Landings: Poems from Icelandby Harold RhenischPublished by Burton House BooksReview by Toby A. Welch$20.00 ISBN 9780994866967 It is very clear from page one of Landings that a piece of the author, Harold Rhenisch, will always be in Iceland. He first travelled to the island in 2009. Four years later, he served a stint as a writer in residence there. Rhenisch has been to Iceland numerous times, including a trip in 2019 when he dealt with frigid 220 kph wind gusts and ate lamb shanks for Christmas dinner. This book is not the author’s first work about the island that he clearly has a passion for.  Landings contains 52 gorgeous poems that Rhenisch wrote as he toured around Iceland. The poems are divided into five sections: Loom, Warp, Weft, Cloth, and Shawl. As with any book of poetry, some pieces speak more to each reader than others. The Track touched me. While poets can intend a different meaning than readers interpret, I felt the poem explained how in a quest to find yourself, taking a well-travelled path may not be the ideal route. And in a similar vein, people shouldn’t follow your path to find out about themselves. Passage is another…

Flowman and the Magic MulletWritten by Konn and Emily Hawkes, Illustrated by Emily HawkesPublished by Emily HawkesReview by Shelley A. Leedahl$23.95 (Hardcover) ISBN 9-781777-641726 Flowman and the Magic Mullet: the title’s enough to signal readers that this is going to be a gas. Who doesn’t chuckle at the mention of a mullet? And the long-flowing locks, large eyes and toothy smile of the slapshot-shooting hockey player on the cover make me curious … what kind of hijinks is this mullet-rocking athlete going to get up to? This illustrated children’s book is the entertaining result of a team effort between Watrous, SK farmer and hockey player Konn Hawkes and his artistic wife, Emily. The tale concerns superstar hockey player Greg “The Hair” Flowman and his famous mullet—“His teammates loved it, his fans adored it”—and what happens when “his magic mullet suddenly disappears overnight.” The story begins with our athletic, comically-drawn protagonist “Scoring point after point” in his blue, #21 hockey sweater and matching blue helmet. The text rhymes or off-rhymes, and I’m pleased at the outset to read an original simile: “He moves on the ice like a cheetah on skates.” As the story progresses, we learn that Flowman’s the captain…

Right to Knowby Edward WillettPublished by Shadowpaw PressReview by Allison Kydd$19.95 ISBN 9781989398227 If some associate prolific Saskatchewan author Edward Willett, also creator of The Worldshapers podcast, primarily with his award-winning young adult fantasy, Right to Know*proves that he also understands adult audiences. His characters have an appealing complexity, and readers can’t help but be drawn into the moral dilemma that faces the protagonist in this exciting tale. Thirty-two-year-old Art Stoddard is part of the aristocracy on the starship Mayflower II. Born and raised on board, he’s a media personality and an “approved reproduction partner.” Therefore, he has been spoiled by women as well as by the glory that comes from his father’s status as a Councillor and one of the Originals. They were the ones who escaped from Earth and established a new world in space, the only world Stoddard the younger has ever known. Art Stoddard, however, is floating through life as well as well as through space. He’s still living with his parents, working at a prestigious job that asks very little of him, drinking and carousing too much, but getting away with it. Yet things are about to change, and he may just discover powers he…

Let’s Fly!: A Dragon’s Quest in SaskatoonWritten by Kathie Cram, Illustrated by Kas ReaPublished by Your Nickel’s Worth PublishingReview by Shelley A. Leedahl$14.95 ISBN 9-781988-783697 Writer Kathie Cram and her illustrator Kas Rea have crafted a new book that celebrates Saskatoon through the adventures of two unlikely – and likeable – new friends, an inquisitive chickadee and a hopeful baby dragon. From the first page I surmised that the playful language in this book – “a very small bird found a very strange egg. Suddenly, it jiggled and wiggled and crackled and cracked” – would appeal to young ears. Cram’s a multi-genre Saskatoon writer who’s previously published adult fantasy and nonfiction, and she’s now working on a novel. Rea also lives in Saskatoon, where she’s a Bachelor of Fine Arts student at the University of Saskatchewan. Using the tried-and-true children’s text formula of repetition, Cram has her friendly pair meeting other creatures as Red, the dragon, searches with Little Bird for the former’s family. The flying dragon soars above Saskatoon with the bird on her back, and the two make stops at popular Saskatoon landmarks, like Wanuskewin Heritage Park. The first landing’s bumpy. “‘Sorry. I am new to flying,’” Red…

apart: a year of pandemic poetry and proseEdited by Courtney Bates-Hardy and Dave MargoshesPublished by Saskatchewan Writers’ GuildReview by Toby A. Welch$24.95 ISBN 9780968845172 I have a hunch that as our lives return to a more normalized state, this book will become even more powerful. When Covid is a distant memory, the stories will take us back to this time filled with chaos and uncertainty. What a great permanent record! This book will not collect dust as time passes.  I have never recommended a book as good for every member of the human race but this one I do. Every one of us has been touched by Covid, directly or indirectly. We are all dealing with the effects that the virus brought into our world. Having a book that chronicles the anxiety and emotions of this period in our lives is invaluable.  apart is made up of both poetry and essays (and one awesome screenplay tossed in to mix things up.) Some are short and some are lengthy. One of the most powerful pieces is on page two, a poem by Mary Maxwell made up of four words repeated over and over again: Covid, Trump, News, and Fear. That poem…