21st century kitsch: Cultural critic W. David Marx examines the state of our art in his book Blank Space
Marx argues that the 21st century has been typified not by artistic innovation or renovation, but by a capitalistic retrenchment.
Sixteen books that helped put 2025 in perspective
What our literary output offers is not a vision of perfectibility but an attempt to reckon with our world in all its contradiction, ambiguity, and fractiousness.
“A life of constant displacement”: Maggie Helwig compels readers to empathize with an unhoused community in her hear searing book Encampment
Helwig displays an almost preternatural empathy and a willingness to meet people where they are.
A new(ish) hard SF novel mixes questions of ontology and the nature of memory with Lovcraftian cosmic horror
There Is No Antimemetics Division is not technically a new book: it originated as an online serial for the SCP Foundation.
Sexual healing: Bloomberg investigative journalist Ellen Huet’s book chronicles the rise and fall of OneTaste, a centre for “orgasmic meditation”
Huet is hesitant to reduce OneTaste to the simple category of a cult, notwithstanding the use of that word in her subtitle.
Rivkah Books, Rebecca Eckler’s new imprint for Jewish authors, is a “cultural intervention” at an urgent time
"The timing of launching Rivkah is not a coincidence. It's the point."
Books behind bars: Book Clubs for Inmates features forty authors in December fundraising push
"Every author who's ever gone into an institution always comes out and tells me it's one of the most interesting groups they've ever spoken to."
“How brave can I be?”: Two books focus on the campaign of silencing directed toward pro-Palestinian voices in Canada
The ranks of Canadian protesters who have been punished for speaking out about the slaughter in Gaza are extensive.
Canadian children’s publisher hits back at Pete Hegseth’s use of Franklin the Turtle as jokey symbol of war
Kids Can was not the only source of anger over the post.
The march of time: In her third collection of poetry, katherena vermette considers our place as descendants and future ancestors
The combined slipperiness and multifaceted aspect of language is all over this volume.