The New Quarterly: Canadian Writers & Writing

12/05/2023

"And I think of all the hands that pulled
our history out through the nose,
sealed the vitals in canopic jars,
poured, filled, salted,
wrapped desert-dried flesh."

Read "Egyptian Mummy Exhibit at the Royal Ontario Museum" by John Adames here:

And I think of all the hands that pulled our history out through the nose

12/04/2023

Sometimes I want to take my sister’s face between my hands and tell her to snap out of it. For Christ’s sake, Louise. Use your head. Just look through the help wanted ads. Call the repairman if the bathroom fan is broken or at least wipe the mould off the walls. Always put your bus pass in the wallet, and the wallet in the same place. You can’t have only Cadbury cream eggs for supper.

Read "Woodward's" by Joanna Reid here:

My sister knows when to say, “You can always wear them around the house for a few days and then bring them back.” Or, “I think those look really pretty on you. But are they comfortable?” She connected two lawyers with one foot larger than the other—for one it was the left and the other it ...

12/01/2023

"When I found myself a member of a body that had become a co**se, when I found that my long love’s coldblooded attitude was to dismantle that co**se systematically and in the name of something he was calling “boundaries” and “moving on” and “what’s healthy for both of us,” when I saw that there was a panic-inducing shutting down of all the good things in my life the way a series of doors snaps shut in a horror film, when I found out that he’d already hired a lawyer with money he borrowed from his mother to “protect himself,” when he closed our bank account without warning me, when he refused couples’ therapy or mediation, and when I learned that pleading for mercy would not earn me any, I paid a lawyer $50 for a consultation."

Read "Hole Digger", a personal essay by Liz Harmer here:

Some part of me found it a little kinky to play house, to take his name, to be tamed in these ways. Finally a man strong enough to handle me! Every last bit of it was play, performance, costume, and I thought that meant it had no consequences.

11/30/2023

"In that conversation I knew I had the perfect occasion poem – a second kiss that would mark the beginning of the greatest love affair of my life."

Susan J. Atkinson talks about the inspiration behind her poem "Kiss Me Again Like The Second Time" in her new TNQ online exclusive blog post:

Kiss Me Again Like The Second Time was one of those rare gems of a poem that start with a tiny spark that instantly ignites and the next thing you know the spark has exploded into a full blown fire or, in this case, a poem. I’d been reading a New York Bestseller Rom-Com, which […]

11/29/2023

"Arguments with Joe are circular and tedious. Every word out of his mouth, it seems, is a waste of time. And she needs to check on her garden. She needs to get back to the bunker."

Read "Prepper" by Megan Callahan here:

Arguments with Joe are circular and tedious. Every word out of his mouth, it seems, is a waste of time. And she needs to check on her garden. She needs to get back to the bunker. What Joe doesn’t know is that she prefers being underground. The air is musty and cool like the inside of a wine cellar...

11/29/2023

Keep the magic of the Wild Writers Festival alive with a donation to TNQ: https://tnq.ca/emerging-writers-fund/

11/28/2023

Help TNQ bring community arts initiatives like The X-Page to life: https://tnq.ca/emerging-writers-fund/

11/28/2023

Your donations on empowers emerging writers to shine (plus, they're tax-deductible😉). Visit https://tnq.ca/emerging-writers-fund/ to donate!

11/27/2023

"I ask you to tell me what you
remember about our first kiss.
I tell you it’s for a poem. Be poetic
I say, but no clichés."

Read "Kiss Me Again Like The Second Time" here: https://tnq.ca/story/kiss-me-again-like-the-second-time/

Astonished that all these years later, having never known before, that you also think of our second kiss with the fondness of a first

11/23/2023

"I was embarrassed by my own expectations. What did I think would happen? If there was any neediness, it was mine. All that happened was that I met a neighbour."

Read "Tiny Expeditions" by Ronna Bloom here:

The birds were coming back. All winter I heard only the raucous sparrows in the bushes. Sparrows are the party birds. They gather like Venetians in piazzas drinking Aperol and eating potato chips on a sunny day. But the cardinal, the chickadee, the nuthatch, they appear solo.

11/22/2023

I was star-struck to see those hands. Like, behold the same fingers I’ve written so many bad undergrad trauma poems about. Strawberry jam and ribs cracking open. He was the poems’ You, usually wielding a spoon.

“But anyway,” he said. “You’ve been pretty funny on Twitter lately.”

Read "Dancing in the Snow" by Kate Black:

The week before, I blamed it on Julian for the first time out loud. We were in the shower when Dana told me we were turning into roommates too quickly and that it looked like I was thinking about the weather when I was underneath him.

11/20/2023

ISSUE 168 NOW LIVE!
Enjoy poetry, short fiction, and essay in "WHEN INTELLIGENCE IS NOT ARTIFICIAL", our fall 2023 issue. This issue includes the winners of our 2023 contests. Don't miss it!

https://tnq.ca/issues/issue-168/

11/20/2023

"you spoke the language
of an all-too-adult world
full of aphorism and cliché

and after the stroke
you became the all out joy of jumping
and the taste of snow sparkles
on your outstretched tongue"

Excerpt from today's featured poem, "the all out joy of jumping" by Lynda Monahan. Read the full poem here:

and after the stroke you became the all out joy of jumping and the taste of snow sparkles on your outstretched tongue

11/16/2023

"His humour wasn’t humorous to her.

“Honey,” he said between breaths, “I know it’s harder for you. I mean, you’ll still be here. While I return to the big pie we all came from.”"

Get today's featured read, "Rain" here:

After the first chemotherapy faltered, one therapy gave way to another. Short hikes became walks. Meals dwindled to snacks, then nibbles. He lost weight from one week to the next. His pains became hers and together they endured. She did her best not to pay attention, but she was aware, mostly at nig...

11/14/2023

Artist Isabella Stefanescu’s essay about volunteering in the arts focuses on Kim Jernigan’s work with The New Quarterly as a pivotal example. As with other sectors, volunteering in the arts, where volunteers often sign up for the long haul, has been losing ground, and the pandemic has further di...

11/13/2023

CONGRATULATIONS to all who made the longlist. We're so excited to see the shortlist and final results.

11/08/2023

Congratulations to Kyo Maclear! You can check out Unearthing here: https://shop.wordsworthbooks.com/item/wkyfEt5V1pUNek_fHASmzQ

11/07/2023

"If that sounds magical, and maybe ridiculous, the creative moment is, in my experience, one of readiness: if I’m busy, preoccupied, problem-solving or focused on whatever is required to work through a day, I’m not receptive to poetry’s momentary visit. For this reason, I’m writing much more now that I’m retired from my day-job, teaching."

In her Finding the Form online exclusive blog post, Jill Solnicki talks about her process, and reveals drafts of her poem “Blue Rooms”. Get it here:

In her Finding the Form online exclusive blog post, Jill Solnicki talks about her process, and reveals drafts of her poem “Blue Rooms”. Finding the form of a poem is both a conscious process, and a mysterious one. Why mysterious? Because, for me, a poem seems to arrive from above, out of air, or...

11/06/2023

"Your eyelashes tremble.
I’m in on the secret—you pretending
to be dead."
Get featured poem "Guanajuato" here:

In the funeral home, its dark carved chairs, drawn drapes, you’re pressed into a narrow box: your suit jacket bags, a tie clasps

11/01/2023

"or that all these years
the shafts of sun whitening the grass,
the white lines leading the tar-black road,
were bones."
Read three featured poems by Jill Solnicki here:

In the funeral home, its dark carved chairs, drawn drapes, you’re pressed into a narrow box: your suit jacket bags, a tie clasps

10/31/2023

Thank you to everyone who helped make the 2023 Wild Writers Festival a weekend of learning, community, and joy! We can't wait to see you next year.

10/24/2023

"...my father had asked my aunt to sponsor me. He could have told us when I went to the city to get tests done, which he made up excuses for, telling my mother it was for an asthma check-up."
Read "Certainty" by Carousel Calvo here:

When I picked up the Balikbayan box that my aunt had sent, the package had fancy chocolates, “I love Canada” t-shirts, several pairs of Nike shoes, and an approval letter for my Canadian Permanent Residency application. Two years ago, without the family knowing, my father had asked my aunt to sp...

10/23/2023

Teens are invited to this FREE Youth Masterclass on how fiction can be used to envision a more just and sustainable future through solarpunk. More details and tickets available here: https://wildwriters.ca/product/writing-a-better-future-for-us/

10/23/2023

"So how long, you figure, till we’re considered local?

NE-VER, the wise one spat.

NE-VER. Still makes Cathee laugh."

Get today's featured read "Miss Touchy Feely" by Colette Maitland here:

Cathee’s attention drifts across the counter to a key-locked, glass-fronted cabinet housing three porcelain dolls—an infant asleep on its tummy, a toddler sporting cork-screw curls and a sailor dress, a long-haired blonde child of indeterminate age modeling a full-length red-velvet gown, shiny b...

10/20/2023

"For me, form almost always springs from character development. The more time I invest getting to know my character or characters, the clearer the path forward."

Get a close look at how Colette Maitland finds the form in her new TNQ online exclusive:

It is in the doing, i.e. process, that I discover a story’s form. For me, form almost always springs from character development. The more time I invest getting to know my character or characters, the clearer the path forward. Case in point: Miss Touchy Feely (MTF), who appeared in a previous story...

10/20/2023

Join fellow readers and writers from October 27-29 in Waterloo, Ontario during this years Wild Writers Literary Festival!📚🎉

Featuring readings from the latest great Canadian books, thought-provoking conversations, and inspiring writing workshops, this years program offers a literary spread for all readers and writers to enjoy.

Visit 🔗www.wildwriters.ca to learn more.

The New Quarterly: Canadian Writers & Writing

10/06/2023

Learn the craft and technical considerations of picture book making at this Wild Writers Workshop! Get more details and tickets at wildwriters.ca

09/27/2023

The Literary Brunch is back this year! Spend your Sunday morning with listening to an intimate and engaging conversation between three award-winning authors. You can get your tickets now at wildwriters.ca (link in bio)!

09/22/2023

We’re looking forward to exploring the intersection of writing and well-being at this year’s Wild Writers Festival. We hope you’ll join us! Check out the full festival lineup and buy tickets at wildwriters.ca (link in bio)!

09/22/2023

Congratulations to this year’s winners and honourable mentions! We look forward to publishing these works in our upcoming issues.

09/20/2023

Congratulations to TNQ writer and nonfiction editor Emily Urquhart, whose book of essays “Ordinary Wonder Tales” was shortlisted for the Hilary Writers’ Trust Prize in nonfiction! “Ordinary Wonder Tales” featured her National Magazine Award-Winning essay “Child Unwittingly Promised”, first published in TNQ issue 163.

09/18/2023

"She walks her jelly legs along the hall to put the porch light on for the ambulance. She opens the front door. Renée on the other end of the cordless tries to keep her talking. “Glp,” Vita says."

Read "Vita Has Brain Surgery" here:

But Vita is alone, dizzy, sick, and hurting and wants only to die. Or—a strangely novel thought—stay alive! She walks her jelly legs along the hall to put the porch light on for the ambulance. She opens the front door. Renée on the other end of the cordless tries to keep her talking. “Glp,”...

09/18/2023

We’re bringing back the Youth Masterclass!! We’re SO excited to be able to invite teens to this free workshop where they can get optimistic and inventive about climate change solutions through fiction. Go to wildwriters.ca (link in bio) to register and learn more!

09/18/2023

We're bringing back the Youth Masterclass! We're SO excited to be able to invite teens to this free workshop where they can get optimistic and inventive about climate change solutions through fiction. Register now: http://wildwriters.ca

09/15/2023

"...looks nothing like my youth.
No more. I call her late on Sundays,
careless of the distance and its hour,
talk to her of open porches..."

Read today's featured poem, "Matins", by Katherine DeCoste here:

No more. I call her late on Sundays, careless of the distance and its hour,

09/14/2023

Check out this year's longlisted authors! We look forward to announcing the winners and honorable mentions shortly.

https://tnq.ca/the-2023-peter-hinchcliffe-short-fiction-award-longlist/

09/14/2023

Check the link in our bio to see the the full longlist. Stay tuned for an announcement of the honourable mentions, runners-up, and winner!