The September/October issue of THIS Magazine should be on your local newsstand right about now. You must go and buy it. The editorial from new editor Emily Schultz is worth the price of admission. Pity poor Emily and her hair issues.

I had a great time on the streetcar this morning reading the letters to the editor, and marvelling at the conversation THIS inspires in Canada. There are still quite a number of people angry with former blogster Andrew Potter for his and Joseph Heath’s analysis of feminism a couple issues back. The four long letters of complaint—sorry Andrew, no compliments—make a wide range of claims about Potter and Heath’s scholarship and analytical abilities, and one concludes early “If there is any reason that would explain the women’s movement’s loss of momentum, it is that men like Joseph Heath and Andrew Potter are writing articles like ‘Feminism for sale.’” Since the last few letters pages have shown me the most intelligent and forceful defence of feminism I have seen from female writers in the popular media in years, I couldn’t agree less.

Our literary editor, Stuart Ross, continues to amaze me with his ability to pluck the best and weirdest from Canada’s lit-scene. Kingston surrealist Jason Heroux (whom I published in ink magazine so many years ago) gives us six exquisite poems and this gem from the subsequent interview:

“Life without poetry is like a large open wound without blood.”

There’s also a fantastically entertaining analysis of our favorite whipping province, Alberta from Iain Illich and a host of other writers, and a, well, stunning piece of investigative journalism by Alex Roslin, uncovering the disgusting practice of cargo sweeping in the Great Lakes. As someone who ordinarily enjoys the sight of a giant steamship going by on the Lake Ontario horizon, reading “Sweeping it Under” was like a blow to the gut. How is it possible this practice has been going on right under our noses? And why don’t our clearly defined laws on the subject put a stop to it?

In coming days, the issue will be loaded on the THIS website, but why wait? It’s a nice, sunny(ish) day across most of the country (sorry Vancouver). Take a little walk to the newsstand.