Author: ALU Editor
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Read Harder Challenge #4: Read a debut novel by a queer author
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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Where in Canada: Little Fortress
In Laisha Rosnau’s Little Fortress (Wolsak and Wynn), the widow of an Italian Duke, her daughter and the family secretary take refuge from the grips of Mussolini’s reign in Vernon, B.C.– locking themselves away for 25 years. What follows is a story of friendship, class, betrayal and love. Laisha takes us deeper into the book’s…
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Wearing Tiaras: On Fairy Tales, Community, and Happiness
It is winter 2012. I am walking across campus with fellow students from my poetry workshop to the bus loop, where I’ll catch a 99 back to the apartment with the leaky solarium I share with my partner. It’s a miserable day—cold, grey, with very little colour outside except the leaves that fell in autumn…
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In Review: The Week of February 17th
This week included freaky gems for Women in Horror Month, advice for writer’s block, a conversation about gender equality and inclusivity, #IReadCanadianDay, and more!
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Under the Cover: Dear Twin
In this Under the Cover, we chat with Montréal-based publisher Metonymy Press about the story behind acquiring Addie Tsai’s debut novel Dear Twin and how the book took shape by working with Toronto-based designer Keet Geniza, who jumped at the chance to work on the design for this life-affirming, queer YA novel about one sister’s…
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On gender equality and inclusivity: An interview with Gemma Hickey
Influential social activist Gemma Hickey is a force for change and tireless advocate for the LGBTQ2+ community: in 2005 they co-led the movement that legalized same-sex marriage in Canada, and in 2017 their request for a gender-neutral birth certificate spurred Newfoundland and Labrador to change its law, making Gemma the first person in Canada to receive…
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Writers Block: Marion Agnew
Author Marion Agnew shares her wonderfully art-filled techniques for avoiding or breaking through the dreaded writer’s block and more about her novel Reverberations (Signature Editions), which she says is more than a book about Alzheimer’s – it’s a testament to the bonds of love.
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Off/Kilter: 3 Books for Women In Horror Month
If we asked you to name a few well-known horror writers, what are some of the first names that come to mind? Poe, King, Barker, Gaiman?…the list goes on. But make no mistake: women write horror too! With February marking Women in Horror Month, we’re celebrating by highlighting a few freaky gems, new and old,…
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In Review: The Week of Feburary 10th
This week we read a brilliant and heartbreaking essay on death and humour by Fawn Parker, created a very scientific quiz to help you find your literary love match, shared Read Harder challenges, and more!
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Read Harder Challenge #2 & #3
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 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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ALU Valentine’s Day Quiz: Who’s your literary valentine?
We’ve created this scientifically-proven* Valentine’s Day quiz to match you with your literary valentine. Just answer five questions to find out which character is your true lit love this Valentine’s Day.*Don’t quote us
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Under the Cover: Finding Calidora
Take a look under the cover of Stella Leventoyannis Harvey’s Finding Calidora – a historical novel that follows the politically-engaged Alevizopoulos family from the time of the Great War down through the Greco-Turkish War of 1919 as they fight to protect their legacy and survive the scars of the past. Stella joins us on the blog to…
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A Mature and Intelligent Period of Grieving: On Death and Humour in Writing
My first job after my mother died was a contract position writing a Joke of the Day calendar. Each day I input approximately ninety jokes into an Excel spreadsheet, selecting which would appear on significant days such as the day my mother died, her birthday, the day she birthed me, her wedding anniversary. Really each…
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In Review: The Week of February 3rd
This week we got our design nerd on, learned about the process behind bringing a novel into braille, recommended a debut novel, and more.
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First Fiction Friday: The Towers of Babylon
Author Michelle Kaeser’s debut novel The Towers of Babylon (Freehand Books) is a literary combo of the all-too-real millennial struggles of Girls and the sibling dynamics of This Is Us with a humorous flair of its own. Set in Toronto, the novel follows a group of millennials and exposes a generation’s struggle to find their…