Canada
The Great Path* 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
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
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
Signs of Life: Images Formed from Words and Clay by Gerri Frager
The Allspice Bath by Sonia Saikaley
Everything in This House Breaks (Stories) by Sandra Bunting
Celtic Knot: A Clara Swift Tale by Ann Shortell
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
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
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
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
Refuge in the Black Deck: The Story of Ordinary Seaman Nicola Peffers by Nicola Peffers
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