Quill and Quire

Fiction: Short

Dark All Day

By Darryl Joel Berger

So-called “realistic” fiction often fails to capture exactly how bent, how strange the business of living is. The quest for realism often belies the odd, the ugly, and the liminal, facts and dialogue substituted for ... Read More »

September 27, 2013 | Filed under: Fiction: Short

★ Oh, My Darling

By Shaena Lambert

Shaena Lambert’s second collection of short stories continues to exhibit the narrative prowess of her previous collection, 2002’s The Falling Woman, and her novel, Radiance. With a subtle but consuming strength, the 10 stories in ... Read More »

August 26, 2013 | Filed under: Fiction: Short

★ Hellgoing

By Lynn Coady

For several years, Lynn Coady – whose 2011 novel, The Antagonist, was a finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize – hosted a “group therapy” advice column for The Globe and Mail, an experience that may ... Read More »

July 15, 2013 | Filed under: Fiction: Short

Keeping the Peace

By Colette Maitland

Strictly speaking, there’s not much new about Colette Maitland’s debut short-story collection. Fifteen of the 19 pieces that make up Keeping the Peace have been published elsewhere, and Maitland is remarkably consistent in her themes: ... Read More »

June 18, 2013 | Filed under: Fiction: Short

The Best Place on Earth

By Ayelet Tsabari

Ayelet Tsabari’s penetrating debut short-story collection begins with “Tikkun,” about a chance reunion in a Jerusalem café between two former lovers whose lives have followed divergent paths in the seven years since splitting up. Lior, ... Read More »

March 25, 2013 | Filed under: Fiction: Short

Eat Your Heart Out

By Katie Boland

The stories in Eat Your Heart Out explore failed relationships and missed opportunities. Loneliness and regret permeate the collection, but it’s saved from depressing monotony by Toronto actress Katie Boland’s use of voice and tone ... Read More »

March 12, 2013 | Filed under: Fiction: Short

South of Elfrida

By Holley Rubinsky

Holley Rubinsky’s fourth book is a collection of 18 short stories that addresses the theme of liminality: her characters, mostly female, transgress borders of countries and relationships, and stand, tentatively, on the threshold of new ... Read More »

March 12, 2013 | Filed under: Fiction: Short