I have mentioned this many times before, but a new release from Undertow Publications is a cause for celebration. Northern Nights, a new anthology of Canadian fiction, is of the incredibly high caliber I have come to expect from Undertow’s output. Lovingly edited by Michael Kelly, this is a collection of uncanny darkness.
Award-winning young writer Nayani Jensen kicks things off incredibly with Rescue Station, where we find a family struggling with isolation, illness, and death. A well-meaning father makes a deal with god. One line in this absolutely destroyed me. I cannot wait to read more of Jensen’s work.
Things get very disturbing in Prairie Teeth by E.C. Dorgan, when an aging woman gets a visit from the devil on halloween. There are more unwelcome visitors in The Black Fox, in which a father’s violent history is revealed.
I am a huge Camilla Grudova fan, so I was delighted to read her new story, The Fragments of an Earlier World, featuring some strange Scottish children on their first trip to visit their Canadian family. Such horrific imagery; I loved it.
Hiron Ennes’s story, The Breath of Kannask, was incredibly memorable. Every year, a small Canadian town receives visitors in the form of small, mysterious lights. People flock to try and solve the mystery, and not all of them leave. Very creepy and atmospheric.
There are also great stories from favorites Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Premee Mohamed, and A.C. Wise. I was so impressed by pretty much all of these stories; Michael Kelly has created an incredibly strong collection, which is a testament to the current level of talent in Canadian fiction.
California Reading 