“Falling in love, that’s the roller coaster, the ups and downs, the thrills. Being in love, that’s the carousel — around and around with music playing.”
― NORA ROBERTS, For Now, Forever
MARK LALIBERTE
Managing Editor
Issue 50 Editorial
Poetry Editor — Jessica Poole
Fiction Editor — Bec Gržetić-Muffo
Reviews Editor — Jade Wallace
Graphics + Website — Obscure Design
2023 Editorial Staff
Grace Bilger
Susane Dang
Gabriella Dritsas
Elisabeth Finkelzon
Eileen Hack
Jessica Hewitt
Samuel Peacock
Sarah Peters
Ooma Samuel-Walks
Eva Zheng
Copyright © 2023 by the contributors. All rights reserved.
FEATURED ARTISTS
JESSICA BROMLEY BARTRAM
excerpt from Bones at the Centre of Everything
Here we present a sneak peek at a nine-page sequence from the Ottawa-based creator’s in-progress, full length work
LOU BEACH
20 Collage Birds
A wonderful collection of dreamy, nature-themed collages by this LA-based cut-master
PATRICK JENKINS
Phantom City
(6m32s, 2015)
CAROUSEL has been given exclusive access to this surreal, postmodern neo-noir paint-on-glass animation for a period of one year … enjoy watching this amazing little short film while it lasts!
FICTION
GLENN CLIFTON
Tap to Refresh
EMILY PEGG
Dirt Dead Dulcie
ARRESHY YOUNG
The Girls Guide to Ghost Fucking
POETRY
DEVON BALWIT
Chicken Boy
ABIGAIL CHANG
Affection
ORI FIENBERG
2 Poems
AMANDA LEAL
Bookmark
FAWN PARKER
Woof
HEATHER SALUS
In Flush
RICHARD-YVES SITOSKI
Spoon Theorist
NICOLA VULPE
2 Poems
CONVERSATIONS
MARK LALIBERTE
interviews PATRICK JENKINS
An in-depth conversation with this award-winning artist, film director and graphic novelist
USEREVIEW: 090–104
As we celebrate the release of our fiftieth issue of CAROUSEL, we also celebrate the publication of our one-hundredth review in USEREVIEW! We think that’s quite an accomplishment, considering USEREVIEW had only been around for just over two years when this milestone one-hundredth review was published. How fitting, too, that our one-hundredth review is a gargantuan five-book review by CAROUSEL‘s long-time Managing Editor Mark Laliberte, who delves into a series of graphic novels published in celebration of noted indie comics publisher Conundrum Press’ twenty-fifth anniversary. Longevity in literature isn’t easy, but we all forge ahead, side by side.
The other reviews in this issue explore books by publishers who are old hats and publishers who are greener in the horns, and books by writers who are long-established and writers who have their first collections newly out. Some of the reviews were written by returning contributors to CAROUSEL, including Annick MacAskill, John Nyman, Taylor Brown, Sneha Subramanian Kanta, Kate Finegan and Hollay Ghadery, while others were written by reviewers joining us for the first time, including Michael Russell, Daniel Hinds and Marcie McCauley. As always, this review section includes traditional, experimental and capsule reviews, and highlights a wide range of contemporary books, from experimental debut poetry collections to sophomore novels to graphic fiction to multi-genre anthologies.
Read on to find more books for your TBR pile — or to find new ways of looking at books you’ve already enjoyed.
ANNICK MACASKILL
USEREVIEW 090: (Capsule)
Reviewing a selection of Rita Wong’s poetry, Current Climate (Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2021)
ANNICK MACASKILL
USEREVIEW 091: (Capsule)
Reviewing Talya Rubin’s sophomore poetry collection Iceland Is Melting and So Are You (Book*hug Press, 2021)
ANNICK MACASKILL
USEREVIEW 092: (Capsule)
Reviewing Shaun Robinson’s debut poetry collection If You Discover a Fire (Brick Books, 2020)
JOHN NYMAN
USEREVIEW 090: Critical Pictures
An experimental, grid-form review of Zane Koss’ debut collection Harbour Grids (Invisible Publishing, 2022)
TAYLOR BROWN
USEREVIEW 094: (Capsule)
Reviewing Feel Ways: A Scarborough Anthology edited by Adrian De Leon, Téa Mutonji and Natasha Ramoutar (Mawenzi House, 2021)
SNEHA SUBRAMANIAN KANTA
USEREVIEW 095: (Capsule)
Reviewing Sarah Dowling’s latest poetry collection Entering Sappho (Coach House Books, 2020)
MICHAEL RUSSELL
USEREVIEW 096: (Capsule)
Reviewing Adèle Barclay’s sophomore poetry collection Renaissance Normcore (Nightwood Editions, 2019)
JADE WALLACE
USEREVIEW 097: (Capsule)
Reviewing Jim Johnstone’s latest poetry collection Infinity Network (Véhicule Press, 2022)
JADE WALLACE
USEREVIEW 098: (Capsule)
Reviewing Dawn Dumont’s latest novel The Prairie Chicken Dance Tour (Freehand Books, 2021)
JADE WALLACE
USEREVIEW 099: (Capsule)
Reviewing Tasnuva Hayden’s debut poetry collection An Orchid Astronomy (University of Calgary Press, 2022)
MARK LALIBERTE
USEREVIEW 100: Five from ‘Conundrum 25’
A traditional review of five books from early in the ‘Conundrum 25’ series of graphic novels
DANIEL HINDS
USEREVIEW 101: The Poet and the Singer
An experimental review in verse of Lana Del Rey’s poetry collection Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass (Simon & Schuster, 2020)
KATE FINEGAN
USEREVIEW 102: Pulsing Light
A traditional review of Deirdre Danklin’s debut novella Catastrophe (Texas A & M University Press, 2022)
HOLLAY GHADERY
USEREVIEW 103: Prolong, in Fragments
A traditional review of rob mclennan’s latest poetry collection the book of smaller (University of Calgary Press, 2022)
MARCIE MCCAULEY
USEREVIEW 104: A Search for Another Ending
A traditional review of Victoria Hetherington’s sophomore novel Autonomy (Dundurn Press, 2022)
Published two or three times a year. We gratefully acknowledge the financial assistance of the Central Students’ Association and the students of the University of Guelph.
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