Robin is available for book club visits, interviews, speaker/panelists events, festivals, readings and more - virtual or in person.  Please use the contact page to reach out. 

UPCOMING EVENTS

IN CONVERSATION WITH JONATHAN WHITELAW
Hosted by Robin van Eck
Monday, March 20, 2023 | 7pm
The Treehouse @cSpace Marda Loop
4th floor, 1721, 29th Ave SW, Calgary

Spend the evening with mystery writer, Jonathan Whitelaw, as he cozies up with AWCS to talk mystery writing, publishing, agents, bingo halls, Agatha Christie, Alberta winters and whatever was he thinking moving to Canada, and many other Canadian firsts.

​Jonathan Whitelaw is an author, award-winning journalist, podcaster and broadcaster. After working on the frontline of Scottish politics, he moved into journalism. Subjects he has covered have varied from breaking news, the arts, culture and sport to fashion, music and even radioactive waste — with everything in between. Jonathan also regularly contributes to book events and festivals, with appearances on the Blood Brothers podcast and the Bloody Scotland Book Club. His first mystery novel - HellCorp - was released in 2018 and sees The Devil long for a vacation, only to be challenged by God to solve the murder of a man who took 40 years to die. His most recent novel - The Bingo Hall Detectives (2022) - is a cosy crime book set in the Lake District, UK. He currently lives in Grande Prairie, AB.

IN CONVERSATION WITH GAIL ANDERSON-DARGATZ
Hosted by Robin van Eck
Friday, May 12, 2023 | 7PM
Owl's Nest Books | 815A, 49th Ave SW, Calgary
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Spend the evening with Giller finalist and thriller writer, Gail Anderson-Dargatz as she launches her next book, The Almost Widow. She will talk about writing in all its facets, the joys and challenges with writing thriller, what drove her to switching genres and so much more.

GAIL ANDERSON-DARGATZ’s first novel, The Cure for Death by Lightning, was a finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and won the UK’s Betty Trask Award, the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize and the Vancity Book Prize. Her second novel, A Recipe for Bees, was nominated for the International Dublin Literary Award and was a finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. The Spawning Grounds was nominated for the Sunburst Award and the Ontario Library Association Evergreen Award and short-listed for the Canadian Authors Association Literary Award for Fiction. Her thriller, The Almost Wife was a national bestseller in 2021, and her most recent novel, The Almost Widow, is out in May 2023.

Gail also writes young adult and hi-lo books for the educational market. Her book Iggy’s World was a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection and shortlisted for the Chocolate Lily Book Awards. The Ride Home was short-listed for the Sheila A. Egoff Children’s Literature Prize, as well as the Red Cedar Fiction Award and the Chocolate Lily Book Award.
She taught for nearly a decade in the MFA program in creative writing at the University of British Columbia and now mentors writers online. Gail Anderson-Dargatz lives in the Shuswap region of British Columbia.

PAST EVENTS

BEGINS FEBRUARY 7, 2023 | 7pm | 8 weeks at
THE ALEXANDRA WRITERS CENTRE SOCIETY, Calgary, AB

CLASS IS FULL
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Have you thought about writing a novel but haven’t actually started? Have you racked up a bunch of false starts, hit a roadblock and don’t know which direction to go? Then this class is for you. Come and dip your toes into the messy world of becoming a novelist. From the fits and starts, the first word to the first chapter, to keeping the momentum going, you’ll learn strategies for overcoming roadblocks and delve into craft-based approaches to plotting and structure, character development, scene construction and pacing, and a whole lot more. Be prepared to write, share, and discuss. There will be no workshopping in this class.

​FEBRUARY 8, 2023 | 7pm 
OWL'S NEST BOOKS, Calgary, AB

You’re invited to a celebration of threes. Three books by three authors in three years. This star-studded triple header features readings from Extinction by Bradley Somer, published in 2022, The Hill by Ali Bryan, published in 2021 and Rough by Robin van Eck, published in 2020. What else do these books have in common you might ask? You’ll just have to come and find out. Learn about these books, find out what these authors are up to now and so much more. Q&A to follow.