What We’re Talking About in Issue 0901 (September 2024)
The complete table of contents
as it appears in the September 2024 issue of Blank Spaces.
from the editor—Needful Things
shameless — In her personal essay, 3rd Grade Apologetics, Tamara North presents a lighthearted memoir that explores themes of self-image, pride, and the cycle of competition through the perspective of a child in English Literacy class.
When Ivanka Fear welcomed a stray cat into her home, she didn’t expect to fall in love, let alone grieve its loss so deeply. She explores this experience and how it stirred up thoughts of losing her mother in her emotional piece, Send Me a Sign.
Miriam Edelson gives us a glimpse of French-Canadian life in the late 70s in her essay, My Quebec City Year.
flash fiction — Frances Koziar uses short fiction to explore the themes of grief and family in her touching story, Broken Things.
In Zach McCann-Armitage's piece, A Strange Form of Charades, a nervous narrator is initiated by their peers into a surreal performance ritual.
Ladybug is a story from Walker Pityn’s thesis collection during his time at the University of Saskatchewan, an example of work that explores coming of age, codependency, and anticipatory anxiety.
fiction — In An Afternoon in Knife Selling With Psycho Sammy, George Yonemori explores the tension between necessity and compassion as his main character experiences second thoughts regarding his summer job.
When her 90-year-old neighbour moved out of the home where she had lived for over half a century, Kathleen Brammall noticed a change almost immediately, watching as the house seemed to go through a period of mourning. She wrote The House as a way to capture this observation, sharing that loss is a funny thing—despite all its heaviness, there is always a way through.
Red’s Ride by Isaac Bouchard is the story of an Albertan and his most prized possession: his truck—providing an honest glimpse into prairie truck culture in all its glory and all its sadness.
red solo cup — Through his poem, The Germinating Philosopher, Wilder Simpson unveils a young mind evolving in the wilderness of the Pacific Northwest.
Carol Casey makes three offerings of poetry—Own, White Picket Fences, and From the Large New Cottage Porch—in which nature and her own personal growth figures largely.
As a strong introvert, Amy Byers has always been better at expressing emotion through writing rather than speech. Feeling Poetic was inspired after falling in love with short stop poetry—the ones only a few words long that speak to your soul for days—and while she has started to produce more of that kind of poetry, this example shares her struggle to get there.
different strokes — Ebru artist Daniela Waheed educates us on the ancient art form of water marbling, sharing its importance in her life and practice, and inviting us to see some of the amazing creations it can produce in Liquid Poetry: A Personal Odyssey With Ebru Art.
between the lines — Gail M. Murray brings us a review of Looking for Jane by Heather Marshall, winner of CBC’s Best Canadian Fiction award.
write prompt challenge winner — Sarah Law presented a strong contest entry with her short fiction Horse Girl, one that the judges called “appealing and engaging.”
final word — With poignant thoughtfulness and gasping measures, Don Palmer reminds us how things change, and yet never change, in his unsettling poem, Lullaby.
