SHORT FICTION

Queer Little Nightmares: An Anthology of Monstrous Fiction and Poetry
David Ly and Daniel Zomparelli, eds.
Arsenal Pulp Press, Oct.

Amber Dawn, David Demchuk, Hiromi Goto, jaye simpson, Eddy Boudel Tan, and Kai Cheng Thom are among the contributors to this collection of poetry and fiction that re-examines monsters through a queer lens, showcasing monsters in popular culture old and new as non-conformists to be celebrated. –Cassandra Drudi

Hard Ticket: New Writing Made in Newfoundland
Lisa Moore, ed.
Breakwater Books, Aug.

A hard ticket, in Newfoundland, is a lively character or headstrong person. This collection, edited by award-winning author Lisa Moore, features previously unpublished stories from Newfoundland’s next literary generation. –CD

This Will Only Take a Minute: 100 Canadian Flashes
Bruce Meyer and Michael Morilla, eds.
Guernica Editions, Nov.

The short-short stories in this collection range in genre from stark realism to speculative fiction, but they all have brevity in common, with lengths that range from six to five hundred words. –CD 

Her First Palestinian and Other Stories
Saeed Teebi
House of Anansi Press, Aug.

The characters in Saeed Teebi’s stories are Palestinian immigrants to Canada, and through the breadth of their experiences, Teebi explores the multi-faceted Palestinian diaspora and the particularities of their immigrant experience. –CD

Yellow Watch: Journey of a Portuguese Woman
Carmelinda Scian
Mawenzi House, Aug.

Carmelinda Scian explores the lives of the Portuguese immigrants and labourers who built the facades of downtown Toronto in a series of linked stories, beginning in rural Portugal, where a girl named Milita lives in poverty with her family. Her father moves to Toronto and finds work in construction so that the family can follow him to Canada. –CD

READING DOUBLE

A woman takes an Uber that was meant for someone else with the same name. Identity theft lands a man in hot water for a crime he didn’t commit. The mysterious death of her twin haunts a woman from Jamaica living in Toronto. A dutiful nurse impersonates her dead sister for a good reason. These releases explore the perks and perils of having – or being – a doppelgänger. 

Jade Is a Twisted Green
Tanya Turton
Dundurn Press, Sept.

Educator and mental health advocate Turton explores themes of Black queer identity and coming of age after loss and grief in this debut novel. –Andrew Woodrow-Butcher

Stealing John Hancock
H&A Christensen
Turnstone Press, Sept.

Mother–daughter screenwriting duo H&A Christensen make their fiction debut with this “action thriller” about identity theft. –AWB

Only Sisters
Lilian Nattel
Random House Canada, Aug.

Nattel’s fifth novel looks at the limits of duty and compassion through the lens of family secrets. –AWB

Are You Sara?
S.C. Lalli
HarperCollins, Aug.

Sara takes the wrong rideshare the night before Sarah turns up dead in S.C. Lalli’s debut crime thriller. –AWB