The Seaboard Review of Books August 18, 2025
Volume 2, Issue 31 of The Seaboard Review of Books, August 18, 2025
In this issue:
Endling by Maria Reva
Lost Signal: Poems by Chris Hutchinson
This May Be the Year: Poetry by Carole Giangrande
Sacred Rage: Selected Stories by Steven Heighton
In Search of the Great Canadian Shark by Chris Harvey-Clark
The Boutique Hotel by Melissa MacKinnon
Review of the Week
Sacred Rage: Selected Stories by Steven Heighton
The assertion that Steven Heighton is one of the very best writers this country has ever produced will not meet with much resistance. His intrepid nature and astonishing versatility, not to mention his dedication to craft, made him proficient at any form of written expression to which he set his mind. He was an effective and entertaining public speaker,…
Fiction
The Boutique Hotel by Melissa D. MacKinnon
A dead body in the bushes in the courtyard of Le Boutique Hotel de Couer de Nice is the impetus for two mysteries. Who is the deceased, and who would have wanted to kill him?
Non-Fiction
In Search of the Great Canadian Shark by Chris Harvey-Clark
The diving stories from In Search of the Great Canadian Shark by Chris Harvey-Clark are entertaining, interesting, and sometimes harrowing—especially his near-death experience while diving for giant clams in the Strait of Georgia between Vancouver Island and the southwest mainland coast of British Columbia.
Poetry
Lost Signal: Poems by Chris Hutchinson
I first encountered Chris Hutchinson when my friend Jack handed me a copy of Hutchinson’s experimental novel, Jonas in Frames, which I promptly managed to misplace. On another occasion, Jack showed me a random Chris Hutchinson poem, photocopied and folded, whereupon I announced, “Chris Hutchinson is my favourite poet.”
This May Be the Year: Poetry by Carole Giangrande
Images of birds, bees, and gardens nestle alongside thoughts on loss, childhood memories, and reflections on aging in Carole Giangrande’s 50-poem collection This May Be the Year. Eleven of the poems have been previously published (some in slightly different form) in
Michael Greenstein Reviews:
Hot Takes: Brief Notes on Books Present & Past
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I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue
This is a highly entertaining read about a checked-out office worker who suddenly--by some fluke--has access to all her coworkers' and boss's emails and messages. This changes everything. Up until now she was just barely hanging on, keeping her head low, sending passive-aggressive responses to coworkers' emails. And now she's on top of things, she knows ahead of everyone else what's going on behind the scenes, and she knows what people are saying about her and everyone else. She uses this information to her advantage, but doesn't count on the fact that she might actually enjoy being more engaged with work and her coworkers. Now it's a matter of Not Getting Caught. She especially wouldn't want to ruin the good thing she has going with the new human resource guy - she really likes him. This is a smart, darkly funny, entertaining debut from an Iranian/British-Canadian author from Calgary, Alberta. (Contributed by Naomi MacKinnon)
Emily Weedon’s Drunk Fiction
Mark your calendars for August 26th! The Seaboard Review of Books is sponsoring the literary event “Drunk Fiction”! The Caledonian is at 856 College Street in Toronto.
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Thanks for reading this issue of The Seaboard Review of Books!
James M. Fisher, editor-in-chief
