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May-June 2011

Book Review: Roy Miki’s Mannequin Rising

Mark CallananWebsite

The poems in Mannequin Rising, Roy Miki’s fifth poetry collection, are interspersed with the author’s photomontages, many of which contain storefront mannequins superimposed with images of pedestrians in the street. The mannequins can be taken as metaphorical commentary on the human figures in the frames; static and passive, “standing there at / attention all day”—as […] More »
May-June 2011

This45: Hal Niedzviecki on Haitian-Canadian novelist Dany Laferrière

Graham F. Scott

It seems strange to be given the task of “introducing” a man who has written more than 10 books and recently won major literary prizes in France and Quebec, but there it is: I, and presumably many in English Canada, had forgotten about Dany Laferrière. I’d been a big fan of his a decade ago. […] More »

EcoChamber #20: This Thanksgiving, participate in a 350.org climate action where you live

emily hunter

As of today it’s official: every province and territory across Canada is on board with the 350.org climate movement. This Sunday, 350.org events will be held throughout Canada and around the world. Last year, we saw the beginning of this movement. On Oct. 24th, 2009, several thousand youth took over Parliament Hill in Ottawa to give […] More »
March-April 2009

Postcard from Tokyo: Rise of the (vending) machines

David Hayes

In North America, we barely notice vending machines. They dispense soft drinks, water, sometimes coffee (or laundry soap in laundromats). In Japan, however, vending machines have been elevated to a fine art. To an outsider, these machines, called jidoohanbaiki, are ubiquitous — incredibly, there is one vending machine for every 23 Japanese citizens. In Tokyo, […] More »
May-June 2009

Think fast: Pecha Kucha spreads ideas in 400 seconds or less

Lia Grainger

On an outdoor patio in Kampala, observers lounge in the near-darkness, watching as an image is projected on a bare white sheet slung between two trees. In Reykjavik, a spellbound audience fills a basement bar and waits for the first slide to illuminate the wall. And in Toronto, a crowded pavilion is abuzz as the […] More »

The political economy of killing blubbery animals

Graham F. Scott

I just posted Emily Hunter’s feature story from the May-June 2009 issue, because it has some bearing on the current controversy over the EU’s banning of commercial Canadian seal products. Trade Minister Stockwell Day says Canada will take the issue to the WTO to try and force the EU to accept Canadian seal pelts, furs, […] More »
May-June 2009

Whaling: the latest culture war

Emily HunterWebsite

Japan claims its annual Antarctic whale hunt is its cultural heritage. Is it racist if we tell them to stop? A report from the front lines of the whaling wars It’s a sight I’ll never forget: a whale being hacked up in front of me, cut into tiny squares, its excess blood and guts discarded. […] More »