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From the archives

Between Words

Anne Carson’s new book-without-a-spine, and the spiritual experience of centrelessness

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

A postmodern elegy from our most original writer

Boredom as a Political Weapon

Saul Bellow fought banality—and taught us to look hard at the world

Melanie Brooks

Melanie Brooks is the author of A Hard Silence: One Daughter Remaps Family, Grief, and Faith When HIV/AIDS Changes It All.

Articles by
Melanie Brooks

Notes on a Scandal

Speaking what was once unspeakable September 2023
In December 2012, one day before the seventeenth anniversary of my father’s death, I opened an email from a solicitor at Nova Scotia’s Department of Justice. “Hi, Melanie. We’ve now calculated the amount and funding for this school year will be $17,551.60.” A smile crept across my face. The sum was higher than I’d anticipated, and the money would cover tuition for the MFA in creative writing I was about to…