Although the Journey Prize is now synonymous with the idea of quality short fiction in Canada, not everyone realizes that the prize was established out of James Michener's donation of his royalty earnings from his 1988 novel Journey. Michener's novel was set partly in northwestern Canada, but the stories in
Reading Hellgoing makes me wonder about Lynn Coady's personal relationships. Not for the obvious reasons that other readers might identify, stories like "Body Condom" and "Play the Monster Blind". But because I imagine that in order to write a short story, she disappears for a spell. I imagine she crawls
"But you better not cross him or he’ll skin you alive....Like he does with his other stuff." 1994; Penguin, 2007 Liza's father warned her about Ladner, who made his living as a taxidermist, working for museums. It wasn't meant to be taken seriously. Indeed, after that, Liza and
What sets Ayelet Tsabari's collection apart is the ever-present sense of motion in the stories, even when the characters themselves are struggling with a sense of inertia. Harper Collins, 2013 I know, I know: that sounds impossible. But even when the characters appear to be stagnant in some
Sometimes the longest story in a collection has the allure of a key; I want to read it first because I believe that it, like the title story, will contain helpful hints to understanding other stories therein. Freehand Books, 2008 (Sometimes the longest story is also the title
