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Issue 3, Volume 18 | March 2021

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Issue 213, winter 2020

New Winter Issue

Featuring Constance Rooke Creative Nonfiction Prize winner "On Playing Double Jeopardy!" by Christina Brobby, and cover art by Charles Campbell. Poetry by Anita Lahey, Dani Couture, D.A. Lockhart, Conor Kerr, Susan Musgrave, Sarah Yi-Mei Tsiang, & more. Fiction by Joanne Rixon, Rachel Lachmansingh, Aaron Schneider, & more. Creative nonfiction by Megan Butcher, Rabiu Temidayo, and Dominique K. Pierce.

Buy now.


 

Winter Issue Book Review

The Dyzgraphxst by Canisia Lubrin

Canisia Lubrin’s The Dyzgraphxst is a startling and ambitious work on several levels: its sustained meditation on the limits of “I,” its subversion of poetic genre, its radical preoccupation with language’s negating effects, its insightful realizations of the body: historical, gendered, racialized. She reconfigures self, place, history, and language so much that the book can be a dizzying and at times overwhelming read. But ultimately her rewordings are rewarding.

Read the full review by Bertrand Bickersteth.


 

CanLit for Your Reading List

New and Noteworthy


Review space may be limited in our quarterly magazine, but we’re delighted to share this list of new Canadian books. *Please note that inclusion on the list does not necessarily preclude a print review. 

Read the full list of new and noteworthy Canadian titles.

Calling all emerging writers!

Far Horizons Award for Short Fiction

This contest is specifically for writers who have yet to publish their fiction in book form. Submit your short story (maximum 3,500 words) by May 1 at 11:59pm PDT for a chance to win $1,000 CAD and publication!

Entry fee is discounted and comes with a one-year print subscription:
$25 CAD for each entry from Canada
$30 CAD for each entry from the USA
$35 CAD for each entry from elsewhere
Additional entries cost $15 CAD each, no limit!

This year's judge is Francine Cunningham. Read an interview with her below to find out what she's looking for in a winning story.

Full contest guidelines on our website.

 

winter issue interview with Tawahum Bige on poetry

Tawahum BigeMalahat Review volunteer Kyra Kristmanson talks with the issue #213 contributor about synesthesia, spoken word, and seeking older writings.

 

KK: There is a strong theme in “Fall fell and I dropped beneath the aspens,” of moving between the spiritual and the physical—sometimes they intertwine as they do with sound setting. Did you intend to create the comparison when you initially crafted the poem, or did it form as you wrote? 

TB: Yes, this poem felt like a layering that formed as I wrote it. It actually came from an Instagram caption that began with “Fall fell and I dropped beneath the trees,” of a picture of me taking a walk into Stanley Park and then I had to get up and write the rest. It’s not often that a poem will be there for me to write out on the computer screen, but each line had its own form and breath that was cold autumn. When on the hunt for something deeper, spiritual connections to the physical landscape, it can’t help but be influenced by the noises I hear in this urban environment, how I feel and connect and am shocked from it frequently. I’m nonetheless a little better for having tried and the connection is still there, even if it’s hard to hear over the buzz.

Read the rest of Tawahum Bige's interview.

 

2021 Far Horizons Award: interview with judge Francine Cunningham

Francine CunninghamMalahat Review volunteer Stephen Leckie talks with the Far Horizons Award for Short Fiction contest judge about her upcoming collection of short stories, where her writing ideas come from, and her process for submitting to contests and regular submissions.

 

SL: Your stories have won awards and made shortlists in literary writing contests. What is your process for submitting your work?

FC: First thing I don’t do is write a new story for a contest, because that would mean for me that I am writing in a panic and it probably won’t be my best work. I instead look for the word length of a story contest and look to see if I have any stories in my completed edited file that fit that length, then I go look who the judges are and get a feel for their writing style. Contest submissions can add up really fast money-wise so I want to be smart in where I submit.

In terms of general submitting I read the magazine or journal to determine if my writing would fit what I think they’re looking for. Then it’s just luck of the slush pile. I also don’t send out brand new work, I instead always give a story a few years to simmer and be revised over and over before it gets into my completed edited file of stories. Once it’s in there though, I am very confident in the story and I like to have a bunch of ready-to-go stories at my disposal.  

Read the rest of Francine Cunningham's interview.

 

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