Small Press Gems

Teri Vlassopoulos’s stories are sharp, accurate, at times dark, but told with balance and skill. The innocence and clarity of her narrative voice reveals new and unexpected layers. Vlassopoulos brings readers into her characters' worlds; making their desires intelligible, showing how they frame their live's events in terms of abstract superstitio …

Amy Jones's Metcalf-Rooke Award-winning short fiction collection What Boys Like brings together a motley assemblage of urban misfits and outsiders, and explores their love/hate relationships with their city and one another. Whether a parent and a child struggling with poverty, sisters trying to find their place in a family, two friends separated by …

Longlisted for the 2010 Scotiabank Giller Prize! Shortlisted for the 2010 Trillium Book Award! Lemon has three mothers: a biological one she's never met, her adopted father's suicidal ex, and Drew, a school principal who hasn't left the house since she was stabbed by a student. She has one deadbeat dad, one young cancer-riddled protege, and two fri …

In these five beautifully illustrated stories, Ollmann peers into the cracks of everyday life, finding inspiration in those slightly uncomfortable moments, both extraordinary and mundane, that make life ... well ... interesting. Influenced by a variety of artists such as Ben Katchor, Charles Schulz, Ralph Steadman, and Edward Gorey, Ollmann draws t …

Part graphic novel, part journal, this tale follows one young man's embarrassing and hilarious journey to literary awareness. Jonny lives and works in a suburban strip mall but dreams of being a writer. He already possesses most of the elements needed to realize his dream—a supportive girlfriend, an active imagination, and an abundance of subject …

In a Mist examines the transcendent potential of music through the lives of socially isolated individuals with obsessive interests and desires. This debut collection of short stories is in turn horrific, humourous and poignant.

“First published in 1985, when Daniel Jones was just 26, The Brave Never Write Poetry, the poet/critic/novelist's lone collection of poems, was a cult hit, turning 'poetry' on its head before its author (then known simply as 'Jones') swore off verse entirely. Written in a direct, plainspoken, autobiographical and at times confessional style in th …