The Bull Calf

Like the first weeks of September for those of us entrenched in university life, this issue is packed with things about which to be excited. It includes thoughtful and provocative reviews on new novels, poetry, and non-fiction, and a retrospective on the late Farley Mowat’s Whale for the Killing. Zane Koss’s attention to Julie Jossten’s “calm and clear voice” in her debut poetry collection, Light Light, finds in Joosten a kindred of Phyllis Webb. Matthew Redmond’s review of Tamas Dobozy’s Siege 13, a short-story collection about the siege of Budapest in 1944, is interestingly paired with Bart Vartour’s review of Bearing Witness, a collection of critical essays about witnessing war in art. Redmond commends Dobozy’s collection for its “a powerful awareness of the burden involved in speaking about the past,” praise that seems even more important beside Vautour’s reminder that the “work of bearing witness is an extremely complicated and ethical activity.” This issue also features reviews of works that remind us of two figures who helped to shape Canadian literature in the twentieth century. Our retrospective this issue is a review of late Farley Mowat’s Whale for the Killing, a reissued “Mowat classic.” As Alana Fletcher points out, this reissue “has become sadly timely since the author’s death this past May.” In our non-fiction section, we feature Colin Hill’s review of Sandra Campbell’s “ambitious and sometimes surprising” biography of Lorne Pierce.

We hope you’ll find in these reviews all the energy and promise synonymous with the early days of September.

Welcome to The Bull Calf 4.2.

Jeff and Kait

The Eliot Girls by Krista Bridge - reviewed by Irene Mangoutas

Roost by Ali Bryan - reviewed by Will Smith

The Green and Purple Skin of the World by paulo da costa - reviewed by Olivia Lifman

Siege 13 by Tamas Dobozy - reviewed by Matthew Redmond

A Message for the Emperor by Mark Frutkin - reviewed by Emily Boyle

Les Amazones de Josée Marcotte - compte-rendu critique de Catherine Bond

Griffintown de Marie Hélène Poitras - compte-rendu critique de Gabrielle Drouin

A Matter of Life and Death or Something by Ben Stephenson - reviewed by Kaitlynde Eaton

The Glass Harmonica by Russell Wangersky - reviewed by Karen Kachra

The Smooth Yarrow by Susan Glickman - reviewed by Scott Daley

Light Light by Julie Joosten - reviewed by Zane Koss

Vermin by Lance La Rocque - reviewed by Gillian Massel

A Doctor Pedalled Her Bicycle Over the River Arno by Matt Rader - reviewed by Mario A. D'Agostino

Cures for Hunger: A Memoir by Deni Y. Béchard - reviewed by Allison LaSorda

Both Hands: A Life of Lorne Pierce of Ryerson Press by Sandra Campbell - reviewed by Colin Hill

Bearing Witness: Perspectives on War and Peace from the Arts and Humanities edited by Sherrill Grace, Patrick Imbert and Tiffany Johnstone - reviewed by Bart Vautour