Author: ALU Editor
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In Review: The Week of September 7th
This week on All Lit Up: staff book picks for fall reading, debut poetry, Leonard Cohen, thrilling historical fiction, and more.
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First Fiction Friday: The Haweaters
Vanessa’s Farnworth’s debut The Haweaters (Signature Editions) is a historical novel that checks all of the right boxes for a page-turning read: rivalry, gossip, and a scandalous revenge plot. Centred on a violent, real-life double-murder on Manitoulin Island in 1877, The Haweaters is one part The Sisters Brothers and two parts The “Black” Donnellys.
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Quoted: Reaching Mithymna
In 2015, Steven Heighton travelled to the frontlines of the Syrian refugee crisis in Greece to enlist as a volunteer. Reaching Mithymna (Biblioasis) is his firsthand account of his experience working at an ad hoc transit camp and an engaged exploration of the borders that divide us and the ties that bind. Below, Steven shares the significance of a…
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Two Poems from The Burden of Gravity
In her debut collection of poetry, The Burden of Gravity (Caitlin Press), Shannon McConnell takes an in-depth look at New Westminster’s Woodlands School, a former “lunatic asylum” opened in 1878 which later became a custodial training school for children with disabilities before its closure in 1996. McConnell recalls a dark time in BC’s history to give poetic voice…
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Fall Preview 2020: Staff Picks
Cue the pumpkin spice lattes: fall books are lining the shelves. Check out which books All Lit Up staffers are excited for this season.
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In Review: The Week of August 31st
On the blog this week: 72-hour write-a-thons, the art of incorporating maps into great book design, the definition of ZOM-FAM and a refreshing take on historical fiction.
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Read Harder Challenge 13 & 14
Throughout 2020, All Lit Up-er Tan Light has been participating in BookRiot’s Read Harder Challenge—a reading task designed to expand readerly boundaries—and doing so with an indie twist. Each entry in this series will highlight one or two completed challenges along with a list of books from All Lit Up to have you reading harder, too! This…
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Poetry in Motion: Kama La Mackerel
In Mauritian Kreol, Zom-Fam means “man-woman” or “transgender.” Metonymy Press joins us in this edition of Poetry in Motion to share more about this debut book of poetry by the same name from multi-disciplinary artist Kama La Mackerel – a collection that mythologizes a queer/trans narrative of and for the author’s home island, Mauritius. Read on and check out the…
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Beautiful Books: If Sylvie Had Nine Lives
From the time I began sketching out the idea for If Sylvie Had Nine Lives (Freehand Books), I knew what an important role the book’s design would play in helping me tell Sylvie’s story or, more precisely, her several stories. I had granted my character nine separate lives that were, to borrow a phrase from Stephen…
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In House: 3-Day Novel Contest
Ready, set, WRITE! Anvil Press gives us the historical deets on how the International 3-Day Novel Contest was established as a way to encourage writers to push their boundaries + how YOU can take part in this years contest, set to take place over the upcoming Labour Day weekend!
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Where in Canada: Orphans of Empire
Before Vancouver there was Gastown, and before Gastown there was New Brighton, only 5 kilometres east. Set in New Brighton from 1858 to 1885, Orphans of Empire (Touchwood Editions) is a deftly crafted trio of narratives that converge at the site of the New Brighton Hotel on the shores of Burrard Inlet. Featuring some of BC’s most…
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In Review: The Week of August 24th
This week we bid farewell to our ALU summer book club with four follow-up reads, got a little Off/Kilter, shared reflections from Indigenous authors, and more!
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First Fiction Friday: You Will Love What You Have Killed
In this edition of First Fiction Friday, we take a peak beneath the cover of Kevin Lambert’s prize-winning debut novel You Will Love What You Have Killed, recently published in a new english translation from Biblioasis. This book is many things – a ghost-filled queer coming-of-age revenge story that, at it’s heart, is also a…
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Reflections on Indigenous Voices and Issues from the Contributors of In Our Own Aboriginal Voice 2
Published by Rebel Mountain Press, In Our Own Aboriginal Voice 2 collects short fiction, non-fiction, personal essay, poetry, and original Indigenous artwork by thirty Indigenous authors and artists across the many traditional territories throughout Canada. Recently, the anthology’s editor Michael Calvert asked some of the contributors for their perspectives on Indigenous Peoples, issues, and the importance of…
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ALU Book Club: Follow-up Reads After Seeds and Other Stories
If you loved our August Book Club read Seeds and Other Stories by Ursula Pflug, we’ve got a few recommendations to keep the last vestiges of your summer full of the fantastical.