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Tanis MacDonald lives in Waterloo, Ontario, and is curious. She is most recently the author of Mobile (Book*hug 2019). Tanis MacDonald's poetry has appeared in several issues of The Fiddlehead over the years. Most recently, her poem Other Fish was published in our sold out autumn issue No. 285. 

Kevin Shaw is a poet and essayist living in Ottawa. He’s the author of a poetry collection, Smaller Hours (icehouse), and his poems and nonfiction have appeared in The Malahat Review, Arc, CV2, PRISM international, Event, and The Best Canadian Essays 2018. Two of Shaw's poems appeared in the summer poetry issue of The Fiddlehead. 

Editorial Assistant Taidgh Lynch recently spoke to Naoko Kumagai about her short-fiction piece Karafuto, which was published in The Fiddlehead No. 285 (Autumn 2020). Kumagai has been published in Room magazine, Ricepaper magazine, and Event, and was also longlisted for the CBC non-fiction prize. She lives in Toronto

The Fiddlehead is excited to announce our 2020 Fiction Contest shortlist, judged by Shashi Bhat. The winner of the $2000 contest prize will be announced in early January 2021 and the winning story will be featured in the Winter 2021 issue. Thank you to all who entered and congratulations to the following fifteen finalists!

We're so excited to announce the launch of Arrivals and Departures: Objects | Food | Memories, the second in the Arrivals & Departures chapbook series! Arrivals and Departures emerges from two Fiddlehead-sponsored "Writing for Newcomers" workshops. The Fredericton workshop, Eat, Drink, Write, took place at the Multicultural Centre on November 2, 2019, and was facilitated by Salar Ghatta. The Halifax workshop, Arrivals and Departures: Objects, Memories and Transitions, was at Pier 21, the Canadian Museum of Immigration, on August 2, 2019. It was facilitated by Anthazia Kadir.

Click Read More to see what Jessica Johns is reading and listening to!

Jessica is a Nehiyaw-English-Irish aunty and member of Sucker Creek First Nation in Treaty 8 territory in Northern Alberta. She is the Managing Editor for Room Magazine and a co-organizer of the Indigenous Brilliance reading series.

Gary Barwin is a writer and multidisciplinary artist and the author of twenty-four books including A Cemetery for Holes, with Tom Prime and For It is a Pleasure and a Surprise to Breathe: New and Selected Poems, ed. Alessandro Porco. A new novel, Nothing the Same, Everything Haunted: The Ballad of Motl the Cowboy will appear in 2021. Five of Barwin's poems can be found in The Fiddlehead Summer Poetry Issue 284. 

Click read more to see which books Barwin recommends!

The Fiddlehead mourns the loss of Richard (RM) Vaughan and are grateful for his words, which we’ve been privileged to publish over the years. We’re thinking of the way in which both his words and his person helped pave the way for other queer writers. In tribute, we share this excerpt from “Mr. Love Ruined My Life,” from our 2020 summer issue. We hope this brings some light to his friends and family.

A memorial fund has been set up at UNB if you wish to make a donation.

Mary Gilliland hails from the northeast United States. Her poetry has also appeared in such publications as AGNI, Hotel Amerika, Notre Dame Review, Poetry, Stand, Vallum, and in Nuclear Impact: Broken Atoms In Our Hands. Her award-winning The Ruined Walled Castle Garden will be out in 2020 from Bright Hill Press. Two of Mary's poems will be featured in the soon to be published Autumn issue 285 of The Fiddlehead. Subscribe now for your copy! 

Editorial Assistant Joel St. Peters recently connected with poet John Barton to discuss his poetry, the AIDS crisis, and the victimization of the queer community. 

John Barton is the current Poet Laureate of Victoria. He has published eleven books of poetry and nine chapbooks. His most recent collection of poetry—a book of sonnets entitled Lost Family: A Memoir—has just been published, his first in six years. Three pieces from this new collection, “Bathhouse Raids, Toronto, 1981,” “HIV: A History,” and “Coda for the Victims,” were featured in The Fiddlehead’s Summer 2020 issue.