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Black bookstores on the rise in NC
Before there was “Book-Tok,” there was Troy Jonson, curating a website called the African American Literature Book Club. Through more than two decades running the site, Johnson has seen a surge of growth in books written for and by Black readers. Though he’s also written about a decline in the number of Black-owned independent bookstores.…
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Local GR reading programs promote literacy, accessibility
There are a variety of programs in the Grand Rapids area to increase accessibility to free reading materials and literary resources for residents and community members. Some ways to access these materials include on-the-go reading programs like “Ride to Read” and inclusive programs within the Grand Rapids Public Library (GRPL). Ride to Read offers Rapid…
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Gabriel García Márquez on the Magic of Juan Rulfo
My discovery of Juan Rulfo – like that of Kafa – will without doubt be an essential chapter in my memoirs. I had arrived in Mexico on the same day Ernest Hemingway pulled the trigger – the 2nd of June 1961 – and not only had I not read Juan Rulfo’s books, I hadn’t even…
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The big idea: should we abolish literary genres?
In her Reith lecture of 2017, recently published for the first time in a posthumous collection of nonfiction, A Memoir of My Former Self, Hilary Mantel recalled the beginnings of her career as a novelist. It was the 1970s. “In those days historical fiction wasn’t respectable or respected,” she recalled. “It meant historical romance. If…
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Do You Believe in Magic? On The Timeless Charm of Children’s Books
I make books about books, and every year hundreds of people commission me to make custom art prints for them or their loved ones, of the spines of the books that changed their lives and made them who they are today. And as a result, I’ve read quite a lot of books—for people of all…
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Do You Believe in Magic? On The Timeless Charm of Children’s Books
I make books about books, and every year hundreds of people commission me to make custom art prints for them or their loved ones, of the spines of the books that changed their lives and made them who they are today. And as a result, I’ve read quite a lot of books—for people of all…
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Vacation Is No Escape From Her Sorry Husband
Vacation Is No Escape From Her Sorry Husband Louise Kennedy Share article Beyond Carthage by Louise Kennedy It had begun at dawn as they got off the plane, sparse plashes on the runway. By the time the coach deposited them at the Marhaba Aparthotel it was a slanted, dancing deluge. For three days they had…
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A Woman Escapes Her Marriage by Turning into a Forest
A woman turns into a forest. So begins Maru Ayase’s novel, The Forest Brims Over, translated into English by Haydn Trowell. Rui Nowatari is an (in)famous muse for her husband’s romance novels; one day, she swallows a handful of seeds and germinates. What follows is a layered exploration of what it means to create, and…
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A Woman Escapes Her Marriage by Turning into a Forest
A woman turns into a forest. So begins Maru Ayase’s novel, The Forest Brims Over, translated into English by Haydn Trowell. Rui Nowatari is an (in)famous muse for her husband’s romance novels; one day, she swallows a handful of seeds and germinates. What follows is a layered exploration of what it means to create, and…
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A Coast Lines conversation
Nov. 27, 2023 Memorial University alumna and author Shelly Kawaja (BA’02, MA’04) received the 2022 BMO Winterset Award for her debut novel, The Raw Light of Morning. Her work can also be found in Riddlefence, Horseshoe Literary Magazine, the Humber Literary Review and the Dalhousie Review. She was longlisted for the Bridge Prize and the…