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Join us for the launch of Ailsa Ross' debut novel Hovel on April 29 at 7pm. Ailsa will also be joined by Amal Alhomsi for a lively conversation about their books. ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Ailsa Ross writes about people, place, and art for Outside, the Guardian, the BBC, Longreads, National Geographic Traveler, JSTOR Daily, ARTnews, Orion, and the Writers’ Union of Canada. Her work’s been syndicated by Cambridge University Press.
ABOUT HOVEL:
In this debut novel, a young woman in the Rocky Mountains, separated from the ancestral rhythms of her home in Scotland, turns to ancient rituals to find solace and connection. With shades of Olga Tokarczuk, Ali Smith, and Rachel Cusk, Hovel is a book for those fascinated by female interiority. Homesickness takes many forms. Alone in the mountains because of her husband’s job, occupied by little more than online video captioning she calls “kitten work,” our narrator becomes fascinated by the not-long-gone life of her Scottish ancestors, a time when the lamplighter took the night off for the full moon, girls bathed their faces in morning dew, and people sang to the seals. Her husband, however, is unsure of the emotional efficacy of cooking by candlelight, peeing in the woods, and writing vexed letters to the mayor about the birds living in the doomed aspens behind their apartment building. Especially because the letters are being read, out loud, at the town meetings attended by unimpressed neighbours. But our narrator is bewitched by the liminality of memory. In a novel of compelling poetic precision and depth, Ross captures the lengths we go to for connection when we’re alone, following threads of personal history and fascination to conclusions one can only reach when there’s too much time on one’s hands and it’s too cold to go outside.
ABOUT THE CONVERSATION PARTNER:
Amal Alhomsi is a Syrian writer, artist, and environmental educator. His short stories and art are featured in magazines and galleries across North America. He also holds the position of editor-in-chief at Oesa Magazine and resides in Banff, Alberta.His first book, Senescence was published by Rocky Mountain Books in 2024.
ABOUT SENESCENCE:
A refreshingly new literary voice celebrating natural beauty, mountain landscapes, and what it means to be truly alive and connected to nature. Senescence – defined as the gradual process of aging – takes readers on a captivating journey through the rhythmic beauty of nature. Syrian writer Amal Alhomsi's personal account of a year in Alberta's Bow Valley creates a rich tapestry of reflections. In summer, he skillfully parallels the leaf miner's toil with the work of eschatologists. Fall explores the intricate connections among texts, land, and bodies. Winter introduces muskrats and marmots, while spring unfolds the metamorphosis of moths and reflections on love. Amid the contrasts of fire and flood, Alhomsi paints a vivid portrait of life's essence. Those who dive into this evocative narrative will forge a connection with nature and the universal themes of human experience.
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Event Venue
1302 4 St SW #100, Calgary, AB, Canada, Alberta T2R 0X8
Tickets
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups - all the happenings, one place.
