8 Books by Alberta Authors
Alberta is home to a vibrant literary community that uplifts and supports each other, releases some truly amazing books, and does it all while withstanding -30 degrees winters! We’re proud to highlight the accomplishments of the Alberta literary community throughout the year.
In honour of Alberta Book Day on November 5, join us in reading an Alberta-published book. Below we’re recommending a double whammy— 8 Alberta-published books that are also authored by Albertans!
The Cancer Plot by Reginald Wiebe and Dorothy Woodman
In The Cancer Plot: Terminal Immortality in Marvel’s Moral Universe, Reginald Wiebe and Dorothy Woodman examine the striking presence of cancer in Marvel comics. Engaging comics studies, medical humanities, and graphic medicine, they explore this disease in four case studies: Captain Marvel, Spider-Man, Thor, and Deadpool. As the only full-length study on cancer in the Marvel universe, The Cancer Plot is an appealing and original work that will be of interest to scholars and avid comics readers.
The Cancer Plot: Terminal Immortality in Marvel’s Moral Universe Reginald Wiebe
Published: Nov 23, 2023 by University of Alberta Press
Reginald Wiebe 
, Dorothy Woodman
Published: Nov 23, 2023 by University of Alberta Press
ISBN: 9781772127119
Available as an accessible eBook
The Harvesters by Jasmina Odor
When Mira takes a trip to Paris with her nephew, Bernard, she expects to ride bicycles through the picturesque streets and admire the parks and courtyards. But the trip takes a different turn when the two travellers try to rescue an injured pigeon from the sidewalk, and their journey becomes one of addressing the losses that define their lives.
The Harvesters Published: May 01, 2024 by Freehand Books
Jasmina Odor
Published: May 01, 2024 by Freehand Books
ISBN: 9781990601613
Available as an accessible eBook
Jesus is a Voyeur by Bret Crowle
Jesus is a Voyeur is a collection of feminist gothic poetry which deconstructs and explores the intertwined roles of femininity, sexuality, and Catholicism while growing up and maturing in rural Alberta. The poetry acts as reverential protest towards societal foundations reinforced by Catholicism and home, exploring the inevitable dynamics of life, place, family, and self. Through an external voyeuristic voice, as well as through internal expressions that mirror confessionals, Jesus is a Voyeur places readers in both the role of voyeur and exhibitionist.
Jesus is a Voyeur
Bret Crowle
Published: Frontenac House
ISBN: 9781989466780
Available as an accessible eBook
Matara: The Elephant Play by Conni Massing
At a crumbling zoo, an elephant keeper, a security guard, and a newly hired media consultant have differing views over what should be done about the zoo’s main attraction, the aging Sri Lankan elephant Matara. Matara is deteriorating by the day following the loss of her companion elephant Cheerio and a petition is circulating to try to force the zoo’s management to move her to a sanctuary.
Matara: The Elephant Play Conni Massing
Published: Oct 15, 2023 by NeWest Press
Conni Massing
Published: Oct 15, 2023 by NeWest Press
ISBN: 9781774390825
Available as an accessible eBook
Discover more Alberta-published and authored books at your local indie bookstore
Shout Kill Revel by Jarret Hartnell
“Shout Kill Revel combines the three best genres–horror, fantasy, and the Western-in a vivid and fast-paced ride. The hand-drawn mayhem is delicious.” – Fiona Staples- Saga
The Undrowned Order rules the land. Their horrific plans dance to the whims of ancient cosmic entities, fuelled by the fears forced upon every soul in sight. It is believed that the young woman Helmina is their messiah, that the darkness lurking within her will one day unleash an unimaginable horror upon the earth. As that day approaches, Helmina, after a lifetime of wrestling with her cosmic affliction, must do more than run and hide from the cultists, her own mind, and the world itself to put an end to the madness.
Shout Kill Revel Hartnell Jarret
Published: Apr 17, 2024 by Renegade Arts Entertainment
Hartnell Jarret
Published: Apr 17, 2024 by Renegade Arts Entertainment
ISBN: 9781988903910
Imagining Head-Smashed-In: Aboriginal Buffalo Hunting on the Northern Plains by Jack W. Brink
At the place known as Head-Smashed-In in southwestern Alberta, Aboriginal people practiced a form of group hunting for nearly 6,000 years before European contact. Hunters, working with their knowledge of the land and of buffalo behaviour, drove their quarry over a cliff and into wooden corrals. The rest of the group butchered the kill in the camp below. Author Jack Brink, who devoted 25 years of his career to “The Jump,” has chronicled the cunning, danger, and triumph in the mass buffalo hunts and the culture they supported. Brink’s masterful blend of scholarship and public appeal is rare in any discipline, but especially in North American pre-contact archaeology.
Imagining Head-Smashed-In: Aboriginal Buffalo Hunting on the Northern Plains Published: Feb 01, 2008 by Athabasca University Press
Jack W. Brink
Published: Feb 01, 2008 by Athabasca University Press
ISBN: 9781897425046
Available as an accessible eBook
The Art of Making by Jared Tailfeathers
The Art of Making: Rediscovering the Blackfoot Legacy is a captivating entry into Jared Tailfeathers’ journey of cultural reclamation. Accompanied by his family and loyal dogs, Tailfeathers delves into his Indigenous heritage through hands-on, land-based exploration. The book traces the evolution of the Blackfoot Confederacy, examining its trade routes, resources, and interactions pre- and post-1800s. It provides intricate details of Blackfoot connections with nature, neighbouring First Nations Peoples, and their rich legacy in tool-making, textiles, and artistic expression.
The Art of Making: Rediscovering the Blackfoot Legacy Jared Tailfeathers
Published: Oct 01, 2024 by Durvile Publications
Jared Tailfeathers
Published: Oct 01, 2024 by Durvile Publications
ISBN: 9781990735547
Invisible Lives by Cristalle Smith
Invisible Lives chronicles cycles of dysfunction and domestic violence. Using experimental hybrid poetry, Cristalle Smith breaks generational silence in lyric resonance, reflecting on a childhood rife with upheaval and poverty, the invisibility of single motherhood, and the silence of domestic violence. These poems sing memory across divides of time and space, breaking the patterns of absence and denial and challenging what is kept unseen.
Invisible Lives Cristalle Smith
Published: Jul 15, 2024 by University of Calgary Press
Cristalle Smith
Published: Jul 15, 2024 by University of Calgary Press
ISBN: 9781773855141
Available as an accessible eBook