Author: ALU Editor
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Collected Collections: Debuts
Next up on our roster for the ALU Collected Collection series, we present debuts from some astounding authors. These stories take readers into the dark realities of everyday life, along with the anxieties that are not subject to one group of people. Included on the debut list is the new edition of Casey Plett’s collection…
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Cinco de Mayo
Cinco de Mayo is annually held on May 5th as the celebration of Mexico’s victory over the Second French Empire at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. Today, Cinco de Mayo is largely celebrated in the town of Puebla and in the U.S. by Mexican Americans. The way we choose to celebrate here at ALU…
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10 Books for Mom
With Mother’s Day just around the corner, we’ve rounded up ten books for mom: ones she would like to read, and ones about motherhood (that she would also like to read). Read on and get inspired to give (or, if you are a mom, drop major hints for what you want to get).
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Asian Heritage Month: Fiction Spotlight
Happy Asian Heritage Month! We’re heralding in this perfect reason to celebrate Asian-Canadian writing with a look at six fiction books: continue on to see the new and (perhaps) new-to-you reads we picked.
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Collected Collections: From the Pros(e)
May is Short Story Month, and our Collected Collections series looks to recommend exciting books in the short story space. We’re kicking things off with a bang: three collections from some short story heavy hitters, including a Margaret Laurence winner, a LAMBDA finalist, and a posthumously-published book from a beloved Canadian writer.
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Try Poetry: Slows: Twice + T. Liem
Our final Try Poetry feature is award-winning poet T. Liem and their upcoming collection, Slows: Twice (Coach House Books). Get a sneak-peek of the collection with poem “On the Last Days of the Year of the Ox” and learn about the “careless choices” that led them to poetry in our interview.
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Try Poetry: Dream of Me as Water + David Ly
Today’s Try Poetry poet is ReLit award finalist David Ly and his latest collection Dream of Me as Water (Palimpsest Press). David tells us about poetry as escape and shares the sinuous concrete poem “Eels” from the book.
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Try Poetry: More Sure + A. Light Zachary
As a young child A. Light Zachary’s father used to share poetry with them from the ancient Greeks and Romans, the Romantics, Dickinson, and Atwood. Today Zachary shares with us their poem ‘Overwrite’ from their debut collection More Sure (Arsenal Pulp Press).
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Try Poetry: Coconut + Nisha Patel
Spoken word poet and Edmonton’s Poet Laureate Emeritus Nisha Patel shares “questions for google assistant at 4am”, a poem from her collection Coconut (NeWest Press), and tells us about how writing can be like sculpting, “weird flexes” in the performance space, and more in today’s interview.
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Try Poetry: This Side of Light + Carolyn Marie Souaid
Today’s Try Poetry feature is a perfect springtime poem about a visiting sparrow, from the latest collection This Side of Light (Signature Editions) by writer, editor, and painter Carolyn Marie Souaid. Carolyn tells us about the arrival of the sparrow “Arthur” as a sign from a deceased loved one, writing poetry as therapy, and more in our…
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Try Poetry: Heart’s Hydrography + Sally Ito
Sally Ito received a ‘gift’, a dream of such significance, that came out of nowhere compelling her to write a gloomly poem. Showing her high school English teach this poem was the beginning of her becoming a writer. Ito shares with us for our Try Poetry series ‘Wild Plum’ from her collection Heart’s Hydrography (Turnstone…
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Try Poetry: Enlightened by Defilement + Vera Constantineau
We interview Vera Constantineau on the blog today for our #TryPoetry series. Constantineau shares ‘Radio Dreams’ with us from her debut collection Enlightened by Defilement (Latitude 46), which is about yearning, hopes, dreams, and that dash of flair we keep close and secret in our hearts.
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Try Poetry: Nothing Will Save Your Life + Nancy Jo Cullen
A new reader of poetry may be intrigued to read Nancy Jo Cullen’s poem ‘Drinking Alone on My Fifty-Fourth Birthday/Or, My Dad and Disco Died Circa the Same Time’ from her collection Nothing Will Save Your Life (Wolsak & Wynn Publishers) as it’s written in a conversational tone to be had with another bar patron.…
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Try Poetry: Chores + Maggie Burton
Maggie Burton discusses with us how she wrote her first poem when she was in Grade One and then came back to writing again later in life to explore her complicated feelings about her family. Today, Burton shares ‘Radio Bingo’ from her collection Chores (Breakwater Books Ltd.) for our Try Poetry series.
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Try Poetry: Baby Book + Amy Ching-Yan Lam
Amy Ching-Yan Lam describes her new poetry collection as plain, as it’s all out there for the reader to see. Today we’re given a peek into the collection Baby Book (Brick Books) with the featured poem ‘The Poet Li Bai’, which Lam describes as being one of core poems of the book.