March 15, 2010
E-books may be efficient, but they have no sex appeal
In the documentary Helvetica, incensed graphic designer Michael Bierut hilariously critiques ads from old copies of Life Magazine. He attacks the verbosity and shrill insistence of early 1950s Coke ads prior to the introduction of Helvetica then flips admiringly to a minimalist ad set in the new font. Here again is a reminder of how design and material delivery can influence the content of a message.... [More >>]
March 11, 2010
Review: The 500 Years of Resistance Comic Book by Gord Hill
In The 500 Years of Resistance Comic Book, Vancouver-based writer Gord Hill blends his visual and literary talents to tell the story of aboriginal life since the arrival of Europeans in the Western Hemisphere in 1492. If the book’s title isn’t enough to tell you what perspective Hill, a member of the Kwakwaka’wakw nation, is taking, the names of the book’s three sections certainly will: Invasion,... [More >>]
February 24, 2010
Review: Dr. Bonnie Henry’s Soap and Water & Common Sense
As the world prepares for H1N1’s much-touted fall resurgence, Dr. Bonnie Henry’s approachable, non-technical guide to flu preparedness fails to deliver on its promise, offering neither protection nor peace of mind. Readers in search of preventative measures won’t find much insight beyond the obvious: wash your hands. True to her title, Dr. Henry, the director of Public Health Emergency Management... [More >>]
February 10, 2010
For artists embedded in Afghanistan, propaganda concerns linger
Sharon McKay in Afghanistan with the Canadian Forces Artist Program. Photo courtesy Sharon McKay. Young-adult novelist Sharon McKay has visited some rough parts of the world in search of material for her stories. When she was writing War Brothers, a book that follows five child soldiers through war-torn Uganda, she travelled to that country to interview kids on the ground. For an upcoming book about... [More >>]
January 29, 2010
Print media woes claim another victim: the obituary page
With the rise of paid death notices, the old-fashioned obit's days may be numbered. Photo by Graham F. Scott. Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Jobs’ conspicuously detailed death announcement, accidentally published by Bloomberg news service in 2008, revealed a little-known fact about the craft of writing obituaries: the blood doesn’t have to have gone cold before someone writes the first draft of... [More >>]
January 26, 2010
Review: This American Drive by Mike Holmes
A frame from Mike Holmes' new book, "This American Drive." Courtesy Invisible Publishing. When Mike Holmes passed through Toronto on his reading tour last fall, he warned the audience, “I’m a cartoonist, not an author.” Holmes is, in fact, both. His latest work, This American Drive, is not just a novel with pretty pictures. Weaving traditional storytelling and elements of the graphic... [More >>]
January 8, 2010
In the twilight of the independent bookstore, Chapters looms
The local indie bookstore is an endangered species, and the blue meanie, Indigo, is their predator Pages Books' bare shelves in its final days of business. Photo by Rick McGinnis. On a warm night in early September, several hundred people gathered at Toronto’s Gladstone Hotel to hold a wake for a bookstore. For 30 years, until its closing at the end of August, Pages Books, located in the heart... [More >>]
October 20, 2009
Two poems by Lillian Nećakov
Strolling on borrowed ankles Tapping stones together means you are not a couch potato memories are dividing themselves into other memories atoms of memory memory of atoms the yellow of beauty the groan of wood under your boots along the boardwalk echoing across the Thursday lake to where Andy can feel your heart unravelling like a giant spool miles away from your garage that once meant something to... [More >>]
October 14, 2009
Four Poems by Sandra Ridley
Paraffin & Palm Spilled Salt A bitter of angelica & artichoke with carbolic strengthens & pacifies her body. Or sixpence spent brings up a blood-sweat & blister pops by tonic & suction cups. She’s not bilious but swollen lymphatic. Cracked bone cage filled with paraffin & palm spilled salt. She’s undressed & under wraps — O spirewort! O collywobbles! A rapscallion... [More >>]
October 6, 2009
Book Review: Who’s Your Daddy? And Other Writings on Queer Parenting
Who's Your Daddy? And other writings on queer parenting, edited by Rachel Epstein The legalization of gay marriage in Canada has coincided with an era that might be dubbed the first “queer baby boom.” As such, this generation of queer parents and their children have been forced to adopt the ambivalent role of pioneers in a social space in which the model of the “traditional” nuclear family... [More >>]
