A Coffin full of Books
Bohumil Hrabal’s ninety-eight page novel Too Loud a Solitude opens with the following two sentences: “For thirty-five years now I’ve been in wastepaper, and it’s my love story. For thirty-five years I’ve been compacting wastepaper and books…”
Content note: brief mention of past domestic violence.
"Fun fact. Ready?” Pauline leans forward and the elbows in her worn Carhartt jacket stretch tight.
My leg’s bouncing. We’ve been getting on, me and Pauline, so I say of course I’m ready. Shoot.
“More bees than men have gone to outer space.” She watches my face.
Content note: mild violence, strong undercurrent of violence
They agreed that birthdays were ridiculous once you got past thirteen. Ditto Christmas. Instead, they developed a system of generalized reciprocity — a two-person Kula Ring, Amelia called it — swapping gifts only on holidays like Shrove Tuesday or St. Patrick’s Day.
"Water" by Noah Sparrow
You and your boyfriend Ethan are having dinner tonight at your place and tonight you’ve got a serious talk planned. It’s your first real relationship, so you’re a little nervous — but everything will be fine! Probably, at least.
Simple Power: Representation and Resilience in Denison Avenue
Denison Avenue, Christina Wong and Daniel Innes. ECW Press, 2023.
“Lay mang mang, ah See Heeei,” Mrs. Wong’s voice rang out. (Take your time.)
Love and Demons thom vernon's review of Pervatory by RM Vaughan. Coach House Books, 2023.
In Pervatory, the posthumously published last novel by the spectacularly talented RM Vaughan (Richard Murray Vaughan), the iconic queer multi-hyphenate (think novelist, poet, filmmaker, critic, essayist, playwright, and visual artist — squirrel saloons made of pizza...
Editorial Assistant Jamie Kitt's Interview with Clea Young whose story "In Loco Parentis" was published in Issue 299 (Spring 2024)
— Clea Young’s stories have appeared in three volumes of The Journey Prize Stories, and she has twice been shortlisted for the award. Her first collection, Teardown, was published in 2016 with Freehand Books. Her second collection, Welcome to the Neighbourhood, is forthcoming with House of Anansi Press in 2025.
Listening: Explosions in the Sky – The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place
Reading: Becky Chambers – A Psalm for the Wild-Built
There isn't enough Jim Harrison in this world. One of the few truly original writers of the last 20 years, he belongs to no school, and sits in a category and style uniquely his own. While he is sometimes compared, favourably and unfavourably, to Ernest Hemingway because they both write about Michigan and, sometimes, fishing, the comparison makes as much sense as linking Hemingway with Cervantes because they both write about Spain.
Steven Heighton's Instructions for the Drowning (Biblioasis) and The Oceanic Society Field Guide to the Gray Whale (Sasquatch Books)
