.

Find Carleigh at carleighbaker.com

Brian Kaufman– Author of ‘Cascadia Subduction Shift’

Brian Kaufman, writer, editor, and publisher, has been active in publishing for over thirty years. He has ushered over 250 Anvil Press books and over 100 issues of subTerrain Magazine into print since 1988. In 2009, Brian received the City of Vancouver’s Mayor’s Arts Award for his “significant contribution to Vancouver’s arts and cultural community, for shaping Vancouver as a creative city, and for enriching the lives of Vancouver’s citizens.” He was given the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2014 Western Magazine Awards, and the Jim Douglas Publisher of the Year Award. He writes fiction, poetry, memoir, and drama. Cascadia Subduction Shift is his first book of fiction

You can pre-order ‘Cascadia Subduction Shift’ here.

James Avramenko – Host of ‘Friendless’ Pod