ArticlesIssue 79, Fall/Winter 2021/22
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FictionNovel shaped according to ‘sporadic nature’ of memories is a tale of resilience
Lisa Bird-Wilson’s short fiction collection, Just Pretending, won four Saskatchewan Book Awards. Bird-Wilson, a Saskatchewan Métis and nêhiyaw writer, explains how her new novel, Probably Ruby, came about. -
FictionPlett’s old protagonists return, explore elusive meaning of being ‘grown up’
Originally from Manitoba, Casey Plett currently lives in Windsor, Ontario. Her latest collection of short stories, A Dream of a Woman, follows a number of trans women as they navigate the space between the lives they lead and the lives they wish they had. -
FictionMaples Mystery series returns with a cozy, cat-filled house and a dead body
A Clutter of Cats is the latest title in Louise Carson’s cozy Maples Mystery series, featuring Gerry Coneybear, writer, artist, and interested neighbour who shares her big old house with no fewer than 20 cats. (She inherited the house and most of the cats from her aunt.) -
FictionTwo timelines blend together in novel written as sequel to another writer’s 1941 tale
“The best thing about writing is the process itself,” says author Lee Gowan about his fourth novel, The Beautiful Place. It’s a contemporary story about a man who loses his job, wife, and home, and then tries to rescue his grandfather’s frozen body from a high-security cryonics facility – the titular Beautiful Place, named after the place where ancient Egyptian pharaohs were prepared for the afterlife. -
FictionMennonites do have a sense of humour, and Andrew Unger’s collection proves it
In the follow-up to his award-winning debut novel, Once Removed, Steinbach-based author Andrew Unger returns to familiar territory with The Best of the Bonnet, a selection of articles from The Daily Bonnet, the website where he has posted approximately 2,300 satirical news articles over the last five years. -
FictionTrouble ‘haunts everyday lives’ in Umezurike’s new short fiction collection
Double Wahala, Double Trouble, Nigerian author Uchechukwu Peter Umezurike’s new short fiction collection of 11 urgent and thought-provoking tales set in his homeland, is being published by Griots Lounge, a relatively new press based in Winnipeg. -
PoetryDebut was formed through ‘natural cadence’ of creativity, spread over decades
Carol Harvey Steski’s debut collection of poetry, rump + flank, was a long time in the making. “I want people to know that this book has been in the works for a quarter of a century, so emerging writers: don’t give up!!” says the Toronto-based writer, who works in corporate communications. -
PoetryCollection reflects ‘the chaos of healing’ through grief and trauma
Putting out a collection of poetry during the coronavirus pandemic is difficult, but Rayanne Haines has become used to working through trauma in her life and in her art. -
PoetryPoet hopes to help readers understand schizophrenia, treatments, and abuses
For ky perraun, the relationship between poetry and mental illness has been lifelong. “I find [writing poetry] therapeutic and, I hope, it allows the reader insight into another’s psyche and perhaps a sense of shared experience,” she says. -
DramaPlays offer prompt for artists and audiences to consider colonization and occupation
What would it be like to get into the headspace of a suicide bomber? The play The Only Good Indian gives artists the opportunity to find out. For each performance, a different artist straps themself into a suicide vest and then tries to justify carrying out such an extreme action.
