What We’re Talking About in Issue 0401 (September 2019)
The complete table of contents
as it appears in the September 2019 (THIRD ANNIVERSARY) issue of Blank Spaces.
from the editor — Stubborn Perseverance
shameless — Home is Beyond the Horizon by Rachel Laverdiere explores the question of home. It means different things to different people. Some refer to the place they live, the place they grew up, the place where the people they care about live. For others, home is a variable concept that changes on a whim. This essay will leave you contemplating where you call home.
— Doloroso by Olivia Kingsbury is a raw look at the family left behind after a loved one takes their life. It is the real time, real-life telling of the universal trauma of suddenly losing a loved one.
— Love Made for TV by reality television survivor, Tina Petrick, shares a humorous and radically honest account of the loneliness that led from a Craigslist booty call to The Bachelor Canada.
red solo cup — Heavy with the weight of her affections, Mackenzie Shaw bares her soul in two pieces from her Millennialist collection: Pseudo Conscience and Trip Up.
— In her poem, Missing Stitches, Kendra C. Duke examines the process of aging, the fear of invisibility, and the power of a defiant spirit.
— Through art and poetry, Anjali Kohli reflects on the life she sees around her as she navigates the world through her various personas. She is an interpreter, a wanderer, a mother, a soul brimming with passion, hopes, and dreams. In her poem, Some Days, paired with her artwork, we catch a glimpse of that passion and worldview.
— Abby Couture wrote The Sacred Place after reading Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s research on the psychology of optimal experience or happiness.
— Alyssa Cooper’s style is modern, lyrical, and deeply metaphorical, addressing difficult topics like sexism, toxic femininity, and mental health. Little Poems Pt. 2, Pt. 3, Pt. 5, Pt. 6, and Pt. 9 give a glimpse into her life and perspective as a queer, gender non-conforming woman.
flash fiction — Dorothy Jane Kavanaugh explores what life was like for a woman in the 1940s in her heartbreaking piece, Agentis.
— Summer, Heading North by Brian Moore captures a tender moment between a woman and an older man prone to wander from his home, reminding us that simple gestures can deliver great kindness.
— Wednesday Morning by Victor Knyazev is a short mystery about the death of a lonely man in the streets of a city with a recent outbreak of ghosts. Come along and observe the scene with the Watchmen as the police investigate.
different strokes — Continuity by artist and poet Anjali Kohli (cover artist) uses bold colours and figures to represent the people she interacts with in her daily role as an interpreter for asylum seekers in Quebec. She meets many different people with unique stories but they all share the common thread of beginning a new life. She chooses vibrant colours to represent the life and hope they bring to their new start.
fiction feature — Buckle up for Tunnel Vision by Ronald Zajac. This is a tale where mental illness steals the commas right out of the sentences! Decades after OCD marred his teen years with Cold War nightmares, David MacIntyre, now a recently-divorced lawyer in small-town Ontario, finds his symptoms spiking again as he tries to win the affection of a woman during his morning walk in a restored train tunnel.
more than words — In And Again, Paula Boon takes found objects and pairs them with word clippings, creating simple, beautiful, and thoughtful pieces of photographic art.
make art not war — Ontario artist, Leona Kennedy, shares her love for painting and the reason behind it in Returning to Creativity.
between the lines — Gail M. Murray shares her reflections on The Quintland Sisters, the debut novel from British Columbia author, Shelley Wood, who wanted to create a narrative that would help keep the story of the Dionne quintuplets alive.
write prompt challenge winner—TBD
final word — In Sunsets Over Lake Winnipeg or Fond Memories of Childhood Summers Past Daniel Harrison explores the way happy memories can remain vivid, down to the smallest, inconsequential details.
