What We’re Talking About in Issue 0801 (September 2023)
The complete table of contents
as it appears in the September 2023 issue of Blank Spaces.
from the editor—Being Human
shameless — In her personal essay, A Pivotal Moment, Miriam Edelson recounts an influential experience from her high school career when she was given a front row seat to a rare brawl in Canadian politics at the height of anti-Vietnam fervour.
flash fiction — With visceral poetic prose, Olivia B. Li details the aftermath of a failed relationship using the imagery of a rain storm in her short story Lost and Found.
Alline Cormier presents a tale of women along the Strait of Juan de Fuca who come together after watching the 2022 film, Call Jane, in her empowering piece The Victoria Collective.
In Unspeakables, JJ Dettman gives space for a woman to revisit her secret teenaged romance, the flames of which she fanned in defiance of her partially-absent mother’s wishes.
Sheila Burpee Duncan explores the dynamics of a mother-daughter relationship in the shade of adultery in her compelling short story I’m Not You.
fiction — In Small Town Monster, Benjamin Rempel brings us into a chilling tale of small town myth and terror, reminiscent of an M. Night Shyamalan thriller.
Rosa Rugosa by Ronald Zajac traces one man’s struggle to comprehend the pain of a Ukrainian refugee.
Inspired by her own less than stellar moments, Deborah Blenkhorn captures a woman’s experience of embarrassment in her short story Slip Sliding Away.
In “A Genius Musician” Tom Ball invites us to eavesdrop on a conversation between a songwriter and a fan as they dissect the purpose of her intentional themes and lyrics.
red solo cup — Meghan Kemp-Gee captures the pain and wonderment of what it means to be alive in her poems The Bad Dog, Sonnet, and Two Skins.
In their tender poem, The Golden Hour, Jamie Quinn Mader captures deep longing and the intimacy discovered when one finds themselves being truly seen.
Isobel Sinclair uses poetry to explore an experience of heartbreak, inspired by a time in her life when things were in free fall and yet never more solidly grounded. Join her journey through Oft on a Dawn’s Break and I Have a Timeshare.
more than words — Rooted: Lessons from a Tree, a photography series by Oleksandra Budna, was created to explore the themes of connecting to her home country, and discovering the wisdom of nature as it helps her deal with the impact of the war in Ukraine.
story matters — Rhonda Skinner packs wit and humour into a poem that explores the complicated relationship between editors and writers in her brief and relatable verses, A Writer/Editor Conversation.
different strokes — Toronto-based abstract artist Karen Taylor is exploring the art of typography through her latest collection Bold Type.
make art not war — V.J. Hamilton presents a story about a modern artist seeking inspiration from the greats with her short fiction A Day in the Life.
between the lines — Gail M. Murray brings us a review of The Porcelain Moon by Janie Chang.
write prompt challenge winner — Write prompt winner Finnian Burnett presented a strong contest entry with their short fiction Lift Capacity, one that the judges said is “an endearing love story…sweet, familiar, and somehow surprising.”
final word — Haley Down explores the difference between simple yearning and gutting want in her poetic offering of The Poetry Teacher Tells Us to Write About Desire.
