Quill and Quire

Fiction: Short

Summat Else

By Royston Tester

Over the 13 linked stories comprising this debut collection from Birmingham, England-born, Toronto resident Royston Tester, our protagonist, Enoch, is clubbed with one revelation after another: his father’s illiteracy, his own nascent and tumultuous sexuality, ... Read More »

September 20, 2004 | Filed under: Fiction: Short

Tarcadia

By Jonathan Campbell

We know from the beginning that Tarcadia, Jonathan Campbell’s debut novel, is going to end badly, and that’s a good thing. Otherwise when a table improbably collapses under a Christmas feast a few pages into ... Read More »

September 10, 2004 | Filed under: Fiction: Short

Core Samples

By Patti Grayson

In this debut story collection, Manitoba writer and actor Patti Grayson delivers 18 stories set in the fictional town of Hematite. At first blush, Hematite seems like an average sort of place, a town organized ... Read More »

July 19, 2004 | Filed under: Fiction: Short

Third and Long

By Chris Fisher

The eight stories in Third and Long, Chris Fisher’s third collection of short fiction, share settings in small prairie towns and narratives based on the subject of sports. Fisher, who has lived in more than ... Read More »

May 12, 2004 | Filed under: Fiction: Short

I know you are, but what am I?

By Heather Birrell

Toronto writer Heather Birrell’s first collection of short stories attempts to breathe new life into coming-of-age and character-in-the-midst-of-life-change tales. Unfortunately, it only half delivers on that promise.Where Birrell succeeds is in her ability to accurately ... Read More »

May 12, 2004 | Filed under: Fiction: Short

Berbice Crossing

By Cyril Dabydeen

Nine of the 11 stories in Cyril Dabydeen’s third collection, Berbice Crossing, are set in rural Guyana, and many of the characters dream, often of escape: Devan, in “The Rastafarian,” envisions pairing up with his ... Read More »

April 20, 2004 | Filed under: Fiction: Short