ArticlesIan Goodwillie
Ian Goodwillie is a freelance writer, photographer, and graphic designer based out of Saskatoon. In addition to being an established contributor to Prairie books NOW, he writes regularly for Comic Book Resources, Geeks Gonna Geek, Screen Portal, and more.
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FictionAnyone can be a hero, even if he’s ‘kind of an idiot,’ in new graphic novel
Everyone wants to be the hero. That could mean swinging between buildings on webs of your own design to save the day. That could mean being a firefighter and pulling people out of a burning building. That could mean being the person in the office who brings in doughnuts for no other reason than making everyone’s day. -
Young Adult/ChildrenYA fiction inspired by the common tick considers dystopia, manipulation of reality
Human beings are more than the sum of their parts, and included in that sum are their experiences and their memories, which make people who they are as individuals. Identity and memory are interconnected, and without history to provide context, the self can be lost quite quickly. -
Features
JackPine provides support, collaboration to create ‘beautiful and unusual’ chapbooks
Publishing poetry is a world within a world. Some consider poetry as close to visual art as can be found in literature. Saskatoon’s JackPine Press takes poetry (and some prose) even closer by publishing chapbooks in which the melding of form and function, words and design, is virtually seamless. -
FictionHistorical conditions clash with the present in Mennonite-driven graphic short stories
The Mennonite influence in Manitoba runs deep, and that’s reflected in Shelterbelts by illustrator and cartoonist Jonathan Dyck. -
FictionAction-packed story revolves around identity theft, and one man’s worst day ever
Everyone has bad days. However, John Hancock, the protagonist of Stealing John Hancock by H&A Christensen, has had the worst day of all time. -
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. -
Young Adult/ChildrenThief and royalty connect through their desire for adventure, independence in fantasy tale
A deepening mystery. A magical kingdom. A dangerous monster. All of this comes together in Dee Hahn’s The Grave Thief, a story that takes some of the traditional elements of fantasy and turns them on their heads in several unexpected ways. -
FeaturesNovella asks what world could become ‘if people don’t take climate change seriously’
Climate change continues to make alterations to the world in unpredictable ways, the impact of which will change billions of lives. It is a scenario that an increasing number of people are worried about. And that concern is at the core of The Annual Migration of Clouds. -
FeaturesSagas with environmental undertones leave room for readers to fill in the blanks
Stories are a staple of all world cultures. They convey new ideas and older history. And such stories are at the core of Harold R. Johnson’s new novel, The Björkan Sagas. -
Young Adult/ChildrenNovel blends middle-school trials with time travel, alien attack
Award-winning writer, illustrator, and cartoonist Dave Whamond found a way to sort through the good times and the bad in his new graphic novel, Muddle School. It’s loosely based on his own experiences of going to a new school at that age.
