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Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Two Poems from What is Long Past Occurs in Full Light by Marilyn Bowering
Marilyn Bowering’s newest What is Long Past Occurs in Full Light (Mother Tongue Publishing) is a collection that meditates on absence, loss, and the natural world which Jane Munro calls “Tender. Passionate. Informed. Haunting. […] giving us much to reflect on as we, too, engage with the intense presence of a past we, and the Earth,…
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In Review: The Week of August 12th
This week we took to the patio again for a bookclub discussion of Missy Marston’s Bad Ideas (ECW Press), chatted with Bindu Suresh about writer’s block, played casting director with Sally Cooper’s With My Back to the World, and read The Nap-Away Motel, a debut novel that’s The Grand Budapest Hotel meets Scarborough.
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First Fiction Friday: The Nap-Away Motel
Get your Blundstones on this weekend and travel into the gritty underbelly of Scarborough with Nadja Lubiw-Hazard’s The Nap Away Motel (Palimpsest Press), where behind the doors of the city’s run-down motels, forgotten people dwell within forgotten places.
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Character Study: With My Back to the World
There’s a lot to praise about Sally Cooper’s third novel With My Back to the World (Wolsak and Wynn): it’s an artful exploration of motherhood and art-making featuring a cast of strong female characters. We could almost see the film play out. That’s why we collaborated with author Sally Cooper who imagined a perfect celebrity…
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ALU Book Club: Bad Ideas Discussion
Not even the threat of bees on our favourite patio/book club stomping grounds could keep us from serving up a cold glass of delicious discussion on Missy Marston’s Bad Ideas (ECW Press) – our August Book Club read. Find excerpts from our club chat about the novel below and download our reading guide for your own…
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Writer’s Block: Bindu Suresh
Bindu Suresh is a debut novelist to watch for: her gorgeous novel-in-stories 26 Knots (Invisible Publishing) has been described by Claudia Dey as “a lightspeed Romeo and Juliet, a billet doux to Montreal” and by the Montreal Gazette as “one of the most striking Canadian literary debuts of the year.” We were lucky enough to chat…
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In Review: The Week of August 5th
This week we contemplated decolonization and Indigenous Poetics with an essay from D.A. Lockart, introduced our August #alubookclub pick, armchair explored some Canadian trails, and queued up a Spotify playlist.
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Hiking with the Best of the Great Trail
In time for hiking season is Michael Haynes’s second volume of trail-hopping goodness, The Best of the Great Trail (Goose Lane Editions), a collection of thirty must-see trails of Western Canada across five provinces. For hikers, cyclists, and armchair travellers alike, the book describes each route from its conditions down to its dog-friendliness, cellphone coverage,…
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Liner Notes with Tracey Waddleton
Guest DJing this edition of Liner Notes is author Tracey Waddleton who made us the perfect playlist to pair with her debut short story collection Send More Tourists…the Last Ones Were Delicious (Breakwater Books), a surrealist road trip about human nature that’ll keep your foot on the pedal to the last page. Scroll on for…
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ALU Book Club: Intro to Bad Ideas
The theme of this summer’s #ALUbookclub is love and relationships: While last month’s book Echolocation was a dark meditation on relationships, this month’s pick Bad Ideas by Missy Marston (ECW Press) explores the complexities of love, family dynamics, and choices. Read on for more about the novel, and our short interview with Susan Renouf, the book’s editor.
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Indigenous Poetics, An Island in the Neutral Sea, and Decolonization Moves
Let’s start with where my thought process begins. I am waiting in a sun-baked parking lot at the edge of the Leamington, Ontario ferry dock. July heat is cooking the rows of cars and trucks around me. Around us, Waabishkiigo Gchigami is lightly rolling waves into shore and forest of sailboat masts and speedboat windshields…
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In Review: The Week of July 29th
This week we talked writing with a novelist, took in some readings from a poet, learned more about Dene Ways of Knowing, got a history lesson on the semicolon, and more.
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Beautiful Books: On the Curve, The Life and Art of Sybil Andrews
In this visually rich collection, On the Curve (Caitlin Press), Janet Nicol shares insight into the life of Canadian artist Sybil Andrews and her uplifting artwork. This beautiful book features linocut prints across the span of her career, as well as archival photographs that tell the story behind her work, which took inspiration from everyday…
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Quoted: From Bear Rock Mountain
In his memoir From Bear Rock Mountain (Brindle & Glass), Dene artist and social activist Antoine Mountain shares his moving and personal experience with colonial violence and his journey from residential school to art school—his path to healing and reclaiming his Dene identity. Below Antoine explains the epigraph that informs his memoir and shares a…
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Poetry in Motion: Matthew Walsh’s These are not the potatoes of my youth
With insight and humour, Matthew Walsh’s collection These are not the potatoes of my youth (Goose Lane Editions) explores their queer identity against the changing rural Nova Scotian landscape. Read on for more about the collection, including three video excerpts!
Got any book recommendations?