In Review: The Week of October 26th

On the Blog

~ Alex Passey on the politics behind his new novel Mirror’s Edge (At Bay Press) and what makes good speculative fiction: “Great works should allow you both the escapism and the engagement.”~ Finding Heartstone (Caitlin Press) author and poet Cathy Sosnowsky shares her best advice on how to get your rear into writing gear: “I once had a dream (way back before I published anything) that I had written a book in spaghetti. In the dream I told a student (I was a college instructor then) that I wanted readers to eat it up.”~ Indie Reading Room author Kristyn Dunnion tells us about her short story collection Stoop City (Biblioasis), how the paranormal influences her work, and more: Stoop City~ We rounded up some spooky and strange books to get you in the Halloween spirit. ~ We revisited some seriously stellar fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and drama from spring 2020 with #aluspringback before the “fall back.” 

Around the Web

~ 32 writers make the 2020 CBC Poetry Prize longlist via CBC Books~ Beloved publisher Kitty Lewis retires from Brick Books via Quill & Quire~ RM Vaughan appreciation: He was someone a small group thinks the world of via The Globe and Mail  

ICYMI (last week)

Mixtape: Fake It So Real

This edition of Mixtape is Hole meets the Sex Pistols meets the Spice Girls: get a rad punk-rock inspired playlist to pair with the literary stylings of Susan Sanford Blades’s debut novel Fake It So Real (Nightwood Editions).