“Wind sets out the many ways that Israeli institutions of higher education are enlisted in Israel’s settler-colonial project. Some are strategically situated to anchor Israeli territorial expansion, often standing literally on the sites of razed Palestinian villages.” Larry Hannant reviews Towers of Ivory and Steel: How Israeli Universities Deny Palestinian Freedom, by Maya Wind (London: Verso, 2024) $39.95 / 9781804291740
“Crossing the River is the author’s personal journey of atonement – coming to terms with her birthright of white privilege. The book gives voice to a different narrative of Canada’s history and offers personal insight into the meaning of reconciliation.” Sage Birchwater reviews Crossing the River: An Unsettling Memoir by Sandra Hayes-Gardiner (Calgary: BixBooks, 2023) $20 / 9781777296759
“I’m writing this in part to address the request from readers of my other typography texts to write about Bringhurst, or perhaps pursue a retrospective. Both of these requests are solid and probably long overdue, so in this I attempt to take a first look at this pursuit.” Thomas Girard reviews two earlier books by Robert Bringhurst of Quadra Island, bringing readers a discussion on these influential titles: The Elements of Typographic Style & The Solid Form of Language.
Warland is convinced that as writers, “we must learn to live with profound vulnerability.” In doing this, we are filling in the lack of stories that others have been too afraid to tell. We become more resilient in ourselves as we learn from ourselves—our fears and identities—and we can start to tell authentic narratives that our world, culturally and socially, so desperately needs.” —Natalie Virginia Lang reviews Breathing the Page: Reading the Act of Writing, by Betsy Warland (Toronto: Cormorant Books, 2023) $24.95 / 9781770867031
Delightful debut YA novel “speaks … to all readers who care about becoming adult in a positive, life-embracing, world-loving way.” —Alison Acheson reviews Crash Landing, by Li Charmaine Anne (Toronto: Annick Press, 2024) $18.99 / 9781773218427
Canadian scholar and essayist Thomas Girard takes us into the future of typography, asking “How does typography play a role in what’s coming? There’s no better way, in my mind, than to talk to the experts.” Thomas Girard writes the essay Where we jump forward to…
“‘It became a philosophical/legal statement about the land. I hope it reaches out to Indigenous and non-Indigenous audiences and will inform people going forward with reconciliation.’” Sage Birchwater reviews Lha Yudit’ih We Always Find a Way: Bringing the Tsilhqot’in Title Case Home by Lorraine Weir, with Chief Roger William (Vancouver: Talonbooks, 2023) $35 / 9781772013825
An “archaeologist-poet” celebrates, honours, and meditates on a feminist pioneer. —Harold Rhenisch reviews Lady Bird, by Kerry Gilbert (Holstein: Exile Editions, 2023) $19.95 / 9781990773105
“Tlingit participants and scholars, Kan tells us, worked together as equals and their writing is aimed at benefiting source communities through the repatriation of knowledge.” Bruce Granville Miller reviews Sharing our Knowledge: The Tlingit and their Coastal Neighbors by Sergei Kan, with Steve Henrikson (eds.) (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2023)
$60.95 / 9781496236883
A debut novel “full of both hope and despair” portrays Ines, a conflicted small town skateboarder new to the big city. —Jessica Poon reviews Late September, by Amy Mattes (Madeira Park, Harbour Publishing, 2024) $22.95 / 9780889714564
Quietly affecting novel delivers with an elegiac narrator recalling the “vibrant, creative and tragic world” of his youth. —Theo Dombrowski reviews The Marvels of Youth, by Tim Bowling (Hamilton: Wolsak and Wynn, 2023) $24.00 / 9781989496749
“The book traces Silverman’s two-year (Covid) adventure, when he took 15 months to learn all 48 pieces … in the process conveying the emotion and harmony of the ultimate composer.” Isabel Nanton reviews Bach’s Sonic Tapestry: The Well-Tempered Clavier of 1722, Book I by Robert Silverman (Victoria: FriesenPress, 2023) $24.49 / 9781039165229
“…although educational institutions promote diversity in their course offerings, content, culture, and student body, the reality is that diversity among the leadership in these institutions is rare.” Natalie Virginia Lang reviews Diversity Leadership in Education: Embedding Practices of Social Justice edited by Catherine McGregor and Shailoo Bedi (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2024) $44.95 / 9780228019251
“Today, typography can be approached in many different ways whereas at many times in history there was simply a single story and single entry point. ” Thomas Girard writes Where We Enter, a third essay in his series for The British Columbia Review on the subject of typography.
Debut eco-thriller is “controlled, crafted, deliberate—and, to boot, utterly purposeful.” —Theo Dombrowski reviews Adrift, by Lisa Brideau (Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks Landmark, 2023) $25.99 / 9781728265681
Exceptional essays “elicit gasps, induce chills.” —Brett Josef Grubisic reviews Dinner on Monster Island: Essays, by Tania De Rozario (Toronto: HarperCollins Canada, 2024) $17.99 / 9780063299665
“…Randy Lee Cutler and Ingrid Koenig, two respected professors at Emily Carr University, received a major research grant to work with scientists at TRIUMF, Canada’s principal centre for particle physics research.” John O’Brian reviews Leaning Out of Windows: An Art and Physics Collaboration edited by Randy Lee Cutler and Ingrid Koenig (Vancouver: Figure 1 Publishing, 2023) $45 ISBN 9781773272177
A “lively musical and political education” for readers young and old. —Ron Verzuh reviews Rise Up and Sing!: Power, Protest and Activism in Music, by Andrea Warner (illustrated by Louise Reimer) (Vancouver: Greystone Kids, 2023) $26.95 / 9781771648981
Two poets tackle social margins and underbellies. —Joe Enns reviews A Brief Relief From Hunger, by Spenser Smith (Guelph: Gordon Hill Press, 2023) $20.00 / 9781774220986 and Fishing for Leviathan, by Rodney DeCroo (Vancouver: Anvil Press, 2023) $18.00 / 9781772142136
“Informing her adolescent readers but not leaving them feeling helpless is a delicate balance that Ridge achieves…” Ginny Ratsoy reviews Evolution under Pressure: How we Change Nature and How Nature Changes Us by Yolanda Ridge (Toronto: Annick Press, 2023) $17.99 / 9781773217529