Paranoid Musings in the Land of the Lotus Eaters. Memoir by Irena Karafilly

PARANOID MUSINGS IN THE LAND OF THE LOTUS EATERS To begin with, a word of advice: If you’re thinking of travelling to North Africa, do not read Paul Bowles! I knew nothing about the Tunisian island of Djerba, except its being a mecca for European sun worshippers. It was February and I needed rest and sunshine.  I madeContinue reading “Paranoid Musings in the Land of the Lotus Eaters. Memoir by Irena Karafilly”

Examining HBO’s Lovecraft Country. Essay by Olga Stein

Lovecraft Country: Monsters in America Embarking on a review of Lovecraft Country, an HBO series currently trending on Crave, is, I suspect, either like coming to a celebration late, having missed all of the excellent tributes, or it’s like arriving in time to hear a great keynote speech and realizing that something can yet beContinue reading “Examining HBO’s Lovecraft Country. Essay by Olga Stein”

Twitter Thread on the American Election by Patrick Gathara

Thanks to Dr. Alexandra Guerson from the University of Toronto who directed me to this “brilliant thread by a Kenyan journalist, @gathara, covering the American elections using the same language American media uses to cover elections in African countries”. ~ Sylvia Petter, Contributing Editor of Fiction (and satire), WordCity Monthly Twitter thread by Patrick GatharaContinue reading “Twitter Thread on the American Election by Patrick Gathara”

Antje Stehn: a WordCity Gallery

  Eggs inside eggs  When I talk to poet, artist and curator Antje Stehn, we are seven hours apart, her in Italy and me in Canada’s Northern Rocky Mountains, speaking on WhatsApp. I can hear my own voice as an echo. But other than that, things couldn’t be more clear: Antje is a creative visionary,Continue reading “Antje Stehn: a WordCity Gallery”

WordCity Literary Journal. October 2020 Issue 2

Letter from the Editor: Darcie Friesen Hossack On my desk is a copy of D-L Nelson’s coat hangers & knitting needles, Tragedies of Abortion in America Before Roe v. Wade. The book is heavy for its size—not for the weight of its bindings—and has been accompanying me from room to room since it arrived hereContinue reading “WordCity Literary Journal. October 2020 Issue 2”

Conversation with a Painting. Fiction by Nightingale Jennings

Conversation with a Painting A long frame, 90 x 40 inches, is suspended from just below the ceiling at the far right-hand corner of the living room. The colours match the pastel background of a painting on thin canvas. It is an overwhelming montage of an entire city under construction. Walattaa’s eyes zone in andContinue reading “Conversation with a Painting. Fiction by Nightingale Jennings”

Poetry by Clara Burghelea

7th St, Garden City, Starbucks Jeans and turtleneck, then lick cappuccino froth off a plastic lid. Watch the slick man by the door, cigarette hanging from pouting lips. Bask in the indulgence of a warm pretzel. Milk teeth clouds and a glitter sun glued to his hair. Mulch moist to instruct the senses. At theContinue reading “Poetry by Clara Burghelea”

Poetry by Josephine LoRe

In Praise of Colour pink and red yellow and brown and inbetween, blue dark purple, pale green these are the colours we hurt in red, blood flowing through veins menses from the womb creamy, the vernix of a baby’s birth colourless, the liquid salt from our eyes be they brown or blue green or grey,Continue reading “Poetry by Josephine LoRe”

A Covid Recovery Road Trip. Non-fiction by Gary Fowlie

A Covid Recovery Road Trip Gary Fowlie I’m sharing this with you because as a member of your family, or your friend, or fellow Covid ‘Long Hauler’, I want to thank you for your support during the past pandemic months. Obviously, Covid didn’t kill me. Not so obviously, I wasn’t able to escape its clutch.Continue reading “A Covid Recovery Road Trip. Non-fiction by Gary Fowlie”

Legalize Embezzlement to Alienate Poverty. Satire by Bernard Gabriel Okkurut

LEGALIZE EMBEZZLEMENT TO ALIENATE POVERTY. A PRAGMATIC REMEDY TO THE ENDEMIC POVERTY IN UGANDA We live in a jungle and man has to be a lion in order to survive in this hostile universe. Man is an accident in nature and has to struggle to be identified in a meaningless world. It doesn’t matter whetherContinue reading “Legalize Embezzlement to Alienate Poverty. Satire by Bernard Gabriel Okkurut”