What We’re Talking About in Issue 0804 (June 2024)
The complete table of contents
as it appears in the June 2024 issue of Blank Spaces.
from the editor—Let’s Rally Like The Breakfast Club
shameless — In her personal essay, My First Gift, Sophie Shen explores the power of a name, the desire to fit in, and the value of hindsight.
The Advil offers a humorous play-by-play of an exchange between Gillian Lowry and her husband as he went on a late-night search for medicine.
Erin Brown takes us on a journey of discovery as she seeks out the meaning of home in her wanderlust piece Lost and Found in the 9th Arrondissement.
flash fiction — In an excerpt of her upcoming debut novel, Nettie Marie Magnan invites us to listen in on a literary conversation between a mother and daughter as they discuss the merits of writing in The Margaret Arguments.
In A Golden Flower’s Fable, Chris J. Meyer explores the life of a goldenrod plant through the interpretation of a herbarium curator.
Jessica Michalsky takes us underground in Buried Dead as a monster that is typically a metaphor for lost humanity begs for the opposite to be considered.
red solo cup — August Carrigan presents a poetic commentary about The Ocean Ranger and the tragedy that occurred on Feb 14th, 1982 when it sank, killing everyone on board in their heartfelt poem Roses on the Water.
After retirement, Don Palmer has returned to writing poetry; unquestionably his first love. Here he presents Hungry Men Weep, Hypochondria, Distance, and Low Romance.
Through A Prairie Cemetery in November Kellly Marie McAllister shares a piece of creative non-fiction presented in poetry form that recounts the experience of attending her estranged uncle’s funeral in a barren graveyard outside Winnipeg.
Stephen Grant offers his own exploration of the question of purpose as he takes us through the movements of a day in his prose poem Moebius Strip.
food of love — Kim Losier mirrors the melodic ear worms of our memory with the rhythmic tapping of one of her father’s old tools in her tender story, The Click of His Cane.
fiction — Mere weeks before the release of his new novel, Benjamin Rempel invites us to read an early excerpt that generated some attention in different writing contests. In Search of Damien tosses the reader into an infected world as teams work together to try and administer an anti-virus in time.
different strokes — We are celebrating Pride Month with Toronto artist Rob Croxford and his unique, colourful, and quirky collection. His Sign Language series is “like stuffing pop-culture, nostalgia, humour, text, and a dash of cheeky commentary into a blender” and it is designed to spark joy in everyone who sees it.
make art not war — Pauline Shen shares her Beautiful Botanicals, a lovely study on flowers that mirrors the human experience and a reflection on our shared mortality.
between the lines — Gail M. Murray brings us a review of Unrest by Blank Spaces alum Gwen Tuinman.
write prompt challenge winner — Gareth Marks presented a powerful contest entry with his short fiction The Ruins, one that the judges called a “strong meditation on love, desire, grief, and imposed shame.”
final word — In her thoughtful poem—If Caught In Time, Could We Be Mended—Carol Casey asks us to explore the possibility of growth and healing and the lesson of our scars.
