12 Canadian books coming out in April we can't wait to read
A new month means new books! Here are some of the highlights hitting bookstore shelves in April.
Death Threat by Vivek Shraya & Ness Lee
In Death Threat, poet and musician Vivek Shraya collects the transphobic hate mail she received from a stranger in the fall of 2017. These disturbing letters, along with her responses, are accompanied by illustrations from Toronto artist Ness Lee, culminating in a surreal and satirical comic book about the spread of hatred, violence and dangers of the internet. Shraya is also the author of the essay I'm Afraid of Men and poetry collection even this page is white.
When you can read it: April 1, 2019
Dear Scarlet by Teresa Wong
Teresa Wong pens an honest and emotional letter to her daughter in the graphic memoir Dear Scarlet. The Calgary writer describes her experience with postpartum depression — how feelings of sadness, loss and guilt consumed her — and her many attempts at healing. Dear Scarlet is Wong's first book.
When you can read it: April 1, 2019
Shut Up, You're Pretty by Téa Mutonji
Shut Up, You're Pretty is a short fiction collection that tells stories of young women coming of age in the 21st century. Téa Mutonji's characters include a young woman who shaves her head in an abortion clinic waiting room, a mother and daughter who bond over fish and a teenager seeking happiness with her pack of cigarettes. Shut Up, You're Pretty is Mutonji's first short story collection.
When you can read it: April 1, 2019
Mistakes to Run With by Yasuko Thanh
Yasuko Thanh opens up about her tumultuous life in Mistakes to Run With, from rebelling against her evangelical parents, living on the streets of Vancouver and becoming a sex worker to falling in love and writing an award-winning novel. Thanh writes that, despite her success, she still struggles with events of the past. Mistakes to Run With is Thanh's first nonfiction book, following the short story collection Floating Like the Dead and the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize-winning novel Mysterious Fragrance of the Yellow Mountains.
When you can read it: April 2, 2019
Leaving Richard's Valley by Michael DeForge
Toronto artist Michael DeForge collects his Instagram comic Leaving Richard's Valley in book form, following the fates of Omar the Spider, Neville the Dog and Ellie Squirrel as they risk the wrath of a beloved, but tyrannical leader in order to save a friend. When exposed, the three friends are kicked out of the only home they've ever known and make their way to the big city for a fresh start. Leaving Richard's Valley won the Slate Book Review and Vermont's Center for Cartoon Studies's Cartoonist Studio Prize for best web comic in 2018.
When you can read it: April 2, 2019
The Caiplie Caves by Karen Solie
The Caiplie Caves is the fifth book of poetry from award-winning poet Karen Solie. It is a portrait of sorts of an Irish missionary named Ethernan, who, in the seventh century, withdrew to a cave in Scotland to ponder whether to establish a priory on May Island or pursue a hermit's solitude. Solie adopts an intersectional look at the realities of war, religious colonization and ideas of progress, power and corruption via a personal and emotional lens of faith, grief and confusion under duress.
When you can read it: April 9, 2019
Twitch Force by Michael Redhill
Michael Redhill — who won the 2017 Scotiabank Giller Prize for his novel Bellevue Square — returns to his roots as a poet. Twitch Force marks his first collection of poetry in 18 years and brings together poems grounded in the satirical and profound. Redhill looks at topics such as the family construct, the nature of beauty, love, loss and despair.
When you can read it: April 9, 2019
Fatboy Fall Down by Rabindranath Maharaj
Over the course of his life, Orbit seems only to be a source of disappointment to those he loves. Though haunted by past traumas, Orbit seeks his place in a world that has shown him cruelty. Rabindranath Maharaj is an award-winning novelist from Ajax, Ont., whose books include The Amazing Absorbing Boy and Adjacentland.
When you can read it: April 9, 2019
War / Torn by Hasan Namir
Iraq-born and Vancouver-based Hasan Namir is an award-winning poet. His debut collection of poetry, War / Torn, looks at parameters of religion and masculinity — weighing in on the nature of identity, belonging and love. Namir examines his experience with war and violence, along with his LGTBQ identity and his relationship with tenets of Islam.
When you can read it: April 10, 2019
Hope Matters by Lee Maracle, Columpa Bobb and Tania Carter
This collection of poetry from award-winning author Lee Maracle and her daughters Columpa Bobb and Tania Carter is a look at the journey of Indigenous people from colonial beginnings to reconciliation. The collaborative effort documents the personal mother-daughter connection and also the shared song of hope and reconciliation from all Indigenous communities and perspectives.
When you can read it: April 15, 2019
When I Arrived at the Castle by Emily Carroll
A young woman determinedly makes her way to the Countess's castle, where many have gone but never returned. When I Arrived at the Castle is a gothic horror comic from Stratford, Ont.-based artist Emily Carroll, whose first two books Through the Woods, a collection of horror comics, and Speak, an adaptation of Laurie Halse Anderson's YA novel, were published to critical acclaim.
When you can read it: April 26, 2019
Moccasin Square Gardens by Richard Van Camp
Moccasin Square Gardens is a collection of humorous short fiction set in Denendeh, the land of the people north of the 60th parallel. Richard Van Camp's stories involve extraterrestrials, illegal wrestling moves and the legendary Wheetago, human-eating monsters who have come to punish the greed of humanity. Van Camp is a prolific novelist, comic writer and children's book writer whose work includes The Lesser Blessed, A Blanket of Butterflies and Little You.
When you can read it: April 27, 2019