PUBLISHING DURING A PANDEMIC: 12 NEW READS
Rounding up fiction, history and true crime by local authors
One of the joys of having all this quiet, alone time during the pandemic is reading a good book.
“Early in the pandemic, people were clamouring for books,” observes Ottawa writer Tamara Miller, who handles communications for the Ottawa Independent Writers group, the largest writers' association in the city.
Readers will find no shortage of books to consider, thanks to the rise of self-publishing and the ability to sell one's work online. For authors, however, the challenge is to stand out from the crowd, a feat traditionally achieved by book launches, tours, signings and other in-person events.
With those types of gatherings off limits during the pandemic, many authors and publishing houses have shifted to online marketing, where it's easy to be overlooked.
“Publishing nowadays is very much about promotion,” notes Miller. “There are a sea of authors out there.”
And more are diving into the pool every day. The pandemic has also provided time for people to focus on their own writing, leading to a rise in submissions to literary journals, short-story contests and poetry competitions. Writing your memoir is also a popular pastime.
“People are at home, locked in. Just like they started baking bread or planning home renovations, a lot of people also turned to writing,” Miller said. “They've started to test the waters of their writing.”
Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, book lovers in Ottawa are a resourceful bunch. The Ottawa Independent Writers' Festival has been presenting a plethora of interviews, podcasts and other online offerings this fall, with more to come (writersfestival. org), while VerseFest 2020, Ottawa's international poetry festival, is running a free, online edition, from Nov. 6-22 (verse-fest.ca). And for writers, the Ottawa Independent Writers group is encouraging the craft by offering free membership until September 2021.
Meanwhile, hundreds of new books have hit the shelves since the pandemic began. To help you decide what to read next, here are a dozen offerings, in various genres, by authors with roots in the Ottawa area, ranging from masters like Frances Itani to newcomers, such as Katie Tallo. Happy reading.
The Company We Keep, by Frances Itani (fiction, Harper Collins Canada): In the latest by the award-winning Ottawa author, an elderly widow organizes a grief discussion group, creating a space for people to share their stories and find a way to move on.
Murder in the Family - How the Search for My Mother's Killer Led to My Father, by Jeff Blackstock (memoir/true crime, Penguin/ Random House): Retired Canadian diplomat Blackstock lost his mother when he was eight years old, a death that was, he postulates in this book, likely a murder by his father, also a diplomat, when they were stationed in Buenos Aires in the 1950s.
Ottawa Rewind 2 - More Curios and Mysteries from Andrew King (non-fiction, Ottawa Press and Publishing): Artist and animator King returns with another volume of fascinating tales and historical mysteries about Ottawa in the sequel to his popular debut, Ottawa Rewind.
Why Birds Sing, by Nina Berkhout (fiction, ECW Press): Fading opera singer Dawn turns to teaching music to a group of whistlers, soon joined by her estranged brotherin-law, Tariq, and his pet parrot. The Night Piece, by André Alexis (short stories, Penguin/Random House): A collection of stories by Scotiabank Giller Prize winner Alexis that includes new material, along with work from previous publications.
Canadarm and Collaboration - How Canada's Astronauts and Space Robots Explore New Worlds, by Elizabeth Howell (non-fiction, ECW Press): Space journalist Howell chronicles Canada's space program, highlighting the contributions of people, ideas and technology.
The Fight for History - 75 years of Forgetting, Remembering and Remaking Canada's Second World War, by Tim Cook (non-fiction, Penguin/Random House): Carleton University history professor and military historian Cook makes the case that Canada's role in the Second World War has been under-recognized.
Songs for the End of the World, by Saleema Nawaz (fiction, Penguin Random House): Written and revised between 2013 and 2019, well before COVID-19, this immersive and hopeful novel centres on an impending pandemic, of all things, for the Ottawa-born Nawaz to imagine, and how it affects the intertwined lives of her characters. As I Walked About, by Phil Jenkins (non-fiction, Ottawa Press and Publishing): Chelsea-based author and musician Jenkins wrote a column for the Ottawa Citizen for more than a decade. Some of the most popular instalments were his “walking” pieces, in which he mused about the history of a street as he strolled. This book is a collection of those stories.
Dark August, by Katie Tallo (fiction, Harper Collins): A taut thriller about small-town corruption that finds 20-year-old Augusta “Gus” Monet returning to her hometown of Ottawa and revisiting the ghosts of the past. It's the debut novel by Tallo, a screenwriter and director. Heart Sister, by Michael F. Stewart (young adult, Orca Book Publishers): The latest by screenwriter/ video game writer Stewart is a heartwarming and emotional story about a boy named Emmitt, who loses his twin sister, an organ donor, and embarks on a journey to meet each organ recipient, only to find his expectations challenged. Ages 12 and up.
And Yet, by John Steffler (poetry, Penguin Random): The former poet laureate of Canada and Griffin Poetry prize finalist, who lives in rural Eastern Ontario, returns with a wide-ranging new collection of poems.