“But the carousel never stops turning.
You can’t get off.” ― Ellis Grey
ISSUE 51 EDITORIAL
… or can you? As a somewhat stark opening to this issue and a close to 2023, I hereby publicly declare, “That’s all folks!”
With that, I truly hope you enjoy this final issue of CAROUSEL as much as you have all the other volumes we’ve released — it’s time to end our long, looney, literary ride together. Looking back, I’m thrilled to have completed 36 issues of the journal over the past two decades (28 of those were released as a professionally printed, offset mag — many of which remain available as back issues, though we’ll likely be winding down our shop in the near future; the remaining eight issues were released as digital editions over the past few years — all are available to read in their entirety here on our website, which we hope to archivally preserve online for the foreseeable future) … and that feels about right, a good place to put the final period on this project.
A heartfelt thank you to all the wonderful creators & dedicated volunteer editors I’ve had the privilege of working & collaborating with over many years: I salute you, and hope to see you in the libraries & book shops of our shared ideal tomorrows!
MARK LALIBERTE
CAROUSEL Editor, 2004-2024
Poetry Editors — Jessica Poole
Fiction Editors — 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 © 2023-24 by the contributors. All rights reserved.
FICTION
KRISTIN BURNS
The Lakeweed Girl
JEREMY COLANGELO
Stories for the Tree Beasts
JESSI MACEACHERN
Observation’s Vehicle
JOCELYN TENNANT
Gore Street, 1973
POETRY
SACHA ARCHER
2 Poems
CHELSEA MARGARET BODNAR
2 Poems
NINA JANE DRYSTEK
catoptric
L FAVICCHIA
2 Poems
DAVID LY
Labyrinth
MICKEY HAHA MAHAN
Wild, Happy & Free
ROB MCLENNAN
My father rode in a helicopter
MICHAEL PITTARD
Poem in the Form of an Overgrown Garden
JC REILLY
Scottish Woodpigeon
LISA RICHTER
Hauntology
COURTENAY SCHEMBRI GRAY
Ontogeny
LEANNE SHIRTLIFFE
swallows
NATALIE WILKINSON
Ressociation
FEATURED INTERVIEW
Authors in Conversation:
HEROUX and EDSON
Acclaimed Canadian authors Jason Heroux and Jerrod Edson dive into the murky waters of speculative fiction for an illuminating conversation that bends the lens of reality and cracks open new worlds of possibilities for writers and readers.
USEREVIEW: 105–121
In September 2023, we celebrated three full years of USEREVIEW at CAROUSEL, a special section of the journal that has grown well past its fledgling beginnings. In addition to keeping up our rigorous weekly reviews schedule since its inception, with new posts going up on our blog every Wednesday (#USEREVIEWEDNESDAY), we also expanded our Reviewer-in-Residence program.
In 2023, we invited ten reviewers, many of whom are returning CAROUSEL contributors, to take the reins of USEREVIEW for an entire month. Each month featured a post introducing our Reviewer-in-Residence, a video in which the reviewer gives a sneak peek of the books they’ll be reviewing, two capsule reviews and one long-form traditional or experimental review. This offers our readers a chance to learn more about each reviewer, and to get a holistic sense of the reviewer’s tastes and their critical methodology.
Let’s be honest, reviewing can be a pretty thankless task some days. No one’s out here writing reviews for the fame, glory, or money. But here at CAROUSEL we believe that reviewing is just as delicate an art as the literature it critiques, and we want to take the time to showcase, and appreciate, excellent reviewers and their work. In this issue, you can read the work of our first three Reviews-in-Residence for 2023: Joanna Acevedo, writing for CAROUSEL for the first time, and Hollay Ghadery and Leah Bobet, who we were honoured to welcome back as returning contributors.
Other highlights of this issue’s USEREVIEW section include three short reviews by returning reviewer Manahil Bandukwala, and our Reviews Editor Jade Wallace’s list of nine books of poetry from 2021 and 2022 that you’re going to want to make sure you’ve read. We hope you enjoy perusing these reviews as much as we did.
JADE WALLACE
USEREVIEW 105: (Capsule)
Reviewing Trynne Delaney’s debut novella the half-drowned (Metatron Press, 2022)
JADE WALLACE
USEREVIEW 106: (Capsule)
Reviewing Karl Jirgens’
short story collection The Razor’s Edge (The Porcupine’s Quill, 2022)
JADE WALLACE
USEREVIEW 107: (Capsule)
Reviewing Carol Harvey Steski’s debut poetry collection rump + flank (NeWest Press, 2021)
JADE WALLACE
USEREVIEW 108: (Capsule)
Reviewing Erica McKeen’s debut novel Tear (Invisible Publishing, 2022)
MANAHIL BANDUKWALA
USEREVIEW 109: (Capsule)
Reviewing Mikko Harvey’s latest poetry collection Let the World Have You (House of Anansi Press, 2022)
MANAHIL BANDUKWALA
USEREVIEW 110: (Capsule)
Reviewing Natalie Lim’s debut chapbook arrythmia (Rahila’s Ghost Press, 2022)
MANAHIL BANDUKWALA
USEREVIEW 111: (Capsule)
Reviewing Nisa Malli’s debut poetry collection Allodynia (Palimpsest Press, 2022)
JOANNA ACEVEDO
USEREVIEW 112: (Capsule)
Reviewing Gabrielle Bates’ debut poetry collection Judas Goat (Tin House, 2023)
JOANNA ACEVEDO
USEREVIEW 113: (Capsule)
Reviewing Chen Chen’s latest poetry chapbook Explodingly Yours (Ghost City Press, 2023)
JOANNA ACEVEDO
USEREVIEW 114: Something Worthy
A traditional review of R.F. Kuang’s latest novel Yellowface (Harper Collins, 2023)
JADE WALLACE
USEREVIEW 115: The Can’t-Miss Poetry Catch-Up
Highlighting nine exceptional poetry collections from 2021 and 2022
HOLLAY GHADERY
USEREVIEW 116: (Capsule)
Reviewing Khashayar Mohammadi’s sophomore poetry collection WJD (Gordon Hill Press, 2022)
HOLLAY GHADERY
USEREVIEW 117: (Capsule)
Reviewing Wayne Ng’s latest novel The Family Code (Guernica Editions, 2023)
HOLLAY GHADERY
USEREVIEW 118: Delight & Disconcertion
A traditional review of Marie Hélène Poitras’ latest novel Sing, Nightingale, translated by Rhonda Mullins (Coach House Books, 2023)
LEAH BOBET
USEREVIEW 119: (Capsule)
Reviewing Rebecca Campbell’s novella Arboreality (Stelliform Press, 2022)
LEAH BOBET
USEREVIEW 120: (Capsule)
Reviewing Meghan Kemp-Gee’s debut poetry collection The Animal in the Room (Coach House Books, 2022)
LEAH BOBET
USEREVIEW 121: The Ending Isn’t More Important Than Any of the Moments Leading to It
A literary review of the video game Impostor Factory, written by Kan Gao (Freebird Games, 2021)
We gratefully acknowledge the financial assistance of the Central Students’ Association and the students of the University of Guelph.
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