Gravity and light through a poetic lens
Engaging, insightful poems entwine love, nature, and the cosmos.—gillian harding-russell reviews Asterisms, by Donna Kane (Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 2024) $22.95 / 9871990776717
Philosophy
Hangovers and inertia in Hong Kong
Compared to ickily comical masturbation scenes, “the sexiest parts of the book are the casually strewn about descriptions of delicious food.” —Jessica Poon reviews Batshit Seven, by Sheung-King (Toronto: Penguin Canada, 2024) $24.95 / 9780735245303
Time paradox terrain
Cerebral and captivating literary debut is speculative fiction with a capital S. —Zoe McKenna reviews The Other Valley, by Scott Alexander Howard (Toronto: Scribner Canada, 2024) $24.99 / 9781668023563
A whimsical respite
A joyous “compendium of delightfully quirky short pieces.” —Heidi Greco reviews Jigsaw: A Puzzle in Ninety-Three Pieces, by M.A.C. Farrant (Vancouver: Talonbooks, 2023) $19.95 / 9781772015430
‘To the possibilities and pitfalls’
“…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
Notes on megamalls
Debut author blends memoir, mall history, and critique with a “self-effacing love letter to her hometown’s most famous institution.” —Logan Macnair reviews Big Mall: Shopping for Meaning, by Kate Black (Toronto: Coach House Books, 2024) $23.95 / 9781552454725
Matters of conscience
“Regime of Obstruction documents the corruption of Canadian democracy that has become characteristic of our governmental systems, corporate regimes, and even the environmental organizations that have collaborated in the greening of the business ethos.” Dr. Loys Maingon reviews three titles he considers “guides for unscrupulous psychopathic capitalism.” Regime of Obstruction by William K. Carroll (ed.) Athabasca University Press, 2021 $39.99 / 9781771992893 & A Strategic Nature: Public Relations and The Politics of American Environmentalism by Melissa Aronczyk and Maria I. Espinoza, Don Mills: Oxford University Press – Canada, 2022
$108.95 / 9780190055349 & The New Corporation: How “Good” Corporations Are Bad for Democracy by Joel Bakan (Toronto: Allen Lane, 2020) $19.95 / 9780735238848
Desperately seeking Azy
Sophomore novel features a “brash anti-hero moving through an eerie, gothic landscape.” —Bill Paul reviews The Father of Rain, by Martin West (Vancouver: Anvil Press, 2023) $22.95 / 9781772142105
Avant garde, inventive, tricky, ‘at times infuriating’
Pondering an “innovative homage to other innovators in poetry.”
Peter Babiak reviews Broken Glosa: An Alphabet Book of Post-Avant Glosa, by Stephen Bett (Tucson: Chax Press, 2023) $32.35 / 9781946104427
Self-knowledge and lashings of eroticism
An ‘excellent gift for anyone kinky in your life.’
Carellin Brooks reviews Transland: Consent, Kink & Pleasure
by Mx. Sly (Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2023) $24.95 / 9781551529318
Authors’ origin stories (x 6)
Captivating essays trace authors’ careers from childhood onward…
Brett Josef Grubisic reviews Off the Record, by John Metcalf (editor) (Windsor: Biblioasis, 2023) $26.95 / 9781771965453
Travels of ‘an imperfect messenger’
“…Wosk removes his clothes, sits naked in silence, meditating on the Big Void.” Trevor Carolan reviews Naked In A Pyramid: Travels & Observations by Yosef Wosk (Vancouver: Anvil Press, 2023) $22 / 9781772142204
Roots, ‘praise portals,’ koans, and the Resurrection
Fraser Valley poet ‘searches for a common spirituality among biblical and sacred writings’…
gillian harding-russell reviews Consider, by Susan McCaslin (Thornhill: Aeolus House, 2023) $20.00 / 9781987872545
Memories of ‘gentle not-quite-back-to-the-landers’
Novel recreates life of a rural farm collective circa 1969…
Amy Whitmore reviews Commune, by Des Kennedy (Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing 2023) $24.95 / 9781990776519
Familial matters
Buoyant debut novel ponders manhood and Indigeneity…
Brett Josef Grubisic reviews Beautiful Beautiful, by Brandon Reid
(Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 2023) $24.95 / 9780889714540
No. 2000 for the BC Review!
When we launched The British Columbia Review — then The Ormsby Review — in September 2016, little did we expect that seven years later we’d post our 2000th review. I’m grateful to everyone — reviewers, publishers, authors, booksellers, and readers — for making it such a success and promoting BC writers, writing, and culture. It…
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Poems embrace the natural world
Poems with ‘immediacy, tactility, and general imaginative freshness’…
Christopher Levenson reviews Crushed Wild Mint, by Jess Housty (Gibsons: Nightwood Editions, 2023) $19.95 / 9780889714502
Poems where sorrow and joy converge
Poems help us withstand the grief of loss and change… Trish Bowering reviews Moorings, by Christopher Levenson (Qualicum Beach: Caitlin Press, 2023) 9781773861272 / $20.00
Everyday as endearing
Post-Modern Mini-Comics by Colin Upton Wolfville, NS: Conundrum Press, 2023 $10 / 9781772620849 Reviewed by Jeffrey Stychin * Who is Colin Upton? An outcast, a punk, a nomad, a pioneer, a realist, a savant, a regular human faced with the problems of everyday life filled with nuances and trivialities? The choice is up to you,…
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Not your high school teacher’s Shakespeare
Sonnets From a Cell by Bradley Peters Toronto: Brick Books, 2023 $22.95 / 9781771316132 Reviewed by Harold Rhenisch * A cell is a lonely place. It is singular. Even when many cells are linked in series, each one is solitary. Sonnets, too. Sonnets come from Italy, where words rhyme easily. Oddly enough, these polished little…
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