The Blue Cabin Speaker Series presents: Daniel Francis | Squat City: A Brief History of Squatting Around Burrard Inlet

Description

Daniel Francis | Squat City: A Brief History of Squatting Around Burrard Inlet
Thursday, June 28 at 7:00 p.m. at grunt gallery, #116 – 350 East 2nd Avenue, Vancouver

Squatters have been a fixture in Burrard Inlet since before Vancouver was created. Their story encompasses the history of Gastown and Kitsilano, the dispossession of Indigenous people, the evolution of Stanley Park, the hobo jungles of the Great Depression, and the search for affordable housing in an always-expensive metropolis. Slumped on floating barges or tottering on stilts below the high tide line, the squatters shack projects an alternative view of the City of Glass, a view from the margins instead of the centre. Author Daniel Francis describes this history, illustrating his talk with photographs both archival and contemporary.

Biographical notes:
Daniel Francis is the author of thirty books, principally about Canadian and British Columbian history. Born in Vancouver in 1947, he currently resides in North Vancouver. His books, which have won several awards, cover a diverse range of subjects, from Canada’s Indigenous people to the history of his native city to the story of world whaling. He is the editorial director of the online Encyclopedia of British Columbia, first published in book format in 2001. His latest book is Where Mountains Meet the Sea, a history of North Vancouver. In 2017 he was awarded the Governor General’s History Award for Popular Media, the Pierre Berton Award, recognizing excellence in bringing Canadian history to a wide popular audience.

www.grunt.ca/the-blue-cabin