Literary links from around the web: A new director for Quill & Quire, an actual writer defending a Canada Reads title, and more
I have come down with Covid. New posts will resume once I'm feeling a bit better.
Valérie Bah and Kama La Mackerel “creolize” language in a story collection that examines the interstices between its characters and their identities
The individual entries are linked by characters that drift in and out among them.
Signs of the times: Two recent books examine challenges and successes facing mainstream print media
Collision of Power addresses recent U.S. history, beginning roughly where The Times leaves off.
The best of times, the worst of times: In a market that is over-saturated, discovering new or different books is more challenging than ever
If there is a wish for the coming year, it is that a few more readers might be willing to take a few more chances.
Books of the Year: 2023 in reading
These are books that made an impression on me.
Transition and stasis operate in tension throughout Anuja Varghese’s debut short fiction collection
Regardless of the narrative mode Verghese chooses, her thematic focus remains relatively constant.
Hardboiled, with heart: two tough-guy crime novels add a social conscience to the violence and mayhem
Sam Wiebe and S.A. Cosby are among the leading practitioners of a new strain of noir fiction.
PEN America’s survey of two years’ worth of data finds book bans at schools and libraries increasing rapidly
American-style book bans are not unheard of in Canada.
Prize ceremony for author Masha Gessen postponed due to controversy over comments in magazine article
Gessen is not the only public figure to come in from opprobrium as a result of comments on the ongoing conflict deemed controversial.
Jim Gifford remembers late editor and teacher Don Bastian
Don would work with hundreds of authors over his career, including a Governor General's Literary Award winner and a City of Toronto Book Award winner.