November
Kendall used to drive me really bloody crazy. The first time I saw him he was trimming his beard into the sink where I was supposed to be washing that morning’s dishes. I yelled at him: he [...]
Fiction
Fiction
Interview with Tim Ryan
AV: What was the inspiration for your story? The inspiration for this story was a cottage and dock that I used every summer when I was kid. I wanted to explore the thoughts that kids [...]
By AV Staff
The Sicilian Wife
Edmonton writer Caterina Edwards’s latest book is both an intriguing mystery and a sharp critique of how men often expect women to behave. As a mystery, The Sicilian Wife is a departure from [...]
No Small Thing
Baxter wakes in the cab of his truck, right there in the slaughterhouse parking lot. He swings both feet out the door right as his forehead splits open. Sweet Jesus. Baxter groans and vomit [...]
By Tom McMillan
Haircut
You are sitting on the sand at Golden Beach. You are trying to finish a hamburger that your father has cooked—barely—on the hibachi. You are balancing a paper plate on your knees. On the plate [...]
Northside Delacroix
A homeless man once grabbed Shannon by the ponytail and tried to drag her into the trees in Rundle Park. It happened a few months after her mom drank herself to death; Shannon was just eighteen [...]
The Sandbox
The earth is a reluctant storyteller. Unless prodded by a backhoe or the blades of a plough, the soil retains its secrets. Perhaps today our inquisitive shovels will loosen its tongue. The [...]
Breathe In
Her face adorns a thousand trinkets. Lockets and charms. Fine bone china and votive candles. Paper fans and one-size-fits-all T-shirts. All bear Her revered image—eyes closed, serene and smiling. [...]
Spirit-in-Stone
As the priest stood in the wind, struggling to nail that bit of paper to his church door, Spirit-in-Stone thought he looked more than ever like a flightless crow. “What are you nailing up there, [...]
By Lorie White
MOST READ
MOST READ
Should Jury Selection Be Changed?
Steven Penney says yes.
Imagine receiving a jury summons in the mail. You dutifully report to the courthouse and wait patiently for the selection process to unfold. When your name is finally called, you stand before the judge, lawyers and defendant. One of lawyers utters “challenge,” and the judge immediately tells ...
Reducing the Harm
It's a little after 10 o’clock in the morning and Taylor feels like she’s climbing the walls.
When her name is called and the door to Lethbridge’s supervised drug consumption site buzzes open, Taylor moves quickly on her crutches. She settles into a chair at the second booth from the end ...
Justice For None
Blair Jason Hinkley, accused of aggravated sexual assault, was released from an Alberta prison in 2016 because the Crown took too long to bring the case to trial. Hinkley was then arrested again, in June 2017, and charged with assaulting another woman. In April 2018 the case of alleged murderer ...