ArticlesAriel Gordon
Ariel Gordon is a Winnipeg/Treaty 1 Territory–based writer, editor, and enthusiast. Her latest book is the spec-fic novel Blood Letters, co-authored with GMB Chomichuk (Great Plains Press). Her work was selected for Best Canadian Essays 2025 (ed. Emily Urquhart) and will be in Best Canadian Poetry 2026 (ed. Mary Dalton).
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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. -
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. -
PoetryPoet/scientist shows her mind’s workings with OCD in various forms
Samantha Jones is a poet and earth/ocean scientist with OCD and a deep commitment to whimsy. “I think play and whimsy are so important for innovation, whether in poetry or science,” says the Calgary-based writer. -
PoetryPoet took her time to grow 2nd book from themes of monsters, fairy tales, and her own body
Courtney Bates-Hardy’s first collection of poetry, House of Mystery, came out in 2016. “My first book was written as my master’s thesis, and I was cramming the writing into lunch breaks while working full-time,” Bates-Hardy notes. “I still work full-time, and the nerve pain I experience makes it difficult to be at a desk or bent over a notebook for long periods of time.” -
Non-FictionCharlotte Bellows hopes to help teens struggling with eating disorders through debut memoir
Calgary’s Charlotte Bellows just graduated from high school this past June. But she already has another milestone to celebrate: the publication of her memoir, The Definition of Beautiful. -
PoetryPoetry collection grasps after communal ‘we,’ hostility inherent in the city
Nikki Reimer is a multimedia artist, a writer, and a chronically ill neurodivergent Prairie settler. She says that her new collection of poetry, No Town Called We, is for anyone who finds comfort in melancholy. -
PoetryAmid upheaval, Lucas Crawford took to the page, reflecting on queer sex, love, and place
Maritime poet Lucas Crawford’s latest poetry collection, Muster Points, has its origins in the COVID-19 pandemic. In March 2020, Crawford arrived at the Banff Centre for the Arts, ready to mentor writers at a retreat. -
PoetrySkylar Kay pairs marginalized topics with form traditionally used for travel journals
Relating transitions in her life to the phases of the moon was the challenge trans poet Skylar Kay set herself in her debut poetry collection, the haibun journal Transcribing Moonlight. -
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. -
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.
