Bartelby, the Sessional
When the university he’d been poorly employed at for the past 12 years decided to eliminate three-year sessional teaching contracts, Jerris Johns started sleeping in the clothes he taught in. [...]
By Tim Bowling
Fiction
Fiction
The Constituency Map
On the day her mother cancelled chemo and deter-minedly pinned a new election map to the raised rose wallpaper of their dining room, Constance slammed her chair into the sideboard and took her [...]
Yellow
Three seniors today: Jennifer Chen, Megan Levitt and Shelby Roe. I hear Jennifer before she rounds the corner. “And then he sent me this!” Megan squeals. Shelby quips, “Is it supposed to be that [...]
By Kathy Pham
The Shave
After Pauls Funeral Amanda decided to shave off what was left of her pubic hair. Already some strands had greyed, some had gone brittle, bald patches had shown up. Enough. In his own way, David [...]
By Rona Altrows
The Big Man in Cargo Shorts
Leonard was the first to find him. The man was face down in the school’s outdoor learning space, next to a planter of basil. He was fat, his calves the size of a turkey dinner, his hair a gnarled [...]
By Ali Bryan
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 [...]
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
MOST READ
MOST READ
Pension Folly
In 1965, Quebec, eager to be master in its own house, decided it wanted to have its own pension plan and not be part of the new Canada Pension Plan. Quebec’s population was younger than the Canadian average, and the province had a high birth rate. The province believed its ...
Rural Resentment
The rise of the right-wing, authoritarian populist movements across the Western world owes much to the support of rural citizens who are increasingly feeling left behind economically and culturally and are eager to overturn the status quo. I’ve been thinking about the plight of rural Alberta in this context, partly ...
Should Churches be Tax Exempt?
Karen Kerr, the president of Edmonton Atheists and co-founder of Alberta Secular Conference says no.
In Canada many charities and other non-profits, including churches and religious groups, are tax-exempt if they are deemed to create public benefit. The exemption is premised on the idea that they provide a public good. However ...