Two small independent Canadian publishers looking for authors

Love and Other Disappointments
by Heather Paul
published by NON

NON {Now or Never} Publishing

901, 163 Street
Surrey, BC  V4A 9T8
Canada

http://www.nonpublishing.com/

NON is a small independent publisher that’s looking for Canadian fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. The publisher is Chris Needham. Here’s what they have to say:

“Okay, so we’re ready to start looking at book submissions again. But we expect to fall behind almost immediately, so before you send anything, please make sure you’ve looked at (and maybe even read!) our other books.

“We will probably take forever to respond, and we do apologize for that. However, if you’re still interested, please send us the complete manuscript; it’s tough to consider sample chapters or poems when you’re just not that bright. We’ll see how it goes. Thanks for letting us see your work.

“Oh yeah, and we’re apparently a “literary publisher interested in contemporary Canadian fiction and poetry,” whatever the heck that means. It probably means that, at present, we only consider work by Canadian authors.”

Submit your manuscript to NON publisher, at: chris@nonpublishing.com

Full submission guidelines here.

Kaddish for My Mother
by Marsha Barber
published by Borealis Press

Borealis Press

8 Mohawk Crescent
Nepean, Ontario K2H 7G6

https://borealispress.com/index.php

Borealis Books, a division of Borealis Press Ltd., was founded in 1972 to encourage and publish new Canadian writers who demonstrate talent and potential for significant growth (e.g. Carol Shields, Giorgio Di Cicco, Cyril Dabydeen, Kenneth Radou, Guy Vanderhaeghe, among others).

As it grew, Borealis published established authors as well (e.g. Jan Drabek, Fred Cogswell, Hugh Garner, among others). The Press expanded further to include "series" such as New Canadian Drama and The Journal of Canadian Poe

try (annual). The Press has met the on-going need for critical works on established early Canadian writers such as Archibald Lampman, L.M. Montgomery, Isabella Valancy Crawford, E.J. Pratt, Susanna Moodie, among others.

Borealis also pays attention to aboriginal peoples through books on Northern Canada (Northern Studies), the Dogrib (Tale Spinners in a Spruce Tipi), Inuit People (Inuk), Cree People (Payuk and the Polar Bears), Indian Legends (Peter and the Water Manitou, an Indian legend of Lake Superior), Micmac People (From My Vantage Point), Algonkin People (Menominee, The Wild River People), the Metis (The Riel/Real Story), among many others. 

Borealis publishes most genres including both fiction and nonfiction, plus some books for children and young adults. But it specializes exclusively in Canadian authored or oriented material.

“The press accepts for appraisal material that seriously involves the human situation, in a mature, skilful manner and interesting, well written style.”

Please query first, including a synopsis and/or outline and a sample chapter or equivalent, together with return postage or international postal coupons, and adequately sized return envelope or package. Material arriving without such pre-paid return is scrapped.

Full guidelines here.

See all upcoming weekly writing classes, one-day workshops, and weekend retreats here.  

Navigation tips: See information about other publishers looking for manuscripts here (and scroll down). If you’re looking specifically for publishers of children’s and young adult books or short pieces, see here (and scroll down).

Three places to send your short prose and poetry (especially travel pieces, but everything else, too)

Note: You can now get new postings on Quick Brown Fox delivered straight to your Inbox as I publish them. Subscribe to the new Quick Brown Fox page on Substack here: https://brian999.substack.com/

 

Lowestoft Chronicle

Founded in September 2009, Lowestoft Chronicle is an online literary magazine, published quarterly, accepting flash fiction, short stories, poetry, and creative nonfiction. Preference is given to humorous submissions with an emphasis on travel. Lowestoft also publishes an annual anthology of the best work.

Their mission: “To form a global think tank of inquisitive, worldly scribblers, collectively striving towards excellence and, if possible, world domination.”

Fiction: Submit manuscripts of any genre up to 3,000 words for consideration. 

“In contrast to my Humanities schoolteacher, who would place exam papers on a grocery scale and grade according to weight, at Lowestoft Chronicle we always give priority to shorter manuscripts. However, unless it is poetry, bite size submissions under 100 words will probably be considered too slight for our scales and will likely be rejected.”

Poetry: Lowestoft accepts all forms of poetry, but please only submit one or two of your very best poems per reading period.

Nonfiction: Lowestoft welcomes narrative nonfiction, commentary, slice of life, and memoirs. Humorous pieces are especially welcome. Please keep submissions under 3,000 words.

Deadline for next issue: August 15, 2024. After that, check back to see when their next reading period opens. Full submission guidelines here.

TheNashwaak Review

The Nashwaak Review publishes original poetry, short fiction, travel pieces, essays, articles and reviews. The Nashwaak also reproduces photography and paintings in black and white. Their covers are by living Canadian artists and are reproduced in full colour.

Since its founding in 1994, The Nashwaak Review has been a venue for new and established artists, reviewers, and critics throughout Canada. Contributors include such luminaries as the late Louis Dudek, David Adams Richards, Karen Connolly, Fred Cogswell, Stephen Heighton, George Elliot Clarke, Ann Copeland, and Ken Norris.

Perhaps more importantly The Nashwaak has been an outlet for many promising young writers especially, but not exclusively, from Atlantic Canada. They like to claim that they’re slightly different from most small Canadian magazines because of their travel section and because they accept essays and review books from disciplines other than literature.

The Nashwaak Review publishes twice yearly with the financial support of St. Thomas University in Fredricton, New Bruswick.

Submissions:

“Submissions must be sent by hard copy as well as electronically as an attachment.” (That seems to say you submit your piece by both hard copy and by email ~Brian)

All submissions must be accompanied by a self-addressed stamped envelope.

Mail submissions to:

Stewart Donovan, Editor
The Nashwaak Review
St. Thomas University
Fredericton, NB, Canada
E3B 5G3

And by email at: tnr@stu.ca

Full submission guidelines here.

World Hum

World Hum is a well-established and highly reputable website dedicated to publishing travel stories, videos and slideshows of the highest quality. Since World Hum’s inception in 2001, stories from the site have appeared in “The Best American Travel Writing” anthologies and Travelers’ Tales anthologies, and they have won Lowell Thomas Awards from the Society of American Travel Writers.

World Hum posts several types of features:

Travel Stories are first-person travel narratives.

Speaker’s Corner essays feature rants or raves about any travel-related subject.

Travel Interviews are interviews with travelers, writers, artists – anyone with something interesting to say about travel.

Lists explore a wide range of travel-related topics.

Audio slideshows explore travel through photographs, sound and narration.

Submissions:

If you would like to contribute to any of these sections, please paste your completed essay or article as well as a brief bio into the body of an email – World Hum will not open attachments – and send it to dispatches@worldhum.com

Submissions should be no more than 1,500 words. Do not send multiple submissions, and do not send queries. World Hum reviews only completed posts and essays.

Include the section of the site you want to contribute to in the subject line of your email. If your submission is time sensitive, please say so in the subject line as well.

If your submission is accepted by World Hum, the editors will contact you as soon as possible with more information, including payment details. (I haven’t been able to find how much they pay, but they do pay ~Brian)

Full guidelines here.

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See information about upcoming weekly writing classes, one-day workshops, and four-day retreats here.

See many more places to send your short prose and poetry here (and scroll down).

 

“The Yukon Bar” by Barbara Crompton

 

I think of our time in the Yukon as sublime, but although the Yukon is part of Canada, my partner and I were foreigners.  This is the sacred land of indigenous people who have lived here for centuries. In July of 2022, though, Ian and I canoed the Yukon River, a 750-kilometer run from Whitehorse to Dawson City.  

Paddling around the bends, we were swept past towering cliffs, deep green canyons, eerie burnt-out landscapes, and breathtaking vistas. We had never been so completely immersed in such a remote location in all our lives.

That year the region had experienced a dramatic spring thaw with unprecedented water levels, flooding many of the campsites underwater or covering them with silt, making them uninhabitable. The river was also running extremely fast, something our years of lake water canoeing hadn’t prepared us for.

You wouldn’t last long in the glacial waters should you topple the boat, let alone manage to keep your gear from being swept away by the current.

By day six of our trip, we were pulling into Carmacks, an outpost for canoeists and tourists and we were giddy with the notion of being able to enjoy a hot shower and a cold beer before heading back out the next day.

There was a light and cheery vibration in the air amongst our fellow travelers. People were busy pulling up canoes, exchanging stories, packing food, and stretching their legs in the warm sun. Seeing the occasional familiar face of other travellers we’d seen on the river felt reassuring, as did the look of the hotel. 

The owners had decorated the front porch with hanging planters, all neatly lined up across the long entrance, bursting with pink geraniums.  The banisters and railings were freshly painted white, and the roadside had been raked to an even plain. Across the way was a large General Store with every manner of camping gear and hardware.

After checking in and depositing our suitcases, we headed into the bar for a much-anticipated beer. The place was dark and dated, with heavy wooded captain chairs and dirty plaid carpet.  The air was musty with the smell of spilt beer and years of poorly wiped down tables and chairs.

The bartender was a cheery French-Canadian fellow who greeted us kindly and took our orders.  We sat at the bar and reviewed the food menu.  There were a few tables with patrons but not many as it was later in the afternoon.  Some of the patrons were like us, canoeists stopping in on their way to Dawson City, while the others were locals, mostly from the Indigenous communities in the area. 

I was struck by the contrast between the tourists wearing their expensive urban gear of bright neon greens and blues against the local attire of heavy dark coats and pants. Tension hovered amidst the quiet as we moved to find a place at the bar. I don’t recall any music playing, just a quiet that felt off. Everyone kept to themselves, the locals at one table and a cluster of tourists at another. 

I looked sideways at the menu Ian was holding, pointing out options. If he sensed anything amiss, he didn’t let on.

Shortly after taking our seats, one of the locals, an indigenous man, came in. His small frame barely carried the oversized layers of clothing he was wearing, almost as if he was being consumed by its bulk. He had long dark shiny hair that reached to his mid back and I could see from his profile that he was young.   

Without looking at anyone, he walked straight to the bar, keeping his face hidden and down. I scanned the room.  My fellow patrons seemed to be leaning closer towards each other, purposely trying to avoid noticing.

The bartender asked, “How can I help you, my friend?” His manner seemed kind and I felt myself take a small sigh of relief.  There was a quiet exchange of words, and the bartender went off to the back room, a place beyond the rows of bottles that were crowded up against a mirrored wall. 

The young man was leaning with his arms over the bar, quietly waiting.  He didn’t once look up or make eye contact with anyone.  The bartender returned and passed the young man a paper bag and a carton of cigarettes.  A $100 bill come out of the young man’s pocket. The bartender pushed his change forward.

“I gave you a hundred-dollar bill,” the young man said. 

The bartender paused, said nothing but returned to the register to provide the correct change. Ian and I exchanged a look, “a side hustle” he mouthed in my direction.

I was trying to keep my eyes down and on the menu, but couldn’t help but take a sidelong glance.  The young man was handsome, striking even with chiseled features. His eyes passed over me but I had no sense he’d seen me. I wasn’t there to him, nor I suspect were any of the other people in the room.  It felt almost as if my attempt to meet his eyes felt disrespectful, as if in my glance, I had intruded. 

Turning to leave, the young man kept his eyes fixed on the exit, cutting a straight path through the few occupied tables. His elbow caught the arm of one of the tourists as he passed by with a notable bump. Neither of them acknowledged collision, he just kept walking to the exit.

This place – neither the town of Carmacks nor its only bar – was a destination point. It was a pass-through, a bubble of modern conveniences set down amongst the ancestral hunting and fishing lands of eleven distinct indigenous nations. 

The tourists we met came from cities in North American or Europe. They’d come in Kevlar canoes, shiny cars and in air-conditioned busses.  They dominated the space with their large gestures and loud voices and barely noticed the locals, who slipped silently amongst them, like ghosts haunting the few buildings that had been oddly placed on their traditional land. 

In this place where two worlds intersected, we were not entirely welcome.

***

Barbara Crompton is a retired business owner, yoga enthusiast, backcountry explorer and mother of two beautiful intrepid daughters. Her passion is travelling the wilderness of Canada with her partner Ian and gathering stories from those experiences and the people she meets.  Barbara lives in Oakville, Ontario.

Read more short pieces by your fellow writers here (and scroll down).

See Brian Henry’s upcoming one-day workshops, weekly writing classes, and weekend retreats here. 

 

You're invited to the book launch for Zebra Girl by Pearl Lee and Vunga by Frank Banfield

Hi, Brian.

Just wondering if any of our classmates or your other students who live near London might like to join me and Frank for our joint book launch.

It’s this Friday, July 26

11 a.m.

TAP Centre for Creativity

203 Dundas Street, London, Ontario (Map here)

Pearl

For more information about Pearl’s novel, Zebra Girl, or to buy a copy, see here.

For more information about Frank’s memoir of growing up in Granada, Vunga: Tales of an Island Boy, or to buy a copy, see here.

See information about upcoming weekly writing classes, one-day workshops, and four-day retreats here.

For more about new books and book launches from your fellow authors, see here (and scroll down).

Kudos to Margaret, Laurie, Norma and Grant!

If you’ve had a story (or a book!) published, if you’ve won or placed in a writing contest, if you’ve gotten yourself an agent, or if you have any other news, send me an email so I can share your success. As writers, we’re all in this together, and your good news gives us all a boost. 

Also, be sure to let know if you're looking for a writers' group or beta readers; a notice in Quick Brown Fox, will help you find them. 

Email me at: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

 

Hello, Brian.

This is the cover of my new book coming out this September (and a couple quotes for the back cover). It's a collection of personal stories recalling my own adventures in the outdoors as well as a variety of my experiences as an outdoor educator. 

Stay tuned for further details!

Grant Linney

"Most children today grow up in an urban setting increasingly caught up in an electronic virtual world. Grant Linney’s life journey and essays are powerful reminders that nature is our home, the real world that provides all of our biological and spiritual needs and confers the sheer joy of our existence." ~David Suzuki, Grandfather.

Outdoor Magic is a doorway into a lifetime of nature wisdom.  Grant shares some of his own transformative experiences and then lets us in on innumerable tricks of the trade.  From late night meanders to pre-dawn canoeing to forest running, he shows us that it's still possible to incorporate moments of natural wonder in our own lives and in our students' lives.  Cozy up with this book on a rainy afternoon and plan your next outing with children. ~David Sobel, Author, Education Professor Emeritus, Antioch University New England

 

Hi, Brian.

I hope you’re well and enjoying the summer. I’ve had two essays accepted and want to share my news with you and thank you for your help and inspiration!

“The Beads Didn’t Speak English Either” will be published in the White Wall Review. It’s a story about my first day of school when I didn’t know many English words and met up with an unsympathetic teacher (but sympathetic and colourful wooden beads!).

“Finding Filomena” will be published by Chicago Story Press in an anthology about family. This story is about my late mother, her journey to Canada, and my relationship with her. I shared it in one of your intensive writing classes. The feedback I received from you and my fellow students helped me a great deal. I am forever grateful.

Stay well,

Norma Gardner

 

Hi, Brian.

I just wanted to let you know that my second novel has just been published. Finding Home follows two characters in early Canada. Sarah, a servant orphaned in London in 1869, desperately seeks family. Richard, the disgraced son of an Ontario sawmill owner, must redeem himself, then make his own way. Their journeys are brought together by a group of Home Children.

Finding Home also pulls back the curtain on many issues of the time: class differences, Protestant/Catholic friction, homophobia, racism and the treatment of child immigrants.

Although my first novel, The Medal, was published by Borealis Press, I decided to self-publish this book. Its success has already necessitated a second printing. A positive review in The Kingstonist led to a TV interview, and my book talks and presentations have been universally well received.  I was delighted that Upper Canada Village purchased 24 copies to sell in their Village Store. I’m looking forward to upcoming events and book club visits.

Finding Home is available at Novel Idea in Kingston, Books on Main in Bath, Trousdales General Store in Sydenham, and Spark Books and Curios in Perth as well as in local libraries. 

Laurie Ness Gordon
www.laurienessgordon.com

 Hello, Brian.

Some good news!

During the online session of your Intensive Writing Course I participated in last winter, I wrote a short story, titled, “Sylvia.” In the spring, directly following the course, I turned it into a one-act play. Although, I had experience writing other plays, it was the first time I'd tried my hand at turning a short story into a play. 

I submitted “Sylvia” into our local One Act Play Festival and was thrilled to learn it had been accepted. The owners of the theatre company paid me for the rights to perform “Sylvia” sometime next year. I can't wait! 

Thank you, Brian, and to all of those in the class who gave me some valuable feedback and encouragement for this story.

Margaret Ruttan

***

See all my upcoming weekly writing classes, one-day workshops, and four-day  retreats here. ~Brian

See more good news from your fellow writers here (and scroll down).

Note: You can now get new postings on Quick Brown Fox delivered straight to your Inbox as I publish them. Subscribe to the new Quick Brown Fox page on Substack here:  https://brian999.substack.com/