Literary

The only book in which you’ll find composite images of Betty Crocker next to a definition of “crotch.” Jezebel, a self-identified “ladyblog” is easily the most popular and accessible (young) women’s general interest website online. While web content is driven mainly by pop culture, news and hilarious and/or thought-provoking personal essays through a feminist lens, […]

This mighty book is much like a festival in many ways: it throws in a dash of the unexpected—unruly, unlikeable yet endearing characters, life-changing musical interludes and conversations—and it ends much too quickly. In just over 150 pages, this novella follows the fictional Campbell Ouinette, “maverick” manager of odd musical acts who made the move […]

This little gem of a book is, in the way that only Mexican, Central and South American literature can be, as dark and gritty as it is poetic; as fanciful as it is starkly realist. Using the deck of the Mexican Bingo-style card game, Lotería, as its visual and contextual muse, a family saga is […]

“We are widows. We are mothers. Above all, we are the women of our beautiful country, and we will endure.” This book, before you even open it, is amazing for two reasons. It heralds dual return of Newfoundland’s completely overlooked wordsmith Nicole Lundrigan, and phoenix publishing house Douglas and McIntyre. The story, ultimately about endurance […]

The Wisdom of Psychopaths is an intriguing non-fiction book that promises to reveal “what saints, spies and serial killers can teach us about success.” The scientific content was well-researched and detailed, as Dutton, a research psychologist at the University of Oxford, delves into both contemporary and historical studies. His search for psychopaths isn’t limited to […]

“Even now, I feel like I’m speaking in a bit of a hushed tone,” Veronica Simmonds murmurs from inside her wooden cubbyhole. Tucked away in the Spring Garden Road Memorial Public Library’s stacks, the booth is where Simmonds has been talking with patrons, recording their memories of the soon-to-be-vacated building. Despite all the chatter, so […]

In this, Weir’s 11th collection of poetry, the Massachusetts-based poet refracts a multitude of selves along the cracked surfaces of 41 loose sonnets. By using a mathematical sketch by Fernando Pessoa (a Portuguese poet well-known for his many, many heteronyms) along with the caption “by the longest possible route” as an epigraph, Weir prepares the […]

Once in a while a book comes along that one doesn’t believe was written, but instead emerged, fully formed, from the earth itself. The Orenda is a stunning example of the most organic of stories, its pages stitched from the flesh and the bloody ink of our ancestors, European and First Nations alike. Told from […]

My vote for oddest literary fiction of the year goes to the story of Jacob, an orthodox Jewish street peddler from 18th-century France, who becomes ill, dies and is reincarnated as a housefly in modern-day Long Island. As a fly, he quickly realizes he can read the minds and desires of the odd strangers he’s […]

This minimalist novella from the iconic Cary Fagan demonstrates the author’s talent for making every word count. Like a poet, he curates white space, the silences between words, every fleck of punctuation. The story follows Benjamin, a young Jewish boy growing up in Depression-era Toronto, through a transformative life event: he discovers magic and love […]

The work of New Brunswick poet Danny Jacobs is compulsive. It blends beautifully a kind of academic ascendancy with an overpopulated, everyday existence. His first book is ripe with intensely lyrical pieces about malls, call centres, houseflies and…the Higgs boson. Whether mundane or elaborate, Jacobs treats his subjects with great concentration. His description is gobsmacking, […]

In the same breath, Iris Smyles describes herself as “possessed by literature to the point of total incompetence” and one who “pinks out” when she drinks too much, because she’s a girl, and that sounds more appropriate. Smyles is the author of this book, but she’s also a fictionalized character. A 20-something living in New […]