The Seaboard Review of Books
Volume 3, Issue 5 of The Seaboard Review of Books, February 2, 2026
In this issue:
Embracing Life Without Puppets (Fiction)
The Chorus Beneath Our Feet (Fiction)
The Joy of Solitude by Robert J. Coplan (Non-Fiction)
Hawking the Surf by Diana E. Hayes (Poetry)
How to Tell a Joist from a Girder (Humour)
W.H. Auden’s “A Certain World: A Commonplace Book,” an Uncommonly Enjoyable Collection (Guest Column)
Thanks for reading this issue of The Seaboard Review of Books!
James M. Fisher, editor-in-chief
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Fiction
Embracing Life Without Puppets
Hollay Ghadery’s debut novel, The Unravelling of Ou, opens with the arresting sight of a frazzled middle-aged woman with frizzy hair, Minoo, running down a hospital hallway, a crudely made sock puppet on her hand. Her daughter, Roya, has just given birth to a baby girl. Fed up with Minoo’s endless dependence on this raggedy support toy, Roya orders her …
The Chorus Beneath Our Feet
The Chorus Beneath Our Feet by Melanie Schnell is the new novel published by Radiant Press in October 2025. This novel shares Jess’s story as he returns to his hometown eight years after leaving. He is sent back from the military to accompany the body of his best friend, but what he finds is more concerning than he thought it would be. His sister Mary i…
Non-Fiction
The Joy of Solitude by Robert J. Coplan
Would you rather give yourself an electric shock than sit in solitude? If not, would you be surprised that quite a few folks would?
Poetry
Hawking the Surf by Diana E. Hayes
Hawking the Surf, released by Silver Bow Publishing in 2025 by Salt Spring Island writer and photographer Diana E. Hayes, is an invitation to wholeness with art in every breath. In wordsmithing wizardry from earth to sea, Hayes steers readers through heavy storms, her call for compassion permeating as we battle mortality in the search for meaning. She e…
Humour
How to Tell a Joist from a Girder
This morning, as I tap this out on my keyboard, two bits of writing have fallen into my lap. The first was Andy Jones’s new publication, “Actor Needs Restraint,” and the second, a review of that book in the current Literary Review of Canada. I read the review first, before cracking the spine of the book itself, and it l…
Guest Column
W.H. Auden’s “A Certain World: A Commonplace Book,” an Uncommonly Enjoyable Collection
One of the secondhand books in my library that I treasure most is W. H. Auden’s A Certain World: A Commonplace Book (A William Cole Book, Viking Press, 1970). Though hardly common nowadays, commonplace books have been kept by many writers, over the centuries among them John Milton, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, George Eliot, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Virginia Woo…
The Fiddlehead invites you to celebrate the launch of Issue 306 on Saturday, February 7, 2–3 PM Atlantic Time, both in person at the Fredericton Public Library and online via Zoom. Join us for an afternoon of readings by Ariadne Asho, winner of the 2025 Fiction contest, along with fellow issue 306 contributors, John McNeil and José Teodoro! To attend the readings virtually, email thefiddlehead@gmail.com with your name to receive the Zoom link.
Lake Burntshore: A Novel by Aaron Kreuter
Yes, it’s a sexy summer romp, but Lake Burntshore is also a deeply reflective read that explores what shapes values systems and the ways steadfastness responds to perturbations from people and life events. Camp counsellor Ruby is incensed to learn that Israeli soldiers will join the Camp Burntshore team to address a last-minute staffing shortage after several leaders are dismissed for smoking pot. As she navigates this unexpected and unwelcomed change to the atmosphere at the Jewish summer camp that she loves and attended as a child, Ruby begins to identify parallels between occupation and colonization abroad and in Canada. In her efforts to protect the summer experience she holds dear, Ruby begins to consider the complexities that influence her understanding of the camp including relations with its First Nation neighbours.
This can’t-put-it down novel is perfect for anyone who asks why they should concern themselves with events on the other side of the world and how those events connect to inequities right here at home. (Contributed by Samantha Jones)
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