ArticlesIssue 86, Spring/Summer 2025
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FictionDebut novel explores coming of age in Uganda amid social pressure, homophobia
The writing of Iryn Tushabe’s debut novel, Everything Is Fine Here, has enriched her life in more than one way. -
FictionLinked short stories reflect intimacies and challenges of living on compact, rural island
They say no man is an island, but that doesn’t mean no man can create one, as Bill Gaston does – complete with an entire population of characters – in Tunnel Island, his latest collection of short stories. -
FictionPoet’s first novel sees cast of characters face up to pain of grief, war, trauma
For a decade, award-winning poet Lisa Martin’s primary artistic focus was her debut novel, A Story Can Be Told About Pain. -
PoetryLong poem shares process of building kinship with pain, rebuilding sense of self
Tea Gerbeza’s powerful debut, the long poem How I Bend Into More, affirms disabled identity by giving voice to the body in all its complexities. Drawing from her personal experience with scoliosis, Gerbeza uses an intimate and inventive poetics to “grasp / what [her] body has / to tell [her]” and, in doing so, records a journey from ableism toward reclamation. -
PoetryCollection aims to find hope among hard times as trauma is metabolized into poems
This is a difficult time to be human. And yet, When Whales Went Back to the Water, Lisa Baird’s new poetry collection, finds hope amidst the “flash and muck” of trauma. -
PoetryLyrical, experimental poems travel between many concepts, echoing Veprinska’s emigration
“Music, childhood, family, trees, dreams, the news, birds, escalators, language, and, of course, poetry.” Those are the inspirations for Ukrainian-born but Calgary-based writer Anna Veprinska’s second poetry collection, Bonememory. -
DramaPlaywright examines polarizing topic of MAID and Jewish faith with flashes of humour
In Seven Days, a play by Toronto-based Jordi Mand, deals with a family’s response to MAID – the process of allowing a terminally ill person to receive medical assistance in dying. The idea for the play arose when a friend of Mand’s father announced that he had qualified for MAID and planned to proceed. His decision sparked intense debate within the Jewish community and within Mand’s own family. -
FeaturesTrilingual play set in post-apocalyptic future tackles treatment of women, girls, and Two-spirit peoples
Tanya Nepinak, Morgan Harris, Ashlee Shingoose, also known as Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe, Marcedes Myran, Rebecca Contois, Annie Yassie, Melissa Ivy Chaboyer, Hillary Angel Wilson, Lorlene Bone, Marcia Koostachin, Jennifer Leigh Catcheway, Tammy Nattaway, Kendara Ballantyne and many more – the list of names and their stories live on. -
FeaturesWith dry humour and measured flounce, poetry and prose collection feels like late night talk with an old friend
In this resonant and powerful collection of decidedly personal poetry and prose, John Brady McDonald takes on a dissection of the impact of colonialism, racism, and the scar tissue of survival from his home in northern Saskatchewan. -
FeaturesDelightful and magical visit to Métis family farm fills new children’s book
Maddy’s Sash follows the plucky and curious Madeleine on her first solo visit to her grandparents’ farm in Northern Saskatchewan. Author Marion Gonneville (originally from Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, and currently living in Vancouver) was inspired by her own childhood and her Métis grandmother.
