Norman Nawrocki’s Spartacus Books VANCOUVER Book launch
Schedule
Sun Mar 15 2026 at 07:00 pm to 09:00 pm
UTC-07:00Location
Spartacus Books | Vancouver, BC
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Join author Norman Nawrocki and former Templeton Secondary teacher Marcia Toms for a fun multi-media book launch and discussion celebrating growing up in Hastings-Sunrise in the 1960s & 1970s. Starts @ 7pm, Spartacus Books, free!History meets fiction in Nawrocki’s new memoir, The East End Rules, An East Van Memoir ( Black Rose Books, Montreal, 2026). Exciting tales about Lord Nelson, Templeton, New Brighton, Juvie, the PNE, East Hastings, saving family housing, strikes, Woodward’s, hippies, Yippies and more!
The semi-fictional coming of age story is based on true events about Nawrocki’s life in the East End (a.k.a. East Van) when it was mostly poor, immigrant and working class, long before it became trendy and gentrified. Through the eyes of a young East Ender, "Joey," we see Nawrocki’s first twenty-two years as a student activist, journalist and community organiser.
As a musician, actor, and playwright, Nawrocki, now based in Montreal, tours the world, has performed for millions, released dozens of albums, written eighteen books of fiction, poetry and non-fiction and a few dozen theatre pieces.
The Montreal Gazette calls him “a legend . . . one of the most fascinating folks on the cityscape." The Globe & Mail says he's “a born showman;” his shows “subversively powerful." The Vancouver Sun said his novella, Vancouvered Out (2024), was, "In the honoured tradition of George Orwell's Down and Out in Paris and London.”
Marcia Toms: “I was born in Vancouver and educated at SFU after the TA Crisis in which East Van's Templeton Secondary played a key role. Spent much of my time at university being a student activist, becoming a feminist and getting a real and useful education. Had a wonderful career as a teacher and BCTF activist. Had the most fun during my final 10 years at Templeton. I taught History 12 and was the Head of the English Department in addition to being the 'head' of cognitive improvement and enrichment. I also developed an academic writing course. Right now I’m an East Van community activist.”
The East End Rules, An East Van Memoir is distributed by University of Toronto Press Distribution. ISBN: 978-1-55164-834-7.
Available now at Spartacus Books, MacLeod’s, Cross & Crows, and the McGill Grocery store, or online.
Book trailer:
https://linktr.ee/normannawrocki
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Where is it happening?
Spartacus Books, 3370 Findlay St, Vancouver, BC V5N 4E7, CanadaEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
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