CanadaThe Miramichi Reader

The Great Path* by Susanna Peremartoni

March 6, 2021 by Susanna Peremartoni

Bee hotel yawning

between the holes

glancing at open fields

north wind blows snow

eating our frozen fingers

They’ll warm up by the nightfall

a Chinook greets

beyond the great river

We speed up our steps

under the hangover red clouds

the summer is preening

I could hear … Continue reading

Toward the North: Stories by Chinese Canadian Writers, edited by Hua Laura Wu, Xueqing Xu, and Corinne Bieman Davies

July 30, 2020 by Emma Rhodes

Toward the North: Stories by Chinese Canadian Writers is a thoughtfully coordinated anthology by editors Hua Laura Wu, Xueqing Xu, and Corinne Bieman Davies. Each story feels like it is presented in exactly the right place and at exactly the … Continue reading

A Song From Faraway by Deni Ellis Béchard

April 11, 2020April 6, 2020 by James M. Fisher

A “Story-Producing Story”

In James Wood’s essay “Serious Noticing” he makes this keen observation about fictional stories: “…one definition of a story might be that it always produces more of them. A story is story-producing. […] No single story can … Continue reading

Dominoes at the Crossroads by Kaie Kellough

October 18, 2020March 21, 2020 by James M. Fisher

In Dominoes at the Crossroads Kaie Kellough maps an alternate nation--one populated by Caribbean Canadians who hopscotch across the country. The characters navigate race, class, and coming-of-age.

Signs of Life: Images Formed from Words and Clay by Gerri Frager

May 4, 2020March 2, 2020 by Bill Arnott

Poet-potter Gerri Frager has created a unique, engaging collection of work – literal alchemy, shaping words and hunks of this land into refined beauty – something hopeful, and remarkably reassuring.

The Allspice Bath by Sonia Saikaley

October 4, 2020October 4, 2019 by James M. Fisher

Award-winning author Sonia Saikely's newest novel, The Allspice Bath is an enjoyable, yet emotional story about a Lebanese family living in Ottawa in the 70s-90s.

Everything in This House Breaks (Stories) by Sandra Bunting

September 28, 2019September 22, 2019 by James M. Fisher

Burnt Church resident poet and author Sandra Bunting has released her second book of short stories, Everything in This House Breaks.

Celtic Knot: A Clara Swift Tale by Ann Shortell

July 28, 2019April 27, 2019 by James M. Fisher

A fine example of Canadian historical fiction, Ann Shortell’s Celtic Knot: A Clara Swift Tale (2018, Friesen Press) is constructed around the actual assassination of D’Arcy McGee, one of the fathers of confederation, on April 7th, 1868 as he … Continue reading

2018 IPPY Awards for Canadian Titles

May 10, 2018April 16, 2018 by James M. Fisher

IPPY Awards, or the Independent Publisher Book Awards are presented to the year’s best titles published in these important and growing divisions of independent publishing (including self-publishing). It was reaffirming to see a few of the titles I had reviewed … Continue reading

Outside People and Other Stories by Mariam Pirbhai

June 12, 2018October 21, 2017 by James M. Fisher

Mariam Pirbhai was born in Pakistan and lived in England and the Philippines before emigrating to Canada. She lives in Waterloo, Ontario, where she is an Associate Professor in the Department of English and Film Studies, at Wilfrid Laurier University. … Continue reading

The Minted by Will McClelland

June 23, 2017June 13, 2017 by James M. Fisher

Quebec author Will McClelland has published his debut novel, The Minted (2016, Blue Leaf Press) to some impressive reviews. Quill & Quire noted: “The Minted is nothing like the CanLit with which we are all so familiar.” In his … Continue reading

The Women of Saturn by Connie Guzzo-McParland

June 22, 2017March 5, 2017 by James M. Fisher

This ambitious debut novel (420 pages) by Ms Guzzo-McParland is an epic story of an Italian family emigrating to Canada, some (like Caterina the narrator) to join their family, others (like her older friend Lucia) to meet husbands for the first time. They make the voyage by the sea in the late 1950's onboard the Saturnalia, from which the story takes its title. Caterina, her mother Teresa along with Lucia the teenage proxy bride are "the women" of the Saturnalia.

Refuge in the Black Deck: The Story of Ordinary Seaman Nicola Peffers by Nicola Peffers

October 3, 2017March 4, 2017 by James M. Fisher

he HMCS Winnipeg is a frigate in the Canadian Navy, and it is also the ship that Ordinary Seaman (OS) Nicola Peffers served aboard for approximately two years, starting in 2009. Fresh out of marine electrical training, she boards ship … Continue reading