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Dépanneurs vs. Bodegas: What Corner Stores Say About a City

by Diana Kole On the language and politics of convenience.

Photo by Shawn Hoke (via Flickr).

I envy the French language for the word dépanneur. It turns what it does—dépanner, to help out—into a name for both its storefront and its staff, making that most personal of shops a kind of person in itself. We go to the dep to indulge, and the dep justifies those …

Under the Pudding Skin: A Conversation About Bruce Taylor

by David Godkin and Mathew Henderson Two poetry lovers discover a “master versifer” in Taylor’s new collection, No End in Strangeness.

David Godkin (formerly David Kosub) has written poetry and fiction reviews for literary journals across Canada, including the Malahat Review, Prairie Fire, Arc, the Fiddlehead, Quill and Quire, Books in Canada, and What! He has a masters degree in English Literature from York University, is a prolific singer-songwriter and writes the weekly poetry blog Speaking of Poems.

Mathew Henderson is …

Interview With Jonah Campbell

by Diana Kole The author of Food & Trembling on his affinity for linguistic play, the genius of Scotch Club and why Montreal is not a great food city.

Jonah Campbell, logophile and eater, writes in a shifting register that bridges whatever gap there is between the OED and Doritos All Nighter Cheeseburger Chips. Campbell claims that the appeal of his writing lies in “the fumbling charm of the amateur”—but the wit of his recent book Food & Trembling (Invisible Publishing) isn’t so reduced. The essay collection isn …

Presenting Maisonneuve’s First Annual Genre Fiction Contest

by Maisonneuve Staff This year’s theme: science fiction!

“La Sortie de l’opéra en l’an 2000” by Albert Robida.

Presenting: Maisonneuve’s first annual Genre Fiction Contest!

Starting now, Maisonneuve will run a literary contest every year, with the contest’s genre changing from year to year.

This year’s theme: science fiction.

(In future years, it could be fantasy, romance, noir—who knows! But it …

Anarchy in the QC

by Sam Sutherland In the summer of 1977, one makeshift, beer-soaked venue brought punk rock to Montreal. Then the mafia showed up.

Illustration by Fred Casia.

Carlos Soria slinks down an Old Montreal street in a hockey jacket and blue jeans, broken streetlamps glowing overhead. It’s 1977, and Soria’s a burgeoning punk. He hasn’t found his tribe yet, or figured out the right clothes and chords, but he knows there must be something different in this town—something raging …

Our Tar-Sands Man in Washington

by Eric Andrew-Gee Gary Doer was hailed as one of Canada’s greenest leaders. Then he became ambassador to the US—and started shilling for Alberta oil.

Illustration by Anthony Tremmaglia.

In early October 2009, Manitoba premier Gary Doer flew to Los Angeles and wound up talking about polar bears. He was attending the Governor’s Global Climate Summit, an environmental forum hosted by Arnold Schwarzenegger and other American politicians, where, at one point, a group of young activists approached him for a video interview about global …

Winter

ISSUE 42 Winter 2011

online content:

also in this issue:

  • Getting Plowed

    by Selena Ross In this exclusive investigative report from Montreal, Maisonneuve exposes the bid-rigging, violence and sabotage at the heart of an unlikely racket: snow removal.

  • In the House of the Lord

    by Andrea Bennett The Jackson Avenue Housing Co-operative and the religious battle raging in one of Canada's poorest neighbourhoods.

  • After Jack

    by Nick Taylor-Vaisey Last May, Jack Layton led the NDP to the greatest victory in party history. Now that he's gone, will the party be able to maintain its momentum?
  • [see full issue contents]