Inanna Publications

LATE BLOOMER by Mary Lou Dickinson is out now!

Born in the shadow of World War II, Mary Lou Dickinson came of age in an era that expected women to conform—but she never did. This powerful memoir traces her path as a feminist writer of the Silent Generation, working with the women’s movement and working to support the survivors of sexual assault. Though she had long published stories in literary magazines, it wasn’t until the age of 70 that her first book was published, proving that it’s never too late to claim one’s voice.

Grab your copy https://inanna.ca/product/late-bloomer/

🏳️‍🌈 Happy Pride Month! 🏳️‍🌈

Over the month of June, we're celebrate Pride month by diving into some of our favourite LGBTQ+ titles! Today we're highlight IN SEARCH OF PURE LUST, a memoir by Lise Weil.

In Search of Pure Lust documents an important chapter in le***an history that is already being distorted and erased, a time when le***ans were reinventing everything from the ground up. Along with violence against women around the globe, le***ans of the 1970s and ’80s were motivated by growing militarism, rampant development, species loss, and living systems in decline. For many, this was the logical conclusion to a state of law/mind/rule that had prevailed for thousands of years — patriarchy.

This is a long overdue and unvarnished insider’s account of those times. The memoir, centered in the Northeast U.S. and then later in Quebec, combines a personal story with the story of a political movement. The book is full of celebration, but also depicts the shadow side of the le***an movement, taking the reader into the bitter squabbles that divided women, both personally and politically. On a deeper level, the memoir charts a long and difficult quest for love. Over and over, the narrator dives headlong into rapturous passions that either fizzle out or come to brutal and ugly endings.

In the mid-’80s, when a friend invites her to a Zen retreat, she as desperate enough to say yes. A period of difficult self-examination ensues and, over a period of years, she begins to learn an altogether different approach to desire. The last section of the memoir traces the fallout from that collision between hot-blooded le***an desire and spacious, temperate Zen mind. What the search for pure lust uncovers, in the end, is something that looks a lot like love.

Now available on NetGalley: THE ANTIQUE PICKER’S DAUGHTER by Melanie Dugan, a novel that explores youth homelessness, human trafficking, and a young woman’s search for safety.

“The first thing you need to know: They’re not antiques.
The second thing you need to know: I’m not his daughter.”

Abandoned first by her father, and then by her mother, Frankie has been left in the care of her deeply religious grandmother. When her grandmother’s religious convictions tip into delusion, Frankie decides to run away.

Life on the street in Toronto is hard, and with winter coming, it gets tougher. This is when Frankie first meets Francis, a man old enough to be her father. He starts training her in “the game,” as she comes to call it; buying, stealing, and reselling the “inventory” at inflated prices. Through winter, spring, and early summer, the two become a team, traveling around small towns and villages in southern Ontario.

But it turns out life on the road holds dangers Frankie can’t anticipate, and her precarious world tips into disaster when Francis abandons her in an unfamiliar town. Betrayed, alone, and deserted, Frankie finds herself in a dangerous situation that will require all her skill and intelligence to survive.

Request via https://www.netgalley.com/catalog/book/849300

Now available on NetGalley: AETHER & EGO by Joanne Merriam, a steampunk retelling of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, with the addition of space travel, dogs, and accidental death.

It is autumn 1845, and Elizabeth Bennet is a part of the second generation embarking on a centuries-long flight to Alpha Centauri, working in the signal room and studying engineering aboard a massive centrifugal ship. When she is thrown into the orbit of the conventional Mr. Darcy, Elizabeth finds him haughty and intolerable.

But then her younger sister elopes. For all of their progress in the new society of the ship, a woman can still be ruined by an imprudent attachment. Can Elizabeth and Darcy save Lydia’s reputation, learn to like each other, and avoid being convicted of murder?

Request via https://www.netgalley.com/catalog/book/849250

It was great to be at the ACCUTE conference in Montreal this week and chat with so many interesting folks! Thanks for having us

🏳️‍🌈 Happy Pride Month! 🏳️‍🌈

Over the month of June, we're celebrate Pride month by diving into some of our favourite LGBTQ+ titles! Today we're highlight UNCOMMITTED CRIMES: THE DEFIANCE OF THE ARTISTIC IMAGI/NATION by by Tara Atluri.

Theodor Adorno once remarked that, “…every work of art is an uncommitted crime.” This book is a tribute to political artists who deviate from the mainstream and create art that engages with questions of societal oppression, survival, and resistance. It draws on interviews with transnational artists whose work is representative of emerging trends in art, visual culture, and political aesthetics. Uncommitted Crimes reflects on a new generation of artists whose creative praxis, sensibilities, influences, and frames of reference derive from multiple national, religious, and cultural genealogies, and an ambivalent relationship to Western and European nationalisms. Courageously, these racialized, Indigenous, and migrant artists straddle the divides of many categories of identity in regards to gender, sexuality, and ‘race.’ Their art challenges the silently imbibed worship of whiteness, heteronormative patriarchies, and colonial settler ideologies of “home.” These exceptional cultural producers enter into uncomfortable dialogues, creatively. Inspired by their visionary praxis, this book is an uncommitted crime, attempting to smuggle arresting artistic ideas into a site of intellectual imagi/nation. Artists whose works are explored in this book include: Andil Gosine, Syrus Marcus Ware, Elisha Lim; Amita Zamaan and Helen Lee; Shirin Fathi; Kara Springer; Rajni Perera; Joshua Vettivelu; Brendan Fernandes; Kerry Potts and Rebecca Belmore; The Mass Arrival Collective (Farrah Miranda, Graciela Flores Mendez, Tings Chak, Vino Shanmuganathan, and Nadia Saad.). The book includes 65 pages of artwork.

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🏳️‍🌈 Happy Pride Month! 🏳️‍🌈

Join us as we celebrate Pride month by diving into some of our favourite LGBTQ+ titles!

IN SEARCH OF PURE LUST by Lise Weil
STORY OF MY LIFE ONGOING by C.S. Cobb
CAROUSEL by April Ford
DEUCE by Vivian Zenari
STEEL ANIMALS by SK Dyment
THE SIZE OF A BIRD by Clementine Morrigan
DARK WATER SONGS by Mary Lou Soutar-Hynes
SLOW REVEAL by Melanie Mitzner
HORSES IN THE SAND by Lorrie Potvin
FIRST GEAR by Lorrie Jorgensen

May is International Short Story Month

As we close out May, check out some of our short story collections of concise, impactful fiction.

SUCH A LOVELY AFTERNOON by Patti Flather
UNDER A KABUL SKY translated by Elaine Kennedy
A FALL AFTERNOON IN THE PARK by Mehri Yalfani
SEEDS by Ursula Pflug
BROKEN FICTION by Marlene Kadar
UNDERNEATH THE WATER WITH THE FISH by Carol Malyon

Happy Asian Heritage Month

Join us for the month of May as we celebrate the culture and history of Asian communities in literature.

Today we highlight FESTIVAL OF ALL SOULS by Jean Eng

FESTIVAL OF ALL SOULS explores the experience of an Asian woman born in Canada. Although neither fully rooted in one or the other, the influence of two different cultures allows heritage, gender and values to nonetheless, enrich a personal vision. The title refers to an Asian ceremony whereby families visit ancestral gravesites in the spring to pay their respects to the departed. During this observance of tribute and commemoration, time is also provided for contemplation and the acknowledgement of renewal that is in harmony with the season. The poetry in this collection is guided by, and ultimately expands upon themes inspired by this ritual: cycles of fullness and loss, expressions of visible and hidden energy, as well as navigations through public and private space. A definition of soul widens to include within our human capacity—plants, animals, minerals, and even weather. Whether leaves pause on the rim of a jade plant bowl, a starling understands Cantonese, or waves lunge like white dragons across Lake Ontario, an invitation is extended to celebrate the diversity of being in this world.

Learn more: https://inanna.ca/product/festival-of-all-souls/