Yes, I am that person who has a WWJJD magnet on the fridge: What Would Jane Jacobs Do? So of course, when I learned of Susan Hughes’ new illustrated children’s book about Jacobs, Walking in the City (Illus. Valérie Boivin, 2018), I sought out a copy. The bulk of
Groff, Huebert, Moore, Smith and Thien Short Stories in July, August and September Whether in a dedicated collection or a magazine, these stories capture a variety of reading moods. Over the summer, I've chatted about some of these at length. In particular, Madeleine Thien's
I heard Madeleine Thien read from this collection in 2001 in a small library theatre in London, Ontario; I recall that she was very gracious and spoke of being honoured to appear with the other women who were reading that night. (I heard Joan Barfoot, Bonnie Burnard and Jane
One remarkable feature of Lisa Moore’s short story writing is her versatility. Sometimes her vocabulary is elevated (consider: koan, ferric, sculpin, recalcitrant, scabrous, and histrionic). Sometimes her subject matter is banal. With characters chewing their fish and chips on Signal Hill with their mouths full. (“Skywalk”, the final work
It’s fitting that a story which includes the visionary figure of Buckminster Fuller is rooted in possibility rather than history: “It is not intended to follow the precise history of what was, but rather to imagine a story that might have been.” This note precedes the novel and sets
