Quill and Quire

BOOK REVIEWS

The Naturalist

By Alissa York

In the recent film The Revenant, set in the Montana wilderness of the early 1800s, it is hard to distinguish the trappers in their bear coats and patched skins from the wild creatures around them. ... Read More »

April 13, 2016 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

How Festive the Ambulance

By Kim Fu

How Festive the Ambulance is the debut poetry collection from the author of the acclaimed 2014 novel For Today I Am a Boy. The poems, which are mostly based around thought-provoking situations, demonstrate Fu’s attention ... Read More »

April 13, 2016 | Filed under: Poetry

Desecrations

By Matt Rader

“Discomfort / enthralls me,” writes Michael Prior, a poet who has published, seemingly, everywhere, and whose list of accolades is monumental. His first full-length collection, Model Disciple, concerns itself with the cycles of family history ... Read More »

April 13, 2016 | Filed under: Poetry

Let the Empire Down

By Alexandra Oliver

Ashley-Elizabeth Best’s debut collection, Slow States of Collapse, comprises mostly short, confessional, free-verse lyrics. The book is divided into five sections, some held more tightly together than others by a thematic or referential constant. The ... Read More »

April 13, 2016 | Filed under: Poetry

The Waking Comes Late

By Steven Heighton

Many Canadian fiction writers started out as poets. Rarer are people like Michael Crummey and Steven Heighton, who write poetry and prose in tandem. A grim warning: only a few of the greatest writers (Thomas ... Read More »

April 13, 2016 | Filed under: Poetry

The Memento

By Christy Ann Conlin

Fourteen years have passed since Christy Ann Conlin wowed readers and critics alike with Heave, her debut novel about an independent, hard-drinking woman on the Bay of Fundy coast. Conlin returns to this setting with ... Read More »

April 11, 2016 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels