May is short story month! Celebrate by reading a great Canadian short story. This list was originally curated by writer Kevin Hardcastle in 2020, and has been updated for 2024!
For Trinidadian author Simone Dalton, the desire to go into full-time writing emerged from grief, when her mother, Esther Dalton, died in 2010. “She died while in Trinidad and I was in Toronto. I felt very destabilised when she died. I grew up in a single parent home and we were very close, so when
Home > Interviews > “Grief Demands Compassion”: An Interview with Emma Hansen
Photo by Aaron Vandenbrink
Emma Hansen’s debut memoir
Still ebbs and flows around the reader, much like its recurring motif of water. At times, it brims with heartbreak; at other times, it is tender and overflowing with love. Hansen guides readers through her journey of grief after discovering her first child, Reid, has died––and she will have to deliver him stillborn––and then through the aftermath of her mourning.
Natasha Ramoutar: There is an overarching water metaphor woven throughout
Still
––grief coming in “waves,” for example. What were your intentions with this repeated motif? Was the motif added in during the editing process or was it apparent in the first draft?