Homegrown 2.0: Even More Locally Produced Reads (October 3)

Find more Homegrown picks here.

Sugaring Off by Fanny Britt, translated by Susan Ouriou
(Book*hug Press)

Montreal, QC

All Lit Up: Is there any literary lore where you live?

Fanny Britt: I have been fascinated by Leonard Cohen’s house in Montreal since adolescence. My best friend and I used to go sit in the Parc du Portugal on Saint-Laurent Boulevard in high school and hope for him to come out of his house. We would also hang out in his favorite breakfast spots, like Bagel Etc and Beauty’s diner, hoping to run into him. I never did, but I’m sure I would not have been able to utter a word if I had. Now I visit his grave every time I take a walk on Mount Royal, and always silently greet his magical house when I pass by.

Click here to learn more about Sugaring Off + purchasing options.

Mad Sisters by Susan Grundy (Ronsdale Press)

Montreal, QC

All Lit Up: Do you have a favourite spot to visit where you live? Tell us about it.

Susan Grundy: The abandoned Canada Malting factory in Saint-Henri is an impressive relic from the industrial era that once defined the Lachine Canal. The paths along the waterway are now populated by cyclists, joggers and wanderers like me. Miraculously, the malting silos have not yet been torn down.

Click here to learn more about Mad Sisters + purchasing options.

Giving Up the Ghost by Adam Lindsay Honsinger (Porcupine’s Quill)

Guelph, ON

All Lit Up: Do you have a favourite spot to visit in your hometown? Tell us about it.

Adam Lindsay Honsinger: My favourite spot to visit in town is The Common cafe. I love the coffee, the atmosphere, and the community it attracts so much that I wrote a significant portion of my new novel Giving Up the Ghost at this establishment. Support small and local.

Click here to learn more about Giving Up the Ghost + purchasing options.

echolalia echolalia by Jane Shi (Brick Books)

Richmond, BC

All Lit Up: Does your community feature in your book in some way? How?

Jane Shi: Various parts of my book take place where I grew up in Richmond, BC, on the stolen lands of the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓-speaking peoples, including the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Kwantlen, q̓íc̓əy̓ (Katzie), Semiahmoo, Tsawwassen, kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem), and Stó:lō Nations. 

“autist roams the strip malls of 3 road” takes place here, on number 3 road, a busy intersection that didn’t used to have a skytrain. As a young person I would stroll the streets at night and sit in the 24-hour Blenz, where I read, wrote, and eavesdropped. What I remember most is the presence of others. The quiet of the night and the pocket of light and bustle within the coffee shop felt like refuge, something serene and special. When I came back here with my copy of echolalia echolalia, it felt like visiting an old friend. After all, this place is about solitude among others and what the stretching of time offered me when I was searching for myself. It feels like an important place to come back to and thank. 

Click here to learn more about echolalia echolalia + purchasing options.

Johnny Delivers by Wayne Ng (Guernica Editions)

Toronto, ON

All Lit Up: Does your community feature in your book in some way? How?

Wayne Ng: Johnny Delivers is a work of fiction, though it integrates personal and historical elements from 1977. As the son of Chinese immigrants, born and raised in downtown Toronto, my life was deeply rooted in the city. I bled Toronto Maple Leafs blue, grew up on Henry Street, and wandered the vibrant neighbourhoods of Chinatown, Kensington, and Yonge Street.

I worshipped Bruce Lee, watching his films at the Pagoda Theatre, and his legacy is honoured throughout the novel. I learned to skate at Nathan Phillips Square and attended Central Technical School, where I often skipped classes to play pinball and smoke at Manny’s and Nick’s.

These places form the backdrop of my youth in the 1970s and are vividly depicted in Johnny Delivers, where my protagonist, Johnny Wong, navigates family debt and gang pressures by delivering weed and egg rolls all within the fabric of a community that supports and shapes him.

The clan-based Associations (or tongs) are a significant part of our shared history, serving as both a refuge and a reminder of the legislated racism that our community faced, including the head tax and the Chinese Exclusion Act. My grandfather, Ng Men Chem, who paid the head tax in 1911, is fictionalized as a member of the Association, where the novel’s climactic mahjong battle takes place.

Johnny Delivers is dedicated to the untold and unspoken stories of thousands of “paper families”—improperly documented Canadians like my mother, Pui Ching Ng.

Click here to learn more about Johnny Delivers + purchasing options.