PreviewsIssue 84, Spring/Summer 2024
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Beach Blues
John Lawrence Reynolds
Book 3 in the Beach series sees blues singer Buddy Blaine’s summer gig at Tuffy’s on the beach strip ruined when his new friend Abby Bergen is found in Buddy’s room garroted with a string from his guitar and he is the prime suspect in the eyes of homicide detective Drew Deforest.
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Bead Talk
Indigenous Knowledge and Aesthetics from the Flatlands
Carmen L. Robertson (Editor), Judy Anderson (Editor), Katherine Boyer (Editor)
The first in the new paskwa¯wi masinahikewina / Prairie Writing series, this book includes conversations, interviews, essays, and full-colour reproductions of beadwork from expert and emerging artists, academics, and curators, illustrating the importance of beading in contemporary Indigenous arts, and reshaping how beads are understood and how they stitch together generations of artists.
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Beyond the Park
An Anthology of Ecological Experiences
Diego Creimer, Antonio D’Alfonso, Marie-Denise Douyon, Danielle Gouthrie, Hugh Hazelton, Barbara Janusz, Kelly Kaur, Dafne Romero, Cora Siré, Cora Siré, Elvira Truglia
In this anthology of essays, stories, and poetry, in English and French, contributors explore their connection to natural spaces (e.g., woods, oceans, mountains, cities) through olfactory experiences, both positive (e.g., serotonin-releasing plants in forest) and negative (e.g., decaying bodies, chemicals that disable chemically sensitive people).
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Beyond the Sea
Kristen DaSilva
Two endearing characters – Theo, starting to date again after his divorce, and Gwen, a loner working the ticket booth for a boat tour company – have an encounter that just might save them both in this understated but moving play about the emergence of hope through grief.
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Call of the Void
J.T. Siemens
Sloane Donovan, the protagonist of To Those Who Killed Me, is back, now a fully accredited private investigator, but still suffering the effects of past trauma. In addition to her annoying task of keeping a debauched film star out of trouble, Sloane has taken on the missing person case of a 15-year-old girl who disappeared seven years ago.
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Casey and Diana
Nick Green
As Casey House, a Toronto AIDS hospice, prepares for the historic visit of Diana, Princess of Wales, in October 1991, residents and staff are inspired to become all they can be, to live just a bit longer and more compassionately. Inspired by true events, this moving drama vividly captures a moment in time when a rebel princess, caregivers, and advocates helped to provide those stricken by the virus the dignity, community, and love they deserve.
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Challenge to Civilization
Indigenous Wisdom and the Future
Blair A. Stonechild
In this final book of his trilogy, Stonechild takes a wide-angle, global approach and illustrates how Indigenous spirituality, wisdom, and land-based knowledge are critical to human survival in the face of the inequity, environmental destruction, and climate change that have resulted from civilization’s exploitation.
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Coexistence
Stories
Billy-Ray Belcourt
In these stories set across the Prairies and the West Coast, on reserves and university campuses, at literary festivals and existential crossroads, characters search for meaning and connection. Belcourt demonstrates yet again his mastery of and playfulness in any genre.
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Contemporary Vulnerabilities
Reflections on Social Justice Methodologies
Claire Carter (Editor), Chelsea Temple Jones (Editor), Caitlin Janzen (Editor)
This interdisciplinary collection gathers narratives and analyses about innovative methodologies that engage with unconventional and unexpected research, and that encourage scholars to collaborate within, reflect on, and confront the frictions of inquiry around social change. The collection includes modes of storytelling and examples of knowledge gathering that are often excluded from academic texts in general and methodological texts in particular.
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Coop For Keeps
Another Story About Coop The Great
Larry Verstraete
This sequel to Coop the Great, again told in the voice of the aging and arthritic dachshund Coop, sees him grieving the loss of his dear companion Mike and feeling very lonely amid his new family – Jess, Mike’s daughter, is distracted by getting the family business going; Emma, Jess’s daughter, has eyes only for Lucy the cat; and Zach, Jess’s son, is dealing with bullies. Zach gradually befriends five crows and then Pete, the itinerant artist staying in their guest house, but where does that leave Coop?
