The rapid advances currently being made in biomedical research are challenging the ways we view our bodies and the environment. "Perceptions of Promise" arose from a workshop that brought together internationally recognized artists and biomedical scholars and scientists to explore questions surrounding stem cell research, public perceptions of biotechnology, and the parallels and differences between creative and scientific practices.

"Perceptions of Promise" includes artworks created in response to the workshop coupled with articles by world-renowned scholars and medical researchers. It offers a compelling glimpse into a unique collaboration between scientists, scholars, and artists in a visually engaging publication that challenges the reader to consider the possibilities of biotechnology and stem cell research.

Sean Caulfield is professor and Canada Research Chair of the Department of Art and Design at the University of Alberta. Curtis Gillespie is the author of four books including the memoir "Playing Through" and the novel "Crown Shyness." Timothy Caulfield is research director of the Health Law Institute at the University of Alberta. The contributors include Gail Geller, Jane Kaye, and Eric Meslin among others. The artists represented include Derek Besant, Shona McDonald, Marilene Oliver, and others.

Annabel Lyon's passion for historical novels and her love of ancient Greece make her lecture on the process of creating characters of historical fiction captivating. She discusses the process of wading through historical sources-and avoiding myriad pitfalls-to craft believable people to whom readers can relate. Finding familiarity with figures from the past and then, with the help of hindsight, discovering their secrets, are the foremost tools of the historical novel writer. Readers interested in the literary creative process and in writing or reading historical fiction will find Lyon's comments insightful and intriguing.

Ten years, ten authors, ten critics. The Canadian Literature Centre/Centre de litterature canadienne reaches into its ten-year archive of Brown Bag Lunch readings to sample some of the most diverse and powerful voices in contemporary Canadian literature. This anthology offers readers samples from some of Canada's most exciting writers of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Each selection is introduced by a brief essay, serving as a point of entry into the writer's work. From the east coast of Newfoundland to Kitamaat territory on British Columbia's central coast, there is a story for everyone, from everywhere. True to Canada's multilingual and multicultural heritage, these ten writers come from diverse ethnicities and backgrounds, and work in multiple languages, including English, French, and Cree. Ying Chen | essay by Julie Rodgers Lynn Coady | essay by Maite Snauwaert Michael Crummey | essay by Jennifer Bowering Delisle Caterina Edwards | essay by Joseph Pivato Marina Endicott | essay by Daniel Laforest Lawrence Hill | essay by Winfried Siemerling Alice Major | essay by Don Perkins Eden Robinson | essay by Kit Dobson Gregory Scofield | essay by Angela Van Essen Kim Thuy | essay by Pamela V. Sing