Upcoming Launch Party and Reading - December 18th

With the press up and running, now is the time for a Launch Party! Celebrate with us in thanks to those who've helped make the collective possible while we break ground for the future. Join us upstairs at Burritoville [Montreal] for a night of readings, music, and libation, because what better way to kick off the holiday season than with beer, books and burritos?

FEATURING READINGS BY:
Jesse Anger     -     Kyle Flemmer
Bea Keeler     -     Kaitlyn Perrin
Ivan Fischer     -     Bükem Reitmayer

Doors open at 7, readings start around 8. We'll have copies of our first line of chapbooks for sale at Burritoville - support the authors by purchasing a copy of their work! You can check out our titles in advance HERE.

Grand Opening, New Poetry & More

Today is the Grand Opening of The Blasted Tree Store! Chapbooks are in from the printers and are available for purchase online. There are a limited number of first print books, so order now to secure a copy. Each chapbook is $5.00 + shipping, proceeds go to support the next generation of great Canadian authors and this independent press.

VISIT THE STORE

 

Not only is the store finally open, but Dorito Hangover, a collection of poetry by Kyle Flemmer, has been posted online and is available for purchase. Dorito Hangover is a collection of first poems composed throughout the last couple years, many of which have never before appeared in print. We are very excited to bring you fresh content from Canada's up-and-comers, stay tuned for new work, news, and contributors at The Blasted Tree!

Featured Letter - On State Surveillance by Kyle Flemmer

The first entry in The Blasted Tree's non-fiction initiative, Kyle Flemmer's letter On State Surveillance, written October 25th, 2014, is part of an ongoing dialogue about authoritarian systems of control and how they relate to the current political landscape in Canada. This letter responds to a friend's interest in the ideas raised by George Orwell's classic novel, 1984, and to the public lecture on state surveillance by Glenn Greenwald offered at Concordia University, October 24th.

READ ON STATE SURVEILLANCE

Featured Author - Olivia Alexander

Olivia Alexander is interested in the art of storytelling, and has been for a long time. For the author of newly minted SOCIAL HONESTY, fiction is about both escaping and exorcising the demons of our reality. In her youth, Olivia studied theatre and vocal music, feeding her passion for storytelling on the works of Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman, Joss Whedon, and Frank O’Hara, whose conversational walk-and-talk descriptions redefined her notion of poetry. She moved to Montreal in 2011 to study Creative Writing at Concordia University, hoping to pursue a career in the relatively new storytelling medium of video games. Olivia particularly enjoys writing multiple-choice conversations, allowing the reader to navigate and change the story with their various choices, and she feels video games can offer an excellent fusion between good dialogue and a compelling, ever-changing narrative. So far, Olivia has published two short stories on The Blasted Tree: SOCIAL HONESTY, part of our Short(er) Fiction series, and TO THE SPOT, soon be available for purchase in physical format from The Blasted Tree Store.

VIEW OLIVIA'S PROFILE

 

Featured Poetry - Far Too Close by Jesse Anger

Rarely is poetry successful in its aim to reinvent the past, to take the familiar and present it in a new and exciting light. And yet, this is exactly what Jesse Anger accomplishes as he expertly exhumes the bones of tradition, articulating them to his own syncopated rhythms and unflinching vision. Alternately haunting and beautiful, Far Too Close collects some previously published work alongside several never-before-seen poems.

READ FAR TOO CLOSE

Featured Story - Two Fifteen by Lambert Muir

Two Fifteen is comedic microfiction which begs the question: "How do we judge the truth?" In Lambert Muir's debut on The Blasted Tree, we meet an inquisitive narrator with an untrustworthy memory. His tale of a tainted burger and a dimensional rift may or may not be cause for alarm, but is this memory what it seems? Perhaps it was only a hallucination. By the end, Two Fifteen will have you wondering if you can believe any story, even the one told by your own senses.

READ TWO FIFTEEN

Featured Gallery - Marmulade Photography

Marmulade Photography, the visual brainchild of Kingston, ON native Foster Marshall-Medeiros, explores terrains of urban decay, nature, and nostalgia. Foster's vintage aesthetic and keen eye for balance and contrast produce striking images in a variety of styles. This gallery, featured proudly by The Blasted Tree, is both an invocation to times long past and a tribute to the shortcomings of the "modern" world. By combining nostalgic sensibilities with environments of neglect, Foster creates an air of semi-cynical yet honest evaluation, allowing the viewer to trespass into forgotten vales and cityscapes.

VIEW MARMULADE PHOTOGRAPHY

Featured Story - Mud by Bea Keeler

To kick off The Blasted Tree's online program, we are featuring Bea Keeler's hilarious and haunting short story "Mud," which documents the final day in the life of the repulsive yet engrossing Ian, a somewhat valued employee of Teleprompt Plus and an all-around scumbag. Keeler's dark and raunchy humor will have you laughing in spite of yourself, and her earnest treatment of an unlikable misanthrope may even get you on Ian's side. Sharp, punchy, and more than a little sinister, "Mud" is the perfect way to kick off your work-week. Happy Monday!

READ MUD