Cover Collage: White Out

by Jon Paul Fiorentino (Anvil Press)

The humour in this collection of stories will help you get through any winter blues. The illustrations by Maryanna Hardy will help you see a little beauty in the world, despite all the snow currently blocking it (in many parts of the country).

by Deborah Schnitzer (ARP Books)

Can’t make heads or tails of things right now with all that blinding snow? No worries. Sometimes it’s nice to venture into the unknown. Like with Gertrude Unmanageable, a genre-defying novel that’s hard to describe. This novel is about love and reproduction and an unmanageable Gertrude.

by Joshua Trotter (Biblioasis)

Just as the sun reflects off the snow, the poems in Joshua Trotter’s debut collection reflect and deflect with puns and rhymes.

by Lisa Downe (BookThug)

If you’re snowed in why not try this book of poetry from Lisa Downe? It’s an alternative take on the detective fiction genre. Spend your time sorting through the clues and what is real vs. imagined.

by Nicholas Ruddock (Breakwater Books)

Just as whiteout conditions leave you feeling a little unsure of the world around you so do the characters feel in the set of linked stories found in this new book from Journey Prize-nominee Nicholas Ruddock.

by Karen Solie (Brick Books)

When we’re dealing with whiteouts in the deepest, darkest of winter it can feel like summer is a long way off. Wouldn’t it be nice to believe we’re at least halfway there? With Modern and Normal, Solie explores the idea of in-betweenness, between what is perceived and what is actually there. Give it a read and maybe you can fool yourself into believing we’re almost done with winter for another year.

edited by James Martin (Brindle & Glass)

As winter rages on why not spend your evenings with Bob Edwards, the Great White North’s equivalent to H.L. Mencken? This collection of his writings shows that he shattered the conventions of journalism and proved to be a man ahead of his time.  

by Joan Crate (Freehand Books)

If you’re examining what lies beyond youth and the trite promise of “happily ever after” and you’re currently in the middle of winter, the only iconic figure that should come to mind is Snow White. And that’s just who Joan Crate invokes in this collection of poetry.

by Devon Code (Invisible Publishing)

Three feelings well known to us as we’re deep in the middle of winter: longing, loss, and isolation. Longing for summer; loss of our previous glowing skin and hydrated hair; and isolation from those around us as we hibernate. These three feelings are shared by the characters in this collection of stories. NB. They probably aren’t all whining about winter though.