Finding the Form with Megan Beadle

I can’t take credit for the idea of a full moon party on a wildflower farm where ladies from the Barrie area go to let loose. In fact, I stole the inspiration from my own generous mother. This fact adds further commentary to this story about the nature of motherhood, but I’ll let you decide […]

The Root Cellars of Elliston: An Interview Between Poet Richard Brait and Consulting Editor Barbara Carter

Barb Carter, Consulting Editor, in conversation with Richard Brait on his poem “The Root Cellars of Elliston,” the runner-up of The Nick Blatchford Occasional Verse Contest for 2024. The poem will appear in the upcoming Issue 172 of The New Quarterly. Barb: What prompted your visit to Elliston, Trinity Bay, “The Root Cellar Capital of […]

What’s Trish Sissons Reading?

This summer, I’m trying to embrace a ‘do it for the plot’ mentality. I’ve always been a fan of doing things on a lark, but this summer it feels important and urgent that everything be mad and seasonally specific. Notably, that has led me to crash a near-stranger’s birthday party, suit up for a 50 […]

What’s Adrian Markle Reading?

I teach a lot of short fiction, and I like to challenge myself to keep the content as contemporary as possible, so I’m always reading litmags from around the world. A high number of those are from Canada, since the quality is reliably high, and because it helps me feel connected to my home country. […]

Launched: Widow Fantasies by Hollay Ghadery

Hollay Ghadery is a multi-genre writer living in Ontario on Anishinaabe land. Fuse, her memoir of mixed-race identity and mental health, was released by Guernica Editions in 2021 and won the 2023 Canadian Bookclub Award for Nonfiction/Memoir. Her collection of poetry, Rebellion Box was released by Radiant Press in 2023, and her collection of short […]

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Finding the Form with Nikita Eaton-Luisgnan

I think it was February 2021, deep into the pandemic, and I had to write something for my fiction workshop. I was living in Parc Extension then, and the dépanneur nearby didn’t have a great beer selection, so every time I’d brave the cold to do groceries, I’d pick up a craft beer for myself […]

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Finding the Form with Jean Van Loon

Awake one moonlit night in winter 2022, I wandered through the house, peering from various windows, rejoicing in silence and solitude. I scribbled some notes, wanting to capture the mood. Turning the notes into a poem, I began with tercets, a form I find flexible but also tight enough to compel me to be concise. […]

Adrian Markle’s Writing Space

I’m bad at working from home. I waste a lot of time. I find it hard to get myself into a “work” headspace in a place where most of the time I’m doing “rest.” It’s not that I produce nothing at all, just that the percentage of the day I actually spend writing is smaller […]

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Finding the Form with Trish Sissons

Pilots are good for lots of things. They excel at getting you from A to B, throwing good parties, and telling even better stories. I grew up in a remote community on the west coast where healthcare and diverse career options are hard to come by. My dad was a bush pilot in the area […]

What’s Marilyn Bowering Reading?

I have been re-visiting poets, re-reading fiction by the late Rachel Wyatt, and slowly absorbing Thunderclap: A memoir of art and life & sudden death (Chatto & Windus) by Laura Cumming. Mona Fertig’s new book of poetry, Islander (Mother Tongue Publishing), is her first for many years. It is gentle, healing work, the poems plain […]

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