Canadian Indie Bookstore Day Staff Recommendations
Saturday April 29th is Canadian Indie Bookstore Day! It's a great day to head out to your favorite independent bookstore and show some love to indie booksellers across Canada.
Since we're nearing the end of National Poetry Month, some of the Coach House staff have put together some poetry recommendations for you to check out while you shop. We love supporting independent bookstores and independent presses and hope you'll spend some time exploring the indie books in stock at your local shop!
“I’ve been reading Joshua Beckman’s Animal Days (Wave Books, 2021), a sparse and devastating consideration of the body under duress: sick, medicated, uneasy. Beckman is a master of minimalism.”
– Alana, Editorial Director
“In Normal Distance (Soft Skull, 2022) Elisa Gabbert manages to take commonplace observations and make them extraordinary. Little known trivia and fun facts are the starting point for fantastical explorations into what it means to be a person. Gabbert is a humanist who looks for the tender side of a challenging world. Fans of her nonfiction will love this too!”
– James, Publicist
“I picked up Stereoblind (House of Anansi, 2018) after reading Emma Healey's recent memoir. The poems feel so local in place and experience, and the prose style is approachable yet evocative.”
– Lindsay, Marketing & Metadata Coordinator
“I love the details in Magnolia (Tin House, 2022) by Nina Mingya Powles. This book is packed full of rich descriptions of food and colour, from steaming egg yolks on sticky rice (“a row of suns on low mountaintops”) to the pink of a flowering tree in June, to the peony pattern on a costume from 'In the Mood for Love'. This is a stunning collection about the complexities of language and connection.”
– Sasha, Operations Coordinator
“Unstable Neighbourhood Rabbit (House of Anansi, 2018) pulls you across dreamy yet haunting terrains, conjuring a welcoming sense of disorientation. It’s surprising, surreal, sharp, and tender; a stunning debut collection that I find myself revisiting often.”
– Vee, Editorial Intern
