What We’re Talking About in Issue 0802 (December 2023)
The complete table of contents
as it appears in the December 2023 issue of Blank Spaces.
from the editor—Missing Packages
shameless — In Joseph, an eerie personal essay, Mark E. Prior recounts an experience from his time as the son of Canadian missionaries in Brazil.
Brad Furlott recalls his upbringing in the midst of generational racism and misogyny in his bold and poignant piece, Undoing.
In a relatable snapshot of family life, Linda Jones shares a memory of her father’s kitchen creativity and her mother’s parenting in Cooking Lesson.
flash fiction — Eric Twa explores the dynamics of friends, family, and expectations when all are brought together at a funeral in his moving story, The Empty Sky.
fiction — In Things That Cause Inappropriate Happiness, Danila Botha uses inspiration from her own heritage and personal experience with chronic illness to explore the ridiculousness and hilarity of a medication’s possible side effects.
Christine Collie Rowland’s story, Two Out of Three, is a dry commentary on social media culture and hand-to-mouth living.
The Sundial by Rosemary Twomey explores the life of a woman who refused to abandon the life her husband promised her at 18, even if it meant poverty and loneliness.
red solo cup — Christopher Pastulovic employs the perspective of three different characters—the fox, the wolf, and the snake—to capture his feelings for someone important in his stylized poem, Basically.
Through her poems, Woodstock Exhibition and Lighter Than Water, Sarah Ralph adheres to proper imagery and poetic motif while challenging the sentimental and the sensual.
Bill Garvey uses poetry to examine city life in the midst of a pandemic through The TTC, Lockdown, and A Walk in the Junction.
different strokes — Artist Angela Dallago captures the dream-like atmosphere of the foggy mountains and the misty BC coastline, using oil paints to bring out the textures and colours of the landscape in her collection, Just a Short Drive.
more than words — Toronto street-based photographer Gun Roze invites us to look through his lens and into the reflections that are all around us. His series As Above, So Within transcends the conventional photographic documentation of nature as a subject and challenges the viewer to comprehend it anew.
story matters — In Cymbeline, My Lover, Gene Case shares their discovery and subsequent infatuation with Shakespeare’s obscure experimental romance.
between the lines — Gail M. Murray brings us a review of Brock’s Spirit by Tom Taylor.
write prompt challenge winner — Write prompt winner Desiree Nippard presented a strong contest entry with her short fiction An Early Thaw, one that the judges called “masterful” and “engaging.”
final word — Inspired by the view from the window where she works, Eva Grace leaves us with her gentle poetic offering, An Artist’s View of a Sunset Over the Rockies.
PRE-ORDERS ARE NOW CLOSED FOR THIS ISSUE. YOU MAY STILL ORDER A COPY FROM OUR MAIN MAGAZINE PAGE.
Orders must be placed by noon EST on August 27, 2025 (or until we update this page) after which we will be accepting pre-orders for our next issue.
Print pre-orders should arrive mid September. Digital pre-orders should be popping up in inboxes on September 1.
IN THE SEPTEMBER 2025 ISSUE:
Featuring the work of Stephanie Bontorin, Chanice Boyd, Beverley Brenna, Valéry Brosseau, William Chan, Renee Cronley, Isobel Cunningham, Spencer Gorham, Kristina Kasparian, Laurence Lumsden, Bronwyn Melville, Gail M. Murray, Benjamin Rempel, Hilay Shirra, Leah Smith, and Lucy Wilde
See the full table of contents.
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