Quill and Quire

Reviews

The Cloaca

By Andrew Hood

Zoologically speaking, the cloaca is the undifferentiated posterior orifice in birds, reptiles, and amphibians. It serves urinary, digestive, and reproductive functions carried out by specialized structures in other species. Thematically, The Cloaca is the perfect ... Read More »

June 26, 2012 | Filed under: Fiction: Short

Come Back

By Sky Gilbert

The work of Sky Gilbert has long exemplified the concept of novel as autobiography. But in Come Back, the queer author and playwright’s sixth novel, this idea takes its most explicit form yet. In accessible ... Read More »

June 26, 2012 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

Gay Dwarves of America

By Anne Fleming

Traditional narrative strategies and formal experimentation, as well as fiction and autobiography, blend comfortably in Anne Fleming’s latest collection of short stories, the delightfully titled Gay Dwarves of America. Fleming, a University of British Columbia ... Read More »

June 25, 2012 | Filed under: Fiction: Short

The Least Important Man

By Alex Boyd

Alex Boyd’s sophomore collection has what one speaker calls “that being-filmed feeling.” Boyd’s eye is panoramic and moves with seeming ease from roof to handrail to a woman holding an umbrella. The formal structure of ... Read More »

May 15, 2012 | Filed under: Poetry

The Bones of His Being

By Sue Chenette

In The Bones of His Being, Toronto-based poet Sue Chenette explores loss and what remains. She finds – in old photographs, in subtle exchanges, and in quiet moments – the skeletal shape of her dead ... Read More »

May 15, 2012 | Filed under: Poetry

The Smooth Yarrow

By Susan Glickman

Susan Glickman’s newest collection opens with a Celtic incantation about aspiring to embody the virtues of nature. The yarrow sticks alluded to in the title are used in conjunction with the I Ching as tools ... Read More »

May 15, 2012 | Filed under: Poetry