ArticlesIssue 87, Fall/Winter 2025/26
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FictionPost-apocalyptic novella follows a legend living under the weight of expectation
Red Deer–based author C. J. Lavigne’s latest work, The Drowned Man’s Daughter, is a novella that occupies the intersection of fantasy, science fiction, and horror. It is also the first title in NeWest Press’s new Barbour Books speculative fiction imprint. -
FictionSinister secrets lurk around dilapidated English bookstore in new psychological thriller
After a career writing literary novels and short fiction as Michelle Berry, the Peterborough-based author is now writing psychological thrillers under the name M. S. Berry. Behind the Door is her second one, following The Tenant, which was published earlier this year. -
FictionLinked stories about grief, widowhood written through Hunter’s own ‘terrible days’
Catherine Hunter, an award-winning poet and a fiction writer from Winnipeg, tells the story of Clare and Rich in her collection of linked short stories, Seeing You Home. -
PoetryPoems grounded in the body speak directly to the reader, invoking many senses
The poems in Randy Lundy’s new collection, Something for the Dark, invite readers to be grounded in the body. -
PoetryPoet dips into fairy tales and fabulism, but with a ‘bloody scream’ in lieu of softness
Mermaids currently occupy a friendly space in pop culture. Think shell bras and long red hair billowing underwater. But in the past, mermaids were half-woman half-fish monsters that lured sex-starved sailors to their deaths. -
DramaNon-linear play about bipolar disorder casts audience in role of silent therapist
Edmonton-based playwright Beth Graham says it wasn’t her idea to tackle the stigma and challenges of mental illness and the impact it has on a family. -
FeaturesFound poetry traces stories from the tar sands to transform colonial record
Melanie Dennis Unrau’s imaginative and incisive poetry collection Goose retraces the steps of Sidney Clarke Ells, the self-proclaimed “father of the tar sands,” by literally tracing the text and images from Northland Trails, his book of short stories, poems, illustrations, and essays published in 1938. -
FeaturesOrigin story of Alberta’s oil culture shares ‘chaotic mix’ of ambition, hype, and a dash of fraud
Alberta and the oil boom are virtually synonymous. Those who study history may know that more than 500 oil companies emerged in Turner Valley following the start of the operation of the first well in 1914. -
FeaturesPlay examines themes of friendship, power through unplanned pregnancy in a work camp
Boom Baby, a play by Calgary-based playwright Natalie Meisner, tells a story of friendship and power, set in the oil fields of Alberta. -
FeaturesElder, former chief Robert Cree fought for First Nations to benefit from resource development
In his memoir The Many Names of Robert Cree: How a First Nations Chief Brought Ancient Wisdom to Big Business and Prosperity to His People, Elder and former chief Robert Cree shares his harrowing involvement in the Sixties Scoop and the residential school system, his later struggles with addiction, and his journey toward healing and reconnecting with his culture.
