I am drawn to music with lyrics in languages I don’t understand, which allows me to hear, unmediated by meaning, the emotional synthesis and counterpoint of sound. Two of my favorites are Trio Mediaeval from Norway, and Mariza from Portugal. Isn’t our work as writers similar? We choose our words, not just for meaning, but for what their sounds make us feel.
Every Cripple a Superhero by Christoph Keller is a great example of a hybrid memoir. There are photos, poems, flash prose, cultural criticism, and a Kafka-esque surrealist short story interspersed throughout the book. An earlier and slightly different version of the manuscript was first published in German in 2020.
The Fiddlehead is pleased to announce the finalists of our 2024 Ralph Gustafson Poetry Contest, judged by D. M. Bradford, Colleen Coco Collins, and Meghan Kemp-Gee! The winner of the $2000 contest prize will be announced in April 2024 and the winning poem will appear in the Spring 2025 issue (304). Thank you to all who entered and congratulations to the following fifteen finalists!
Editorial Assistant Yogesh Tak's Interview with 2024 Fiction Prize Winner Luanne Gauvreau whose story "Roses for Bodies" was published in Issue 302 (Winter 2025)
Photo credit: Michel Dupuis
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I moved to Kelowna three years ago. I was coming from the rainforest. The Okanagan landscape seemed parched and barren. I was suspicious of the constant sunshine. I mourned the loss of my velvet forests full of ancient red cedars and Douglas firs, and set about trying to find a way to love this new land.
