Devotional Forensics by Joseph Kidney
A hallmark of Kidney’s already distinguished early career, Devotional Forensics shows exceptional range.
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Cotton Blues by Edem Awumey
At a museum in an unnamed African city, librarian turned cotton farmer turned security guard Toby Kunta takes a hostage — a freelance journalist originally from this country, now based in Berlin.
G by Klara du Plessis and Khashayar “Kess” Mohammadi
In G, Klara du Plessis and Khashayar “Kes” Mohammadi look at a single sound that connects two parts of the world that we rarely imagine in proximity, Iran and South Africa. They do so by exploring the voiceless uvular fricative and its close cousin, the voiced velar fricative, which are presented phonetically by the Greek letters chi (x) and gamma (ɣ) and are generally transposed into a roman alphabet as ch (e.g., loch) or kh (e.g., Khalil).
IGoli | EGoli: Poems by Salimah Valiani
The meaning of the title IGoli | EGoli: Poems, by Salimah Valiani is not self-evident without a search. What does it mean? eGoli means “Place of Gold”.
Comrade Papa by GauZ’, translated by Frank Wynne
My second time reviewing GauZ’ for TMR is another success; I sincerely hope to read more of his work in translation in the future.
Read the Governor General’s Literary Award Shortlists with The Miramichi Reader!
The 2024 Governor General’s Literary Award shortlists have been announced, and you can find reviews of many of the shortlisted titles right here on TMR! Our reviewers have such good taste 💁♀️.
May Our Joy Endure by Kevin Lambert translated by Donald Winkler
Playing satirist, tragedian, humorist, and social historian, Lambert produces a unique book that contains a complete world.
Mina’s Matchbox by Yoko Ogawa, translated by Stephen Snyder
As Tomoko reflects on her life from middle-age, one year stands out in shining glory, a year she thoroughly loved, despite the reasons for its beginning and tragedy at the end: the year she was twelve, in 1972.
Kiss the Undertow by Marie-Hélène Larochelle, trans. Michelle Winters
A competitive swimmer and university student in Toronto is selected to attend a summer training program in Bordeaux. In the meantime, her volatile and domineering coach puts her through bizarre, painful rituals at his apartment, nominally designed to release her of her impurities.
As the Andes Disappeared by Caroline Dawson, translated by Anita Anand
Caroline Dawson opens her autobiographical novel, As the Andes Disappeared, with the declaration: “The first time I decided not to kill myself, I was seven years old.”
Sadie X by Clara Dupuis-Morency, translated by Aimee Wall
A story of scientific discovery, complicated by family, complicated by a codependent relationship with decades of history – that is Sadie X, by Clara Dupuis-Morency, and translated from the original French by Aimee Wall.
My Work by Olga Ravn
Told through poetry, prose, conversations, and medical reports, this novel is an achronological assemblage, its structural innovation suggesting the messiness of pregnancy and early motherhood, the struggle to make sense of it as it happens.
Your Absence is Darkness by Jón Kalman Stefánsson, translated by Philip Roughton
Some of the most exciting, mind-bending, innovative literature these days comes out of the Nordic countries, in my humble and slightly pretentious opinion.
Blue Notes by Ann Cathrine Bomann, translated by Caroline Waight
Blue Notes crams a fast-paced, heavily layered story into 242 pages. I was glued to it from the start.
Love Novel by Ivana Sajko, Translated by Mima Simić
Love Novel is not an easy read, but it is a necessary read.
