The fall equinox graced us with its quiet presence last evening. The ochre, aching harvest moon awaits on the horizon for this Saturday. Summer has officially withdrawn from the northern hemisphere, delicately receding into the air as the autumnal chill blows in on the wind. As the fall season is a time to rest from summer’s frenzy, nurture, and prepare for the dormant winter, it signifies a return to balance—between daylight and darkness. Half in movement, half in rest.
Take this transitional season to process the changes and shifts happening in and around you, give pause, and move with tenderness. The local voices below take the form of verse, guides, and stories to share what they have found in times of pause.
Happy Autumn, local readers.
Guides
Save Yourself: : A New Approach to Thinking about Money and Taking Control of Your Financial Future by Kelley Keehn (Douglas & McIntyre)
Bestselling author and financial educator Kelley Keehn blends neuroscience and evidence-based strategies to help readers overcome barriers to financial security and take control of their future in an unpredictable world.
Out now
The Art of Creating Workshops for Women: A Guide to Facilitating Soulful Spaces, Events and Retreats by Marlene Schiwy (New Society Publishers)
Foster deep creativity and nourish the spirit of community with the definitive mentor’s guide to crafting transformative workshops and retreats for women.
Out now
Memoirs & Auto-fiction
Hidden Flowers by Keiko Honda (Heritage House)
An illuminating memoir of one woman’s journey through motherhood, loss, disability, and the transformative power of artistic self-expression exemplified by the Japanese concept of “”Hidden Flowers,”” which emphasizes the beauty of unexpected moments.
Out now
Seventy-Two Seasons: A memoir about Noticing by M.A.C. Farrant (Ronsdale Press)
Inspired by the Japanese practice of celebrating one feature in nature every five days, which creates seventy-two seasons instead of four, Farrant embarks on a year-long mission to focus her attention on the small spellbinding changes around her.
Out now
Journeys to the Nearby: A Gardener Discovers the Gentle Art of Untravelling by Elspeth Bradbury (Ronsdale Press)
Inspired by adventures of world travellers but unwilling to rack up her fossil fuel consumption, Elspeth sets out with a deep curiosity to explore the world that exists in her own garden.
Out now
Dead Bees Still Sting: Tales of Life at the Edge of Nature by Susan Cormier (Greystone Books)
Lyrical and poignant, Dead Bees Still Sting is a moving meditation on the cycles of nature, vulnerability, persistence, and survival. Above all, it is a celebration of what it means to belong to a place, to witness its changes, and to find beauty and meaning in the ongoing conversation between humans and nature.
Out now
Growing My Way Home: Stories of Resilience and Care by Jenn Ashton (Talon Books)
A work of autofiction by 2021 Indigenous Voices Award finalist Jenn Ashtonbased on her teenage journals and fifty years of lived experience, Growing My Way Home documents a long journey to acceptance and understanding.
Out now
The Art of Looking Back: A Painter, an Obsession, and Reclaiming the Gaze by Theresa Kishkan (Thornapple Press)
The Art of Looking Back is a meditation on the male gaze, on reclaiming one’s younger self, and on agency: how we lose it, how we find it again. This poetic memoir asks questions about older men and younger women and girls, and the persistence of that dynamic in art.
Out now
Poetry
Out of the Ordinary:New Poems by Tom Wayman (Harbour Publishing)
04/03/2025
The poems of Tom Wayman’s new collection, Out of the Ordinary, explore how such extraordinary developments can both arise from, and affect, the ordinary objects, environments and human relationships that surround us.
Out now
sometimes, forest by Elee Kraljii Gardiner (Talon Books)
The latest poetry book by Vancouver’s Poet Laureate.
sometimes, forest develops a theory of hylofeminism that attends to a deep, communal connection with nature as a relational way of being with the self and the more-than-human world.
Out now