Thanks to Areej, Faith, and LJ for the interview about the *Our Climate, Our Stories* project, which has produced a book of essays, stories, poetry and more by Black, Indigenous, and racialized youth re. the climate crisis. Listen for it soon on Talking Radical Radio!
Literary fiction. Short stories, mostly centred on characters who are Black girls and young women living in Florida. Relationships, loss, embodied messiness in everyday life and in those few-in-a-lifetime moments when everything changes. The stories were more distinct from each other than you often find in an early-career collection like this, while still having a …
Cihan Erdal is a scholar at Carleton University in Ottawa. In September 2020, while on a visit to Turkey, he was arrested and jailed. His husband, Ömer Ongun, was immediately plunged into a whirlwind of activities organizing the Free Cihan Erdal support campaign. After nine long months in prison, Erdal was released in mid-June, though …
Sci fi. Centuries ago, humanity fled Earth on generation ships. The ship at the centre of this book has survived because it came upon a herd of massive, vacuum-living space beasts. Originally, the beasts were just a source of resources, killed and harvested, but for many generations now the humans on this ship invade a …
Russell Lavis lives in Toronto and is an ultramarathon runner who uses his abilities to act in solidarity with the Palestinian people, most recently by raising money for the Help Gaza Breathe campaign. Michael Bueckart is based in Montreal and he is a scholar, an activist, and the vice-president of Canadians for Justice and Peace …
Science fiction, I suppose, or maybe fantasy – anyway, kind of comic book-y in feel, and a world different from our own in that a small number of people have super powers, though this seems to be relatively new and not yet commonly known. Follows a not-very-good small-time super villain who robs banks, and a …
Just finished interviewing Cihan Erdal, an Ottawa academic imprisoned in Turkey until 10 days ago, and his spouse Ömer Ongun, about the detention and the @freecihanerdal campaign that has been working for his release. Listen for it on @TalkingRadical Radio soon!
Literary fiction. Two interspersed narratives set in London, England, one in the Victorian era and one in the present day, each following an employee of the same encyclopedic dictionary. In the older time period, it is a bustling concern, with dozens of lexicographers filling a massive building, working slowly towards the hoped-for publication. That blessed …
Thanks to Matias of Canadian Latin America Alliance for the interview just now about their work to push Canada to adopt a democratic, just, and progressive orientation towards Latin America. Listen for it on Talking Radical Radio in July!
Colleen Lynas and Victor Lachance are residents of Kemptville, Ontario. They are also members of the Coalition Against the Proposed Prison (CAPP) Kemptville. Scott Neigh interviews them about their town, about the Ontario government’s unilateral decision to build a jail there, and about what residents are doing in response. Kemptville is a town of 4000 …