Sheila Heti comes to town to discuss her novel How Should a Person Be

Toronto-based authorSheila Heti is in Vancouver this week for two noteworthy literary events. At 7:30 p.m. Thursday (January 13), she’ll be on-stage at the Jewish Community Centre with Vancouver International Writers Festival artistic director Hal Wake, for a conversation about her recently published, widely acclaimed novel How Should a Person Be (House of Anansi).

Last September, our reviewer praised the book for the way it "celebrates the extraordinary imperfection in ordinary life" through its depiction of the complex friendship between two women (one of whom is craftily named "Sheila") and their contrasting careers as artists.

The novel will again be the focus at 7 p.m. the following evening (January 14), when Heti is the guest of the long-running Robson Reading Series, at Robson Square’s UBC Bookstore/Library. Appearing with Heti will be Vancouver poet Bren Simmers, reading from her debut colection, Night Gears (Wolsak and Wynn). Admission is free.