Wild Fire: A Book Launch with Jesse Winter

Join us in celebrating the launch of the essential new book, , by award-winning journalist Jesse Winter. For this evening event, Winter will be in conversation with journalist Andrea Woo. This event is free, but please RSVP on this Eventbrite as capacity is limited.

In Wild Fire, Winter takes readers on a dramatic and riveting journey to the frontlines of some of Canada’s most devastating blazes. Weaving together incredible stories of everyday courage, danger and disaster, Winter offers a unique view into our current peril — sharing invaluable insight from those who’ve faced down Canada’s hungriest infernos.

Across British Columbia, he encounters terrifying close calls and unbelievable bravery. In Jasper, he meets the tireless volunteer firefighters who answer the town’s urgent call for help. And, in the Far North, he hears from residents who band together as the fires blaze closer and closer. At each site, he also confronts a system buckling under the pressure of previously unimaginable fire. Since 2020, wildfires have, on average, burned through five times more square kilometres than they did in the 1970s — destroying an area twice the size of Vancouver Island every summer.

As Winter journeys to the country’s most fire-prone areas, he asks what we’re getting right and also examines what we’re getting perilously wrong. From there, he makes the compelling case that if Canada wants to survive its inevitably hot future, it needs to take the hard-won lessons of such local communities to heart. The end result is an account that feels immediate and intimate, urgent and hopeful.

About the author:

Jesse Winter is an award-winning writer and photojournalist based in Vancouver. He has been covering wildfires and other climate-related disasters since 2018. His work has appeared in The New York Times, CNN, The Guardian, Macleans, The Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail and elsewhere. In 2022, after covering the flooding in BC’s Fraser Valley, he was named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in feature photography as part of a team of Reuters photographers. His work covering the 2023 wildfire season in B.C. was nominated for multiple awards, including two National Newspaper Awards, and won the Edward Burtynsky Award for Climate Photojournalism.

About the moderator:

Andrea Woo is a journalist at The Globe and Mail, where she often covers health, social issues, politics, wildfires and other climate issues. Prior to joining The Globe in 2012, she worked at The Vancouver Sun and various music publications. Her work has been recognized by the National Newspaper Awards, the Canadian Association of Journalists and the Jack Webster Awards.

Andrea and Jesse were the recipients of the 2022 R. James Travers Foreign Corresponding Fellowship, which supported a month-long reporting assignment in Australia examining the country's distinctive dependence on volunteer bushfire brigades as climate change fuels longer and more intense fire seasons.

More about Upstart & Crow:

Upstart & Crow is a not-for-profit creative studio and literary incubator that champions writers, readers and stories, and the role they play in shaping our lives. We develop original programs, support artists and revel in creative projects focused on Literature In Translation, Climate Solutions, Poetry, Civic Dialogue, Community & Skills Building, all with the aim of elevating the role of literature and storytelling in our lives. Find us on Granville Island, Gibsons and online at upstartandcrow.com.

Accessibility:

The main studio of our shop is accessible for folks with mobility aids. There is a washroom on the main floor available for attendees.

Questions: hello[at]upstartandcrow.com.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

Get App

Host or Publisher Upstart & Crow