Phaedra “Fade” Luck wakes up under a gravestone to a series of urgent text messages from her mother, Doreen. Her aunt, Madeline, has gone missing. “You’re the only one besides me who knows the way to her house, Phaedra,” one reads. “And you’re probably the only person she would let in. Including me. Because she’s that…
Kevin Jagernauth
Kevin Jagernauth is a culture writer and critic in Montreal. His debut novel comes out next year.
Articles by
Kevin Jagernauth
The digital age has birthed a venomous mutation of misogyny, incubated in chatrooms and social media foxholes. Emboldened by anonymity, self-described incels commiserate online, blaming women for denying them sex and romance. This cauldron of resentment inevitably bubbles over into the material world. But what, really, is the relationship between acidic hatred unleashed on keyboards and everyday acts of…
In both policy debates and media coverage, refugees are often presented as a problem to be solved: an unknown mass traversing oceans and distant countries we’ve never set foot in and crossing invisible borders. The individual taking refuge is obscured by stereotypes and systems that promote cultural assimilation. When telling their stories, displaced people can only hope that listeners will try to understand the singularity of their…
In 1997, the Scottish indie rock band Belle and Sebastian released their breakthrough, sophomore album, If You’re Feeling Sinister. I was eighteen years old — playing in a band myself, navigating a long-distance romance, and trying to figure out my future — and the confessional lyrics and shimmery songwriting found ready purchase in my…
As the saying goes, the devil is in the details. This aphorism reveals its many sides in Dead Writers, a collaborative project of four novellas by Jean Marc Ah‑Sen, Michael LaPointe, Cassidy McFadzean, and Naben Ruthnum. Each author puts a unique spin on the concept of the bargain. The result is a collection of intimately told stories in which characters wrestle with seemingly innocent deals and the ethical and emotional fallouts that…
In the near-future setting of All You Can Kill, humanity continues to face timeless and familiar problems. People search for love, guidance, acceptance, someone to follow, and spaces where their beliefs can be validated. Despite technological and social advances, they look for answers to these existential concerns in all the wrong…