Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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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…
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ALU Summer Book Club: Interview with Anna Marie Sewell
We met with the author of our July ALU Book Club pick Humane (Stonehouse Publishing), Anna Marie Sewell, to discuss (among other things) conversation as community-building, so-called “magical realism” as a true lens by which to view the world, and empathy as the ultimate driver to do good.
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Writer’s Block: Karin Martel
Karin Martel, a former 911 call-centre operator and currently the SPS ViCLAS Coordinator documenting sexual assaults in Saskatoon, wrote of her own experience of assault in her memoir, Shop Class Hall Pass (Signature Editions). Today, Karin answers our Proust questionnaire on writing rituals, her favourite book to recommend, and what a perfect writing day would be like.
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Character Study: Wait Softly Brother
Writer Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer had an extra challenge when donning our patented Character Study casting director’s cap: her novel Wait Softly Brother (Wolsak & Wynn) is autofictional, featuring a Kathryn character – herself – in the story. Read on to see the film royal (two times over!) she chose to play the silver-screen version of herself, as well…
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ALU Summer Book Club: Intro to Humane
Meet our July book club pick: Humane by Anna Marie Sewell! We serve up an excerpt of this hybrid Indigenous/crime novel and interview Stonehouse Publishing publisher Netta Johnson about how after reading the first 30 pages of this book, she was “blown away” (we suspect you will be, too!).
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Celebrate Pride with Lockheed Martin, from Prototype to Launch
In this piece, poet Jake Byrne walks us through the writing process of their new collection Celebrate Pride with Lockheed Martin (Wolsak & Wynn). As any writer likely knows, and readers are soon to discover: writing a book is a much longer (and indeed, more painstaking) process in life than on paper.
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Queer Coded: Interview with Prathna Lor
Poet, essayist, editor, and educator Prathna Lor talks to us about how queer writing can go above and beyond discussions of gender and sexuality, shares writers who influenced them, and that when reading their LAMBDA-finalist collection of poetry Emanations (Wolsak & Wynn), you should definitely read it aloud.
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Summer 2023: ALU Staff Picks
Which books will grace the various blankets (picnic, beach, throw, etc) of ALU staffers this summer? Our team shares the books at the top of their summer TBR piles.
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Queer Coded: Interview with Glen Huser
Our Pride interview series continues with Edmonton-raised, Vancouver-based author and artist Glen Huser and his historical novel Burning the Night (NeWest Press). As the novel veers occasionally into memoir, Glen shares the parallels between protagonist Curtis’s life and his own, coming out to friends and family later in life, as well as their shared passion for painting.
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ALU Summer Book Club: 2023 Edition
Believe it or not, it’s our eighth (!) annual Summer Book Club here at All Lit Up, but we’re as excited as if it were our first. The reasons why are no-brainers: we’re reading the genre-bending Indigenous crime novel Humane by Anna Marie Sewell in July, and Kat Sandler’s award-winning play Yaga in August, a feminist retelling of…
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Queer Coded: Interview with Carellin Brooks
We chat with writer and poet Carellin Brooks about the lengths we still need to go regarding queer representation, even within the community, LGBTQ2S+ books she always recommends, and which writers influenced her newest book of poetry Learned (Book*hug Press).
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“a collective atmosphere” – An Interview with Marjorie Beaucage
Part poetry collection, part memoir, part diary; longtime activist Marjorie Beaucage plants the seeds for another generation of loving, radical activism in her latest book leave some for the birds: movements for justice (Kegedonce Press). We ask her about her conception of “justice,” how she came into her Two Spirit identity, and why collectivity will truly change…
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Five Literary Dads
Actor, writer of Eyes in Front When Running (Breakwater Books), and partner to a dad Willow Kean delves into the literary canon and comes up with five “dads of literature” in advance of Father’s Day.
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On the Plett and Plante Tour: An Interview
Last month, writers Hazel Jane Plante and Casey Plett embarked on a joint, seven-city tour for their books: Hazel’s sophomore novel Any Other City and the re-release of Casey’s short story collection A Safe Girl to Love (Arsenal Pulp Press). ALU met them via Zoom to revisit the tour, which became a wide-ranging conversation about community-building,…
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Writer’s Block: Sharon Butala
Today for our Writer’s Block series we catch up with award-winning author Sharon Butala about when she first started writing, and what is the most surprising thing about being a writer. With multiple books published since 1984 Butala gives us insight into her experiences of being a writer. Make sure to check out her newest…
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