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November-December 2016

New collection of essays sheds light on LGBTQ health care in Canada

The Remedy uses first-person narratives to describe the country's state of queer and trans health care, making it accessible and informative

Emily Rivas@RivasEmily

The Remedy: Queer and Trans Voices on Health and Health Care Edited by Zena Sharman Arsenal Pulp Press, $18.95 Although Canada is often praised for its seemingly progressive health care system, it’s not perfect. This is particularly true for queer and trans people who are often mistreated by its antiquated process and mindset. The Remedy: Queer […] More »
September-October 2016

Canada’s local libraries must be digitized

While other countries work to digitize virtually all of their books and notable articles, Canada has barely scratched the surface

Michael Geist

For our special 50th anniversary issue, Canada’s brightest, boldest, and most rebellious thinkers, doers, and creators share their best big ideas. Through ideas macro and micro, radical and everyday, we present 50 essays, think pieces, and calls to action. Picture: plans for sustainable food systems, radical legislation, revolutionary health care, a greener planet, Indigenous self-government, […] More »
July-August 2016

Celebrating our Literary History, Week 2

In honour of our third annual Summer Reading Issue and our 50th Anniversary Year, we've dug into the archives to unearth some of our favourite fiction and poetry

This Magazine

Our July/August Third Annual Summer Reading Issue is on newsstands now! To celebrate our literary history in our 50th anniversary year, this summer we’re also re-publishing a bunch of archived poetry and fiction. This week, we present “Squirrel,” a poem from our former Literary Editor Chris Chambers, published in our 40th Anniversary Issue. Chris has […] More »
July-August 2016

Celebrating our literary history

First up from the archives: a March/April 2013 short story called "What the Belgian Wrote" by our brilliant books columnist Grace O'Connell

Grace O’Connell

Our July/August Third Annual Summer Reading Issue is on newsstands now! To celebrate our literary history in our 50th anniversary year, this summer we’re also re-publishing a bunch of archived poetry and fiction. First up, is “What the Belgian Wrote,” a March/April 2013 short story by our very talented books columnist Grace O’Connell. Grace also […] More »
March-April 2016

We could be heroes

Epic fantasy and sci-fi are today’s bestsellers and blockbusters. But in a world that can imagine magic and dragons, why is diversity so hard to find?

Nicole Abi-Najem@NajemNorth

I was maybe, what, eight years old? There I was, standing in my literal cave of a stinky basement—a carved-out hollow of dark, dank stone under my rickety old house—scrounging through books piled high into mountains of dust. I whipped out one book. The cover stood out: A woman with flowing ebony braids is striking […] More »

Patti Smith and Neil Young chat about music, trains and family

Sue Carter Flinn

If you enjoy seeing authors paraded around like show ponies, visit Book Expo America, the annual publishing tradeshow taking place this week at the Javits Center in New York City. Just as celebrity memoirs and how-to books dominate bestsellers lists, the longest lineups I saw at the show were not for big-name authors (and they’re […] More »
July-August 2011

Book review: Gillian Roberts’ Prizing Literature

Angelo MureddaWebsite@qwiggles

Literary prizes are often seen as either a barometer or an enforcer of national taste. Gillian Roberts’s Prizing Literature turns instead to how prizes like the Giller and Booker confer upon their Canadian recipients an unofficial certificate of citizenship. With clear prose and theoretical acumen, Roberts probes the vexed relationship between national culture and hospitality, […] More »

Book Review: Hal Niedzviecki’s Look Down, This is Where It Must Have Happened

Bardia Sinaee

In his new book, Look Down, This is Where It Must Have Happened, Hal Niedzviecki at times assumes the malaise of his characters seamlessly: “I’m a mortgage broker who works from his basement home office. I can find a lender suitable to your needs. A lot of people go to the bank. Don’t go to […] More »
September-October 2011

How Book Madam & Associates spun book-loving into an unlikely profession

Christina Palassio@mcpalassio

The words “book” and “fan” don’t really fit. Music and fan, sure. Sports and fan, you bet. But when it comes to books, you’re a reader or a lover, rarely a fan. Maybe it’s because fandom has little place in an industry infamous for its cynicism and curmudgeonly attitude, its scything insults and ivory tower. […] More »
July-August 2011

Book review: Six Metres of Pavement by Farzana Doctor

Niranjana IyerWebsite@NinaIyer

Ismail Boxwala’s Infant daughter died of heatstroke after he left her sleeping in the backseat of his car on a summer day. Twenty years later, Ismail has yet to forgive himself. His wife has long since divorced him and remarried, but Ismail has resolutely passed up any chance at happiness. He lives in the same […] More »

Book review: The Dirt Chronicles by Kristyn Dunnion

Jeremy BealWebsite

In The Dirt Chronicles, Kristyn Dunnion cooks up a dozen sad, pretty, lonely stories and shoots them into whatever unused vein she can find on her audience. It’s a surprising read from an LGBT underclass perspective that starts with coming-of-age stories, wades into the most convoluted of gender politics, and builds into a crescendo of […] More »