literature

Books / March/April 2022

Bad Company: A New Novel Strips Away the Veneer of Progressive Rhetoric

February 15, 2022April 30, 2022 - by Irina Dumitrescu

Naben Ruthnum takes on diversity charades, token promotions, and the social justice facades of corporations

Illustration of a white floating bust against a scenic background of water and mountains. A main is climbing a ladder into the bust, which is filled with books.

Health / January/February 2022

Textual Healing: The Novel World of Bibliotherapy

January 7, 2022April 30, 2022 - by Katrya Bolger

How literature is helping people navigate mental health issues

A Puritan man in a dark hat and cloak holds open a book and in his shadow stand three scared women huddled together.

Arts & Culture / Books

The Year of Witch Lit: Weird Women Dominated New Stories of Suspicion and Rupture

December 17, 2021April 30, 2022 - by Alix Hawley

Three novels about confusion, distrust, and fear mirror our pandemic moment

Illustration of a woman reading a long scroll as a man continues writing on it with a feather-tipped quill.

Books / December 2021

The New Pamphleteers: Why One Publisher Is Betting on Short Books with Big Ideas

December 7, 2021December 7, 2021 - by Mark Abley

Biblioasis’s new series tries to incite debate and fill a hole in the publishing landscape

An image of nine book covers on a pink background with wavy lines on it. Going clockwise, the books are: Driven: The Secret Lives of Taxi Drivers by Marcello Di Cintio, Fathers at Hockey by Richard Sanger, The Singing Forest by Judith McCormack, All’s Well by Mona Awad, The Most Precious Substance on Earth by Shashi Bhat, Why I Was Late by Charlie Petch, Probably Ruby by Lisa Bird-Wilson, Pure Flame by Michelle Orange, and Second Place by Rachel Cusk.

Arts & Culture / Books

Canadian Authors Pick Their Favourite Books of 2021

December 2, 2021December 2, 2021 - by The Walrus Staff

From legal dramas to hockey poems, some of our leading contemporary writers discuss their top reads

A black and white photo of a man looking down at an open book surrounded by illustrated mouse cursors pointing away on a bright yellow background.

Arts & Culture

What We Lose When Literary Criticism Ends

May 21, 2021May 21, 2021 - by Steven Beattie

With mainstream media uninterested in books coverage that doesn’t get clicks, writers and readers are being left out in the cold

A portrait of Shakespeare with eyes redacted

Arts & Culture

The Case Against Shakespeare

March 31, 2021March 31, 2021 - by Allan Stratton

The Bard has had 400 years in the limelight. It’s time our academic obsession came to an end

The cover of "Working in the Bathtub," which depicts the writer, Dany Laferrière, lying in a bathtub fully clothed.

Arts & Culture / Books

Stop Calling Racialized Writers “Raw”

December 10, 2020December 11, 2020 - by Adnan Khan

There’s a burden on writers of colour to tell stories of trauma. Authors like Dany Laferrière refuse to play along

Rear view of a man wearing white shirt and holding an umbrella and a briefcase, standing waist-deep in the water on a rainy day

Arts & Culture

Hope Is Good. Disappointment Is Better

November 19, 2020November 20, 2020 - by Steven Heighton

What the best novels teach us about the virtues of disillusionment

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.

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

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Bad Company: A New Novel Strips Away the Veneer of Progressive Rhetoric

Textual Healing: The Novel World of Bibliotherapy

The Year of Witch Lit: Weird Women Dominated New Stories of Suspicion and Rupture

The New Pamphleteers: Why One Publisher Is Betting on Short Books with Big Ideas

What We Lose When Literary Criticism Ends

The Case Against Shakespeare

Stop Calling Racialized Writers “Raw”

Hope Is Good. Disappointment Is Better

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

Fund the journalism that helps you make informed decisions. Fund The Walrus.

Fund the journalism that helps you make informed decisions. Fund The Walrus.

Fund the journalism that helps you make informed decisions. Fund The Walrus.

Fund the journalism that helps you make informed decisions. Fund The Walrus.