darcie friesen hossack

How the Tree Leaves Helped the Poet. fiction by Dilan Qadir

How the Tree Leaves Helped the Poet He gladly told everyone—sometimes volunteered unsolicited—of the first time he met her at a poetry reading. It was the evening of March 21st, International Poetry Day. He was invited to a reading at a neighbourhood library in North Vancouver. Back then he was working at a clothing storeContinue reading “How the Tree Leaves Helped the Poet. fiction by Dilan Qadir”

Faculty Lounge. fiction by Paul Germano

FACULTY LOUNGE Blue-eyed social studies teacher Claire Peabody pushes open the door to the faculty lounge, letting herself in and shutting out the sweaty stink of youth that permeates the middle school’s hallways. Inside the lounge, the air smells inviting, thanks to an autumn breeze blowing through a propped-open window that intermingles with the ruggedContinue reading “Faculty Lounge. fiction by Paul Germano”

Literary Spotlight. Marthese Fenech in Conversation with Sue Burge

LITERARY SPOTLIGHT: MARTHESE FENECH – STORYTELLING HISTORY For this issue I was lucky enough to hook up with Marthese Fenech, who writes historical fiction, a genre I devour and admire! I love all of Mar’s answers below, she answers my questions as a true and natural storyteller and is the polar opposite of the stereotypesContinue reading “Literary Spotlight. Marthese Fenech in Conversation with Sue Burge”

Green Horses on the Walls by Cristina A. Bejan. a review by Clara Burghelea

Green Horses on the Walls by Cristina A. Bejan. Finishing Line Press, May 27, 2020. 46 pp Cristina A. Bejan’s debut collection, Green Horses on the Walls (Finishing Line Press, 2020), is a 2021 Independent Press Book Award Winner and the 2021 Colorado Authors’ League Book Award for cover design which is also the author’sContinue reading “Green Horses on the Walls by Cristina A. Bejan. a review by Clara Burghelea”

Coasting Through Winter. a review of books by Gordon Phinn

Coasting Through Winter Works Referenced: This Is Assisted Dying, Stephanie Green (Scribner 2022)The Philosophy of Modern Song, Bob Dylan (Simon & Schuster 2022)Gangsters of Capitalism, Jonathan M. Katz (St. Martin’s Press 2021)They Knew, Sarah Kendzior (Flatiron Books 2022)Untold Stories: How The Light Gets In, Michael Posner (Simon & Schuster 2022)The Animals, Cary Fagan (Book*Hug 2022)AContinue reading “Coasting Through Winter. a review of books by Gordon Phinn”

‘If She Must Be a Myth’. a review of Heather Clark’s Red Comet: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath. by Dr. Suzanne M. Steele

‘If She Must Be a Myth’Review of Red Comet: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plathby Heather Clark, Alfred A. Knopf, 2020. The old comparisons to Medea and Electra no longer hold. If she [Plath] must be a myth, let her be Ariadne, laying down the threads, leading us out from the centreContinue reading “‘If She Must Be a Myth’. a review of Heather Clark’s Red Comet: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath. by Dr. Suzanne M. Steele”

Writers’ Wives. non-fiction by Eva Salzman

Writers’ Wives The Victorian writer’s equivalent of a Reader’s Wife photo might resemble Coventry Patmore’s homage to his first wife, Emily, that “Angel in the House”, which is also the title of a work for which he should surely be remembered. Men like Millais, Ruskin (who was shocked on this wedding night by his wife’sContinue reading “Writers’ Wives. non-fiction by Eva Salzman”

15 August kabul fall. non-fiction, photography by Ahmad Ali Fadakar

15 August, Kabul Falls. I don’t see Kabul anymore. Kabul doesn’t have its own blue sky anymore. And the girls of this city can no longer wear their flowery dresses and skirts. They’ve forgotten their laughter. It was a dark day for Kabul and its people. I didn’t think at all that the TalibanContinue reading “15 August kabul fall. non-fiction, photography by Ahmad Ali Fadakar”

My battle scars. Non-fiction by Diary Marif

My battle scars A scar the size of a small spider mars the left side of my head. It holds the memory of a four-year-old boy, who only knew war for the first four years of his life. His playground was an empty field and his toys were cannonballs, found among the ruins. One day,Continue reading “My battle scars. Non-fiction by Diary Marif”

4 poems by Finn Harvor

BOY MEETS GIRL AFTER BATTLE 1 Pretty in the morning Disfigured by afternoon, The girl lies under rubble Where a soldier spots her, Not realizing that three hours earlier Everything else being equal, He would have felt differently And their meeting, Crump-thuddy And shot-staccatoed, Would had led to something more, A sequel. BOY MEETS GIRLContinue reading “4 poems by Finn Harvor”