Brick, A Literary Journal

Brick, A Literary Journal Brick brings international voices to Canadian readers, and Canadian voices to the world, in the widest and most galvanizing exploration of the arts possible.

Brick is a biannual international journal of literary non-fiction based in Toronto, featuring essays, interviews, and insights from the world’s best-loved writers and fresh, emerging voices. It prizes the personal voice and publishes essays, interviews, memoirs, cultural commentaries, and belles lettres on everything from film to food, as well as the occasional story or poem. Both up-to-date and d

eeply engaged with what has come before, the magazine celebrates opinion, passion, revelation, and the occasional bad joke.

"Vitti described her long relationship with Antonioni as a conversation, moving from the domestic to the artistic and ba...
02/07/2025

"Vitti described her long relationship with Antonioni as a conversation, moving from the domestic to the artistic and back again, which is the way she liked it."

Joanna Biggs rewatches Monica Vitti in Michelangelo Antonioni's " trilogia dell’incomunicabilità."

Read now in Literary Hub!

https://lithub.com/an-enigma-embodied-on-monica-vitti-italys-muse-of-incommunicability/
ID: On a beige background, a quote from Biggs's essay in Brick 114.

"Sometimes it feels as though I pay my therapist so that I can ask her, What does that even mean? over and over again. B...
02/05/2025

"Sometimes it feels as though I pay my therapist so that I can ask her, What does that even mean? over and over again. But when you email me after a year of not speaking, I feel it like an explosion in my chest and then realize, Oh, that’s what she meant."

Zoe Whittall on love, anxiety, and red flags. From her new poetry book, No Credit River. Now unlocked!

https://ocean.exacteditions.com/issues/116499/page/56?rc=bc5e919a-4618-41db-8715-5831a19b9c06
ID: On a purple background, a quote from Whittall's piece.

Artwork from Amitava Kumar's "Postcards from the Ganges," featured in the winter issue of Brick. Read the piece online: ...
01/24/2025

Artwork from Amitava Kumar's "Postcards from the Ganges," featured in the winter issue of Brick. Read the piece online: https://brickmag.com/postcards-from-the-ganges/
ID: Three postcard paintings my Amitava Kumar: Postmarked Highway 58 Near Chamoli, Postmarked Bali Island, Sundarbans, and Postmarked Devprayag

"Were I to write again about the day of my mother’s death, I might not mention the walk home from school, or the dog, or...
01/15/2025

"Were I to write again about the day of my mother’s death, I might not mention the walk home from school, or the dog, or my poor father, or my sister. I might leave out entirely that impassable sentence—my mother hanged herself… I might try, instead, to focus on the kettle."

From Robyn Davidson's "Self-Portrait with Imaginary Mother" in Brick 68.

https://brickmag.com/self-portrait-with-imaginary-mother/
ID: On a pale orange background, a quote from Davidson's essay.

"Also, the desire to write. To process thought and emotion but also set the self against a larger background."Amitava Ku...
01/13/2025

"Also, the desire to write. To process thought and emotion but also set the self against a larger background."

Amitava Kumar returns to India in our winter issue.

https://brickmag.com/postcards-from-the-ganges/
ID: On a light beige background, a quote from Kumar's piece.

"My father, on the topic of heartbreak, had nothing to say. On the topic of my heart, nothing to say. Except the fatherl...
01/10/2025

"My father, on the topic of heartbreak, had nothing to say. On the topic of my heart, nothing to say. Except the fatherly things-how could he leave you? Being my father, and thinking that there was only me like me. I was feeling rather acutely that there were in fact many potential mes."

Semi Chellas on infinity and lost love.

https://ocean.exacteditions.com/issues/85293/spread/68?rc=378f54c2-741e-4109-a2c1-fd69da364051
ID: On a purple background, a quote from Chellas's essay.

"The institution has no idea of the value of what it owns, of the papers that lie silent in its files. But what if it fo...
01/08/2025

"The institution has no idea of the value of what it owns, of the papers that lie silent in its files. But what if it found out? Then the hierarchy of intellectual value it embodies would allow it to destroy anything that does not closely align with its own project."

Iman Mersal on the nihilism of the archive.

https://ocean.exacteditions.com/issues/116499/spread/28?rc=154e5e42-78e1-46a7-80b7-9453ebedc9dc
ID: On a purple background, a quote from Mersal's essay.

"He told me his story with none of the drama we perceive in it but rather with a forceful pragmatism. I knew that was pr...
01/06/2025

"He told me his story with none of the drama we perceive in it but rather with a forceful pragmatism. I knew that was precisely the tone and plain language in which I had to write the book, if it was to be a faithful account."

Sunila Galappatti tells Commodore Boyagoda's story, cautiously, in Brick 98.

https://brickmag.com/did-he-go-stockholm/
ID: On a peach-coloured background, a quote from Galappatti's essay.

"In Tropisms, often regarded as essential to understanding the body of her work, Sarraute explores the different layers ...
01/03/2025

"In Tropisms, often regarded as essential to understanding the body of her work, Sarraute explores the different layers of the self that are formed prior to language and prior to sexual identity: 'On the inside, where I am, the sexes don’t exist,' she declared."

Lily Tuck on Nathalie Sarraute in Brick 94.

https://ocean.exacteditions.com/issues/83501/spread/100?rc=0c6c8d97-95b7-4187-8398-a91909b3adf
ID: On a brown background, a quote from Tuck's essay.

"Much of the best things in a [John] Ford film," said his devotee, Satyajit Ray, after Ford's death in 1973, "has the my...
12/30/2024

"Much of the best things in a [John] Ford film," said his devotee, Satyajit Ray, after Ford's death in 1973, "has the mysterious, indefinable quality of poetry. Because some of them appear casual-even accidental-it is difficult to realize how much experience and mastery lie behind them."

Amit Chaudhuri on the casual cinematic moment.

https://brickmag.com/the-casual-moment/
ID: On a sandy beige background, a quote from Chaudhuri's essay, which appears in Brick 75.

Go literary this Boxing Day and treat yourself or a loved one to a Brick subscription. Receive or send the finest in con...
12/26/2024

Go literary this Boxing Day and treat yourself or a loved one to a Brick subscription. Receive or send the finest in contemporary writing—essays, fiction, interviews, and poetry—to enjoy year-round.

Save $5 on all one- and two-year subscriptions with code BRICKTHEHALLS.

Add Brick to your Boxing Day haul by following https://brickmag.com/subscribe/.

It's the shortest (darkest) day of the calendar year, and we can't help but wondering, Why go out?Sheila Heti ruminates ...
12/21/2024

It's the shortest (darkest) day of the calendar year, and we can't help but wondering, Why go out?

Sheila Heti ruminates on the prospect of staying in and quitting people altogether. Read more on Brick's website.

https://brickmag.com/why-go-out/
ID: On a light beige background, an excerpt from Heti's essay.

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Videos

Kanako Nishi and Allison Markin Powell join forces to read "My Ass." Listen to this work of fiction, in Japanese and English, to follow the journey of a woman who breaks up with a beloved asset.🍑 View more readings from fellow Brick 111 contributors at https://youtu.be/yYXtm8_lF3A?si=Sni3C_1p6P5ftMwf. 🍑 🍑 Video description: framed by a bright yellow border, a video of Nishi and Powell (who translated the work into English from the Japanese) reading "My Ass."

Cruise your cursor to Brick's new website and feast your eyes on our fresh digital digs! Peruse material you know and love, pieces you have yet to discover, and issues eager for a place on your bookshelf. Warning: This website was crafted with our cherished readers in mind. Therefore, side effects may include wanting to read on brickmag.com forever and ever, subscribing your Bricky heart out, or purchasing 10000 Brick pencils. 👾 👾 Video description: An easy-to-follow tour of Brick's new website.

Kaiama L. Glover tenderly reads René Depestre's "I Know a Word." This poem, along with two others by Depestre, is translated from the French by Glover and featured in our Summer issue. 🌺 View more readings from fellow Brick 111 contributors at https://youtu.be/yYXtm8_lF3A?si=Sni3C_1p6P5ftMwf. . . Video description: framed by a bright yellow border, a video of Kaiama L. Glover reading Depestre's poem plays.

Chris Bailey reads from his essay, "A Hard Year for Birds." Featured in Brick 111 🦜 . . Video description: framed by a bright yellow border, a video of Chris Bailey sitting in a chair reading from his Brick essay.

Kick start your autumn with new Brick merch! Celebrate 45 years of the magazine with our Brick limited-edition mug and with beans from our collaboration with local coffee purveyor Milky’s. Each Brick, A Bag of Coffee is filled with 300g of delicious medium roast coffee with tasting notes of Kinder Bueno / Nectarine / Juicy. Origin: Honduras. Brick's sturdy vessel and bag of coffee is a pair worth falling for but both items can also be purchased separately. Share your morning Brick coffee, afternoon tea, late-night whiskey, or anytime hydration with Brick, A Literary Journal at https://brickmag.com/product/brick-mug-coffee-bundle/. . . Video description: a flurry of shots featuring Brick's limited-edition mug and coffee under an orange autumn glow (overlay).

We are honoured and elated to receive the nomination for Best Magazine: Art, Literary, & Culture from the National Magazine Awards for Brick 107! Often referred to as our "mega-issue," Brick 107 features illustrations from Chris Ware and contributions from Eden Robinson, Helen Garner, Amitava Kumar, Forrest Gander, Lisa Bird-Wilson, Nathaniel Mackey, Jack Wang, Vinh Nguyen, and many more. We send our sincerest thanks to all our contributors. We'd also like to congratulate Vinh Nguyen on his nomination for "The Migrant Rain." The piece appeared in Brick 107 and is nominated in the Personal Journalism category! Visit the link in bio to read from Brick 107 including Nguyen's nominated piece, where he migrates through magical thinking, here: https://brickmag.com/product/brick-107/. . . Video description: Brick 107, with cover art by Chris Ware, is being flipped through while soaked in sunlight.

Missed the readings celebrating our winter issue? Or couldn't get enough? Well, your'e in luck! You can find all episodes on our Brick 108 Rolling Launch playlist featuring contributors Sheri Benning, Yusuf Saadi, Jake Kennedy, Jim Shepard, Andre Bagoo, Rawi Hage, David Bezmozgis, and Madeleine Thien. Bid adieu to winter blues by cozying up in front of the Tube and watch a reading or two, or three, or more, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sULqRhYDSfw&list=PLZu_zvUM9cEWfKj95K-NUAoZEjhDzJzqG. Video description: sqaure shaped clips of the contributors, except for Bezmozgis, reading from their rolling launch episode. Bezmozgis's absence is felt by the missing square in the centre (which is black as it is the background colour of the video). The individual clips frame the post. The cover of Brick 108 sits in the top right corner.

SUBMISSIONS ARE NOW OPEN UNTIL THE END OF APRIL! Are you as excited as our publisher Laurie Graham? We'd love to hear from you, submit your work at brickmag.submittable.com/submit

Brickly Bear is hard at work on our upcoming issue! But if you're already feeling that Brick drought, you can quench your thirst with our Get Current Deal of our four most recent issues for only $20.00! Unfortunately, neither Brickly Bear, or shipping and handling is included.

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