Vancouver Forum I: Old Powers, New Forces

Ann Turner is the financial and budget manager of the University of
British Columbia Library.

The genesis of this book, which is intended to be the first of an annual
series, is Max Wyman’s observation that Vancouver is going through a
significant period of economic, social, and cultural change. As editor
of the Vancouver Sun’s “Saturday Review,” Wyman is in an ideal
position to monitor and reflect on the city’s day-to-day activities
and the directions they are taking. He also has access to the
leading-edge participants in the process and their critics—the
artists, writers, planners, educators, and administrators who are
shaping the new order of things. The focus of this collection of essays
by 10 of these articulate and forward-looking people is the turbulent
interface between the old ways and the new. Literary contributors
include Arthur Erickson, Stan Persky, Crawford Killian, and Leslie Hall
Pinder. Eleven innovative artists, including Kiki Yee, Joe Average, and
Gu Xiong, contributed illustrations. Under Wyman’s editorial direction
they have created a thoughtful, thought-provoking, and occasionally
confrontational picture of a city in transition.