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March-April 2018

REVIEW: Novel gives a voice to Japanese-Canadians in a post-war world

Inside Floating City by Kerri Sakamoto

Jemicah Colleen Marasigan

Floating City  By Kerri Sakamoto Knopf Canada, $29.95 Floating City by Kerri Sakamoto—who was nominated for a Governor General’s Literary Award for The Electrical Field—gives a voice to Japanese-Canadians during post-WWII. Loosely inspired by Richard Buckminster Fuller and Shoji Sadao’s plans for Project Toronto, Sakomoto takes readers on Frankie’s journey from the coasts of B.C. […] More »
March-April 2018

REVIEW: New memoir uses multiple mediums to discover the meaning of ‘home’

Inside Chelene Knight's Dear Current Occupant

Alicia Elliott

Dear Current Occupant By Chelene Knight Book*hug, $20.00 In her memoir Dear Current Occupant, writer Chelene Knight asks, “Is home a place we were, a place we are, a place we want to be, or is it simply a state of being?” Using poetry, essay, flash nonfiction, and photography, Knight weaves what she refers to […] More »
March-April 2018

REVIEW: New novel explores the intersection of technology and desire

Inside Liz Harmer's The Amateurs

Jessica Rose

The Amateurs By Liz Harmer Knopf Canada, $32.95 In The Amateurs, the first novel by Liz Harmer, a space travel device called “Port” has been created by PINA, the world’s largest tech company. Urged by nostalgia and longing, consumers are quick to use the portal to revisit their youth or to explore their futures; however, […] More »
March-April 2018

REVIEW: New book explores the feminist history of break-ups

Inside Hard to Do by Kelli María Korducki

Samantha Sobolewski

Hard to Do: The Surprising, Feminist History of Breaking Up By Kelli María Korducki Coach House, $13.95 Hard To Do: The Surprising, Feminist History of Breaking Up, by National Magazine Award-nominated journalist Kelli María Korducki, is a lifeline for women navigating expectations, standards, and break-ups in today’s liberated, but uncharted, relationships. Using examples from history, […] More »
January-February 2018

REVIEW: New anthology explores why you should trust your intuition

Inside Happy If You Know It

Allyson Aritcheta

Happy If You Know it With/out Pretend, $30.00 The poetry, fiction, art, essays, and photography in Happy If You Know It grapple with one question: “What does it mean to trust our intuition?” Women in the anthology answer by sharing their truths, shortcomings, and pain without hesitation. Their voices unfurl revelations that become points of […] More »
January-February 2018

REVIEW: New book recounts Canada’s history of women’s suffrage

Inside Joan Sangster's One Hundred Years of Struggle

Stephanie Milliken

One Hundred Years of Struggle: The History of Women and the Vote in Canada By Joan Sangster UBC Press, $27.95 In One Hundred Years of Struggle: The History of Women and the Vote in Canada, Joan Sangster recounts the complex history of Canadian women’s enfranchisement during the 19th and 20th centuries. Sangster delves into the […] More »
January-February 2018

REVIEW: New graphic novel series explores life of Métis teenager through illustrated storytelling

Inside Pemmican Wars: A Girl Called Echo, Vol. 1

Alicia Elliott

Pemmican Wars: A Girl Called Echo, Vol. 1 By Katherena Vermette Portage & Main Press, $18.95 In Pemmican Wars, the first part of Katherena Vermette’s new graphic novel series A Girl Called Echo, we are reminded what comics do best: tell a story through pictures. Illustrated by Scott B. Henderson and coloured by Donovan Yaciuk, […] More »
January-February 2018

REVIEW: New poetry collection ‘reads like a very intimate confession’

Inside Liz Worth's The Truth is Told Better This Way

Maria Siassina

The Truth is Told Better This Way By Liz Worth Book*hug, $18.00 The Truth is Told Better This Way by Liz Worth is a book of piercing poetry that reads like a very intimate confession. Worth’s poems let out their mysteries slowly and deliberately, stringing readers along a path of loneliness and grief. At times […] More »
January-February 2018

REVIEW: New fiction collection explores the migrant experience in Canada

Inside Djamila Ibrahim's Things Are Good Now

Jemicah Colleen Marasigan

Things Are Good Now By Djamila Ibrahim House of Anansi, $19.95 Things Are Good Now by Djamila Ibrahim is a collection of fictional narratives that explore the emotional impact of migration on humans. It’s also a stark, and necessary, reminder of the real-life experiences migrants face on a daily basis. As a former acting senior advisor […] More »
November-December 2017

REVIEW: Lauren McKeon’s new book sheds light on the world of anti-feminism

Inside F-Bomb: Dispatches from the War on Feminism

Stephanie Milliken

F-Bomb: Dispatches from the War on Feminsim By Lauren McKeon Goose Lane Editions, $22.95 In her first book, F-Bomb: Dispatches from the War on Feminism, Lauren McKeon, an award-winning writer, former This Magazine editor, and contributing editor at Toronto Life, investigates why contemporary feminism is deeply fragmented, and argues that we cannot continue to ignore […] More »
September-October 2017

REVIEW: New poetry collection draws from found documents from the 19th century

Inside Better Nature by Fenn Stewart

Lauren Matera

Better Nature By Fenn Stewart BookThug, $18 Better Nature is the first book of poetry by writer and University of British Columbia lecturer Fenn Stewart. She brings together found documents (mainly drawing from an 1880 diary detailing Walt Whitman’s travels through Canada) in a radical effort to “unsettle” Canadian colonial foundations. Stewart’s poems are rife […] More »