Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Fiddlehead News Roundup

Emily Bossé
Journey Prize Finalist!

Congratulations to Emily Bossé on being one of three shortlisted finalists for The Writers' Trust/McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize for her story "Last Animal Standing on Gentleman's Farm" first published in The Fiddlehead no. 258 (Winter 2014). The story is one of twelve that will be published in the Journey Prize Anthology. Also appearing in the anthology is another story originally published in The Fiddlehead. Charlie Fiset's story "Maggie's Farm" appeared in no. 261 (Autumn 2014).

The anthology is set to be published by McClelland & Stewart on October 6. The winners will be announced November 3.

Fiction Editor Mark Jarman at Kingston Writers' Festival

Roch Carrier, Mark Jarman, and Stephen Smith
Fiction editor Mark Jarman is just back from the Kingston Writers’ Festival where he participated on a panel discussion called "He Writes!  He Scores!  Seeking the Best Hockey Book Ever," moderated by Larry Scanlan.

Mark reports that Roch Carrier talked charmingly about his classic book The Hockey Sweater, Stephen Smith read from his new book Puckstruck, and he read from his story "A Nation Plays Chopsticks" and his hockey novel Salvage King Ya!

Mark also reports that at the end there were great questions from young and old in the audience. One question was what player the panelists would like to be. Harold Snepsts popped into his head, and Mark says, "like me, not the smoothest defenceman, but a long career and a good Fu Manchu mustache." Roch Carrier of course chose Rocket Richard.

Contributors from 2015 Publish Books

A.W. Marshall, whose story "In the Highest Limbs" appeared in our Spring 2015 issue (no. 263), has just had his debut book of stories Simple Pleasures published by ELJ Publications. Summer 2015 issue contributor Kevin Hardcastle also just had his debut collection Debris published by Biblioasis. His story "Thought you were fast" appeared in the recent all-fiction Summer issue (no. 264).

And two poetry contributors to our forthcoming Autumn issue (no. 265) have new books forthcoming later this fall, including Rachel Rose (Marry & Burn, Harbour) and Dan O'Brien (New Life, CB Editions).

And Speaking of New Books and Prize Nominations

Poetry editor Phillip Crymble has had his first collection Not Even Laughter published by Salmon Poetry.

Former poetry editor Claire Kelly's poem "Western U-Haul Gothic" was shortlisted for The Walrus Poetry Prize.

Monday, September 28, 2015

UNB Poetry Weekend Takes Place October 3 and 4

The University of New Brunswick invites you to our annual celebration of Canadian poetry, Poetry Weekend! Join us on Saturday and Sunday, October 3rd and 4th, at 11am, 2pm, and 8pm at UNB Fredericton’s Memorial Hall for a series of readings by Canadian poets and authors. Featured guests this year include: James Arthur, Linda Besner, Jeramy Dodds, Sharon McCartney, and Brian Bartlett, as well as many others!

Poetry weekend is presented by the Canada Council for the Arts, the League of Canadian Poets, the Writers’ Union of Canada, the UNB Department of English, the UNB Bookstore, The Fiddlehead, and Icehouse (Goose Lane) Poetry.

Admission to Poetry Weekend is free and anyone is welcome to attend. We look forward to having you join us at one of our most exciting events of the year!

Thursday, September 24, 2015

Books Recently Received — What Are You Looking Forward to Reading?

What are you most looking forward to reading this fall? Tell us! Go to the comment field below (or to Facebook or Twitter) and tell us what you're most looking forward to reading!


Monday, September 21, 2015

UNB Reading Series Presents Marina Endicott on September 23

The University of New Brunswick would like to invite you to a literary reading by 2015 Giller long-listed author Marina Endicott September 23rd at 8PM in the Dugald Blue Auditorium in Marshall d’Avray Hall.

Endicott's new novel, Close to Hugh, "takes an exuberantly existential look at youth and age, art and life, love and death over one week in the world of gallery-owner Hugh Argylle."

Admission is free and all are welcome to attend.

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Presenting the Judges for our 25th Annual Contest

We're pleased to present the judges for our 25th annual literary contest, which closes December 1 (postmarked). The winners in each category receive $2000. Two honourable mentions in each category receive $250 each. You can find full submission guidelines on our website.

Fiction Judge: Naomi Lewis

Photo credit: Leo Aragon
Naomi K. Lewis is a writer, editor, teacher based in Calgary. She wrote her 2008 novel Cricket in a Fist while a graduate student at UNB, and her 2012 story collection won Enfield & Wizenty's Colophon Prize and was shortlisted for two Alberta book awards. Her non-fiction has been shortlisted for provincial and national magazine awards. Naomi was a magazine editor for the last decade, and will be UNB's writer-in-residence throughout the winter of 2016.










Poetry Judges: Rae Armantrout, Lorna Crozier, and Brecken Hancock


Rae Armantrout has published 12 books of poetry. Her most recent collection, Itself, was published in 2015. Her 2013 book, Just Saying, has just appeared in an Italian edition on stampato presso, Rome.  Her poems have also been collected in a Spanish edition: Rae Armantrout: Poemas: (Spain, 2014).  Versed (2009) received the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award.  Partly, a volume of new and selected poems will appear in 2016. Her work has appeared in many anthologies such as: The Best of the Best American Poetry: 1988-2012 (2013), The Open Door: 100 Poems, 100 Years of Poetry Magazine (2012). Armantrout was a fellow at the Rockefeller Center in Bellagio, Italy from June 26 to July 24 2014.




Lorna Crozier has received many awards, including the Governor General’s and B.C.’s Lieutenant’s Governor’s Award for Lifetime Achievement, as well as five honourary doctorates. An Officer of the Order of Canada, she has published a memoir and 16 books of poetry, the latest called The Wrong Cat, and The Wild in You, a collaboration with the photographer Ian McAllister.  Her poems have been translated into several languages, including a book-length translation in French and another in Spanish, and she has read in every continent, except Antarctica.  She lives on Vancouver Island with Patrick Lane, two turtles, many fish and two fine cats.



Brecken Hancock's poetry, essays, interviews, and reviews have been published or are forthcoming in Brick, Best Canadian Poetry in English, Best American Experimental Writing, Papirmass, Lemon Hound, The Globe & Mail, Hazlitt, and on the site Canadian Women in the Literary Arts. Her first book of poems, Broom Broom (Coach House, 2014), won the Trillium Book Award for Poetry, was named by The Globe & Mail's Jared Bland as a debut of the year, and appeared on a number of year-end best-book lists, including the National Post, All Lit Up, and BookThug's Best Reads. She lives in Ottawa.

Thursday, September 10, 2015

An Apology

As editor of The Fiddlehead I apologize for authorizing the posting on our blog of an excerpt from the book Reflections on Music by David Solway submitted by Anstruther Press. A passage from this excerpt displays an insensitivity to racial issues pertaining to African Americans and a failure to understand systemic racism in contemporary America. This post has been removed from our blog.

Ross Leckie

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Charlie Fiset Also Makes Journey Prize Longlist!

We're very pleased to say that we've had a second author longlisted for the 2015 Journey Prize. Charlie Fiset's "Maggie's Farm" from The Fiddlehead 261 (Autumn 2014) is one of twelve stories that will appear in The Journey Prize anthology.


You can revisit an interview with Charlie about her story here.

Congratulations Charlie!