July/August 2020 | The Walrus

Illustration of white and blue light trails, in the vague shape of a person, against a black background.

Fiction / July/August 2020

The Ones We Carry With Us

July 20, 2020July 23, 2020 - by Sara O'Leary

Here’s the thing I now know about dying. It looks like almost anything else

A photo of the poet, John Barton, who is wearing a collared shirt and resting his chin in his hand. He is smiling at the camera and has a moustache and round glasses.

July/August 2020 / Poetry

School of Xerez Fino

July 17, 2020 - by John Barton

Mirror balls, matches, condoms, sweat-raw limbs / Shedding shirts, shedding disco

A black-and-white photo of the poet, Eric Ormsby, who is a white-haired man wearing glasses and a collared shirt. The background is blue.

July/August 2020 / Poetry

Lord Mayor Magpie

July 10, 2020 - by Eric Ormsby

There he waltzes, / this debonair / line dancer in mid-air

Illustration of a hand, palm-up, with bright lines drawn across it in light.

Fiction / July/August 2020

Lottery Poetry

July 9, 2020July 10, 2020 - by Kevin Chong

No business felt more ridiculous, in those spring days of the pandemic, than fortune-telling did

A black and white photo of the poet, a young woman, against a background of varying shades of brown.

July/August 2020 / Poetry

The Peace Lily

July 3, 2020 - by Kayla Czaga

To say the peace lily died / would be an understatement.

A layered photo of the artist and her mother as a child, against a translucent background.

July/August 2020 / Society

Remembering the Air India Bombing

June 23, 2020July 23, 2020 - by Jordan Michael Smith

Thirty-five years later, few Canadians seem to acknowledge the largest terrorist attack in their country’s history

Illustration of a bear standing on its hind legs. It is wearing a muzzle on its head and its eyes are glowing. Behind it, a fire is burning against a dark night.

July/August 2020 / Memoir

Dancing Bear

June 18, 2020July 16, 2020 - by Dimitri Nasrallah

In this memoir, a child and his family leave Lebanon for Athens

An illustrated map of several different regions in BC, depicting a variety of human and animal life and flora.

Business / July/August 2020

What Does It Take to Become a Wine Superpower?

June 16, 2020July 16, 2020 - by Ellen Himelfarb

On British Columbia’s bid to be the Napa Valley of the North

Illustration of four people sitting in a row and reading books. The three white readers stare into their books. The brown reader looks up away from the book. Behind them is a shelf full of other books.

Arts & Culture / July/August 2020

How Not to Write a Book about a Minority Experience

June 4, 2020August 10, 2020 - by Tajja Isen

Publishers increasingly lean on outside experts to vet books for cultural insensitivity. Is it working?

Illustration of a woman on a couch playing guitar. In front of her is an open laptop on a coffee table; behind her is an easel with a painting of a sun. Scattered books and vases are around and beneath the table.

COVID-19 / First Person / July/August 2020

If a Book Is Published in a Pandemic, Will Anyone Read It?

May 21, 2020August 14, 2020 - by Katrina Onstad

We already undervalue our artists. COVID-19 has only made it worse