Sludge Utopia
By Catherine Fatima

In Sludge Utopia, Catherine Fatima captivates readers with an auto-fictional take of a woman’s journey discovering her place within the world’s definition of love and desire. Protagonist Catherine’s life seems typical of millennial Torontonians—studying, pursuing romances, and trying to keep grounded while maintaining friendships and social networks. However, she is simultaneously struggling to understand her dependence on sex and intimacy while moving through tumultuous relationships with close friends and new partners. Readers will be hypnotized by Catherine’s enigmatic observations about herself as she explores her frustrations. Fatima’s disjointed portrayal of her characters leaves you questioning your own definitions of fulfilling personal relationships throughout the entire novel.

This Will Be Good

Praise for This Will Be Good, written by Mallory Tater—a writer from the Algonquin Anishnaabeg Nation (Ottawa)—is thanks to flowing prose that evokes strong emotions. Unabashedly covering topics such as eating disorders, sexuality, and death, Tater’s stylistic voice paints a vivid portrait of a child growing into her womanhood and dealing with what that means. Although readers are advised content may be triggering, those looking to expand their poetry collection need to make space for this one.

Photo courtesy of BookThug.

Since it began in 2004, Toronto-based literary press BookThug has been best known for publishing innovative and groundbreaking works of contemporary literary fiction and non-fiction, poetry, and drama. Now, it’s delving into new territory. With the recent launch of Chaos & Star Records, the press has begun a new label that brings together readings by BookThug authors with Canadian musicians on limited-edition seven-inch vinyl.

Chaos & Star Records was created in collaboration with musician and longtime poetry lover Andrew Whiteman of Broken Social Scene and Apostle of Hustle fame. The goal of the label is to “provide a space where two different modes of creativity and listening can converge.”

The label’s first three eclectic releases each boast a vibrant cover that reimagines the design of the authors’ books. On Rich & Poor: The Single, Whiteman teams up with Jacob Wren, whose timely novel is written from the perspective of both a poor dishwasher and the billionaire he’s plotting to kill. Two other releases pair Liz Worth with members of Toronto indie band Zeus and Jennifer LoveGrove with songwriters Christine Fellows and John K. Samson. Each recording is an example of music heightening and intensifying the already-dynamic literary readings.

These titles, which are just the first for Chaos & Star Records, are available online and at selected booksellers and record stores, including Type Books and Soundscapes in Toronto, Drawn & Quarterly in Montreal, and the Paper Hound Bookshop in Vancouver.

Better Nature

Better Nature is the first book of poetry by writer and University of British Columbia lecturer Fenn Stewart. She brings together found documents (mainly drawing from an 1880 diary detailing Walt Whitman’s travels through Canada) in a radical effort to “unsettle” Canadian colonial foundations. Stewart’s poems are rife with political stamina yet never feel didactic, each one a carefully considered act of defiant intertextuality. With bounding lines that seamlessly blend the archival with the contemporary, Better Nature stitches together its source material with precision. The result is pure poetic wit and a timely perspective on the shaping of Canada’s landscape.