Online Exclusives
An Interview with Anne Marie Todkill
Kim Jernigan in conversation with Anne Marie Todkill, whose poem “Afterbirth” was the hands-down winner of the 2020 Nick Blatchford Occasional Verse Contest “Afterbirth” is a joyful, near-perfect poem occasioned by the birth of a grandchild whose “nuchal hand”—a hand held beside the cheek or neck—makes the delivery “a little dangerous.” The poem turns on […]
What is Kelsey Andrews Reading?
I’ve read many books lately that I’ve loved, but I’ll mention two here. One is the end of me by John Gould. A collection of very short fiction (“sudden stories” – great term!) each dealing in a different way with the question of mortality. It’s a funny and uplifting book despite the serious theme. There […]
What is John O’Neill Reading?
I always feel as though I’m not reading enough, particularly during this pandemic, during which I’ve found it (apparently not a unique phenomenon) difficult to concentrate. When I do pick up a book (I read mostly fiction these days) even that simple act is fraught – should I choose a new book, a new author, […]
Finding the Form with Sue Goldswain
“The Getaway” began as a chapter in my novel, White Lies, that I removed in one of the later drafts as it seemed like an indulgence, and not pertinent to the central story. Once I started working on it as short fiction, it developed a life of its own, with completely different characters and settings. […]
Finding the Form with Wendy Donawa
The window at my desk overlooks the blue slump of the Sooke hills; beyond, the Salish Sea surges around Vancouver Island’s south coast. I write my poems here, in a small condo angled toward sea and sky, on the traditional territory of the Lekwungen (Songhees and Esquimalt) peoples. “Eye of God” was finished and submitted […]
Finding the Form with Aris Keshav
This poem sprung into my head nearly fully formed while I was mowing the lawn in September 2018. I had been reading poetry all summer, marinating myself in words until I was “drunk on poetry”— my favourite feeling. Once I’ve read myself to that point, my thoughts, experiences, and sensations form themselves into phrases that […]
Finding the Form with Kelsey Andrews
“Light Touches” started with a prompt. I love writing to prompts because, first of all, it lessens the terrible white-page fear of “what am I going to write?”. Second, I’m often surprised by how prompted pieces curl around to become about something different, how they surprise me. The prompt was from Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down […]
What is Carolyn Veldstra Reading?
What I’m Reading: How to Pronounce Knife by Souvankham Thammavongsa This was one of the first books I bought when local bookstores reopened to in-person browsing in June. Despite the masks that caused our glasses to fog with every breath, the hand sanitizer foot pump at the door, and the request that we limit our […]
Finding the Form with John O’Neill
Usually, it’s some image that starts me writing a story. In the case of Paisley Black, Last Will and So Forth, it was the image of someone crying on a streetcar. Once I’m intrigued by some simple premise like this, the story becomes a series of questions that require narrative answers: okay – crying person […]
What is Sue Goldswain Reading?
One of my favourite reads this summer is Hannah Kent’s ‘Burial Rites’, 2013 – an historical novel, set amidst the sagas of 1820’s Iceland. A grim tale about a young woman condemned to execution for her ‘supposed’ participation in the murder of her lover, yet despite the subject matter, a gripping read. A compassionate exploration […]