In this very personal Under the Cover, writer Ann Cavlovic shares the painful and fraught journey to publishing her book Count On Me (Guernica Editions), a gripping novel of sibling rivalry, elder abuse, and the ways entitlement and money can distort family bonds.| Alllitup.ca
Since 1973, Breakwater Books been filling the gap in representation for writers from Newfoundland and Labrador, growing into a publisher of award-winning books across many genres. Today, Rebecca Roberts at the press shares the storied and vibrant history of Breakwater Books and their recent move back to Downtown St. John's, which now doubles as a retail space showcasing the rich variety of books produced by local indie publishers.| Alllitup.ca
M.S. Berry – the new pen name for Michelle Berry's thriller writing – is launching this new phase of her career with The Tenant (Turnstone Press), a fast-paced, heart-thumping story with some writing inside-baseball (which we always love to see!). We talk with Michelle about the book, how her writing habits have changed, and more in today's Writer's Block interview.| Alllitup.ca
Through interviews with resisters, author Joline Martin shares previously untold stories about what it was like for them to start new lives on Vancouver Island all the while grappling with the consequences of their decisions to stand against the war. The resisters’ stories blend with historical context to offer a deep and alternate insight into a time of political unrest in the United States. These stories challenge the long-held myths and assumptions about what it meant to be a Vietnam War...| Alllitup.ca
In the aftermath of a Memory War, society is fragmented into strange new cultures, castes and coalitions. Set against a backdrop of retrofitted food garages, microchip-sorting factories and hyperloop terminals, Whitney French brings us a dazzling novel-in-verse where memory is the highest currency and love, like all revolutions, is dangerous, unruly and singed with hope.| Alllitup.ca
Ben Matthews is less than thrilled when he is posted to Canada from Washington, but he doesn’t have time to sit in his disappointment. His diplomatic credentials are still fresh when he is drawn into an urgent assignment: locating an American VIP who vanished on a Yukon hunting trip. Seeking help from the local Mounties, he finds himself paired with Lee Sawchuk; an RCMP sergeant, she is at ease in the challenging terrain of the Yukon environment. Battling nature and their considerable diffe...| Alllitup.ca
Beaver Hills Forever is full of raunch and riot Conor Kerrs ability to gravitate around the embodied truths of institutional whiteness class settler colonization and the Indigenous Metis experience in the moraine of amiskwaciy is rebellious in its desire to not pathologize or rationalize the violent backdrops of its animate setting With his skilled hand Kerr makes sure there is room for all in the digital economy of the Future Joshua Whitehead author of Jonny Appleseed| Alllitup.ca
While summer is still in full swing, 17 Canadian authors shared their go-to summertime reading spots—from sunlit patios to quiet library corners (and beyond!)—along with a peek at some of the books keeping them company.| Alllitup.ca
I started working at Renegade Arts Entertainment in January as an assistant publisher after graduating UBC with a bachelor’s degree in psychology—not exactly the first job I was expecting to go into. Renegade Arts Entertainment is a small press publishing company founded by my father, Alexander Finbow, and my grandfather, primarily publishing graphic novels, comics, and illustrated children’s books. Joining the family business was not something I intended on doing; I have never been a b...| Alllitup.ca
Arabic, between Love and War (trace press), edited by Yasmine Haj and Norah Alkharashi, juxtaposes modern and contemporary poems from Iraq, Palestine, Sudan, Lebanon, Syria and Tunisia and their diasporas, alongside their translations into English (and some from English into Arabic). Many of these poems have been translated into English for the first time, and remind us of Arabic’s lyricism, poetic range, and beauty. Read the poems "A Lonely Man Walks on the Bridge by Samar Diab, translated...| Alllitup.ca
The Discovery of Finnegan Wilde (Thistledown Press), Caroline Pignat’s latest historical fiction novel set in Ireland in 1913, weaves the tales of three people: Eddie, an archaeology apprentice obsessed with the recent discovery of an ancient manuscript in a bog; Tomás, the 9th century monk who wrote it; and Finnegan, a thief whose only concern is her next score. Through history, mystery, and myth—the story of their adventures digs deep into the past and the heart. Today, Caroline shares...| Alllitup.ca
Coltrane Seesequasis, author of the four-part YA fantasy series A Wolf in the Sun shares the tracks that fuelled his writing of both the series’ first book and its upcoming second instalment The Threads of Time (Kegedonce Press), out this fall. Check out the playlist that helped shape his book's intricate worlds, charged moments, and emotional beats.| Alllitup.ca
The ALU team met to discuss all things Where the Jasmine Blooms (Fernwood Publishing): together we found author Zeina Sleiman's descriptions extremely evocative, the political intrigue exciting, and, of course, sad parallels to present-day world events. Read on for the highlights of our (mostly) spoiler-free team book club meeting, and get our questions for your own club.| Alllitup.ca
Shane Neilson's What to Feel, How to Feel (Palimpsest Press) is an emotionally resonant and lyrical collection of essays about non-neurotypicality, self-discovery, and fatherhood. Below, we share an excerpt from the book.| Alllitup.ca
Poet Zachari Logan tells us how, in the process of keeping a sketchbook-as-diary using only shades of green, the work began to relate to the poems he was working on. The result? The beautiful book, Zachari's collection Green (Radiant Press). Read Zachari's piece about how this marriage between two art forms became one gorgeous book below.| Alllitup.ca
In his collection A Current Through the Flesh (Ronsdale Press), poet and spoken word artist Richard-Yves Sitoski traces four generations of trauma to show how fragile male identities can be and the hidden strength of women held back by harmful beliefs. Today, he shares a post-read playlist and the personal history behind each track, weaving a compelling and deeply intimate story about his fractured relationship with his father.| Alllitup.ca
In her debut novel, our August book club pick Where the Jasmine Blooms (Fernwood Publishing), Zeina Sleiman writes of two Palestinian cousins meeting for the first time in Lebanon: one living there, one visiting, and the family truths they uncover in the process. We talk with Zeina about breaking stereotypes about the Middle East, writing grief from experience, and what she'll be writing next.| Alllitup.ca
