Join us for an evening of poetry, prose, and music at BNA Burger! IWC is delighted to be hosting the launch of Joanna Cockerline’s debut novel, Still (The Porcupine’s Quill, 2025), featuring a 5-spot open mic.

Entry is a $6-$10 sliding scale.

Copies of Still will be available to purchase at the event. Still has been longlisted for the prestigious Giller Prize!

About the book: Still is the story of Kayla, who lives and works on the streets of Kelowna, Canada, and of Little Zoe, a woman working in the sex trade who is missing. Set in a vibrant and diverse community of people living unhoused, the novel explores sex work, street life, the opioid crisis, what it means to survive, and what it means to find a home—especially in one’s self.

As Kayla—whose past is darker than she tells—searches for her missing friend, she also uncovers much about her own life. The novel delves into both the pain and resiliency of childhood, with flashbacks to Kayla's past with horses and how she came to be on the streets. Kayla also becomes friends with an outreach volunteer struggling with postpartum depression, alcohol abuse, and bipolar—yet who yearns to rekindle her passion for photography and share it with Kayla.

The book considers what home means, how picture-perfect lives are not always what they seem, how different forms of community are possible, and how we can tell the stories that are ourselves. It asks what it means to be missing and what we can—and cannot—go back to. Ultimately, Still is a story of community, friendship, resilience, and hope.

About the author: Joanna Cockerline has published in national and international journals and magazines such as Room, The Fiddlehead, En Route, and International Human Rights Arts. She co-authored the short story collection Seeing Our Sisters in 2024.

Beyond being a prizewinner in the CBC Literary Awards, Joanna's writing has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. Joanna earned her BA and MA in Literature at the University of Guelph and completed the Graduate Program at the Humber School for Writers with Booker Prize winner Peter Carey.

Joanna lives with her family in the ancestral, unceded Syilx Okanagan Territory of Kelowna, BC, where she has co-founded a street outreach. She teaches literature and creative writing at the University of British Columbia (UBC) Okanagan.

Doors are at 6:30 pm, and sign up for the open mic begins promptly at 6:30 pm with our hosts. We have 5 open mic spots available and are first come, first served. Both food and drink will be available from BNA.

There are two single user, gender-neutral washrooms available and the space is wheelchair accessible.

Our programming is made possible by the City of Kelowna, the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies at UBC Okanagan, and BNA Brewery.

We respectfully acknowledge that we live and work in the unceded, ancestral territory of the Syilx people. It is a privilege to be able to put on events as uninvited guests on their land.

Photo credit: Trevor Walker. Book description courtesy of Gordon Hill Press & The Porcupine's Quill.