Latest news with #AndréAlexis
New York Times
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Susan Choi: ‘I Feel I've Read Nothing but Great Books Recently'
In an email interview, the author talked about how 'Flashlight' grew out of a short story, and what it would be like to read James Joyce the way her grandfather did. SCOTT HELLER What books are on your night stand? This is constantly in flux, but right this minute Viet Thanh Nguyen's 'To Save and to Destroy' and Marie-Helene Bertino's 'Exit Zero.' Describe your ideal reading experience. I just experienced it. I had started reading Amity Gaige's absolutely riveting new novel, 'Heartwood,' and I literally could not put it down, but I had sworn to myself that I would go to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden to see the cherry blossoms, because this is one of my very favorite times of the year. So then I had this huge internal struggle — blossoms or book? — which was resolved when I took the book to the blossoms. What's the best book you've ever received as a gift? My older son gave me Ben Lerner's 'The Hatred of Poetry' for Christmas one year, I think to express his own feelings, since I actually love poetry. Remembering this cracks me up. I don't think I've properly answered the question. What's the last great book you read? See under 'Heartwood,' but actually I feel I've read nothing but great books recently. I just finished André Alexis' new collection, 'Other Worlds,' and true to the title I was transported. It's incredible. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Globe and Mail
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Globe and Mail
In his new short story collection, André Alexis summons the avatars of his parents, and himself
When I tell him I found his new book of short stories, Other Worlds, wistful as well as witty, André Alexis isn't surprised. The collection was written after the loss of his mother and father, so 'the avatars of the parents are really strong in it,' he says. 'Loss' is in a manner of speaking. Alexis's father died in 2019. His mother, who read early drafts of his work and helped edit his first novel, Childhood (she even, at his recommendation, read the Beckett trilogy: 'not something that moms generally do') is alive but afflicted with dementia. She doesn't always recognize her son and can no longer read. At 68, Alexis says death and mortality are never far from his mind. (When we spoke, he was in London, England, where he'd flown the previous day to say goodbye to a close friend who was about to enter hospice.) He casually surmises that he has one or two novels left in him, though he wouldn't rule out short stories. And yet Alexis's youthful appearance, the vigour and ease with which he talks about his passion – literature – and the fact that, over the past decade, he's produced a book almost every year, all suggest he might be selling himself a little short. Other Worlds continues, on a smaller scale, the genre experiments that Alexis embarked on in his Quincunx cycle: the five novels – published between 2014 and 2019 – that include Pastoral, Fifteen Dogs, Ring, The Hidden Keys and Days by Moonlight. Writing the stories in Other Worlds, he says, was as a means of grasping not just his birth parents but his literary parents: a global crew that includes the Japanese novelist Yasunari Kawabata, the Polish writer and playwright Witold Gombrowicz, the Chinese classical short-story writer Pu Songling and the Italian literary eccentric Tommaso Landolfi. You'd think that approach would result in a stylistic crazy quilt. But the parent-child relationships – and accompanying themes of revenge, innocence and alienation – that run through Other Worlds give it a satisfying sense of cohesion, to the degree that several of the stories feel interlinked. The first one Alexis wrote, Houyhnhnm, about a man who becomes enraptured with his late physician father's horse after discovering the latter can talk (the unpronounceable title is from Jonathan Swift), was published in The New Yorker in 2022 – the first of Alexis's stories to be picked up by the magazine. Two years later, The New Yorker also published Consolation, whose Trinidadian immigrant narrator shares a number of biographical similarities with Alexis, including a father who's a doctor and a mother with dementia. And though Winter, in Palgrave, a beguilingly strange tale about a writer who finds himself unwitting caretaker to a town's unfriendly residents, who 'hibernate' in winter by hanging in sacks from their homes' rafters, isn't explicitly about parents, Alexis points to the symbolism of its setting: 'Winter is the maternal space, isn't it? Where it's just care, care for things in the womb.' Alexis's professed love of Jane Austen, meanwhile, is apparent in The Bridle Path, a comedy of manners involving a lawyer who, having adopted his Trinidadian immigrant father's socially striving ways, nabs a coveted dinner invitation at the home of a couple from the wealthy Toronto enclave who may or may not be eating the help. Asked, on this major Austen anniversary year, what his favourite novels are, Alexis doesn't hesitate: Mansfield Park and Northanger Abbey – the latter because of its playfulness and mockery of Gothic fiction. 'It shows you she's not just writing stories. She's thinking about what literature is. How amusing its effects can be. She has written that one in a comedic mode. But it could just as easily be tragic. She's not some naive person that just happened to write good sentences. She's extraordinarily aware of what's going on.' Other Worlds ends with An Elegy, a brief personal essay – inspired by Walter Benjamin's The Art of Storytelling – in which Alexis lays out his literary M.O. His love of genre, he explains, comes from his 'immigrant self,' which he also considers his most creative self. Mastering the rules and conventions of a new genre, and the fear that process engenders, feels, Alexis writes, like 'a kind of emigration.' The essay also sheds retrospective light on the book's opening story, Contrition, an isekai (a traditional Japanese folktale, huge in manga, usually involving a character being transported through time into a parallel world) about an elderly Trinidadian healer who, after he dies at the hands of British soldiers in 1857, is reborn a century later in the body of a boy named Paul who lives in Petrolia, Ont. Turns out (per An Elegy), that when he was a child living in Petrolia – and his race and French name marked him as different – Alexis went by 'Paul' for about a year, until his parents discovered the name change and put the kibosh on it. He writes that he still 'resents' his birth name. A foray into psychoanalysis convinced Alexis that his brief incarnation as Paul had a deeper motivation, one related to the central trauma of his childhood. From infancy to the age of 4, he'd been left in the care of Trinidadian relatives after his parents went to Canada. When he saw them again, half his short life had passed, and his parents were effectively strangers. 'André was the name of the boy who was left behind. If I was Paul, perhaps there was a chance that I wouldn't be abandoned. That I would be okay,' he says. Alexis's next project is a rewriting of the entire Quincunx cycle. His principal aim is to correct some chronological and logistical errors, but he also wants to revise parts of Fifteen Dogs – the novel that won him a hat trick of big Canadian awards (the Giller, Writer's Trust, Canada Reads) and that was adapted to the stage in 2023 (the show was revived early this year by Mirvish Productions in Toronto and will be mounted at Ottawa's National Arts Centre this fall). In October, the book's publisher, Coach House Books, will commemorate its 10th anniversary with a special hardcover edition. Alexis wants to add 'a little something, at most a page' to Rosie, a character from Fifteen Dogs that was important to him, and to whom he feels he gave short shrift, perspective-wise. I ask if altering finished work like that isn't considered verboten. Akin to George Lucas's controversial reworking of the original Star Wars trilogy. Alexis counters with the example of another of his favourite authors, Henry James, who rewrote, often extensively, 24 of his novels, which he republished in a collection known as 'the New York Edition.' 'And they're all worse!' Alexis says with a laugh. 'Because they're written in his later style. So you've got to be really aware of what you're doing.'
CBC
31-03-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
10 Canadian books turning 10 in 2025
Books published in 2015 are celebrating their 10th anniversary this year! Check out this list of 10 Canadian titles celebrating this milestone and see if your favourite classic is featured — or find a new read to add to your collection. Fifteen Dogs by André Alexis In Fifteen Dogs, the Greek gods Hermes and Apollo bet on the outcome of giving animals human consciousness. Their test cases: the 15 dogs spending the night in the back of a Toronto veterinary clinic. What unfolds is a powerful story about what it means to have consciousness, and the good and the bad that comes with it. Fifteen Dogs, championed by Humble The Poet, won Canada Reads 2017 and the 2015 Giller Prize. André Alexis was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, and raised in Ottawa. His debut novel, Childhood, won the Books in Canada First Novel Award (now known as the First Novel Award) and the Trillium Book Award and was shortlisted for the Giller Prize and the Writers' Trust Fiction Prize. His other books include Pastoral, Asylum, The Hidden Keys, Despair and Other Stories of Ottawa and Days by Moonlight, which won the 2019 Writers' Trust Fiction Prize. WATCH | André Alexis reads most memorable sentence from Fifteen Dogs: André Alexis reads from Fifteen Dogs 8 years ago Duration 1:09 The Illegal by Lawrence Hill The Illegal examines the plight of refugees who risk everything to start over in a country that doesn't want them. After his father is killed by a dictator's thugs, elite marathon runner Keita Ali flees his homeland and goes into hiding in a country known as Freedom State, where his presence is illegal and he must go underground to save his own life. Lawrence Hill is the acclaimed author of novels such as The Book of Negroes, The Illegal, Some Great Thing and Any Known Blood and the memoir Black Berry, Sweet Juice. He also delivered the 2013 Massey Lectures, Blood: The Stuff of Life. The Book of Negroes won Canada Reads 2009 and was adapted into a six-part miniseries, which can be streamed on CBC Gem. Hill has also won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and the Writers' Trust Fiction Prize. He has a star on Canada's walk of fame and was named a member of the Order of Canada in 2015. The Golden Son by Shilpi Somaya Gowda In the novel The Golden Son, Anil, the eldest son from rural India, leaves for America to become a doctor, while his childhood friend Leena faces hardship after an arranged marriage. Their paths diverge, but fate brings them together again at a time when they need each other most. The Vinyl Cafe Turns the Page by Stuart McLean In The Vinyl Cafe Turns the Page, Dave and Morley navigate the changes of growing older and their children growing up, while Dave continues to find himself in amusing conundrums. Despite the shifts in their lives, some things remain constant for the beloved family. Stuart McLean was a bestselling author, journalist, humorist and the host of CBC Radio's The Vinyl Cafe. McLean has earned numerous awards, including the Canadian Author's Association Jubilee Award in 2004, three Stephen Leacock Memorial Medals for Humour and the CBA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014. After the War is Over by Jennifer Robson After the War is Over follows Charlotte Brown as she navigates her life after the First World War, balancing love, duty and personal growth in a shifting world. Faced with an opportunity to speak out for those in need and confronting her past with a former lover, Charlotte must find the courage to choose the future she truly desires. Jennifer Robson is a Toronto-based historical fiction writer. She is the author of several novels, including The Gown, Somewhere in France and Goodnight From London. She holds a doctorate in British history from the University of Oxford. The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood In The Heart Goes Last, Margaret Atwood envisions a dystopian society where people rotate between roles as prisoners and guards in a social experiment. Seeking stability, Stan and Charmaine join the Positron Project in Consilience, but soon find themselves ensnared in a dangerous and unpredictable situation, especially after Charmaine's romantic involvement with another man sets off a series of events that put Stan's life in jeopardy. Atwood is a Canadian writer who has published fiction, nonfiction, poetry and comics. She began her writing career with poetry, publishing The Circle Game and winning the Governor General's Literary Award for poetry in the late 1960s. She's since published more than a dozen poetry collections, including The Journals of Susanna Moodie in 1970, Power Politics in 1971 and Dearly in 2020. She has won several awards for her work including the Governor General's Literary Award, the Giller Prize and the Booker Prize. She was named a companion to the Order of Canada in 1981. In 2024, she was the recipient of the Writer in the World Prize for her impact on literature, art and culture. Open Heart, Open Mind by Clara Hughes Clara Hughes bares her heart in the memoir Open Heart, Open Mind. Hughes, the only athlete to win multiple medals in both summer and winter Olympics, overcame a troubled childhood and battled depression throughout her career. After retiring from speed skating, she became a passionate humanitarian and mental health advocate, using her platform to promote forgiveness and awareness. Hughes is a cyclist, speed skater, author and humanitarian. Empire of Night by Kelley Armstrong Moria and Ashyn are tasked by the emperor with rescuing the children of Edgewood in Empire of Night, but their mission becomes dangerously complicated by betrayal, treachery and mounting unrest in the empire. As they face deadly enemies and the threat of war, they must rely on their strength and power to survive. Kelley Armstrong is the author of the Darkest Powers, Darkness Rising and Age of Legends trilogies for teens. She is also the author of numerous thriller and fantasy series for adults, three YA thrillers and the Royal Guide to Monster Slaying series. The Blackthorn Key by Kevin Sands In The Blackthorn Key, Christopher Rowe, an apprentice to Master Benedict Blackthorn, is thrust into danger when a mysterious cult targets London's apothecaries. As the murders close in on Blackthorn's shop, Christopher must use his skills to discover the key to a deadly secret with the power to tear the world apart. The Blackthorn Key received the John Spray Mystery Award and was a finalist for the Arthur Ellis Best YA Crime Novel Award. Kevin Sands is a Toronto-based author of numerous books including the Blackthorn Key series. Sands has also written Children of the Fox and Seekers of the Fox, which were the first two books of the middle-grade fantasy series Thieves of Shadow. We Are All Made of Molecules by Susin Nielsen In We Are All Made of Molecules, 13-year-old Stewart Inkster and 14-year-old Ashley Anderson, polar opposites in both personality and social status, are forced to live together when their parents move in together. Told in alternating voices, the story explores family dynamics, rivalry and the complexities of adolescence. Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High. In 2008, she published her first YA novel, Word Nerd, and has been writing steadily since. Her previous books include which was longlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Medal and Optimists Die First. Nielsen lives in Vancouver.
CBC
13-02-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Other Worlds by Andre Alexis
A Trinidadian Obeah man finds himself reborn, a hundred years after his death, in the body of a Canadian child. A writer takes up a seasonal job as the caretaker of a set of mysterious large sacks hanging from the rafters of the houses in a small town. A woman starts a relationship with the famous artist who painted portraits of her mother. The contents of a sealed envelope upend a woman's understanding about a tragic crime she committed at the age of six. In this dazzling collection of stories, André Alexis draws fresh connections between worlds: the ones we occupy, the ones we imagine, and the ones that preceded our own. He introduces us to characters during moments of profound puzzlement, and transports us from 19th century Trinidad and Tobago to small-town Ontario, from Amherst, Massachusetts to contemporary Toronto. These captivating stories reveal flashes of reckoning, defeat, despair, alienation, and understanding, all the while playfully using a multitude of literary genres, including gothic horror and isekai, and referencing works from greats like Jane Austen, Jonathan Swift, Yasunari Kawabata, Witold Gombrowicz, and Tomasso Landolfi. Masterfully crafted, blending poignant philosophical inquiry and wry humour tinged with the absurd, here are worlds refracted and reflected back to us with pristine clarity and stunning emotional resonance as only André Alexis can. Other Worlds is available in May 2025. André Alexis was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, and raised in Ottawa. His debut novel, Childhood, won the Books in Canada First Novel Award (now known as the First Novel Award) and the Trillium Book Award, and was shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize. His other books include Pastoral, Asylum, The Hidden Keys, Despair and Other Stories of Ottawa and Days by Moonlight, which won the 2019 Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize and was on the 2019 Scotiabank Giller Prize longlist. André Alexis's novel Fifteen Dogs, championed by Humble The Poet, won Canada Reads 2017 and the 2015 Scotiabank Giller Prize. Inteviews with André Alexis André Alexis reads from Fifteen Dogs 8 years ago Duration 1:09 André Alexis reads the most memorable sentence he wrote for Fifteen Dogs. The novel will be championed by Humble The Poet on Canada Reads 2017.
