Bøger udgivet af House of Anansi Press

The 2024 Massey Lectures will be delivered by Scotiabank Giller Prize-winning author Ian Williams. The Massey Lectures is an annual five-part series of lectures given in Canada by distinguished writers, thinkers, and scholars who explore important ideas and issues of contemporary interest. Created in 1961 in honour of Vincent Massey, the former Governor General of Canada, it is widely regarded as one of the most acclaimed lecture series in the country. The event is co-sponsored by CBC Radio, House of Anansi Press, and Massey College in the University of Toronto. The lectures have been broadcast by the CBC Radio show Ideas since 1965.

A fresh look at a complex pope with a simple agenda: radically reforming the Catholic Church. Jorge Mario Bergoglio is the consummate disruptor, disrupting archaic modes of church governance, disrupting our collective spiritual complacency in the face of new challenges to our human flourishing while at the same time remaining deeply faithful to the organic traditions of the church. He is the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, but beyond that he is a universal leader with commanding moral presence, able to connect with laypeople and with non-Christian faiths. Pope Francis is also a credible moral voice on issues of immigration, economic inequity, the devastating consequences of political populism, and the accelerating threats to the environment, in spite of the fact that he faces deep infrastructure and governance scandals in his organization. In his determination to reform the Vatican and ensure the Catholic faith evolves in a way that is relevant to the 21st century, Francis is very much carrying on the tradition of the Jesuits, an order known for their work in education, humanitarian missions, and social justice. A deep understanding of the Jesuit order informs Michael W. Higgins's approach in this novel reading of a papacy unlike any other.

"You don't live if there's no poetry: you don't live at all, or if you appear to yourself to be living, you're not. You really are living, though, even if you're dead, because you do have poetry, poetry's with you whether or not you know it..." Great Silent Ballad, beloved lyric poet A.F. Moritz's twenty-second volume of poetry, in visionary terms forwards the assertion that poetry, a primordial reality, is in the current moment both the equal of, and the antidote to, the rest of present-day civilization and its suicidal nature. The book unfolds in seven short sections that probe such topics as the crucial value of childhood; a human person's development through maturity and age; the perennially avant-garde nature of great poetry no matter what time and place; and poetry's inherent involvement with hope and creativity, life and feeling, freedom and love. Great Silent Ballad also reprises Moritz's longstanding celebration of common human conversation, the apex of which (he argues convincingly) is what we call "poetry"--meaning not just the art of verse, but our total access to the goodness of natural existence.

"On the morning of his nephew's wedding, Devinder Gill is certain the delicate balance of his life will not be upset. Dev is married to Kuldip, and together they have two young children in Vancouver's Kitsilano neighbourhood. But Dev also has a secret: an affair with his first love, an Irish Canadian woman named Emily Rice, who recently returned to Canada after nine years abroad. Today, both women will attend the wedding. As the day progresses through the traditional Sikh marriage rituals, the circumstances that led to this precarious situation are revealed through the alternating perspectives of Devinder, Emily, and Kuldip. Dev fails to recognize the building threats--an unwelcome guest, a wandering daughter, a repentant father--and by day's end must accept that he does not have the control over his life that he imagined. Will the balance be maintained, or will the fragile house of cards come tumbling down? A stunning debut by a talented new voice, However Far Away is an unforgettable story about family secrets, painful compromises, and the promises we break to ourselves and others."--

"An underappreciated coffee shop server haunted by her past attracts thousands of followers on social media with her peacock jewellery. A hotel housekeeper up against a world of gender and class inequity quietly gets revenge on her chauvinist boss. And a foster child, orphaned in an accident directly attributable to climate change, brings down her foster father, an oil lobbyist, in spectacular fashion. With an intense awareness of privilege and the lack of it, the fourteen stunning stories in Peacocks of Instagram explore what it means to be safe, to survive, and to call a place home."--

Award-winning author Jen Currin presents remarkable and sometimes magical new stories of queer friendship and love, against the backdrop of city life.The stories in Disembark feature queer characters navigating new worlds, new circumstances, and new methods of relating to the people around them. With resonant imagery and clear, lyrical prose, Jen Currin weaves vibrant narratives showcasing queer relationships-be they platonic, romantic, or somewhere in between. A banshee shacks up with a lesbian couple in a rocky relationship, a lonely teen is gifted a knife by their mother's boyfriend, a queer woman finds herself heartbroken when her best friend fails her at a crucial moment, and a young alcoholic hashes things out with their mother in the afterlife. In modes both realist and fantastic, the profound and eloquent stories in Disembark provide a glimpse into the unexpected, offering insight into the ways we relate in this world and in worlds beyond.

"The incomparable first-hand account of the historic Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada told by one of the commissioners who led it. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was established to record the previously hidden history of more than a century of forced residential schooling for Indigenous children. Marie Wilson helped lead that work as one of just three commissioners. With the skills of a journalist, the heart of a mother and grandmother, and the insights of a life as the spouse of a residential school survivor, Commissioner Wilson guides readers through her years witnessing survivor testimony across the country, providing her unique perspective on the personal toll and enduring public value of the commission. In this unparalleled account, she honours the voices of survivors who have called Canada to attention, determined to heal, reclaim, and thrive. Part vital public documentary, part probing memoir, North of Nowhere breathes fresh air into the possibilities of reconciliation amid the persistent legacy of residential schools. It is a call to everyone to view the important and continuing work of reconciliation not as an obligation but as a gift."--

Honest, elegiac, characteristically strange, and frequently funny, Midway is an exploration of grief in all its manifestations."I feel like the crud / I accidentally touch sometimes, whatever it is / that collects under cushions on my couch," writes Kayla Czaga in her third collection, Midway, an exploration of grief in all its manifestations. In her search for meaning in the aftermath of her parents' deaths, Czaga visits the underworld (at least twice), Vietnamese restaurants, the beach, London's Tate Modern, Las Vegas casinos, and a fish textbook. Honest, elegiac, characteristically strange, and frequently funny, these poems take the reader through bright scenery like carnival rides with fast climbs and sudden drops. The meanings and messages Czaga uncovers on her travels are complicated: hopeful, bleak-both comforting and not. Along with the parents the poet mourns, this collection showcases a varied cast. A suburban father-in-law copes with a troubling diagnosis. Marge Simpson quits The Simpsons. Death is a metalhead who dates girls too young for him. Midway is a welcome and necessary collection from one of the most celebrated and accomplished poets of her generation.

"Crying Dress, acclaimed poet Cassidy McFadzean's third book, is a collection of poetry exploring the multiplicity of meaning that arises from fragmentation, rhythm, competing sounds, and ellipsis. Rooted in the tradition of lyric poetry, these strikingly original poems revel in musicality (rhyme, beat, and alliteration) while deploying puns, idioms, and other forms of linguistic play to create a dissonance that challenges the expected narrative coherence of a poem. From the ghosts and gardens of Brooklyn and Sicily to the clanging of garbage chutes in Uno Prii's modernist high rises in Toronto, to quiet moments of intimacy in domestic spaces, and the early days of sobriety and grief, Crying Dress explores the intersections between noise and coherence, the conversational and the associative, the architectural and the ecological. These poems tease out moments of connection from inside the communicative failures of capitalist systems, while featuring the poet's sonic, vertiginous lyricism and gift for overlooked detail."--

"Firmly grounded in the local, the arresting poems in Chimwemwe Undi's debut collection, Scientific Marvel, are preoccupied with Winnipeg in the way a Winnipegger is preoccupied with Winnipeg, the way a poet might be preoccupied with herself: through history and immigration; race and gender; anxieties and observation. Marked by rhythmic drive, humour and surprise, Undi's poems consider what is left out from the history and ongoing realities of Winnipeg, Manitoba, and the west. Taking its title from a beauty school in downtown Winnipeg that closed in 2017 after nearly 100 years of operation, Scientific Marvel approaches the prairies from the point of view of a person who is often erased from the prairies' idea of itself. "I mean my country the way / my country means my country / and what else is there to say? / I am bad and brown / and trying. Nothing here / belongs to me or could / or ever will." This is poetry that touches on challenging topics--from queerness and colonialism to racism, climate rage, and decolonization, while never straying far from specific lived experience, the so-called 'smaller' questions: about self, art, dance parties and pop culture, relationships and love."--

Winner, 2024 Quebec Writers' Federation Paragraphe Hugh MacLennan Prize for FictionWinner, 2024 Quebec Writers' Federation Concordia University First Book PrizeA daughter examines her complicated relationship with a charismatic, narcissistic mother who now lives with alcohol-related dementia.When Cassie Wolfe brings her mother, Nina, to the Albuquerque Presbyterian Hospital to be detoxed, the doctors ask her to write a profile of the patient. But how can she fit Nina into a Word document? The last two years have left Cassie stunned, unable to reconcile the shell of a woman lying in the hospital bed with the force of nature that was her mother.Cassie's memories of Nina span decades and landscapes, from a farmhouse in Massachusetts to the streets of New York and the mountains of New Mexico. Nina was a charismatic iconoclast-an architect and builder who could wield a circular saw as easily as discuss politics art. But as Cassie comes to realize, Nina's brilliant constructions were only possible when she walled off whole sides of herself. Hiding is not unique to Nina-Cassie knows AA is full of just such intelligent, hilarious, powerful women. And when her critical gaze turns to her own life and how she's raising her two daughters, she sees her mother's influence everywhere. In the end, Nina's devastating descent threatens to pull the family under, and Cassie's constant action is propelled by grief until she realizes that all that remains is to let it go.

This specially designed and bound hardcover First Edition of Erín Moure's poetry collection Kapusta is limited to 50 copies.In Kapusta, Moure performs silence on the page and aloud, writing "gesture" and "voice" to explore the relation between responsibility and place, body, and memory, sorrow and sonority. Here, poetry flourishes as a book "beyond the book," in a space of performance that starts and stops time.In Little Theatres, Ern Moure's avatar Elisa Sampedrn first spoke about theatre and the need for smallness in order to articulate what is huge. Sampedrn, who reappears in the translation mystery O Resplandor as the translator of a language she does not speak, vanishes later in The Unmemntioable when the split in human identity that results from war and displacement is acknowledged. Now, in Kapusta, the character E. is alone, in the smallest of spaces - the bench behind her grandmother's woodstove in Alberta. Here, E. struggles to face the largest of historical and imagined spaces - the Holocaust in Western Ukraine, and to understand her mother's silence at the sadness of her forebears, her "salt-shaker love."

This specially designed and bound hardcover First Edition of Elise Partridge's poetry collection is limited to 50 copies.Elise Partridge's The Exiles' Gallery extends the range of her widely acclaimed earlier books, Fielder's Choice and Chameleon Hours, praised as "first-rate" (James Pollock) for their "authenticity" (Stephanie Bolster) and "brilliant precisions that reflect life's plenitude" (Rosanna Warren).Widely praised for her engagement and her attention to craft, Elise Partridge's The Exiles' Gallery confirms her standing as one of the most thoughtful, authentic voices in contemporary poetry. The poems in her third collection continue to explore what she has called "implicit questions about fullness of life or lives somehow thwarted, diminished, ended too early." Through formal technique, painterly detail or her signature compressed directness, Partridge's poems explore the past, present and future with compassion and grief, bearing witness to our not-so-still, all-too-brief lives.Above all, The Exiles' Gallery is a book of celebration. In these restless, nimble, and complex poems of apprehension -- whether by a candid glance backward at childhood or through tributes to friends -- Partridge's arresting images and diction give shape to the complexity and abundance of experience, made more luminous and gilt-edged by the corridor of encroaching shadows. Dispossessed but defiant, these are songs of preservation and love.

This specially designed and bound hardcover First Edition of Anne-Marie Turza's poetry collection The Quiet is limited to 50 copies.Anne-Marie Turza's formidable debut collection presents a landscape where anything might appear, out of myth, history, or science: microscopic creatures, the pitcher Satchel Paige, toothed whales, a man on the back of a snow bear.These poems test the lyric affinity between silence, imagination, and the material world. Put another way, in The Quiet, spatial and temporal distances can be measured in degrees of silence. Turza writes, "Here one can live at any dark system's edge." The Quiet is sinister and aerial.

From one of Canada's brightest emerging writers comes an unforgettable tale of love, art, and life. Set in the vividly imagined streets of 1920s Montreal, Serafim and Claire is the beautiful, moving, and compulsively readable story of two dreamers whose worlds become forever connected. Claire Audette is a dancer whose reputation in the vaudeville houses of 1920s Montreal is rapidly on the rise. Serafim Vieria is a photographer and lonely immigrant, wandering the streets of the same city haunted by memories of a lost love in his native Portugal. Around them, the Twenties are roaring, and the metropolis is simmering: corrupt politicians, the burgeoning of jazz, the emerging suffragette movement, trouble in the Red Light, fascism in the Italian community, with the English/French divide cleaving through it all. And as Serafim and Claire's lives begin to intertwine, a dangerous plot forms that could boost both their fortunes. Can their naïve yet cunning plan succeed? Can they make their own luck? And, if they fail, what will become of their budding love? Serafim and Claire is the unforgettable story of two idealistic yet flawed dreamers being drawn together, and of the vibrant city and times in which they live. In lush and beautiful prose, Mark Lavorato brings an entire world vividly to life.

With a dozen original songs percolating in his head, bestselling author Eric Siblin had two chance encounters in the same month: one with a real estate agent named Jo, a talented singer with pop star dreams; and the other with a college acquaintance named Morey, a fiery guitarist, record exec turned digital music producer, and manager of his teenage daughter¿s burgeoning singing career. These two serendipitous events mark the start of a musical odyssey.In Studio Grace, Eric Siblin chronicles the twelve-month realization of a long-held dream: recording an album of original material. To get there he plunges into the joyful and painful heart of songcraft, grappling with elusive verses and choruses until they are ready for recording. Siblin¿s songs are captured in three very different studios reflecting the evolution of sound recording: a tiny basement studio run by a wedding band drummer; the famed Hotel2Tango analogue studio, where a former producer of Arcade Fire connects Siblin with hipster musicians; and the mansion attic where his new friend Morey creates songs on a laptop using the latest in digital technology and the global distribution network that is YouTube.Published to coincide with the release of the album of the same name, Studio Grace is an entertaining and demystifying behind-the-scenes look at the making of a record filled with songs about love gained and love lost, about modern identity theft and ancient battlegrounds, about life and death, fleshed out by a host of eclectic characters, from ambitious young singers to veteran session musicians and unknown engineers to high-profile producers ¿ all of whom are pursuing the multi-layered dream of a four-minute pop song.

To commemorate Roots Canada's 40th anniversary, "Roots: 40 Years of Style" celebrates the company's rich history and brings together a curated collection of the best and most visually arresting photographs from the Roots archives -- many of which have never been seen before. As Canada's most iconic brand, Roots has a history that runs deep into the heart of the country. The company was founded in 1973 by Michael Budman and Don Green, with a goal of translating their affinity for the Canadian wilderness and sport into a distinctive and unique aesthetic. Celebrating the best and fiercest contribution of Roots to the Canadian cultural landscape, "Roots: 40 Years of Style" chronicles the history of the company and demonstrates how this exceptional brand continues to be a global lifestyle leader. Featuring never-before-seen photographs, an introduction by Dan Aykroyd, and a foreword by renowned fashion editor Suzanne Boyd, both of whom have longstanding relationships with company founders, this is a must-have collectable celebrating the influence of Roots on fashion, interior design, and heritage in Canada.

The sixth and, on the surface, most peculiar poetry collection from Scotiabank Giller Prize finalist Michael Crummey.

In this robust, scruffy, elegantly plotted, and ultimately life-affirming novel, rising star Zoe Whittall presents a dazzling portrait of a generation weve rarely seen in literature the 25-year-olds who grew up on anti-anxiety meds, text-messaging each other truncated emotional reactions, unsure of whats public and whats private. With this extraordinary novel which offers a thrillingly detailed inside look at the work of paramedics, devastating insight into anxiety disorders, and entertaining celebrity gossip Zoe Whittall fulfills the promise of her acclaimed first novel, Bottle Rocket Hearts, and proves herself as one of our most talented younger writers.

Covers of the Canadian and American editions differ slightly.

In this deeply moving and elegantly written book, Halfdan W. Freihow takes Gabriel, his young autistic son, on a journey through the full spectrum of human experience. With great love, profound tenderness, and gentle wit, Freihow captures Gabriel's triumphs and disappointments, his joy and frustration, while struggling to help him make sense of a world that he himself does not, and cannot, fully comprehend. A powerful, honest, and achingly beautiful narrative, "Somewhere Over the Sea" describes a complex, loving relationship that is sometimes fraught with misunderstanding, but always bolstered by unconditional love. A must-read for all parents.

Now available in paperback, Tecumseh and Brock is a powerful and compelling new work on the War of 1812, from bestselling author, historian, political scientist, and scholar James Laxer.At the dawn of the nineteenth century, the British Empire is engaged in a titanic war with Napoleonic France for global supremacy. The American Republic is quickly expanding its territory along the western frontier, while native peoples struggle to protect their lands from the relentless wave of new settlers. James Laxer offers a fresh and compelling view of this decisive war, by bringing to life two major contests: the native peoples¿ Endless War to establish nationhood and sovereignty on their traditional territories and the American campaign to settle its grievances with Britain through the conquest of Canada. At the heart of this story is the unlikely friendship and political alliance of Tecumseh, the Shawnee chief and charismatic leader of the native confederacy, and Major General Isaac Brock, defender and protector of the British Crown. Together, these two towering figures secured what would become the nation of Canada. Vividly rendered and passionately depicted, Tecumseh and Brock is a highly engaging, impeccably researched, and powerful work of history.

Sara Peters' visionary debut collection is a book about obsessions -- about desire, violence, sex, beauty, and cruelty, about how they lace through our days, leaving us changed. In these startling poems of mystery and terror, we meet remarkable characters enduring unspeakable things, confronting the raw reality of existence through fearless candor. With profound clarity, elegance, and humour, Sara Peters reminds us of the harrowing and beautiful complexity of life itself. "1996" marks the undeniable arrival of an essential and brave new voice.