Claudette on the Keys by Joanne Culley
Author Joanne Culley turns her grandparent's history into a novel of historical fiction in Claudette on the Keys.
music
Off The Charts: What I Learned From My Almost Fabulous Life In Music by Kat Goldman
Off the Charts is a whimsical, uproarious tour through a fickle business that never seems to repay what performers put into it, and one woman’s highly intimate account of how she made the best of almost making it. Featuring a sparkling set of original illustrations by the award-winning Nina Berkson.
Dancing with Chairs in the Music House by Caro Soles
Precocious ten-year-old Vanessa Dudley-Morris knows lots of secrets. In 1949 when she and her family are forced to move into two rooms on the second floor of 519 Jarvis Street in Toronto, a genteel but somewhat rundown rooming house owned by a reclusive pianist, she learns a lot more.
Bill Arnott’s Artist Showcase: Vin Maskell and Stereo Stories
Vin Maskell lives in Melbourne, Australia and is the founding editor and stage director of a project called Stereo Stories.
Kerouac & Presley by André Pronovost
I was intrigued to read Kerouac & Presley, given my fondness for iconic writers, musicians, and mavericks. I suspect, without previously encountering the author, that he’s an “everyman” free spirit. He’s done more than visit literary and musical pilgrimages and … Continue reading
Czech Techno & Other Stories of Music by Mark Anthony Jarman
If you like your stories to follow a straight line, this quintuplet may give you whiplash. Each one invites you into an introspective world of intense emotions, whether for a woman, 4-track cassette, California in the 90s, or disdain for … Continue reading
Crafting Arts
Go into the arts. I’m not kidding. The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way … Continue reading
New Poems by D.A. Lockhart
The following pieces are from D.A. Lockhart's upcoming collection, Tukhone, to be published this fall by Black Moss Press. These are haibun that use Detroit's most renowned musicians and musical acts to explore the physical spaces of the city in its contemporary context.
live romance at neptoon
(inspired by a frantic surprise visit on july 20, 2019, photo documented here by David James Swanson)
100 northern lights staggered southerly as strangers
bedded shoulder-to-shoulder on cooling concrete
shrink-wrapped in wakeful dreams
perspiration a running creek along sacrum
lava … Continue reading
Stompin’ Tom Connors: The Myth and The Man by Charlie Rhinedress
Charlie Rhindress takes his reader on a Canadian coast to coast journey as we travel with this drifter man, Stompin’ Tom Connors.
One Good Reason: A Memoir of Addiction and Recovery, Music and Love by Séan McCann and Andrea Aragon
I’m a fan of Séan McCann. Bought his music. Saw him perform with Great Big Sea. Had a joyous time, singing myself hoarse. Now I’ve read One Good Reason - his collaborative memoir - enticingly structured, chapters alternating between spouse-authors McCann and Andrea Aragon.
You and Me, Belonging by Aaron Kreuter
Toronto’s Tightrope Books continue to publish good short story collections by a very gifted group of authors. Most recently, it was Tread and Other Stories by Barry Dempster and The Colours of Birds by Rebecca Higgins. (Their reviews are here… Continue reading
The End of Music by Jamie Fitzpatrick
Jamie Fitzpatrick is a host and producer at CBC Radio. His first novel, You Could Believe in Nothing, won the Fresh Fish Award for Emerging Writers in Newfoundland and Labrador. He lives in St. John’s.
The story, or stories… Continue reading
For the Love of It: 60 Years of the Miramichi Folksong Festival by Susan Butler
The Miramichi Folksong Festival has been held continuously for 60 years now, making it the longest standing folk song festival in Canada. Its director (and a performer) of the past 35 years is the irrepressible Susan Butler, a true “Miramichier” … Continue reading
Redemption Songs by Jon Tattrie
Redemption Songs won a 2017 The Very Best! Book Award for Non-Fiction.
do Nova Scotia, Black leader Marcus Garvey, and Rastafarian musician Bob Marley have in common? Very little, you might think until Jon Tattrie weaves some literary and historical … Continue reading