Donal Power thinks the most beautiful word in the English language is the onomatopoeia “susurrus,” as in “Susurrus like a breeze through the trees,” he says. Power has 100-point font prints of his favourite poems on his bedroom walls. He likes statements phrased as questions? His sentences end in punch lines. His eyebrows dance up […]
Literary
Posted inArts + Music
Come see Invisible Publishing
“Get low, twerk, shake with Invisible Publishing”—Saturday night lands a big party kiss on the Khyber with the launch of Invisible’s spring catalogue and tour, the end of Atlantic Book Week and Montreal author Ian Orti’s launch of L (and things come apart). Orti will be reading at 8pm, then it’ll be time to twerk […]
Posted inArts + Music
Lean-To
Home is provisional, as Gunvaldsen Klaassen shows in her third collection. We’re all making do with what we’ve got and rigging up what’s on hand, only to tear it all down and start over. The poet and her family rove to and from campsites, hospital sites and construction sites. Each place generates a kind of […]
Posted inArts + Music
The Authenticity Hoax
Rebel Sell author Andrew Potter calls bullshit on the whole concept of authenticity with his latest book, slaughtering many of the most popular sacred cows of the self-righteous in the process. But Potter is a most genial killer, and even those who find themselves among his targets should enjoy engaging with him. Calling on the […]
Posted inArts + Music
L (and things fall apart)
Before you enter Henry’s world, know that it doesn’t spin on the same axis. When we first meet him, Henry’s being humiliated by his philandering wife at their dinner party. Henry finds solace in his unnamed cafe, inherited from his father, his few regular customers (just as odd as him) and his tenant L, who […]
Posted inArts + Music
Book smarts
Meet Anna Quon, Ryan Turner and Zach Wells—three local writers whose work should slide its way onto your bookshelves soon, if it hasn’t already. Quon, born in Halifax and raised in Dartmouth, writes and facilitates writing workshops, mostly for people with disabilities. Her first novel, Migration Songs, published just last year, was nominated for the […]
Posted inArts + Music
A fresh page
Jenner-Brooke Berger took a creative writing class “on a whim” a couple years ago through Dalhousie’s creative writing program, and while garnering attention as a runner-up in The Coast’s postcard fiction contest and writing for its Holiday Fiction issue, she started working for Invisible Publishing and created a reading series out of her house. Ben […]
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Meet CoastReads, our new Twitter book club
Hey lit nerds, tired of book clubs that fall apart after one meeting, or make you feel crappy for not finishing that 700-page doorstop? Not us. Our Twitter book club, twitter.com/CoastReads, encourages lazy couches, snacks and great books. For this first round we’ll vote on a book from this list of award-nominated Atlantic Canadian books […]
Posted inArts + Music
Bicycle Diaries
A book about bicycling from musician David Byrne (of The Talking Heads) sounded like a perfect match. Looking at biking through a handful of different cities from Byrne’s home of New York to Manila to Istanbul, the book’s premise is great, but the actual bicycling content is minimal. Byrne starts each chapter, organized by city, […]
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Grow Organic: A Simple Guide to Nova Scotia Gardening
Cookbooks and gardening guides shouldn’t make you feel like a useless toad, or make you wish you lived in another city. But Peirce’s Grow Organic: A Simple Guide to Nova Scotia Vegetable Gardening is a boost of confidence, even if you’ve only ever grown mould. Peirce doesn’t expect that you know a till from a […]
Posted inArts + Music
Harbour View
At a Halifax nursing home overlooking the water, the lives of residents and staff come in constant contact, physical and emotional. In such a setting, the present should do more than trigger excursions into the past. Whether staff or resident, these characters are stuck in the past, particularly the mythologized aspects of this province’s history: […]
Posted inArts + Music
Sub Rosa
With a sharp pen, fierce intellect and ferocious take on sex, sex work and sexuality, Amber Dawn’s first novel Sub Rosa is a page-turner. Some books take on humanity, others merely relay a story. Dawn’s Sub Rosa does both and is explosive. With a brashness akin to Michelle Tea, Dawn explores sexuality, sensuality and subtlety. […]
