AS YOU WERE, MUSIC LATE AND SOON, HOUSEHOLDERS, DANTE’S INDIANA, ON THE ORIGIN, THINGS ARE AGAINST US: Media Hits!
IN THE NEWS!
AS YOU WERE
Elaine Feeney wrote a feature article for Lit Hub! The piece “Writing Through Trauma, Past and Present: On the Legacies of Catholic Ireland” was published on Wednesday, October 20. You can read it here.
As You Were was listed by Book Marks as a small press favourite! The three judges of the North American Republic of Consciousness Prize put together a list of seven recent favourite indie titles in 2021. The list was published on October 20. You can check it out here.
Lori Feathers praised:
“A not-to-be-missed debut novel—smart, witty, and very engaging … Two things set this extraordinary novel apart: the amazing writing—lyrical, natural, often very funny, and always affecting; and Sinéad, a woman with whom Feeney captures the pain of self-reflection and the stubborn resilience of hope.”
As You Were was also listed by All Lit Up as a weekly recommended All Queued Up title! The list was published on October 20. Check it out here.
All Queued Up offers keywords to engage readers in the book, similar to how Netflix does for shows. For As You Were, they praised:
“Dark comedy. Riveting. Award-winner.”
Order your copy of As You Were here!
THINGS ARE AGAINST US
An excerpt from Lucy Ellmann’s Things Are Against Us (September 28, 2021), was published in The Walrus! The excerpt “Kill the Travel Bug: The Case for Staying Put” was published on October 4. You can read it out on their website here.
Order your copy of Things Are Against Us here!
Music, Late and Soon (August 24, 2021) by Robyn Sarah was announced as a finalist for The Mavis Gallant Prize for Non-Fiction, presented by the Quebec Writers’ Foundation! The winner will be announced during a live-streamed gala event on November 24 at 7PM.
An interview with Sarah was also recently published in the Montreal Gazette. Ian McGillis writes,
“So let’s be clear: you don’t need to be a musician, nor do you need to have aspired to be a musician, to appreciate Music, Late and Soon. Anyone who has ever felt a vocation for something, pursued it, misplaced it, then tried to summon it again is apt to identify with Sarah’s story.”
The piece was published online on October 8. Read the full interview here.
Order your copy of Music, Late and Soon here!
Kate Cayley’s Householders (September 14, 2021) received a starred review in Quill & Quire! The review was published on October 6, and it will appear in the November 2021 print issue. You can read the review on the website here.
Reviewer Steven W. Beattie wrote,
“A book that so assiduously interrogates notions of identity and belonging … Cayley’s language is precise and evocative … Each of the collection’s stories—from ‘Pilgrims,’ about a woman who impersonates a nun online to find sympathy for her difficult domestic situation, to the stunning opener, ‘The Crooked Man’—contains writing that impresses with its barbed acidity as much as its clear-eyed observation … The lambent prose frequently belies the emotional heft of the stories, which creep up on a reader.”
Householders was listed by 49th Shelf as an Editors’ Pick! The list was posted on October 4. You can check it out here.
49th Shelf also published a great review of Householders in their list “8 Books That Explore Memory and Space”! The list was published on October 4. You can read it here.
Reviewer Fawn Parker wrote,
“The stories in Householders are haunting and enigmatic, with a clarity of emotion that cuts through the dreamlike atmosphere Cayley has crafted … With incredible attention to the nuance of interpersonal relationships—whether familial, romantic, situational, dysfunctional—each story in Householders is a window into an eerie but wonderful world.”
Order your copy of Householders here!
ON THE ORIGIN OF THE DEADLIEST PANDEMIC IN 100 YEARS
Elaine Dewar, author of On the Origin of the Deadliest Pandemic in 100 Years: An Investigation (August 31, 2021) was featured in an article published in the National Post by Jesse Snyder titled, ‘Exit of top public health agency official leaves questions on Chinese military involvement with high-security disease lab.’ The article was published online on October 18. You can read it here.
An interview with Elaine Dewar for the Ottawa Writers’ Festival was also published online on October 15. You can listen to Elaine’s interview with Neil Wilson here.
Order your copy of On the Origin here!
Randy Boyagoda’s Dante’s Indiana (September 7, 2021) received an excellent review in the Wall Street Journal! The review was published on Friday, October 8. You can read it on their website here.
Reviewer Sam Sacks praised:
“[Dante’s Indiana] mixes the outrageous social satire of George Saunders or Salman Rushdie with Prin’s more solemn and inward religious searching. The unique result juxtaposes the ridiculous and the sublime—fitting as both an homage to Dante and a portrayal of America.”
Dante’s Indiana also received a positive review in ZYZZYVA! The review was published on Monday, October 18. You can read it on their website here.
Reviewer Shelby Hinte wrote:
“Boyagoda shows how the political is always personal and the personal is always spiritual. The last ninety pages of the novel move at break-neck speed … The effect is a bit dizzying, but maybe that’s the point—in an age where the internet connects us across oceans and time zones, no one exists in isolation and every occurrence is connected.”
Order your copy of Dante’s Indiana here!