The rules would save them, of that he was certain. Sixty percent certain, anyway. Parthi dipped a wooden spoon in the pot simmering on the stove. Nadia had asked for Indian, and though it wasn’t his favourite food—the smells reminded him of glittery childhood festivals—he wanted to please her. As he stood stirring the masoor […] More »

You can’t draw your knife against the future, argue with a window that hasn’t shut, carve fault lines through a saint’s faint heart or stop walls with a can of paint. Tracing the outline of Catharina’s tired rim on the moon, you know colliding with a galaxy, a leaf, a feud will break the sea […] More »

1. On a mountain road deep in the Indian jungle, a pair of tree trunks blocks the passage of a jeep. Inside, a wary driver and a terrified cameraman, both town dwellers hired by a local non-governmental organization to ferry us into the district of Kandhamal—the Kashmir of southern India, for its verdant highlands swathed […] More »

Darby called me from the police station early in the morning. Her voice sounded tiny like a bird when she said Daddy I need you to come get me. Any father can tell you the way that feels when your child is in trouble and your blood gets hot. They say in emergency situations the […] More »

Layer Freakbird crammed with debeaked broilers into a battery cage 24/7 above a conveyer belt running eggs & shit out of sight. Transgenic mutant, all our sci-fi fantasies of star voyages, extraterrestrial traffic & galactic superpowers are reduced to you, hormone-pumped, gene-spliced producer of engineered food – ovoid fodder fried in greasy spoon diners sunny-side […] More »

“State controlled paprika.” I’m having a sarcastic moment with a tin, the colour of robin’s egg blue. I’m enamoured with this rectangular container, its edges rounded, its paint worn and its body slightly dented. I clutch the tin and feel something unexplainable. Under its smooth folk art exterior, outside of its practicality, and under its […] More »

Kate liked to flirt with the letter carrier even though she suspected he was gay. She appreciated a challenge, craved variety. His portly build and short stature reminded her of Al Waxman from King of Kensington, only the new mailman was terminally shy. His trim beard and baby face conjured Maher Arar’s chubby younger brother. […] More »

Creative nonfiction is tricky stuff, but after more than a week of hard work, our three online workshoppers are ready to show you their writing chops. Check out their before-and-after excerpts—complete with blurbs explaining their workshop goal—below to see how just a little can change a whole lot. Stuck on your own piece? Feel free […] More »

This year, This Magazine added a new category to its annual Great Canadian Literary Hunt: creative non-fiction. So what, exactly, is that? This intern Kyle Dupont sat down with editor Lauren McKeon to talk about the new category, what makes creative non-fiction great, and why we want more of it in This Magazine. Also, don’t […] More »

As part of this year’s annual Great Canadian Literary Hunt, This Magazine is running a series of online (free!) workshops. First up is creative non-fiction. The theme of this workshop is: how to nail the “I” voice. Writing in first-person, and doing it well, is one tricky feat. Whether you need mega or minor advice, […] More »

Billie Livingston, award winning Canadian author and poet, is set to release her latest novel, One Good Hustle, which follows the life of Sammie Bell—a young woman who fears she may spend her life as a hustler, like her parents. Livingston has lived all around the world from Toronto and Vancouver to Japan, Germany, England […] More »