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Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
Cozy Fest: Jes Battis + I Hate Parties
In their new collection I Hate Parties (Nightwood Editions), Jes Battis offers fifty poems that speak to growing up queer, autistic and nonbinary, and the social anxieties that come with the territory in a way that celebrates being awkward. For Cozy Fest, Jes reads a poem from the book called “My Boyfriend Names Every Bond…
Cozy Fest: Ariel Gordon + Fungal
Mushrooms and the holidays? Ariel Gordon, author of Fungal: Foraging in the Urban Forest (Wolsak & Wynn), details in her Cozy Fest reading her certain spiritual connection to being out in the woods.
Cozy Fest: andrea bennett + Hearty
In their new collection of essays Hearty: On Cooking, Eating, and Growing Food for Pleasure and Subsistence (ECW Press), andrea bennett blends personal memory and food culture. Listen to them read a piece about cooking their grandmother’s chutney (by cozy candlelight!) below.
Cozy Fest: Margie Taylor + Rose Addams
Margie Taylor joins us with a glass of red and a cozy pair of pjs to read a passage from her heartwarming and quietly funny novel Rose Addams (NeWest Press) about an almost sixty-year-old woman and the changing nature of all relationships as we age.
Cozy Fest: Gerard Beirne + The Thickness of Ice
Gerard Beirne joins us from Sligo, Ireland to read from his new novel The Thickness of Ice (Baraka Books), a compelling and poignant tale of drama and mystery set in the remote sub-arctic tundra, in the small town of Churchill, Manitoba.
Cozy Fest: Hollay Ghadery + Widow Fantasies
Hollay Ghadery writes of women’s daily lives – and how they escape them, through fantasy – in her aptly-named story collection Widow Fantasies (Gordon Hill Press). Listen to her read “Purple Bears” from the collection for Cozy Fest 2024.
Cozy Fest: Barbara Black + Little Fortified Stories
In her collection of micro-fictions Little Fortified Stories (Caitlin Press), Barbara Black writes miniature character studies teeming with detail. Today’s featured reading, from the section called “The Unseen,” was inspired by a piece of music.
Cozy Fest: Pamela Mulloy + Off the Tracks
Partly inspired by an annual 27-hour train journey from Kitchener to Moncton with her daughter, Pamela Mulloy’s travel memoir/social history on trains Off the Tracks: A Meditation on Train Journeys in a Time of No Travel (ECW Press) is one our of Cozy Fest readings. Enjoy a beautifully-written (and read!) passage of mother-daughter connection, below.
Cozy Fest: Dan Yashinsky + I Am Full: Stories for Jacob
Dan Yashinsky’s I Am Full: Stories for Jacob (Signature Editions), is a tribute to his son Jacob, who tragically died in a car accident at 26. While grieving, Dan embraced his role as Jacob’s storykeeper, capturing the vibrant life Jacob lived. The book blends Jacob’s writings, imagined voice, and Dan’s reflections to celebrate his son’s…
Cozy Fest: M.V. Feehan + In the Shadow of Crows
Using the lines from the children’s poem “Counting Crows” as story titles, M.V. Feehan’s debut collection In the Shadow of Crows (Baraka Books) follows the inhabitants of a small Maritime town, their stories dipping and weaving like crows on the wing. M.V. reads from the title story for Cozy Fest below.
Cozy Fest: Erin Brubacher + These Songs I Know By Heart
In Erin Brubacher’s novel These Songs I Know By Heart (Book*hug Press), we see everyday moments woven together into a meditation on how we are connected to our loved ones. Listen to Erin read a devastating, but galvanizing moment for the family in her book. (A content warning: this reading discusses a miscarriage.)
Cozy Fest 2024: Eighteen more authors get cozy
The world’s comfiest book festival is back for another year! Eighteen authors join us in their snuggliest apparel to read selections from their books for this 2024 edition of Cozy Fest: binge the readings all at once, or check back in each day for a feature on each of these fantastic writers. Read on to…
Gift Guide Week: Susan Sanford Blades’ Picks
Our final Gift Guide recommender is Susan Sanford Blades whose debut novel Fake It So Real (Nightwood Editions) launched to great acclaim and a Relit Award win in 2021. Today, Susan recommends a bounty of expertly-curated reads in a variety of genres sure to please your giftees.
Gift Guide Week: Matthew Fox’s Picks
In his novel-in-stories This is It (Great Plains Press), Matthew Fox queers the family saga and in doing so makes it tender, punchy, hilarious and gut-wrenching all at once. For Gift Guide Week, Matthew shares four queer titles perfect for giving (or keeping close to your heart).
Gift Guide Week: Danila Botha’s Picks
Today’s Gift Guide recommendations are for lovers of short, but mighty fiction from critically acclaimed short story writer Danila Botha, author of the recent collection Things That Cause Inappropriate Happiness (Guernica Editions). Read on for five recommendations, plus an “impossible to put down” prose poetry memoir.
Got any book recommendations?