In November 2026, Finishing Line Press (Georgetown KY) will publish a chapbook I edited of poems by my late friend, California author Dennis Saleh (1942-2020).

Last winter, I assembled a volume of Dennis’ selected poems and submitted it to the Press. They then asked me to put a chapbook together and re-submit. I was very pleased when a gathering of 20 poems, called The Days Asking After Themselves, was accepted, and is now on the Press’ publication schedule.

I’ll be part of a group reading at Word Vancouver along with nine other BC authors chosen to have their poetry on BC Transit and TransLink. The reading at the Poetry Tent on Robson Square is on Saturday, Sep. 20, from 2:00 to 3:30 pm.

Word Vancouver is a one-day literary festival, formerly known as Word On The Street. This is the 29^th year of the Poetry In Transit program. The selection committee chose the first stanza of my poem “A City Most at Home in the Rain” from my newest collection, Out of the Ordinary.

I am pleased to announce that Alfred Gustav Press will publish a chapbook of my poems about the summer 2024 wildfire evacuations in the Slocan Valley. The chapbook, called Evacuation Route, will appear in July 2026.

I’ll be reading from Out of the Ordinary, with fellow Harbour Publishing poet Nick Thran of Fredericton NB, on Thursday, May 8 at 7 pm, at Iron Dog Books, 2671 East Hastings St., Vancouver BC.

Join me at the Nelson Public Library, 602 Stanley St., Saturday, July 19, at 7 pm. I’ll be doing the hometown launch for my new poetry collection Out of the Ordinary.

And, two days before, Thursday, July 17 at 7 pm, I’ll be launching the new book of poems at the Nakusp Public Library, 92 – 6th Ave. NW. Both events are free by donation.

Harbour Publishing has released the cover for my forthcoming collection of poems, Out of the Ordinary. This is the collection accepted in November of 2022. Publication date will be March 4, 2025.

I was very pleased that the Vancouver Sun’s BC book reviewer, Tom Sandborn, a tireless supporter of Canadian literature, published a very positive review of my 2024 titles in the newspaper’s Dec. 21 issue. The review felt like a very nice way to end the year.

Here’s what he said:

“B.C.-based poet, novelist and essayist Tom Wayman is an underappreciated national treasure. If there were any doubt about the important contribution Wayman has made to our national literature, his 2024 doubleheader, a collection of poetry and a memoir of life in the Slocan Valley, settles the issue. This guy is the real deal, and more Canadians should be reading his books. …”

Read the full review here.

I will be presenting The Road to Appledore on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025 at 2 pm as part of the annual Cherie Smith Jewish Book Festival at Vancouver’s Jewish Community Centre, 950 West 41^st Ave. I’ll be in a session also featuring Detroit attorney Eli Greenbaum’s new Hell, No, We Didn’t Go! Firsthand Accounts of Vietnam War Protest and Resistance, from the University Press of Kansas.

The next day at 6 pm, I’m moderating a festival session spotlighting new novels from two writers I know.

On Wednesday, November 20, Ross Klatte and I will be reprising our Slocan reading at The Langham Cultural Centre, located at 447 A Ave (Highway 31 at 5^th St) in Kaslo, BC. The reading begins at 7 pm, and is free, although donations to support The Langham are welcome.

just down the aisle from brown eggs and ham

at Save-On-Foods, Kelowna BC (image by Matt Rader)

The Slocan Community Library has asked me to read from The Road to Appledore on Wednesday September 18 at 7 pm. Because the library is an all-volunteer venture with limited hours, the reading will be in the Slocan branch of the Royal Canadian Legion, 502 Harold St. The event is free (by donation).

I’m pleased that I’ll be reading with Ross Klatte, a local author I’ve known since 1980; he worked in the library of Nelson’s David Thompson University Centre when I taught there. Ross will be reading from his new novel, Waiting for the Revolution, which is about 1960s-era young people coming to the West Kootenay in search of an alternative way of living. Given the subject matter of both books, we’re calling the reading “Finding Home”.

This fall, I will be reading from my new books in Victoria and on Pender Island.

On Friday November 8, I’ll be reading at 7:30 pm at Russell Books, #100, 747 Fort St., Victoria, part of the Planet Earth Poetry series. I’ll be reading from How Can You Live Here? and also from my 2020 collection Watching a Man Break a Dog’s Back: Poems for a Dark Time.

Diana Hayes, Salt Spring Island poet, editor, photographer, founder of Raven Chapbooks, and year-round ocean swimmer, will also be reading. There will be an open mic session and admission is free.

Then, on Saturday November 9, I’ll be on Pender Island for a reading at 2:30 pm at Bridgemans Bistro, 4605 Oak Road. I will be reading from The Road to Appledore as well as How Can You Live Here?, joined by four fellow former members of the work-writing circle, the Vancouver Industrial Writers’ Union (1979 to 1993). Giving brief readings will be authors Kate Braid, Zoë Landale and Sandy Shreve—now on Pender—and Kirsten Emmott, now in Comox. Admission is free.