Author: ALU Editor
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Where in Canada: The Kissing Fence
When Pavel and Nina, 2 of 200 Russian Doukhobors children torn from their families in New Denver, are placed into a residential facility within B.C.’s Koutenay region, they are left struggling to maintain their sense of culture. B.A. Thomas-Peter’s The Kissing Fence juxtaposes this emotional story set in the 1950’s with one set in Vancouver 2018, which…
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In Review: The Week of May 4th
This week we launched our first-ever Indie Reading Room series with two virtual reading events (keep up with what’s coming up here or on social media) — thanks to all who joined! Read on for what else we got up to on the blog.
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Books about moms for Mother’s Day
For Mother’s Day this year we’ve rounded up three books that appreciate moms of all kinds—read on for excerpts from an uproariously funny novel, a moving memoir, and a powerful poetry collection.
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On her mother’s life, politics, and Quebec: A interview with Louise Dupré
Celebrated Québécois author Louise Dupré’s memoir, A Woman of Her Time: Memories of My Mother (Linda Leith Publishing) is an intimate homage to a woman who insisted on living a life on her own terms. It is also political, hard not to be in a province when the Quiet Revolution and the collapse of the domination of…
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In House: Working from Home with Mawenzi House
The birth of the global pandemic has meant change in almost all industries across Canada and that includes publishing. Maria Zuppardi, marketing assistant at Mawenzi House joins us to share more about what the shift to working from home has meant for her (and her new co-worker!) and how Mawenzi House continues to bring creativity…
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Read Harder Challenge #6: Rural setting
Throughout 2020, All Lit Up-er Tan Light is 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 of her completed challenges along with a list of books from All Lit Up to have you reading harder, too!
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Reflections on disability culture and identity from the contributors of the Disabled Voices Anthology
Rebel Mountain Press, publisher of The Disabled Voices Anthology —an unapologetic collection of short fiction, memoir, and poetry by disabled writers and artists across Canada, the US, and the UK—recently asked the contributors of the anthology for their perspectives on disability culture, community, and identity. Read on for their insightful responses that shed light on some of…
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In Review: The Week of April 27th
We wrapped up National Poetry Month with five author interviews and excerpts, and a thoughtful piece on writing poetry through times of crisis from Natasha Ramoutar.
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Writer’s Block: Louise Carson
We electronically chatted with Louise Carson—author of eleven books which include the binge-able cozy cat mystery series from Signature Editions—about influential writers, two types of rewarding moments, and what she’s working on now.
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DiscoverVerse: Simina Banu + POP
In POP (Coach House Books), poet Simina Banu gives the traditional love poem the shakedown and in a flurry of stale cheetos and other junk finds space for herself within its lines. Simina joins us on the final day of DiscoverVerse (and Poetry Month!) to chat more about the collection, about finding that sweet line between too…
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DiscoverVerse: Yusuf Saadi + Pluviophile
Our interview with poet Yusuf Saadi turns the final page on our Poetry Month celebrations! Yusuf takes on the last round of our ALU DiscoverVerse with his collection Pluviophile (Nightwood Editions), a Baudrillard-ian playground where words die and are reborn under sacred signifiers. Read on for the full interview where we chat about editing, interplanetary food competitions…
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DiscoverVerse: M.A. Mahadeo + Never a Child
Today’s featured DiscoverVerse poet is M.A. Mahadeo whose debut collection Never a Child (Now or Never Publishing) is both a dialogue with and reflection of the people who have shaped her understanding of her feminine identity. Below, M.A. tells us what she learned writing her collection and how poetry is always evolving, what she’d bring with…
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How Do Poets Write Through Times of Crisis? Two approaches to writing poetry during uncertain times
When Heather O’Neill writes that “artists are notorious for creating their art under the most perilous and inopportune circumstances,” I want so desperately to believe it. In an essay for Maclean’s, she states: “They create in poverty, under repressive regimes, in prison, in the margins, after long late night shifts at a diner.” History proves this to…
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DiscoverVerse: Betsy Warland + Lost Lagoon/lost in thought
In her collection Lost Lagoon/lost in thought (Caitlin Press) Betsy Warland explores a small body of water in Vancouver’s Stanley Park as a source for revelations on our urban and natural worlds. In today’s interview, Betsy tells us more about how this collection reinforced her understanding of the crucial nature of pace—a slowing down from the…
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DiscoverVerse: Gwen Benaway + day/break
In her fourth collection, day/break (Book*hug Press) Gwen Benaway lays bare what it means to be a trans woman in the world, calling into question how gender, sexuality, and love intersect with violence and institutional transmisogyny. Below Gwen tells us more about writing her collection and why day/break was a lesson in refusal for her.…