The Ex-Puritan is proud to introduce our new Poetry Editor, Sanna Wani (@sannawani.bsky.social)! Sanna Wani is a Kashmiri writer, editor and translator based in Toronto. She is the author of My Grief, the Sun (House of Anansi, 2022), winner of the 2023 Trillium Award for Poetry.

“When he looked in the mirror all he could see was the vague whiteness of her body beside him, her pale skin glowing a little in the dark.” –@elliottgish.bsky.social, from "In Glass" ex-puritan.ca/in-glass

“Beyond the trees lay an ocean of rubble, as though a giant had sneezed and their small corner of the world had come tumbling down.” –Joyce Li, from "The Transmigration of Rabbits" ex-puritan.ca/the-transmig...

“There were five weeks left of camp, 35 sun-drenched days and moon-spilled nights, and we weren’t going to waste a single one of them.” –Aaron Kreuter, from "Shimon's Trial": ex-puritan.ca/shimons-trial

Jody Chan reviews Amy Ching-Yan Lam's Property Journal in Issue 70 of The Ex-Puritan: ex-puritan.ca/a-many-layer...

@yukondawn.bsky.social reviews Zane Koss's Country Music in Issue 70 of The Ex-Puritan: ex-puritan.ca/story-as-ele...

“I’ve been collecting multiplicities, chucking light into myself to see what catches fire” –from "Everyone is Sleeping", one of Ezra M. Serra's two poems in Issue 70: ex-puritan.ca/everyone-is-...

“If there is no friction / the meteor is invisible” –@raoulfernandes.bsky.social, from the poem "Strike Anywhere": ex-puritan.ca/strike-anywh...

“Notes on contributor: lives with his wife in the traditional territory of white sheets and little apples, explores connection to land through beadwork, writing.” –Sadie McCarney, from "Alterbiographies": ex-puritan.ca/from-alterbi...

“I live in a house of almost / that is not mine.” –Stella Wong, from the poem "Complex conjugates": ex-puritan.ca/complex-conj...

"This pregnancy, this nine-month prevention, teaches me that getting to the heart of anything is drifting there, when all time does is mimic itself and there is always something you are after." –Alexandra McKay, "Water Bird" ex-puritan.ca/water-bird

"In late February, I was heading towards Museum Station when I noticed that someone had spray painted an 'r' over the 'Welcome to Queen's Park' sign to read 'Welcome to Queer's Park.' Huh, I thought. Someone said the quiet part out loud."–Vivian Zhi, from "Queer's Park": ex-puritan.ca/queers-park

In Issue 70 of The Ex-Puritan, Katherine Abbass interviews Elise Levine about her newest collection, Big of You: ex-puritan.ca/a-not-so-sec...

🚨New Raoul Fernandes Poem Alert! New Raoul Fernandes Poem Alert! This is not a drill! Report to your reading stations immediately! New Raoul Fernandes Poem Alert!🚨 @raoulfernandes.bsky.social @ex-puritan.bsky.social ex-puritan.ca/strike-anywh...

The 2025 Austin Clarke Prize is open for submissions! This year's prize will be judged by Iryn Tushabe (fiction) & Faith Arkorful (poetry). To learn more & submit your work: ex-puritan.ca/news/the-202...

Announcing our Summer 2025 issue! These works pair well with a hammock, a patio, or the comfort of your air conditioning. Watch this space for contributor features to come, but the full issue is live & ready for your enjoyment: ex-puritan.ca/issue-70-sum...

“As genocide is perpetrated in Palestine, as climate disaster and late-stage capitalism escalate, as fascist movements gain power, the poems question what it could look like to build a world worth living in.” -Amanda Proctor reviews Natalie Lim's Elegy for Opportunity: ex-puritan.ca/im-not-leavi...

“i wish i could have this forever / you can – he whispers. knowing every dream has it’s patron” –Cassandra Myers, "Waterstrider's Honeymoon Cruise" in Issue 69: ex-puritan.ca/waterstrider...

"With this commitment to normalcy in mind I have continued to go on dates with people who I meet on the apps, the men and women whom the supposedly-complex-but-ultimately-middling algorithms present me as suitable matches." -Nour Abi-Nakhoul, from "Marmot": ex-puritan.ca/marmot

“I learn about my father by reading the obituary, the one hosted on the website for a funeral home in Thunder Bay. His passing creates what I’ve always wanted to uncover: a record. A bit of marrow left inside the bone.” -Brit Gillman, from "Before We Begin": ex-puritan.ca/before-we-be...

"Historical fiction is not about faithfully transcribing facts from the past so much as it is about relating themes from the past that are still relevant to the world today." -Zilla Jones, in conversation with Tamara Jong. Read now in The Ex-Puritan Issue 69: ex-puritan.ca/wrestling-wi...

"as if everything else were an origin story / as if the sun ate up each dawn" begins Ernest Ohia's poem "plot in which you lived..." from Issue 69: ex-puritan.ca/plot-in-whic...

@MiriamRicher.bsky.social reviews Dead Writers, a new fiction project from Jean Marc Ah-Sen, Michael LaPointe, Cassidy McFadzean, and Naben Ruthnum, which Richer calls "a series of literary case studies in the lies we tell ourselves in order to go on living": ex-puritan.ca/dark-entries...

"Wandering to a Roman shield, Matthew chews over one of his favourite ideas: that throughout history, everyone on both sides thought they were the good guy." –Glenn Clifton, "What You Are Looking For Is What Is Looking", in Issue 69: ex-puritan.ca/what-you-are...

"Doctor pries off the skull cap. Reaches / into the cavity, cradling the cleaved / cerebrum. Can he feel the weight / of its memories?" –Sally O'Keeffe, "The Provincial Lunatic Asylum (1850s)", from Issue 69: ex-puritan.ca/the-provinci...

"His death was strange enough to be buried. And so it was." Play Mikaela Toone's retro-styled narrative video game (on desktop) now: ex-puritan.ca/dontsavesam

In Issue 69, Summer Farah interviews Farah Ghafoor and they discuss the risks of speaking up, the role of a poet, and how "the best things in life are a little bit hard": ex-puritan.ca/what-we-lose...

"The protagonists shift but maintain an integrity of voice: elegant, incisive, dry, witty." – @sannawani.bsky.social reviews @shashibhat.bsky.social's Death by a Thousand Cuts: ex-puritan.ca/futility-and...

Reading Kevin Lambert for the first time and wow! What a writer!

Now Hiring: Poetry Editor! Position begins August 2025. For the full posting, please see our website. Apply before July 22, 2025: ex-puritan.ca/news/now-hir...

In "Nomenclature" from Issue 69, Sneha Madhavan-Reese ponders what's in a name: ex-puritan.ca/nomenclature

The Ex-Puritan SPECIAL ISSUE Submission Call: Animalia, guest edited by Sanna Wani (@sannawani.bsky.social)! ex-puritan.ca/news/call-fo...

Just randomly wandered by @ex-puritan.bsky.social (as you do) to find this stunning poem 🔥

I had the honour of writing on DEAD WRITERS for @ex-puritan.bsky.social. It was a pleasure to read and review @invisibooks.bsky.social's mesmerizing collection of horror-tinged novellas. ex-puritan.ca/dark-entries...

talked with @farahghafoor.bsky.social about her debut collection SHADOW PRICE, for @ex-puritan.bsky.social 🍃https://ex-puritan.ca/what-we-lose-is-synonymous-with-death-a-conversation-with-farah-ghafoor

"If they would let me, I could put together their things and make a Frankenstein version of who my grandparents once were." –Audrey Popa, "Apartment Block Archives", live now in Issue 69: ex-puritan.ca/apartment-bl...

"You lay in bed until sunrise, listening to sirens and car alarms, trying to deep breathe wellness into your kidneys or blood." –Shaelin Bishop, "You Are Contractually Obligated to Withstand Violence", live now in Issue 69: ex-puritan.ca/you-are-cont...

We're buzzing to share our Spring issue (Issue 69) with you! Stay tuned for individual contributor features to come, and read all of the pieces on our website now: ex-puritan.ca/issue-69-spr...

Don't miss Khando Langri's poem "grant application", featured in Issue 68 of "The Ex-Puritan". You can read "grant application" here: ex-puritan.ca/grant-applic...

Marisa Grizenko @marisagrizenko.bsky.social reviews Joni Murphy's novel Barbara (Astra House, 2025) in Issue 68 of The Ex-Puritan: ex-puritan.ca/a-20th-centu...

"Every immigrant already knows this. Entering Canada means acquiescing to definition, official and unofficial." Kris Singh's essay "Backwater" is in Issue 68 of The Ex-Puritan: ex-puritan.ca/backwater

In our hybrid offering from Issue 68, Alia Synesthesia crafts an experiment in listening, based on soundscapes recorded in Swedish swamps. You can explore "Skogsrå" here (accessible via desktop only): ex-puritan.ca/skogsr%C3%A5

Aidan Chafe's @allegorically.bsky.social poem "Cowboy Archetype Survival Guide" is live in Issue 68 of The Ex-Puritan. Read here: ex-puritan.ca/cowboy-arche...

Kyra Sutton's story "Baby" is in Issue 68 (Winter 2025) of The Ex-Puritan. Read "Baby" now: ex-puritan.ca/baby

Glad to have my essay about Surrey included in the latest issue of @ex-puritan.bsky.social. Looking forward to reading the rest of the issue ex-puritan.ca/backwater

For @ex-puritan.bsky.social's winter issue, I reviewed Joni Murphy's wonderful new novel, Barbara, published by @bookhugpress.bsky.social in Canada / Astra in the US.

"My mom likes to keep clementines in the closet which would be so good in a poem if I liked to interior decorate." #TodaysPoem #poetry The Individual Cats by Matthew Walsh (@emdubbleu.bsky.social) (2016 @ex-puritan.bsky.social) tinyurl.com/4urkv2w5

“That she’s an actress is key, as ‘Barbara’ is fundamentally a novel about seeing and being seen. Murphy elegantly brings together the world of film and gender.” In @ex-puritan.bsky.social, Marisa Grizenko reviews Joni Murphy’s new novel, “Barbara” - ex-puritan.ca/a-20th-centu...

Lovely poem.

New interview with me, mostly about Absolution.