A disgruntled Disney™ employee, a Spanish mystic and a fever-ridden Supervixen are a few of the tenants of Tear Down. An assemblage of myth, architectural narrative and trigger-tale, the collection draws inspiration from Catholic saints, garage bands, the Seven African Powers, performance art, and the history of lipstick. Whether its characters are fasting in the desert, casting spells in suburban kitchens, or losing an eye in the gender wars, Tear Down takes a wry and visionary look at impermanence, the meaning of home, and finding solace in a fallen world.

Ali Riley's profile page

• Short-listed, Re-Lit Award

Ali Riley’s first poetry collection, Wayward, was short-listed for the Gerald Lampert Memorial award, and her second, Tear Down, was short-listed for the Re-Lit award. She was born in Calgary and was the singer/songwriter of the seminal psycho-country band Sacred Heart of Elvis. In Toronto her produced plays included dog dream, Philosophy in the Bedroom, and Hole in My Heart the Size of My Heart. She was a contestant in the BookTelevision reality show The Three Day Novel Contest, and her three-day novel, Hag, won the Walrus Magazine/SLS literary contest. Her writing has appeared in Geist, The nth Position Anthology, Matrix, This Magazine, Event, The Moosehead Review, Alberta Views, and Walrus. Her third book, 33 Million Solitudes, explores Canadian themes of isolation and survival with a 21st century twist, and reimagines the fur trade as a modern metaphor for love. She lives In Nanton, Alberta.