Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Black History Month Series: Non-Fiction
Our Black History Month series returns with a focus on non-fiction: from the history of Black train porters that partially inspired a Giller-winning novel, to the debut essay collection from a celebrated poet, to biographies of Black sports stars and revolutionaries, to a scholarly tome on Black radical politics.
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Writer’s Block: Beatriz Hausner
In this interview, poet and translator Beatriz Hausner tells us about being raised bilingual and raised among books, and what she wishes people would ask her most about her new collection, She Who Lies Above (Book*hug Press).Photo of Beatriz by Negar Yazdanpanah.
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Quoted: Semi-Detached
In her latest novel Semi-Detached (Cormorant Books) Elizabeth Ruth paints a tender and deeply gripping story about love and finding home. Through a story that spans 70 years about the love between a star-crossed sapphic couple in the 1940s struggling with their forbidden romance, and the young real estate agent in 2013 who finds parallels…
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Poetry in Motion: George Elliott Clarke + Canticles III (MMXXIII)
The sixth in his Canticles series, Canticles III (MMXXIII) (Guernica Editions) by George Elliott Clarke looks at the histories of Black Nova Scotians and centres their perspectives. Clarke explains the series and reads a poem from the collection below.
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Black History Month Series: Fiction
For Black History Month, we’re bringing you dedicated weekly roundups of new and recently published books by Black authors all month long. Today’s featured fiction includes three must-read novels that speak to identity politics and family life; a linked short story collection that captures the experiences of Black, queer, and trans people; and a collection…
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Off/Kilter: 5 Weird-Lit Books to Read this Winter
This edition of Off/Kilter is for the dystopic, speculative, and surreal readers searching for some messages of hope in their weird lit reading. We recommend pairing with a warm drink and cozy gear for optimal reading enjoyment.
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“Good storytelling is always driven by its characters”: An Interview with David Kingston Yeh
Toronto-based David Kingston Yeh is the author of The Boy at the Edge trilogy, a series that explores queer love in Toronto through the misadventures of boyfriends Daniel and David. We speak with David about how his characters naturally evolved over the course of writing them, their complexity deepened by the final, stand-alone installment The…
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First Fiction Friday: Love and Rain
Radical movements in Rome and Montreal are contrasted in Love and Rain (Guernica Editions), the gripping debut historical novel from Carmela Circelli. Learn more about why your next read should be this cinematic, sweeping story below.
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Beautiful Books: The Singularity
Nominated for the August Prize and EU Prize for Literature in its original Swedish, The Singularity by Balsam Karam is now available in English, translated by Saskia Vogel and published by Book*hug. We talk designing translated editions – and the gorgeous approach to this one – with The Singularity designer Gareth Lind.
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Two Poems: Siteseeing
Collaborative poetry written over one year during the pandemic, Siteseeing (At Bay Press) is a compelling collection by celebrated poets Ariel Gordon and Brenda Schmidt. Formatted like a call and response, this is a fresh, hopeful nature poetry collection that considers the natural world and the people making their way through it. Ariel’s pieces focus…
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Writer’s Block: Gary Barwin
The unbelievably talented Gary Barwin – who most recently authored the introspective essay collection Imagining Imagining (Wolsak & Wynn) – is equally introspective in answering our Proust questionnaire. Gary shares why perfection is overrated and why qualities in a good writer might not be the same as the ones in a good surgeon (and vice…
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Quoted: Light on a Part of the Field
Kevin Holowack’s debut novel Light on a Part of the Field (NeWest Press) considers artistic ambition, mental illness, and familial relationships against the backdrop of the 1960s and 1970s in BC and Alberta. Below, Kevin Holowack sheds light on the novel’s title and the story’s intertextual relationship with the Book of Ruth.
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Where in Canada: The Everyday Heroes of Nova Scotia
The 1998 Swissair 111 crash was a disaster of immense proportions, and Gina Leola Woolsey’s documented its aftermath in her new book Fifteen Thousand Pieces (Guernica Editions), about examiner Dr. John Butt. What rose to meet the disaster was the caring community of Peggy’s Cove, NS, and beyond.
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Beautiful Books: Nipugtug
We chat with Métis and settler illustrator and interdisciplinary designer Natalie Laurin about her hopes to inspire Indigenous youth to feel “proud of who they are” through the art she creates—most recently her work on Nipugtug (Kegedonce Press), a gorgeous children’s story about a spirited young Mi’gmaw woman, as she snowshoes through the forest during…
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Character Study: Bounty
Writer, journalist, and climate researcher Jason Pchajek dons our casting director’s cap to cast the film version of his cli-fi debut novel Bounty (Turnstone Press), where bounty hunter Nikos Wulf uncovers a dark plot in futuristic Winnipeg.
Got any book recommendations?