It's such a relief to have CNQ back in the world, and not just because it can help fill the void when it comes to actual evaluative literary criticism in this country. CNQ has always been filled with astringent reviews, but it's also home to insightful feature articles and accessible reminders of Canada's literary heritage. It's nice to have this edgy magazine back on the newsstands.
Anyway, pick up your copy wherever better magazines are sold.
M.
All this makes it sound like I don’t think there’s much value in reading Enshittification, and that’s not true. Doctorow’s insights into the unfair practices of Big Tech are spot on. His own story of trying to get “verified” on a freshly enshittified ... Twitter is hilarious. He’s right to praise the Biden administration for being the first to challenge antitrust laws and norms in the US that have led to so much corporate consolidation and oligarchy. He’s also right to point out how odious it is to be charged a monthly or annual subscription fee on software for a piece of technology we’ve purchased and now own — anything from cars and household appliances to the colours available to us in Adobe.
Here's an excerpt of my review:
"In this slim debut novel, Josée Sigouin has written a rich, wide-ranging exploration of how the term ‘distance’ can take on multiple meanings in a single relationship. Our Fifth Season examines what it means to love another person without a full picture of them, to give ourselves over to intense emotions even from a position of isolation from the source of those feelings."
"Mundane elements of the landscape (such as the construction pillars of the bridge) are recast as ominous, and I was immediately sucked into an eerie atmosphere that felt real and compelling. Gems of sentences build a picture of the landscape: “Prince Edward Island did not wear early April well,” and with this we get the slow build of intrigue. Our main character clearly has some form of PTSD, but Sampson skillfully gives the reader just enough detail for us to want to keep reading to find out more."
Have you picked up your copy of Lowfield yet? Christmas is right around the corner, and the novel makes a great gift for the horror lovers on your list. It's available wherever better books are sold.
So I completely dropped the ball and failed to acknowledge and share around this video of my reading at the Brockton Writers Series back in September. Oops! Anyway, here it is! It was a lovely night and now you can enjoy a part of it. Please don't forget to like, subscribe, comment, vote, get a Pap smear, thank your mom for all she's done for you, take your blood pressure, support local journalism, and pet a cat.
Here's an excerpt of what I have to say:
"And by the time the postseason started, I shocked myself by tuning in. Who was I now? Was I becoming a baseball fan? I can easily say that what won me over was the Jays’ remarkable sportsmanship, their examples of positive masculinity and the fun the team seemed to be having, even when it looked like their World Series dreams were being dashed. I became just as obsessed with the absolute joy in Ernie Clement’s smile as I was with the 'Springer Dinger.'"
M.
This new issue of Grain contains a number of familiar names to me, including Lorna Crozier, Lisa Bird-Wilson, and Aaron Schneider. It also has a super-cool cover that features thumbnails of all 200 previous covers of the magazine.
I can't wait to tuck in to see what's on offer, and I hope you will do the same. Grain is available wherever better Canadian magazines are sold.
M.
