Vantage Points: On Media as Trans Memoir by Chase Joynt
Chase Joynt is a non-fiction filmmaker and author whose work often focuses on trans themes.
Non-Fiction
Einstein on Israel and Zionism
Einstein on Israel and Zionism proves to be an important counteragent to the politically-motivated, overly-simplistic and, often, racially-motivated messaging we hear from prominent figures in Western media.
The Good Walk: Creating New Paths on Traditional Prairie Trails by Matthew R. Anderson
This is a remarkable book about a remarkable — and ongoing — project.
The Coincidence Problem: Social Dispatches 1999-2022 by Stephen Osborne
Stephen Osborne is a long-time British Columbia-based literary raconteur and starter of bookish projects. In 1971,
Best Canadian Essays 2025, selected by Emily Urquhart
Consider the infamous Martian. What would they surmise about Canadians circa today, if they were to read the latest selection of Best Canadian Essays?
You Don’t Have to Quit by Maureen Palmer
When cutting out doesn’t seem feasible, cutting back is still a worthwhile goal.
I Don’t Do Disability And Other Lies I’ve Told Myself by Adelle Purdham
I admire Purdham’s willingness to give voice to the ugly thoughts a lot of us have had about disability or other perceived differences — because we do have them.
Relative to Wind: On Sailing, Craft, and Community by Phoebe Wang
This is a how-to-sail (if you do well in learning by reading, with no guiding pictures), a meditation on unexpected hobbies, and a toast to community. Wang’s love of sailing is infectious — truly, I’ve sailed maybe once in my life at this point, and I at least idly considered looking up yacht clubs near me to see if any of them worked in the same way Wang’s does.
Marrow Memory: Essays of Discovery by Margaret Nowaczyk
Marrow Memory: Essays of Discovery by Margaret Nowaczyk is a beautiful and generous collection of nonfiction.
Throwback: Tom Thomson: North Star by Sarah Milroy & Ian A.C. Dejardin
Tom Thomson, one such artist and adventurer, lived and worked in the park during his short, but prolific career, and it is his life’s work that is so exceptionally curated in the McMichael Gallery’s North Star exposition and its accompanying exposition catalog, published by Goose Lane Editions.
Heart on My Sleeve: Stories from a Life Well Worn by Jeanne Beker
On a few Saturday early evenings in the late 80s and early 90s, I often looked forward to watching Jeanne Beker’s Fashion Television.
The Hyphen and Other Thoughts From the In-Between by Maria João Maciel Jorge
The Hyphen by Maria João Maciel Jorge is a beautiful collection of essays filled with passion, memories, and thoughts. The author, Jorge, is an Azorean-Canadian immigrant and academic.
When the Pine Needles Fall: Indigenous Acts of Resistance by Katsi’tsakwas Ellen Gabriel with Sean Carleton
How many of us took “The Oka Crisis” at face value of media portrayal? Something along the line of lawless warriors in masks opposing the police in the summer of 1990? There were blockades and a militarized zone. Traffic inconveniences going into Montreal. You may recall that a golf course was set to dig up an Indigenous graveyard.
The behind the scenes story is more complex, and long-standing, with not a lot of overlap with what was told in the media.
Bone of the Bone: Essays on America by a Daughter of the Working Class by Sarah Smarsh
Smarsh’s August 9, 2024, essay on Walz easily could have found a home in Bone of the Bone, her new collection of journalism and other non-fiction writings (2013-24). These pieces extend the narrative of Smarsh’s 2018 memoir, Heartland, a survey of her Kansas-born life into poverty, the generations who preceded her, and a finalist for the National Book Award.
A Perfect Day for a Walk by Bill Arnott
When I arrived, a tourist in Vancouver twenty years ago, it was apparent almost immediately how incredibly walkable the city is.
