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 »
Jen Neale is a 28-year-old Vancouver based writer and winner of the RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers, for her story “Elk-Headed Man”. This particular literary prize boasts a fine track record of uncovering some of the country’s future literary stars. Past winner Alyssa York presented Neale with $5,000 in Toronto on Wednesday. […] More »
Imagine Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness read by a woman with a girlish, high-pitched voice. How would it affect your interpretation of the text? What elements of the story would be heightened, and which ones muted? What effect can a reader have on a text? These are a few of the questions that arise when […] More »
Long regarded as the enemy of literacy, comic books and graphic novels are increasingly useful as a way of improving reading skills among otherwise reluctant students, young and old On a cold mid-February afternoon under overcast skies, a school bell rings. The halls of Toronto’s Agnes Macphail Public School flood with children dressed in puffy […] More »
We’re exceptionally excited to announce the launch of this year’s annual This Magazine tradition, the Great Canadian Literary Hunt. Now in its 14th year, we’re on the trail again of Canada’s best undiscovered poetry, short fiction and — drumroll! — graphic narrative. That’s right, we’ve added a third category to the contest, a visual category […] More »
The ramshackle A-frame house Al Purdy built still stands by the lake in Ameliasburgh, Ontario. A place “so far from anywhere,” he wrote, “even homing pigeons lost their way.” Inside, it’s nearly as it was when he died 10 years ago. His drawers and cupboards still hold the flotsam and jetsam of a well lived […] More »
Progressive media, it seems, is one of the very few bright spots in today’s bleak world of journalism. Despite the cash-strapped economy, rather than succumbing to the heavy hand of advertisers or clinging to sensationalized coverage—as their corporate counterparts have been obliged to do—independent progressive media has managed to survive and flourish by simply sticking […] More »
Several of my previous blog posts have mentioned Kwani?, the Nairobi literary journal/publishing network dedicated to building contemporary African literature. My interest in the publication was first aroused by the contrasting literary scenes in Uganda and Kenya. While FEMRITE, based in Kampala, Uganda, is a strong local writers’ organization, I never found a literary magazine […] More »
The November-December 2009 issue of This Magazine is now snaking its way through the postal system, and subscribers should find it in their mailboxes any day now. We expect it to be available on newsstands next week, probably. (Remember, subscribers always get the magazine early, and you can too.) We’ll start posting articles from the […] More »
The Prescription Errors, Charles Demers’ debut novel from Insomniac Press, is a profoundly entertaining, thoughtful and well-written story about a Vancouver-based character named Daniel who struggles to come to terms with his obsessive-compulsive disorder. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the rich, dark and contradictory nature of human relationships and politics. […] More »
When I attended the Caine Prize in London last week, I was excited to listen to the voices of some of Africa’s top authors. I felt caught up in the growing literature movement: writers like Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Binyavanga Wainaina topping international headlines, developing a notable reputation within their countries and abroad. However, interviewing […] More »