David C.C. Burgeois’s debut novel, about an indenture with ties to William Shakespeare, is a stylistic mashup that may suffer from too many notes
The core of the novel has a propulsion and a dramatic weight that works in its favour.
Sex, religion, and family collide in Liz Harmer’s sublime second novel, Strange Loops
If there is a God hovering over Harmer's narrative, it is of the Old Testament variety.
The way a child hides: hope, humility, and forgiveness underpin the new collection of poetry from Kate Cayley
As a poet, Cayley is particularly good at juxtaposition often manifested as subtle or not-so-subtle shifts in tone and tenor.
31 Days of Stories 2023, Day 26: “Perfect Places” by Casey Plett
Plett is not content to let her story act as a didactic tale about cis intolerance.
Hell on Earth: John Vaillant’s Fire Weather is a sobering, terrifying, and infuriating look at how humans have created the conditions for our own extinction
In describing fire – its properties and its behaviour – Vaillant is at his most enthralling.
31 Days of Stories 2023, Day 22: “Snowblower” by Michelle Porter
Porter's story is as significant for what it leaves out as for what it includes.
31 Days of Stories 2023, Day 20: “Expecting” by Steven Heighton
Imagery involving implicit threat is threaded throughout the story.
31 Days of Stories 2023, Day 17: “Doi Moi Beans” by Philip Huynh
"Doi Moi Beans" is a story about exploitation; not the obvious kind, but the subtle version.
31 Days of Stories 2023, Day 15: “Willing” by Premee Mohamed
The story operates in the subgenre that has typically become known as folk horror.
31 Days of Stories 2023, Day 14: “Amberine” by Camille Hernández-Ramdwar
Camille Hernández-Ramdwar's story addresses the nuances involved in the anti-vax movement via the eponymous character.