Literary Review of Canada | A Journal of Ideas

This week with bookworm

Emily Latimer on Lisa Banfield’s The First Survivor. Cheryl Bell reviews Mai Nguyen’s Cleo Dang Would Rather Be Dead. An illustrator Q&A with Tom Chitty.

With Integrity

Ten historic days in space

Kyle Wyatt

An illustration by David Parkins for Asa McKercher’s May 2026 review of “The Enduring Riddle of Mackenzie King,” edited by Patrice Dutil.

King without a Crown

Essays on a defining prime minister

Asa McKercher

An illustration by Matthew Daley for Kyle Wyatt’s May 2026 review of “Democracy’s Second Act: Why Politics Needs the Public,” by Peter MacLeod and Richard Johnson.

Some Assembly Required?

What could be next for democracy

Kyle Wyatt

A photograph by Nathan Denette for Amy Spurway’s May 2026 review of “Brassy Bit of Aging Crumpet: A Memoir in Pieces,” by Mary Walsh.

Our Princess Warrior

This memoir has twenty-two stories

Amy Spurway

A photograph by Ian Barrett for Graham Fraser’s May 2026 review of “De combats et d’amour: Mémoires,” by Lisette Lapointe.

Life of the Parti

From where Lisette Lapointe stands

Graham Fraser

An illustration by YQ Huang for Elaine Coburn’s May 2026 review of “Understory: An Ecologist’s Memoir of Loss and Hope,” by Kevin Van Tighem.

Parks and Wrecks

Lessons from wild places

Elaine Coburn

An illustration by Natàlia Pàmies Lluis for Todd Dufresne’s May 2026 review of “In Trees: An Exploration,” by Robert Moor.

Knock on Wood

The forest and the trees

Todd Dufresne

The Western Walls

In the wake of the Balfour Declaration

Michael W. Higgins

An illustration by Tessa Presta for Aaron Kreuter’s May 2026 reviews of “Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About it,” by Cory Doctorow and “Needy Media: How Tech Gets Personal,” Stephen Monteiro.

Screen and Shout

The origins of our digital nightmare

Aaron Kreuter

An illustration by Christina Quesnel for Amanda Perry’s May 2026 reviews of “Transmissions: Les Héritages de la Baie-James,” by Annie Desrochers and “Marche au pays réel,” by Samuel Lalande-Markon.

Northern Writes

Two journeys to new understanding

Amanda Perry

An illustration by Paige Stampatori for David Marks Shribman’s May 2026 review of “Letters from the Afterlife: The Post-Holocaust Correspondence of Chava Rosenfarb and Zenia Larsson,” edited by Goldie Morgentaler.

Between Survivors

Friendship blooms in dark places

David Marks Shribman

Wisdom Well Done

In the kitchen with Elizabeth David

David Macfarlane

What She Wrote

A mother’s personal archive

Lisa Gregoire

: An illustration by Silas Kaufman for Nicholas Bradley’s May 2026 review of “Between the New Country and the Old World: William Chapman and French-Canadian Literary Nationalism,” by Erin E. Edgington.

Nobel Intentions

Looking for laurels in all the wrong places

Nicholas Bradley

An illustration by Blair Kelly for Sam White’s May 2026 review of “Smash & Grab,” by Mark Anthony Jarman.

They Linger

Stories from Mark Anthony Jarman

Sam White

Water Ways

Lisa Robertson’s new novel

Emily Mernin

An illustration by Mateusz Napieralski for Rose Hendrie’s May 2026 review of “Variations on a Dream” by Angélique Lalonde, “Mainstreaming Porn” by Elaine Craig, and “Sex Work in Popular Culture” Lauren Kirshner.

Once Upon a Mattress

Intimacy is changing

Rose Hendrie

An illustration by Sandi Falconer for David Venn’s May 2026 review of “Northern Bull,” by Michelle Swallow.

Yellowknife Didn’t See It Coming

Michelle Swallow’s comedy of errors

David Venn

An illustration by Gwendoline Le Cunff for Catherine Khordoc’s May 2026 review of “L’Obsession du rouge,” by Dany Laferrière.

In Port-au-Prince

The latest from Dany Laferrière

Catherine Khordoc

An illustration by Karsten Petrat for Stacey May Fowles May 2026 review of “The Valley of Vengeful Ghosts,” by Kim Fu.

Home Is Where the Horror Is

Kim Fu’s uncanny real estate

Stacey May Fowles

Better Call Saul

Richard Wagamese’s masterpiece

Arjun Basu

God of Poetry

Climbing Down from Vimy Ridge

The Envoy