ArticlesIssue 80, Spring/Summer 2022
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FictionSteven Ross Smith maintains quirky tone while playing with very short fiction pieces
After a decade in Alberta, Steven Ross Smith is back in Saskatchewan. He had good reasons to leave Saskatchewan’s vibrant literary community: he was appointed Director of Literary Arts at the Banff Centre and then Banff’s Poet Laureate. -
FictionInterlocking stories show fictional town of Ezra in different times, through different angles
Four stories, disparate in style but connected by key points and narratives: This is the basis of Darcy Tamayose’s new book, Ezra’s Ghosts. It’s a collection of two novella-length stories bookended by two shorter ones that weaves its way through some unexpected places to tell an impressively compelling story that shows what loss and grief can do to people. -
FictionCollection of single-panel comics brings Bogart Creek back onto paper, where it started
From drawing caricatures at Ontario Place to studying representations of “non-humans” in visual narratives, Derek Evernden has long been a student of cartooning and comics. With Bogart Creek, Volume 3, Evernden makes a hilarious and thoughtful addition to his ever-expanding body o -
FictionA gift for healing and questions around humanity blend through magic realism
A Kid Called Chatter, Calgary author Chris Kelly’s latest novel, deals with profound themes in a beautifully fantastical story. The short chapters, spare prose, and faultless dialogue propel the reader into a world where it seems possible for dying animals to search out solace from a human. -
FictionFresh, original approach key to tackling terrorist stereotypes, political topics in novel
Jameela Green’s big wish in life is to see her memoir on the bestseller list of the New York Times. However, it didn’t seem to be happening. When Jameela seeks spiritual guidance at her local mosque, the new imam (and recent immigrant) Ibrahim Sultan is disturbed by how shallow Jameela appears, and will assist her on one condition: Jameela must perform a good deed. -
FictionFormer research scientist blends crime and climate research in latest novel
“As a novelist, my focus is to create remarkable fictional characters,” says Calgary author Jaspreet Singh. “In Face [: A Novel of the Anthropocene], I was interested in the voice of a concerned science journalist.” Part mystery and part ghost story, his third novel is a thought-provoking tale about science, duplicity, climate research, and narrative. -
FictionStory in form of letters allows ‘eavesdropping on people’s lives’ across an ocean
Kelly Kaur, in addition to teaching at Mount Royal University and Athabasca University, has many and varied literary publications to her credit, including poems, stories, and anthology contributions. -
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PoetryPoet explores displacement, migration, and colonialism in debut collection
Joanne Leow’s debut collection of poetry, Seas Move Away, weaves together narratives of movement, displacement, migration, and return. “This collection is dedicated ‘to those who move away,’” she says. -
PoetryBrigette DePape’s work contributes to the conversation of healing, as others’ did for her
People say you’ll never forget the launch of your first book. That adage has been turned upside down by the pandemic and its restrictions on gathering the last two years, but Winnipeg poet and playwright Brigette DePape hasn’t let that bother her. -
DramaIntimacy, ‘rural, down-home feel’ incorporated into play about dementia on a family farm
“The wind takes. It breaks. It bends. It harms and steals. But it brings too.” So says the character Sarah near the end of Daniel Macdonald’s play Blow Wind.
