Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Where in Canada: Places Like These
Lauren Carter takes us on a tour of the places she’s lived – from the turbulent north shore of Lake Huron, to the American Southwest, to remote Manitoba, and then just outside Winnipeg – and shares how they’ve inspired her writing, most recently her deeply human collection of short stories, Places Like These (Book*hug Press).
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ALU Summer Book Club: Intro to Yaga
This summer’s book club theme is of the supernatural crime thriller variety: last month we read the Indigenous crime thriller Humane by Anna Marie Sewell (Stonehouse Publishing); this month we’re sleuthing the genre-bending comedic fairy tale meets thrilling whodunit Yaga by Kat Sandler. Today we chat with Playwrights Canada Press Publisher Annie Gibson about the book: “I love that the answer…
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Character Study: Sunsetter
Curtis LeBlanc’s new novel Sunsetter (ECW Press) asks who are the “good guys”, and who are the villains, when corruption is rife and opportunities are few? Incredible characters coupled with its bleak, former-industrial prairie town setting, we think it has everything it needs to be a great movie. Curtis dons our casting director’s cap to pick…
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Top 10: Literary Friendships
With the International Day of Friendship taking place this weekend (July 30), why not grab a bestie and buckle up for these top 10 friendships in literature?
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Poetry in Motion: Jade Wallace + Love Is A Place But You Cannot Live There
In their debut collection Love Is A Place But You Cannot Live There (Guernica Editions), Jade Wallace gifts us a series of vignette-like poems that reflect on home and our relationships to each other and to the places we inhabit.Below, Jade reads “Blood Shift,” from their collection and tells us how the poem recalls the works of…
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ALU Summer Book Club: Follow-up Reads after Humane
If the thought of finishing our July book club pick Humane by Anna Marie Sewell (Stonehouse Publishing) has you yelling, “oh, the humanity!” – don’t fret. We’ve rounded up four follow-up reads to this gripping Indigenous crime novel.
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Where in Canada: Ghost Towns of Ontario’s Cottage Country
Former railway point turned ghost town, Swords, Ontario is the haunting focal point of this Where in Canada. Author Andrew Hind gives us a tour into the once-lively and now abandoned town, one of the many vanished villages featured in his new book Ghost Towns of Ontario’s Cottage Country (Dundurn Press).
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Under the Cover: Learning how not to drown in Mason’s Jar
Bearing witness to near-daily drug withdrawals in his Northern Ontario community, John Jantunen began writing his latest novel Mason’s Jar (ECW Press), a western, sci-fi, horror cross-genre novel that centres on questions of social justice—housing, mental health, opioid crises. Below, John shares how his experiences in North Bay, Ontario became the foundation of his latest…
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First Fiction Friday: Bernini’s Elephant
Reading a book set in Italy is just as good as being in Italy, right? Our top pick this weekend is Jane Callen’s debut novel Bernini’s Elephant (Guernica Editions), a literary murder mystery about love, art, and deception that ponders whether we can ever truly escape our past choices.
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Beautiful Books: Sara Angelucci: Undergrowth / Broussailles
In stunning, complex botanical compositions that blend native and invasive plants, photo artist Sara Angelucci comments on ongoing settler colonialism and current global trade routes, and their impacts on our ecology. Below, Sara shares four such compositions from her new book of photos and essays: Undergrowth / Broussailles (ECW Press, in partnership with the Art Gallery of…
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ALU Summer Book Club: Humane Staff Discussion
The ALU team met to delve deeper into the world of Amiskwaciy and its residents – Hazel, Missy, Maengan, Spider the dog, Devin, and many more – the folks who made our July book club pick Humane by Anna Marie Sewell (Stonehouse Publishing) feel so alive. Read on to catch some of the highlights of our…
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Poetry in Motion: Alice Major + Knife on Snow
Founder of Edmonton Poetry Festival (and Edmonton’s first-ever poet laureate) Alice Major returns with her twelfth collection, Knife on Snow (Turnstone Press). She reads “The Dream Opens” from the collection and tells us how anger is everywhere – in the world and throughout this collection – how can it be used to bend people’s wills,…
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World Emoji Day – Guess that Book!
Celebrate World Emoji Day (July 17) with us in a fun new way! We’re diving into the fascinating world of emojis and their ability to tell stories. From the classic smileys to a vast array of symbols, animals, and objects, emojis have changed the way we express ourselves in the digital age. Try guessing these…
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First Fiction Friday: And the Walls Came Down
The 1990s, in many ways, were a simpler time: stirrup pants, Fido Dido, McPizza. And yet, they were also the time of the teenage years of Delia Ellis, the protagonist of today’s First Fiction Friday feature, novel And the Walls Came Down by Denise Da Costa (Dundurn Press). Read more about this dual-timeline debut novel set…
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Where in Canada: The Donkey Cutter
Gregory Koop’s The Donkey Cutter (Guernica Editions) is an evocative debut novel about a young woman coming of age during the tumultuous early days of 20th century Canada. Set in a Mennonite community in the Prairies, this is a story that firmly roots us into a time and place during Canada’s infancy when many endeavours, like…
Got any book recommendations?