In Review: The Week of October 5th

On the Blog

~ Montreal-based translator extraordinare Katia Grubisic talks reading, writing, and her upcoming translation with Linda Leith Publishing: “Especially I like reading books that I wouldn’t want to have written, don’t want to translate, and have no interest in emulating.“~ Poet Phil Hall discusses the cover artwork on his latest collection Niagara & Government (Pedlar Press) and the evolution of his own self-portrait and artwork—from edgy, ’80s Elvis Costello vibes to watercolour and collage: “Expressionism. Outsider Art. “~ Author of the emotional heavy-hitter Acha Bacha (Playwrights Canada Press) Bilal Baig and cover artist Harmeet Rehal chat about capturing the essence of a sacred queer relationship on the book’s cover: “i think that touch being able to exist outside of colonial/white gazes, makes it even more special.“~ #IndieReadingRoom author Peter Dubé talks about the intriguing impetus behind his prose poem The Headless Man (Anvil Press), his inspirations, and politics in his poetry: “I came to see it as a monster or a kind of demigod, but also as a metaphor with vast range.” ~ We got fall cozy with a recipe for French Apple Cake! Inspired by a similar cake from a sweet moment in Anne Cathrine Bomann’s charming novel Agatha (Book*hug Press), this one gave us “all the peels.”

Around the Web

~ Publisher of Mawenzi House Nurjehan Aziz is the Toronto International Festival of Authors’ 2020 Ivy Award recipient for her significant contribution to Canadian publishing via Quill and Quire.~ In this week’s heartwarming news, library staff call seniors for friendly chats during COVID lockdown via CBC~ The shortlist for the 2020 Scotiabank Giller Prize was announced with Shani Mootoo’s Polar Vortex (Book*hug Press) and David Bergen’s Here the Dark (Biblioasis) among the nominees. 

ICYMI (last week)

In the height of quarantine, I reverted to my teenage self: An essay by Hana Shafi

Poet and illustrator Hana Shafi on compassion and changing bodies during the pandemic: “I’ve never been okay with our society’s obsession with diet culture and using thinness as a marker for health, and I feel especially not okay with it during a medical disaster.”