Review of Jun Long Lee’s “Abode”
By Catherine Owen Abode by Jun-long Lee Athabasca University Press (2025) A gorgeously-designed pocket book of mostly prose poems, all untitled, in a surrealist vein, Abode takes the reader on…
Review of Bruce Hunter’s “In the Bear’s House”
By Vivian Hansen In The Bear’s House by Bruce Hunter Frontenac House (2025) I read the first edition of this book in 2009 (Oolichan Books). I believed then, as I…
Review of Jaspreet Singh’s “Dreams of the Epoch & the Rock”
By Tonya Lailey Dreams of the Epoch & the Rock by Jaspreet Singh NeWest Press (2024) In “Dreams of the Epoch & the Rock”, Jaspreet Singh considers a vast range…
Review of Armand Garnet Ruffo’s “The Dialogues: The Song of Francis Pegahmagabow”
By Kathryn MacDonald The Dialogues: The Song of Francis Pegahmagabow by Armand Garnet Ruffo Nishannbemwin translations by Brian D. McInnes Wolsak & Wynn Publishers (2024) Here is a story that…
Review of Tim Bowling’s “Graveyard Shift at the Lemonade Stand”
By Rosalie Morris Graveyard Shift at the Lemonade Stand by Tim Bowling Freehand Books (2025) Established poet and novelist Tim Bowling’s newest book is a collection of short stories titled…
Review of Uchechukwu Peter Umezurike’s “Wish Maker”
By Kendall Bistretzan Wish Maker by Uchechukwu Peter Umezurike Masobe Books (2025) Wish Maker by Uchechukwu Peter Umezurike is a charming juvenile fiction book full of magical realism, relatable characters,…
Review of Wade Davis’ “Beneath the Surface of Things”
By Michael Frey Beneath the Surface of Things by Wade Davis Greystone Books (2024) Wade Davis’ latest essay collection “Beneath” offers a social perspective in both subject and style. Lying…
Review of Blaine Newton’s “Rag Pickers”
By Vivian Hansen Rag Pickers by Blaine Newton University of Calgary Press (2025) Thomas Trofimuk’s blurb offered me a guiding question on this review of Ragpickers: “I found myself re-reading…
Review of Tolu Oloruntoba’s “Unravel”
By Catherine Owen Unravel by Tolu Oloruntoba Penguin Random House (2025) Unravel is a poetry of serious sonority, worthy of engraving on stone: lyrical, political, historical, scholarly, poems solemnly proud…
Review of Aisha Sasha John’s “Total”
By Catherine Owen Total by Aisha Sasha John McClelland and Stewart (2025) Performative poetry, page-bound, retains its power, but also establishes a yearning. As essentially a transcription, it makes the…