reviews and other writing
links to book reviews, essays, short stories, and poems
The Proust Questionnaire
In January 2018 I was asked to answer 20 questions in the classic Proustian style. Thank you to Marsha Lederman for taking the time to provide me this space to have some fun.
You can read the piece by clicking here.
Book Reviews for the Globe and Mail
I’ve been writing book reviews for nearly ten years, and it all started with an unassuming email from Mark Medley—then Globe Books editor—in 2014.
My first assignment, John Ralston Saul’s The Comeback. I spent so many hours pouring over that review, agonizing over the concept of my opinions appearing in a national newspaper, that my hourly wage must have averaged out to fifty cents.
But it was such satisfying work, and so exciting to read the review in a real newspaper, over a Sunday cappuccino at my local coffee place.
I’m so grateful to Mark for taking a chance on me!
Here’s some examples of the work that I did for Globe Books:
A Mind Spread Out on the Ground, Alicia Elliott. March 31, 2019.
My Conversations with Canadians, Lee Maracle + The Reconciliation Manifesto, Arthur Manuel, November 3, 2017.
The Banker and the Blackfoot. Edward Chamberlin September 9, 2016.
Mysterious Fragrance of the Yellow Mountains, Yasuko Thanh, April 29, 2016
Black Apple, Joan Crate, March 11, 2016
Stolen Sisters, Emmanuelle Walter, November 13, 2015
The Reason You Walk, Wab Kinew, October 9, 2015
Chinkstar, Jon Chan Simpson, August 25, 2015
Birdie, Tracey Lindberg, June 13, 2015
#idlenomore and the Remaking of Canada, Ken Coates, April 18, 2015
The Jaguar’s Children, John Vaillant, January 10, 2015
The Comeback, John Ralston Saul, December 6, 2014
Fiction, Non-Fiction, Essays, and Reviews
Asparagus Magazine Jan 2021
- This Land Doesn’t Need a White Saviour
Poetry is Dead Nov 2018
- Grow Your Hair Long: A Conversation with Waub Rice.
Quill & Quire Nov 2018
- Non-fiction review: Tanya Tagaq’s Split Tooth
The Literary Review of Canada September 2018
- Review: Richard Wagamese’s Starlight and Daniel Heath Justice’s Why Indigenous Literatures Matter
Quill & Quire August 2018
- Non-fiction review: Daniel Heath Justice’s Why Indigenous Literatures Matter
The Short Story Advent Calendar. Hingston & Olsen. Winter 2017
Fiction: Last Woman
The New Quarterly Spring 2017
- Essay: In a Canoe, Chasing my Metis Grandmother Like a Dummy
Room Magazine Spring 2017
- Fiction: Midwives
subTerrain Issue 76, May 2017
- Interview: #Resistance150: A Conversation Between Carleigh Baker and Jordan Abel
The Literary Review of Canada November 2016
- Fiction review: Katherena Vermette’s The Break
The Malahat Review December 2016
- Non-fiction review: Ma-Nee Chacaby’s A Two-Spirit Journey: The Autobiography of a Lesbian Ojibwa-Cree Elder
Matrix Magazine October 2016
- Fiction: Read These Postcards In A Gonzo Journalist Voice
subTerrain Issue 74, Sept 2016
- Fiction: Shoe Shopping With The Cash Poor
The Rusty Toque July 2016
- Fiction review: Richard Van Camp’s The Lesser Blessed 20th anniversary ed.
Quill & Quire May 2016
- Non-fiction review: Joe Friesen’s The Ballad of Danny Wolfe
The Goose Spring 2016
- Non-fiction review: Derrick Stacey Denholm’s Ground Truthing: Reimagining The Indigenous Rainforests Of BC’s North Coast
EVENT Magazine Winter 2015
Poetry Reviews: Jónína Kirton’s page as bone ink as blood, Marilyn Dumont’s The Pemmican Eaters, Chelene Knight’s Braided Skin
The Malahat Review Winter 2015
- Non-fiction review: Mini Aodla Freeman’s Life Among the Qallunaat
Joyland Magazine Oct 2015
- Fiction: The Modern Intimate
PRISM International Fall/Winter 2015
Creative Non-Fiction: Dinner With The Vittrekwas. Read online now at goingdownswinging.org
Matrix Magazine July 2015
subTerrain Issue 70, May 2015
- Fiction: Chins and Elbows
EVENT Magazine May 2014
Interview: In Conversation on Conversation: EVENT Interviews Joanne Arnott
Joyland Magazine Aug 2013
- Fiction: War of Attrition (2014 Journey Prize nominee.)
subTerrain Issue 63, Jan 2013
- Fiction: Last Call (Winner, 2012 Lush Triumphant awards.)
Ricepaper Jan 2013
Poetry: Grandma Carrière, Saint Mary