Author:

An Interview with David Puretz

The author of The Escapist talks about the inspiration for his new novel, on self-reflexiveness, metafiction, metanarration, Paul Auster and other influences, on the frame narrative structure, his setting, experiment and contemporary lives, and lots more.

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An interview with Elliot Perlman

The author of Three Dollars talks about his new work and its origins, on writing about sexual harassment, on the times we live in, his characters and his real life experiences in law, tips for writers, and lots more.

A review of Giant Steps Edited by Paul Munden and Shane Strange

There is so much to explore in this wonderful collection: work that stretches the imagination, plays with language, time, and space in order to explore human endeavour, both scientific and artistic – and in many cases the distinction becomes blurred. Strange and Munden have done an exceptional job choosing and structuring poems.  

A review of Year of the Monkey by Patti Smith

Not many writers could pull off such a diffuse structure but Smith does it beautifully, using her poetic vernacular and pulling the reader in so tightly, we begin to think and perceive in Smith’s fragmentary, hallucinogenic way. The result is strangely exhilarating.

A review of Emerald City by Brian Birnbaum

Birnbaum, a CODA himself, loves florid, beautiful, language. Perhaps being a hearing child of Deaf parents channeled his talents to the written page more readily than to a spoken art? Some well-turned sentences are spot on: “Matthew was a walking gerund, always stating things that could’ve just been done in the first place” personifies the unity of word and action by using its difference.

An Interview with Brian Birnbaum

The author of Emerald City talks about his new novel, about growing up as a child of deaf parents and its impact on his writing, about his publishing company Dead Rabbits and upcoming books, the impact of his psychology background, on failure and trauma, on Video Relay Service fraud, and lots more.

A review of Creature by Rosalee Kiely

The poems in this collection cover many areas from the personal to the general, from the subjective to the concrete; they linger through very effective image making. Kiely poetry is clever and accessible and her ideas flow in sensory experiences. The writing is confident in range and depth. The poems are rich in veiled feelings, sometimes coloured by banalities and others tainted with pain and nostalgia.

A review of Chronicles in Passing by Carol Smallwood

Carol Smallwood is to be praised for her skill, perspective, and philosophy over a wide poetic range. Hers is a unique set of senses, capturing sights, sounds, moments, and observations of the everyday world in such a manner that causes the reader to see what is all around him in a fresh, new way.