New Stockholm, a metropolis like any other across North America, is unofficially divided between two worlds. Its upwardly mobile form the centre of its gleaming eye, but their prosperity and affluence are not the focus of Zeynab’s government-funded abstract documentary. Her lens trails to the city’s margins instead, in polluted industrial wastelands such as Cipher Falls, one of New Stockholm’s last affordable neighbourhoods, where creatives and other anti-capitalist voices increasingly find themselves pushed into demeaning, dead-end jobs. In this growing underground network, Zeynab’s lens focuses on the mysterious demise of Doudou Laguerre, whose death may be related to his activism against a construction project.

Subterrane connects us to a constellation of Black and Queer voices, the hair braiders, tattoo artists, holistic healers, weed dealers, and sidewalk horticulturists struggling to make a life in New Stockholm. Together, they illustrate how in cities across the continent, entire communities are being sidelined in the name of prosperity.
(From Esplanade Books/Véhicule Press)

No one would tell them what to expect—not Nurse Hilde; not Peter Berger, the kind bus driver; not Dr. Lutz, who ran the Nazi hospital with ruthless efficiency.

Years later, with Berger’s coded diary in hand, Rainor sets out to find Emmi, a fellow survivor of Trutzburg, who looked past Rainor’s disfigurement and elicited the magic that gave purpose to Rainor and solace to Emmi and the other children.

Set against the backdrop of the Second World War, Andrew Boden’s When We Were Ashes takes us to the chilling depths of Aktion T4, one of the darkest chapters in the history of Nazi Germany. In this hauntingly poignant novel, Rainor is led on an illuminating journey to learn the truth about his past and the even more extraordinary truth about his present.
(From Goose Lane Editions)

After 9/11, the military prepares to move into Afghanistan to go to war. Plinko and his friends have no idea that the trajectory of their lives is about to be irrevocably altered.

Drawn from the author’s experiences as a soldier in Afghanistan, Juiceboxers tenderly traces the story of a young man’s journey from basic training, to the battlefields of Kandahar, to the inner city of Edmonton, braiding together questions of masculinity and militarism, friendship and white supremacy, loss and trauma and hard-won recovery.
(From Freehand Books)

1862: Clyde Armbruster catches his big break, striking Lambton County’s first gusher. The discovery brings wealth and opportunity to him and his wife Lise, but his daily proximity to oil leaves him infertile and may be the cause of his alarming, otherworldly visions. At the same time, Clyde and Lise develop an alliance with their eccentric and wealthy neighbours, a relationship that promises even more success until a fateful moment intertwines the two families, locking them into a bitter rivalry that lasts generations.

As the two narratives coalesce, family secrets and deceits are slowly unveiled, and the slick spectre of oil seeps off the page, revealing a landscape smeared and stained, yet persistently alive. Intense and visceral, agile and lyrical, Oil People is a molten mirror for the petroleum age, and signals the arrival of a profound and vital voice.
(From McClelland & Stewart)

When Myriam and Allison fall in love at a show in a run-down punk house, their relationship begins to unfold through a series of hypotheticals. What if they became mothers by finding a baby in an alley? What if the only cure for Myriam’s depression was Allison’s flesh? What if they were B-list celebrities, famous for writing a book about building healthy lesbian relationships? How much darker—or sexier—would their dynamic be if one were a power-hungry CEO and the other her lowly employee? From the fantasies of early romance to the slow encroaching of violence that unravels the fantasy, each reality builds to complete a brilliant, painfully funny portrait of love’s many promises and perils.

Equal parts sexy and profane, unsentimental, and gut-wrenching, How It Works Out is a genre-bending, arresting, uncanny exploration of queerness, love, and our drive for connection in any and all possible worlds.
(From Doubleday Canada)

When an IT mix-up grants her access to her entire department’s private emails and DMs, Jolene knows she should report it, but who could resist reading what their coworkers are really saying? And when she discovers layoffs are coming, she realizes this might just be the key to saving her job. The plan is simple: gain her boss’s favour, convince HR she’s Supershops material, and beat out the competition.

But as Jolene is drawn further into her coworker’s private worlds and secrets, her carefully constructed walls begin to crumble—especially around Cliff, whom she definitely cannot have feelings for. Soon she will need to decide if she’s ready to leave the comfort of her cubicle, even if it means coming clean to her colleagues.

Crackling with laugh-out-loud dialogue and relatable observations, I Hope This Finds You Well is a fresh and surprisingly tender comedy about loneliness and love beyond our computer screens. This sparkling debut novel will open your heart to the everyday eccentricities of work culture and the undeniable human connection that comes with it.
(From HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.)

What compelled you to write this story?
I wrote the first version of this story in 2021, when I was struggling to find myself and who I wanted to be. When I revisited it, it became a conversation between the version of me who was struggling with feelings of doubt and unworthiness, a fear reflected in the Lost Boy’s thoughts, and a version of me that has been healing and learning how to be kind to myself. In my writing, I hope to be able to help others in ways I needed help back then. Though our lives and experiences can sometimes feel isolating, we aren’t as alone as we may think. Others are there to help us heal and grow; we just have to be open to it first.

What compelled you to write this story?
I wanted to write this story as an expression of what I believe are almost universally held questions about existence and finding one’s place in the world. I know that, especially when one is young, it is easy to be discouraged by the casual cruelty of society and to feel slightly lost and alone. In light of this, I wrote “Autumn Nights” to show that there are others who feel this way and as a reminder to always hold on to the things that matter most.

What compelled you to write this story?
Growing up, the dentist’s office was a constant in my life—partly because my father is a dentist. He always said he watched his patients grow up in the chair, and one day I realized he had done the same for me. This story blends real memories with daydreams and reflects on coming of age, embracing what makes us young, and being seen through every stage by someone who cared.

What compelled you to write this story?
I was compelled to write this story because of my deep love for gothic romances, like The Phantom of the Opera, which have always resonated with me in a hauntingly beautiful way. I wanted to weave this timeless tale with the tones of other novels, like Carmilla, crafting a story rich with the complexities of struggle and the poignant beauty of coming of age. Through this narrative, I aimed to explore the darkness of the human soul, the depths of devotion, and the painful yet transformative journey of self-acceptance. It’s a story born from a place of deep emotion, where love, loss, and identity collide to create something raw, evocative, and ultimately healing.

What compelled you to write this story?
This idea has had a place in my heart for over ten years. It started with a simple question: what if I were the only person in the world to see colour? Through the years, the story developed into a unique way to explain emotions such as grief. The problem was that it was unlike anything I have ever read or written. I was originally going to write my usual fantasy type genre, but in my heart, I felt this story wanting to come alive. So, I leaped and tried my best to bring the story to life.

What compelled you to write this story?
I wrote “Suzanne” to explore what it means to love someone who chooses to fade away. The story unfolds through negative space, revealing more through what remains unsaid. I wanted to capture the presence of muted pain with all its paradoxes— the tension between escapism, self-destruction, vulnerability and yearning, and that all these aspects can all exist at once. It wasn’t enough for me to simply show the narrator’s quiet, obsessive yearning to understand the namesake character: I want readers to experience that same sense of longing for something— someone— unreachable.