by Sarah Selecky (2003)
A woman who plans to conceive ends up in the arms of her husband's best friend; a man who baby-sits a neglected four-year-old ends up questioning his own dysfunctional relationship; a chance encounter at a gala event causes a woman to remember when she volunteered for a nightmarish drug-testing clinic. In "Standing up for Janey", a woman discovers that her best friend who is about to get married has just had an affair.
Douglas Coupland
Five disparate people are trapped in an airport lounge during a global disaster: Karen, waiting for her online date; Rick, a down-on-his-luck bartender; Luke, a pastor on the run; Rachel, a cool blonde; and, finally, a mysterious voice known as Player One. Slowly, each reveals their true selves as the world as they know it comes to an end.
Kathleen Winter
Born a boy and a girl but raised as a boy, Wayne or "Annabel" struggles with his identity growing up in a small Canadian town and seeks freedom by moving to the city.
Johanna Skibsrud
Johanna Skibsrud's debut novel connects the flooding of an Ontario town, the Vietnam War, a trailer in North Dakota, and an unfinished boat in Maine. Parsing family history, worn childhood memories, and the palimpsest of old misunderstandings, Skibsrud's narrator maps her father's past.
J. M. Coetzee
African pens 2011 is a celebrated work by J. M. Coetzee (Nobel Laureate, Double Booker Prize Winner), recognized for masterclass storytelling and lasting literary resonance.