January/February
Peggy Blair is back with The Poisoned Pawn, the follow-up to her novel The Beggar’s Opera, which made a splash last year. And those of you hungering for more Flavia De Luce will be satisfied with Speaking from Among the Bones, Alan Bradley’s latest. Cathy Marie Buchanan, whose The Day the Falls Stood Still was a New York Times Bestseller, returns with The Painted Girls, set in belle époque Paris.
Glossolalia is the new book by Marita Dachsel, a a series of poetic monologues spoken by the thirty-four polygamous wives of Joseph Smith. And there is a new Ava Lee mystery! The Scottish Banker of Surabaya takes Ian Hamilton’s sleuth into the world of Italian mobsters. The Blue Guitar is a new novel by the much acclaimed Ann Ireland, whose previous book Exile was shortlisted for a Governor General’s Award. Andrew Kaufman’s third book is Born Weird, following his successes with The Waterproof Bible and All My Friends Are Superheroes. We’re looking forward to Some Great Idea: Good Neighbourhoods, Crazy Politics and the Invention of Toronto by Edward Keenan, a story about the reinvention of Toronto. And novelist Dany Laferriere’s new book is The World is Moving Around Me, an eyewitness account of the Haiti earthquake.
March
March sees the release of Ascent of Women by Sally Armstrong, stories of women around the world on the cusp of freedom and empowerment. Message Sticks, by Josephine Bacon and translated from French by Phyllis Aronoff, is a bilingual text (English/Innu-aimun) and is described as “an homage to the land, the ancestors, and the Innu-aimon language.” White Piano is the latest collection by award-winning poet Nicole Brossard, translated from French by Robert Majzels and Erin Moure.
Selling the Dream by Ken Campbell is an expose by the seasoned hockey writer on how parents and kids pay the price when it comes to the world of minor hockey. In Red Doc>, Anne Carson follows up her bestselling The Autobiography of Red. Belinda’s Rings is the first novel by Corinna Chong, about a teenage aspiring marine-biologist left to make sense of her curious family after her mother runs away to study crop circles in the English countryside.
Don Gillmor’s latest is the novel Mount Pleasant, about a man desperate to discover where his late father’s fortune went. Nalo Hopkinson releases Sister Mine, about a girl who must learn to make her way in the world without magic and discover her own power. Helen Humphreys’ Nocturne is a memoir about the author losing her musician brother to pancreatic cancer. Jessica Kluthe’s Rosina the Midwife traces the author’s family history from Italy to Canada over the course of the 20th century. Atomic Storybook by Ed Macdonald is described as “a delightful stew of lust, blood, ennui and physics.”
A Beautiful Truth by Colin McAdam, whose previous novel was shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, tells a story of family life and the remarkable connections between human beings and animals. Bone and Bread is the first novel by acclaimed writer Saleema Nawaz, the story of two sisters whose bond is shaped by tragedy. Everything is Perfect When You’re a Liar is the first book by internet sensation Kelly Oxford. Newfoundland writer and CanLit champion Chad Pelley releases his second novel, Every Little Thing. And Andrew Pyper returns with the terror with his latest novel The Demonologist.
Iain Reid, author of One Bird’s Choice, has penned his second memoir, The Truth About Luck, the story of his vacation with his grandmother. South of Elfrida is a new story collection by Journey Prize-winner Holley Rubinsky. Acclaimed novelist Elizabeth Ruth releases her third book, Matadora. Projections is a memoir by Priscila Uppall about her attempts to connect with her estranged mother. And Maxine is the first novel by Claire Wilkshire, who has long been a member of the accomplished Burning Rock Collective.
April
Travelling Light is a new short story collection by Peter Behrens, author of Law of Dreams and The O’Briens. Just Pretending is the debut short story collection by Metis writer Lisa Bird-Wilson. Alongside is the latest collection by poet Anne Compton, previous winner of the Governor General’s Literary Award. The Legacy of Tiananmen Square by journalist Michel Cormier tells the story of the struggle for human rights in China. In Every Happy Family, Dede Crane tells a story of family life that is described as “humorous and heartbreaking, wise and demented.”
Michael Crummey gets back to his poetic roots with Under the Keel. Nancy Jo Cullen’s Canary is the most recent winner of the Metcalf-Rooke Award, the first book of fiction by this acclaimed Canadian writer. Amber Dawn, whose first novel Sub Rosa won a Lambda Literary Award in 2011, releases her second book, How Poetry Saved My Life: A Hustler’s Memoir. Mesham Means Everything is a poetry collection based on its author Kanina Dawson’s experiences serving with the Canadian Forces in Afghanistan.
The Green and Purple Skin of the World is a new story collection by Paulo de Costa whose previous collection The Scent of a Lie won the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best First Book (Canada and Caribbean). Christine Eddie’s The Douglas Notebooks is published in English, winner in its French form of the 2008 Prix France-Québec, the 2009 Prix Senghor du Premier Roman francophone, and the 2010 Prix du Club des Irrésistibles. Locavore Sarah Elton goes global in her new book Consumed: Sustainable Food for a Finite Planet. In Ice and Water: Power, People and the Arctic Council, John English outlines Canada’s changing political approach in the Arctic. A Bee Garden is Marilyn Gear Pilling’s fifth collection of poetry. The Devil and the Detective by John Goldbach is the story of a private detective who’s more interested in chronicling his cases than solving them (plus his sidekick is described as a “flower-delivery guy who can’t stop drinking”).
In a Reliquary is the final poetry collection by Daryl Hine, completed just months before his death in 2010. All the Daylight Hours by Amanda Jernigan is the second collection by the acclaimed author of Groundwork. In Under Budapest, Ailsa Kay tells a story set against the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. Guy Gavriel Kay’s latest is River of Stars. An anthology to watch for is The Breakwater Book of Contemporary Newfoundland Poetry, edited by poets James Langer and Mark Callanan. The Age is Nancy Lee’s second book, after her raved-about collection Dead Girls.
Escape Velocity is Carmelita McGrath’s long-awaited follow-up to her Atlantic Poetry Prize-winning collection To the New World. Passage to Promise Land by Vivienne Poy tells the story of Chinese immigrant women to Canada. Robert J. Sawyer’s latest is Red Planet Blues. In the Land of Birdfishes by Rebecca Silver Slayter is described by Giller-winner Johanna Skibsrud as “part mystery, part fairy-tale,” about two sisters whose sight is stolen from them. And Ania Szado’s second novel Studio Saint Ex is a fictionalized account of a love triangle between Antoine de Saint-Exupery (who’s in the midst of writing The Little Prince when the book takes place), his wife, and a Montreal fashion designer.
May/June/July
The Paradise Engine by Rebecca Campbell is a debut novel whose approach has drawn comparisons to Haruki Murakami and Robertson Davies. Tish Cohen’s The Search Angel is the story of the owner of an upscale children’s boutique whose plans for an international adoption fall apart when her marriage breaks down. Lauren B. Davis, whose Our Daily Bread was nominated for a 2012 Scotiabank Giller Prize, releases her latest novel, The Empty Room, a part-autobiographical novel about the possibility of a journey back from addiction. Just Beneath My Skin is the long-awaited new novel by Darren Greer, author of the award-winning Still Life With June.
The Small Nouns Crying Faith by Phil Hall is the new collection from this Governor General’s Award-winning poet. The Hundred Hearts by William Kowalski is the story of a Canadian soldier wounded in an IED explosion in Afghanistan who returns home to find his life only further unravelling. In Amanda Leduc’s debut novel The Miracles of Ordinary Men, an ordinary man awakes one morning to discover that he’s growing wings.
Lonely Boy by Carla Luchetta is an anthology of stories by men who’ve lost their fathers, with contributors including JJ Lee, Andrew Motion, and David Miller. In her latest Randy Craig mystery, Condemned to Repeat, Janice MacDonald furthers the story of Edmonton’s favourite sleuth. Lisa Moore is back with a new novel, Caught, which promises to deliver “...bravado and betrayal, bad weather and seas, love, undercover agents, the collusion of governments, unbridled ambition, innocence and the loss thereof, and many, many bales of marijuana.”
For Sure is the English translation (by Robert Majzels) of the novel by France Daigle, which was nominated for a Governor General’s Literary Award in its original French. In Tales Behind the Loincloth, Gemini-nominated actress Jennifer Podemski recounts her experiences of racism as an aboriginal actor on Canada. Always Watching is the latest thriller by the New York Times bestselling-author Chevy Stevens. And DW Wilson, whose Once You Break a Knuckle made waves in 2011, releases his first novel Ballistics.