Quill and Quire

Writing Life

Carol Shields Prize for Fiction shortlisted authors on their work and what being shortlisted means to them

The five writers shortlisted for the prize hail from different parts of the continent and their books differ widely in style and form, but each work contains important stories its author needed to tell.

Harnessing the power of images to tell the real story of heroin use in Canada

In Heroin: An Illustrated History, scholar and activist Susan Boyd wanted to tell the story not only of how heroin went from prescribed drug to illegal substance, but also of the harm-reduction activists and heroin users who have mounted a sustained resistance to prohibition and called attention to the continued overdose crisis.