Yes Ma’am’s ‘Queer AF’ issue lives up to its theme

Jillian ClairApril 16, 2020

Yes Ma’am #13: Queer AF Zine, Elle Minter and Suzy González, 48 pgs, Yes Ma’am Press, yesmaampress.com Submitting to a zine anthology takes guts. Contributors...

‘The Little Fox of Mayerville’ leaves the reader at the doorstep of social revolution

Joel W VaughanMarch 2, 2020

The Little Fox of Mayerville Éric Mathieu (Trans. Peter McCambridge), 379 pgs, QC Fiction, qcfiction.com, $24.95 This porous bildungsroman flit...

Come ‘Put Your Hand in Mine’ and escape to the natural world

Sarah-Jean KrahnFebruary 8, 2020

Put Your Hand in Mine Elaine Woo, 86 pgs, Signature Editions, signature-editions.com, $17.95 Clawing from the bottom of a well at the unforgiving st...

‘Lands and Forests’ leaves the reader with tales from new acquaintances

ZacheryCooperFebruary 7, 2020

Lands and Forests Andrew Forbes, 217 pgs, Invisible Publishing, invisiblepublishing.com, $19.95 Beautifully flawed characters negotiate tension-fuel...

‘Meat and Bone’ dares you to face your deepest insecurities

AriCannarozzoFebruary 5, 2020

Meat and Bone Kat Verhoeven, 340 pgs, Conundrum Press, conundrumpress.com, $25 We all deal with insecurity and heartache in our own way. Maybe it’s ...

‘Invasions’ confronts experiences of embodiment with empathy and honesty

Maxine KozakFebruary 4, 2020

Invasions Calvin Gimpelevich, 174 pgs, Instar Books, instarbooks.com, $18 Amidst rampant heteronormativity, stereotyping and outright erasure, it fe...

‘Hotrod Billy’ is a laid back summer read

Kathleen BrennanJanuary 27, 2020

Hotrod Billy & Friends Jack Stevenson, 270 pgs, Park River Books I’ll admit I’m a sucker for books like this one: a road trip through the states i...

Self-righteous, specfic, ‘All City’ falls short

Joel W VaughanJanuary 21, 2020

All City Alex DiFrancesco, 276 pgs, Seven Stories Press, sevenstories.com, $23.95 In a socially stratified near-future New York City, a carbon-caused s...

“Coconut Dreams” nostalgically depicts the complex dynamics of South Asian immigrant families

Fiona Raye ClarkeJanuary 14, 2020

Coconut Dreams Derek Mascarenhas, 264 pgs, Book*hug, bookhugpress.ca, $20 Rajesh might not be the first name you think of for a dragon, but ...

‘Hazel & Holly’ transports you to a land where both magic and darkness reside

AriCannarozzoJanuary 7, 2020

Hazel & Holly Sara C. Snider, 452 pgs, Double Beast Publishing, saracsnider.com, $15.94 If alliteration was the game, Sara C. Snid...

Jay MillAr ‘Could Have Pretended to Be Better Than You’ but instead he released this collection

Joel W VaughanOctober 28, 2019

I Could Have Pretended to be Better Than You Jay MillAr, 191 pgs, Anvil Press, anvilpress.com, $20 A non-exhaustive cross-section of MillAr’s output, thi...

Walsh isn’t afraid to get down in the dirt in “These are not the potatoes of my youth”

Kathleen BrennanSeptember 24, 2019

These are not the potatoes of my youth Matthew Walsh, 92 pgs, Goose Lane Editions, gooselane.com, $19.95 Etched in white on a slate of black and blue, the ...