The Frenchy’s bin overflowed with plushy Santas and reindeer, glittery balls and bows, and—as Gray dug deeper—gold! A green plastic pickle covered with sparklies, so ugly-ass it was fire. It had Ty all over it; she’d have slipped it into her pocket if cash lady hadn’t been looking. She moved to a bin of socks […]
Literary
Posted inArts + Music
Five local must-reads
King Baby by Kate Beaton (Scholastic) The second children’s book from acclaimed Cape Breton cartoonist Kate Beaton is narrated by an egg-shaped baby who relegates demands with an overlord’s authority and facial expressions equally diabolical and cute. Featuring high repeat readability, this colourful, snappy tale will resonate with anyone who is, loves or has been […]
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How to be in 2017
Lately, I have found myself thinking about the big questions of life as though they were book titles. Specifically, as we head into a new year filled with both hope and uncertainty, I find myself thinking of Sheila Heti’s novel How Should a Person Be?. How should a person be in 2017? Let’s face it: […]
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Review: Snapback Volume 1: Fuseki
Go is a war-like strategy game popular in Korea and China played with black and white stones on a 19×19 grid—it is not Chinese checkers. The game is at the heart of Christian DeWolf’s Snapback Volume 1: Fuseki, along with Felix and his gang of Go fanatic friends at their Annapolis Valley High School. Shortly, […]
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Pop culture with Two Brown Girls
Stranger Things panel Friday, November 18, 7pm Art Bar + Projects, 1873 Granville Street pwyc DONATE HERE: https://www.generosity.com/community-fundraising/help-bring-two-brown-girls-to-halifax Shaya Ishaq and Isabelle Ofume are determined to make space for voices like theirs in Halifax. Since May, the university students have been organizing an event that they believe will do just that. Ishaq and Ofume are […]
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How to be a feminist killjoy
Notes from a Feminist Killjoy book launch Monday, November 14, 6:30pm Art Bar + Projects, 1873 Granville Street free When Erin Wunker presented a paper on rape culture at a Brock University panel in 2014, she was thinking about all the usual things: Calming her nerves, fine-tuning her speech, remembering key points. As she prepared, […]
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Guyleigh Johnson asks readers to Expect the Unexpected
Expect the Unexpected book launch & meet and greet Thursday, November 10, 6:30pm Dartmouth North Community Centre 105 Highfield Park Drive Guyleigh Johnson has penned poems about some tough subjects, including death and abortion. The Dartmouth-based poet sees writing as a path to dealing with challenging issues in a healthy way. “We all need outlets. We all […]
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A witchy chat with author Ami McKay
Ami McKay’s new book, The Witches of New York, is the spinoff of her 2011 novel The Virgin Cure. Moth, the lead character from Cure, goes by the name of Adelaide Thom in this story. Thom runs a tea shop with her friend—a witch named Eleanor St. Clair—that serves as a front for potions and […]
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Rocky Jones’ revolutionary words
“So there I am. It’s 1965. I guess I had always had a rebellious streak, from resisting being baptized as a teenager, to my short career in the army, and my life on the edges in Toronto. Conforming was never a characteristic of mine. Now I had the chance to turn that tendency into something […]
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Salvage, Stephen Maher’s South Shore murder mystery
When Stephen Maher was living in Halifax in 2003, he was perhaps best known to the public as an editor at the Chronicle Herald. But outside of work, Maher had another passion—sailing. In 2003, he bought his second sailboat: a battered fibreglass 1982 Tanzer, which briefly lived in Chester on the South Shore, and eventually […]
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The journey of a bad singer
Tim Falconer had always recognized his inability to sing on key, but that didn’t trump his love for music. A few years ago, Falconer decided to pursue a dream to train his vocal chords. After his second voice lesson, Falconer got some testing done, and was diagnosed with congential amusia— discovering he is part of […]
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Christy Ann Conlin makes a spirited return with The Memento
“It’s hard to believe this author is just beginning,” wrote Michelle Berry in her four-star review of Heave, the debut novel by Christy Ann Conlin, in the Globe and Mail. “I can’t wait to see what she accomplishes next.” Publish date: January 26, 2002. Fourteen years, a move from the north end to the Annapolis […]