Alexandra Oliver | The Walrus
Skip to content

The Walrus

Fact-based journalism that sparks the Canadian conversation

The Walrus
  • Support The Walrus
  • Subscribe to The Walrus
    • Renew your subscription
    • Get our latest issue
    • Give a gift subscription
  • Sections
    • Who We Are Now
    • Environment
    • Current Affairs
    • Society
    • Health
    • Business
    • Technology
    • Arts & Culture
    • Fiction
    • Poetry
    • Memoir
  • Events
    • The Walrus Gala 2023
    • The Walrus Events
    • The Walrus Talks Video Room
    • The Walrus Leadership Forums
  • The Walrus Lab
    • Amazon Canada First Novel Award
    • Media Kit
    • What We Do
    • Our Projects
    • The Insider newsletter
  • Podcasts
    • The Deep Dive
    • The Conversation Piece
    • Canadian Time Machine
    • Let's Talk About the Internet
    • Bandwidth
    • What About Water
    • Courage Inc.
  •   Newsletters
  •   About The Walrus
  • Shop The Walrus
Menu
  • Sections

    Business

    Environment

    Society

    Politics

    Arts & Culture

    Health

    Fiction

    Poetry

    Memoir

    Technology

    Current Affairs

    Special Series

    Who We Are Now

    Teen Walrus

    Hope You're Well

    For the Love of the Game

    More Special Series ⇒

    NEWSLETTERS

    Weekly Newsletter

    The Events Newsletter

    The Walrus Lab Insider Newsletter

    ANNUAL REPORT

    Subscribe

    Get our latest issue:
    The cover for the September/October 2023 issue of The Walrus. Cover artwork: A collage made up of a man's silhouette, a hand giving a tarot reading, a torn envelope, and smoke. Cover lines: A legendary psychic. Forged letters. A $200 million con. Inside the greatest scam ever written. By Rachel Browne.'
    Read past issuesSubscribe to The Walrus magazineRenew or Gift a subscriptionChange your address

    Events

    The Walrus Gala 2023

    The Walrus Talks

    The Walrus Leadership Forum

    The Walrus Talks Video Room

    PODCASTS

    The Deep Dive

    The Conversation Piece

    Canadian Time Machine

    Let's Talk About the Internet

    What About Water

    Bandwidth

    Courage Inc.

    The Walrus Lab

    Amazon Canada First Novel Award

    What We Do

    Our Services

    Our Projects

    The Insider Newsletter

    SHOP THE WALRUS

  • Donate
  • Subscribe
The Walrus

Alexandra Oliver

Alexandra Oliver won the 2014 Pat Lowther Award for Meeting the Tormentors in Safeway.
Profile of Alexandra Oliver
June 2020 / Poetry

Best Practice

April 9, 2021 - by Alexandra Oliver

You’d see them hauling speakers at a gig, / drinking Cokes and fondly reminiscing / about that night (the ketamine! The wig!)

Read More
Illustration by Jason Logan
November 2016 / Poetry

One Love

October 24, 2016October 17, 2016 - by Alexandra Oliver

Seventeen circle the rim of the gym in orbit around the instructor who yells and yells and yells. They listen to him. (The fathers, in hopefulness, peer from the halls.) …

Read More
Illustration by Walter Scott
April 2015 / Poetry

The Villains

March 27, 2015April 10, 2020 - by Alexandra Oliver

I always went for darkness as a girl: those ashy Europeans wrapped in capes, the ranks of zombies browsing in the mall, the cabin-dwelling fan with swelling hopes, her novelist …

Read More
Investigation tape that reads "Do not cross" is tangled up in a ball
July/August 2014 / Poetry

Watching the Cop Show in Bed

July 23, 2014November 22, 2022 - by Alexandra Oliver

Apparently, it’s very, very bad to let a well-dressed man into your home. An Oxbridge accent, coupled with the claim your husband’s hurt, and he’s from Scotland Yard: disaster! When …

Read More
Illustration of Rob Ford on the front page of the Toronto Star
March 2014 / Poetry

Margaret Rose

February 27, 2014April 14, 2020 - by Alexandra Oliver

The females of my family extolled the virtues of our Queen, her cautious charm, the opera glove that sheathed the guiding arm. For this was ours, the Englishwoman’s mould. But …

Read More

Our Latest Issue

The cover for the November 2023 issue of The Walrus. Cover artwork: An illustration of stylized text reading 'The Best of 20 Years.' 2023 Nov Issue
Canada's national parks, growing up trans, the darker side of Leonard Cohen, and more!
The Walrus newsletter
Don’t miss the journalism you deserve. Get The Walrus newsletter.
View all newsletters >>

Walrus logo with tusks and Canada's Conversation

​​The Walrus sparks conversations about Canada and its place in the world through our award-winning independent journalism, fact checking, events, podcasts, and content solutions. The Walrus is a registered charity with an educational mandate.
Read more on our About Us page.

About The Walrus

  • About Us
  • Our Staff
  • Contact
  • Submissions
  • Careers & Fellowships
  • Advertise with us
The Walrus

About The Walrus

About Us Our Staff Contact Us Careers & Fellowships Submissions Advertise with Us

Events

Get Tickets The Walrus Talks The Walrus Gala Get in Touch

Subscribe

Customer Care Purchase a Subscription Renew Your Subscription Newsletters Shop The Walrus Store

Podcasts

Articles The Conversation Piece The Walrus Podcasts

The Walrus Lab

Amazon Canada First Novel Award Content Services Podcast Services Our Clients Get in Touch

Follow Us

Twitter LinkedIn YouTube TikTok Facebook Instagram

Support independent Canadian reporting and storytelling

The Walrus
Accessibility Help Privacy Policy Cookie Policy

The Walrus is located within the bounds of Treaty 13 signed with the Mississaugas of the Credit. This land is also the traditional territory of the Anishnabeg, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat peoples.
Learn more >>

© 2023 The Walrus. All Rights Reserved.
Charitable Registration Number: No. 861851624-RR0001

© 2023 The Walrus. All Rights Reserved. Charitable Registration Number: No. 861851624-RR0001
Accessibility Help Privacy Policy Cookie Policy

Subscribe

  • Magazine Subscription
  • Weekly Newsletter
  • Events Newsletter
  • The Walrus Lab Newsletter
  • The Conversation Piece Podcast

More

  • The Walrus Talks @Home
  • The Walrus Books
  • The Walrus Podcasts
  • Magazine Archives
  • Policies and Standards
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
© 2023 The Walrus. All Rights Reserved.
Charitable Registration Number: No. 861851624-RR0001

​​The Walrus is located within the bounds of Treaty 13 signed with the Mississaugas of the Credit. This land is also the traditional territory of the Anishnabeg, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat peoples.

The Walrus uses cookies for personalization, to customize its online advertisements, and for other purposes. Learn more or change your cookie preferences.

×

Secure the future of storytelling.

For 20 years, The Walrus has been home to Canada’s most important stories. But with the rise of artificial intelligence and the proliferation of misinformation, it’s getting harder to distinguish fact from fiction.

Here at The Walrus, we are committed to raising the voices of real human storytellers and providing access to conversations that matter. Donate today to secure tomorrow’s journalism. Your support will ensure that we can continue to tell Canada’s stories, now and for many years to come.

Or make a one-time donation for the year

×

Hey, thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed these stories.

Before you go, did you know that The Walrus is a registered charity? We rely on donations and support from readers like you to keep our journalism independent and freely available online.

When you donate to The Walrus, you’re helping writers, editors, and artists produce stories like the ones you’ve just read. Every story is meticulously researched, written, and edited, before undergoing a rigorous fact-checking process. These stories take time, but they’re worth the effort, because you leave our site better informed about Canada and its people.

If you’d like to ensure we continue creating stories that matter to you, with a level of accuracy you can trust, please consider becoming a supporter of The Walrus. I know it’s tough out there with inflation and rising costs, but good journalism affects us as well, so I don’t ask this lightly.

Will you join us in keeping independent journalism free and available to all?

Headshot of Claire Cooper

With thanks,
Claire Cooper
Managing Editor, The Walrus

Or make a one-time donation for the year

×