Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
-
Off/Kilter: Interview with Poet Neal Shannacappo
Writers featured on Off/Kilter have many talents, but we’re especially lucky to show off a few at once of the multi-talented illustrator, graphic novelist, and poet Neal Shannacappo. In our interview, Neal walks us through heartbreak, healing, and fantasy elements that inspired his recent collection of poetry Through the Eyes of Asunder (Kegedonce Press) – and shares…
-
Lit Locale: Field Notes on Listening
Luellen Lake, a remote yet accessible lake in Banff National Park, is a grand setting to enjoy Kit Dobson’s Field Notes on Listening (Wolsak & Wynn). This book of poetic, personal non-fiction essays is concerned with what it means to listen to environments in an extended manner. So, get your bug net on, brew up…
-
ALU Summer Book Club: Interview with André Forget
Twenty-four staggeringly talented authors contributed to our August #ALUbookclub pick, After Realism (Véhicule Press). We talk with anthology editor André Forget about making a cohesive collection out of two-dozen unique voices, and why a good revisiting of realist writing is sorely needed.
-
First Fiction Friday: Egg Island
In this week’s edition of First Fiction Friday, editor Russell Smith from Dundurn Press shares why less really is more in Sara Flemington’s new novel Egg Island, via her unique and clever minimalist approach.
-
The W.I.T.C.H. List
In a piece called “Why are we all so into witches right now?”, LitHub writer Molly Odintz states that witches “represent the spirit of female rebellion, or at the very least unapologetic female weirdness.” A Woman In Total Control of Herself, or W.I.T.C.H., by extension, is something to be celebrated. We look at six (the spookiest…
-
ALU Summer Book Club: Intro to After Realism
The Summer of Andrés continues with our August #ALUbookclub pick, After Realism, a short fiction anthology edited by André Forget and published by Véhicule Press. To kick off the month, we share André Forget’s introduction to the book and interview Véhicule Press Carmine Starnino on how After Realism came to be.
-
Must Read: Seven Book-to-Movie Adaptions
Discover our ALU Guide of book-turned-movie adaptations! Why not read these titles before watching them online! Read on to see where you can stream these wonderful book adaptations.
-
First Fiction Friday: LOTE
While the end of summer draws ever nearer, our summer reading list does not. You’ll dive into Shola Van Reinhold’s debut novel, LOTE (Metonymy Press), this summer, and it’ll stay on your mind through the rest of the seasons. Through extensive research on an overlooked Black modernist poet, the narrator creates a queer historical scene…
-
Poetry in Motion: Rhona McAdam + Larder
Award-winning poet and trained nutritionist Rhona McAdam shares her delicious new collection of poetry, Larder (Caitlin Press), in this edition of Poetry in Motion. Learn how the collection both celebrates the gifts of the natural world and mourns their increasing challenges, and hear her read the poem “Wild”.
-
ALU Summer Book Club: Follow-up Reads After Ring
With the ALU summer book club, it’s never truly goodbye – especially when we have great reads on deck acting as fitting follow-ups to our summer picks. For July’s pick Ring by André Alexis (Coach House Books), we look at a handful of novels and a poetry collection to pick up on some of the themes of…
-
Writers’ Block: Dawn Promislow
Uncover the writer behind the novel Wan (Freehand Books) – Dawn Promislow. In this month’s edition of Writers’ Block, Promislow shares how she realized writing fiction is a way for a writer to put distance between themselves and their material, how she is drawn to novels and short stories that are translated from another language, and her…
-
Must Read Books: 15 Historical Fiction Novels
After watching the latest movie adaption of Jane Austen’s Persuasion, we wondered what other historical fiction novels we could dive into this summer. See our roundup below.
-
First Fiction Friday: Fearnoch
Fans of Letterkenny and A Child’s Christmas in Wales will enjoy Jim McEwen’s new novel Fearnoch (Breakwater Books). Fearnoch is a plea for its characters to remember humility, honesty, and to see themselves in their neighbour, before it’s all gone.
-
A Book Lover’s Guide To Calgary
Last month I took a trip to Calgary, and took a literary tour! Read on below to hear all about my literary scoop!
-
ALU Summer Book Club: Ring Staff Discussion
It’s our favourite time of the year: the ALU team broke out the snacks and sat down to discuss André Alexis’s Ring (Coach House Books), our July book club pick. Plus, download our discussion guide for your own book club!
Got any book recommendations?