BOOK REVIEWby LINZEY CORRIDON POETRYONTARIO REVIEWS CALIFORNIAA Brief History of Infidels HOW BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE AREa pothi by AYAZ PIRANI[Guelph: Gordon Hill Press, 2022, $20.00] “All my ancestors are stone-faced” responds the speaker to the question Where are you from?, the title of one of the entries in Ayaz Pirani’s third work of poetry. Stone-faced, rigid, … Continue reading Book Review: Linzey Corridon / Ayaz Pirani
Nacimiento was sitting out the dry season on his porch. Why he was called Nacimiento was a mystery, perhaps some confusion with the paperwork when he was born. And you shouldn’t really call it a porch either for, under that which served for … Continue reading Short Story • by Michael McGuire
“Tell me a story,” my dad would say, walking down the path. It could be fall, or spring, winter, or summer – we walked all over the place, at any time, given any opportunity. “But what should it be about?” I was overwhelmed … Continue reading Twenty Migrations • by Renessa Visser
by NEVENA KOVACEVIC My bookshelf The Secret Wife was Left Neglected in The Blue BistroReading The Testaments of Children of Cape HornThe List was long, and she hoped she still had time to Contact The Hangman In The Mirror.Girl, Wash Your Face, the waitress said, you’re losing The Edge of ReasonShe looked up, wondering if … Continue reading A Poem • Nevena Kovacevic
NUTGROVE (short story) By Luke Beirne [Originally published Dec. 24, 2018. Republished 24/12/21] Ivanna’s broom swept over the dark brown knots on the hardwood floor, leaving a perfectly squared trail through the pine needles scattered across it. The tree was standing in the corner beside the big window, looking out through sheer curtains to the … Continue reading Short Story • by Luke Beirne
BOOK REVIEWby ROBERT COLMAN POETRYNEWMARKET REVIEWS WINNIPEG TAMAR RUBIN’STablet Fragments[Winnipeg: Signature Editions, 2020, $17.95] Most of my favourite lyric poetry involves poems that propose broad but endlessly relevant questions. E.g., What do we carry with us of our years of experience? How do we witness our lives and of those who touch us? And how … Continue reading Book Review: Robert Colman / Tamar Rubin
HAVING A CHILDRAISED THE GHOSTOF MY MOTHER a short storyby Vanessa Green A week before Halloween 25 years ago, I walked into my mother’s hospital room bursting with excitement. I couldn’t wait for her to see my old lady costume. My best friend and I had spent weeks trawling second-hand shops for the perfect get … Continue reading Short Story • by Vanessa Green
BOOK REVIEWS by TAMAR RUBINPORTRAITS:VEGETABLE, ANIMAL AND MUSICAL WINNIPEG REVIEWSFREDERICTON, CALGARY, & HALIFAX MATTHEW WALSH’SThese are not the potatoes of my youth[Fredericton: icehouse poetry – Goose Lane Editions, 2019. $19.95] JIM NASON’SRooster, Dog, Crow[Calgary: Frontenac House Poetry, 2018. $19.95] GEORGE ELLIOTT CLARKE’SPortia White: A Portrait in Words[Halifax: Nimbus Publishing House Poetry, 2019. $21.95] Mathew Walsh … Continue reading Book Reviews: Rubin / Walsh / Nason / Clarke
ART REVIEWby BART GAZZOLA Michael Snowat the Art Gallery of Hamilton There’s the story, then there’s the real story, then there’s the story of how the story came to be told. Then there’s what you leave out of the story. Which is part of the story too. [– Margaret Atwood, from MaddAddam] One does not … Continue reading Art Review: Bart Gazzola / Michael Snow
by JENN CARSON Bow and arrow My eldest son rolls with meon the kitchen’s hardwood floorand I pull him into a bow and arrow choke start to squeeze for the submissionand he groans and giggleshey it’s like being cuddledand then oh no!—eyes widenhe gags—we let golaugh and untangle limbs I roll onto my shouldersstack myself … Continue reading A Poem • Jenn Carson
HA&L magazine 