Future (un)certain: An unconventional POV undercuts the emotional force in Jean-Phillippe Baril Guérard’s You Crushed It
Guérard's novel gives the impression that the author is impatient with traditional narrative forms.
All the world a stage: The roles we play in our daily lives are examined in Katie Kitamura’s enigmatic Audition
In Audition we are presented with two essentially incompatible versions of the same woman
“Mondays are bait days”: The harsh landscape of Chris Bailey’s rigorously unsentimental second collection
In Bailey's case, his subject is virtually inexhaustible, because the setting is inexhaustible.
“Anyhow, he gives large parties”: On the centenary of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby
In Gatsby, we find the apotheosis of Fitzgerald's novelistic voice.
And then there were none: Griffin Poetry Prize unveils a five-book shortlist devoid of Canadians
If deep-pocketed institutions and organizations – and prizes – in this country aren't doing enough to support and elevate Canadian poetry, then it's up to the rest of us.
Continental drift: Rob Goodman’s Not Here, written before Trump 2.0, provides glimpses of Canada’s resilience
That democratic erosion, well underway when Goodman published his book in summer 2023, has only accelerated under a second Trump administration.
David Stones, Stratford, Ontario’s first poet laureate, has plans to bring poetry to the people
"The poet laureate role to me is to bring poetry to the people and the people to poetry."
“I authentically admire his legacy”: Sash Bischoff on how F. Scott Fitzgerald influenced her debut novel, Sweet Fury
"I sort of lucked into the idea that Fitzgerald should be a part of this book."
Horrible landlords and abrasive seas: The sombre and fleetingly optimistic vision of Karen Solie’s Wellwater
If there is any obvious hope to be found in the sombre and desolate poems on offer in this collection, it is in the perseverance of nature in the face of violence and peril.
Gothic tropes and lush language characterize A Song for Wildcats, the debut story collection from Caitlin Galway
Galway's rich feel for language and her ability to inhabit a wide range of characters and milieus is impressive.