2011 Themed Call

Renovations (deadline: March 15, 2011)


Rewriting Pride and Prejudice as a zombie novel. A DJ layering Led Zeppelin overtop Frank Sinatra’s crooning. Or Peter Mayle struggling against faulty plumbing, stripping a Provencal farmhouse to its joists and studs to create something new — all are renovations. Descant wants to create a space where Holmes on Homes can meet Oulipo lipograms. We want to read about new kitchens and bathrooms. Explore those spaces which exist both on the page and off. We want stories and poems that renovate what literature can do. Reuse. Recycle. Renovate.

– Guest editors, Scott McIntyre and Rebecca Payne

...please remember to review our guidelines before submitting!

D149: Summer and Smoke — The Search For Values
Jul 14 Toronto Launch!

Mark your calendars! You are invited to come celebrate with us at the launch of Descant 149, with readings and music and more. This special event takes place at Bar Italia (582 College Street, Toronto) on Wednesday, July 14, 2010, and begins at 7:30 p.m.

… Featuring readings by Descant 149 contributors: Roxanna Bennett, Lauren Carter, Glenn Hayes, David Mason and Douglas Rodger

Descant Magazine, Canada’s pre-eminent literary journal, is proud to celebrate Descant 149: Summer and Smoke: The Search For Values, an engaging body of work from a diverse range of local and international writing talents.

::::::::::::: Visit the Facebook event here

D149 sneak peek!

Here is the cover for Summer and Smoke: The Search For Values (D149) ... our Summer issue, out in stores in mid-July! Featuring cover artwork by Allan Harding MacKay

::::::::::::: Preview the issue here

D148 preview!

Here is the cover for The Search for Happiness (D148) ... our Spring issue, out in stores in now! Featuring cover artwork by Anitra Hamilton

::::::::::::: Preview the issue here

The BARRACUDA — available now!

Descant Arts & Letters Foundation's NOW HEAR THIS! literacy program sends professional writers into schools to conduct writing workshops with students. These workshops help develop literacy skills, cultivate talent and creativity, encourage self-expression and foster analytical skills and critical thought.

After a smashingly successful third year, we are proud to present The BARRACUDA, our latest anthology of student-written stories, poems, and personal essays documenting the success of Toronto's first-ever ongoing writers-in-schools program.

The BARRACUDA was recently launched at the Gardiner Museum: this well-attended free event was a chance to recognize everyone's enthusiastic participation in the program, hear from writers-in-residence and students about their experiences, give kudos to those who helped make the program possible, enjoy some nibbles and generally celebrate NOW HEAR THIS!'s success.

::::::::::::: $15 (including shipping) — purchase a copy here

Descant is pleased to announce the Winner and Honourary Mentions for the 2010 Winston Collins/Descant Prize for Best Canadian Poem!

Descant Editor-in-Chief, Karen Mulhallen, presented the $1,000 prize in honour of Newfoundland poet, Leslie Vryenhoek, during a celebratory reception at Toronto’s PageWave Graphics on Feb 19.

Also recognized during Friday’s announcement were Jessica Hiemstra-van der Horst, currently a resident of Australia, and Toronto’s Myna Wallin. Both received Collins Prize Honourable Mentions and $250 awards.                          

...read the full announcement on our blog

...for more information on the contest, go here

2010 Fairs:

Descant representatives will attend the following events:

TORONTO SMALL PRESS BOOK FAIR
Sat Jun 19, 2010 / 11am - 5pm
location: The Great Hall (1087 Queen St W)
More info: torontosmallpressbookfair.org

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THE WORD ON THE STREET
Sun Sep 26, 2010 / 11 - 6pm
location: Queen's Park / free!
More info: thewordonthestreet.ca

Descant will appear at the 21st annual Word on the Street, the largest annual outdoor book and magazine festival in Canada (which takes place simultaneously in Toronto, Kitchener, Vancouver, Halifax and Calgary). Here in Toronto, visitors can browse the more than 250 book, magazine and literacy exhibitor booths in the festival marketplace or check-out any of the 150 authors, poets, storytellers, performers and industry experts featured at more than 13 performance venues.

Throughout the year, our two celebrated Contributing Editor’s — Mark Kingwell and Alberto Manguel — take turns writing a special column in our journal’s ever-developing ‘Back of the Book’. Both exceptional thinkers, this dedicated space within our journal allows them a platform to explore new ideas.

Manguel's latest, Kiefer/Celan: Another Dialogue on the Mountain, appears in Descant 147

Journalist Mark Medley ran a special feature in the National Post called 'The Ecology of Books' ... Descant is prominently featured in his focus on literary journals (Jan 24/09)

::::::::::::: Read the feature here

New Writers on the Descant BLOG

Have you had the chance lately to check out our blog? We'd like to welcome 3 new bloggers-in-residence to the site: Kerry Clare, Michael Mirolla and Andrew Tibbetts, who are joining Michelle Alfano.

You can check out their bios here

Descant T-shirts! — available now!

Limited edition Descant t-shirts in various colours and sizes, only $22 including shipping — purchase one here

Descant Wins Gold at 2007 Canadian magazine awards!

We are very proud to announce that Descant and writer R. Johnson recently received the Gold Prize for Poetry from the National Magazine Awards Foundation, for Johnson’s exceptional work quietus. A big congrats to R. Johnson for winning the $1000 grand prize!

You can find quietus, as well as two other poems by R. Johnson (Islander and Land scape) in D-133: Bibliomania, our summer 2006 issue.

For a complete listing of all the winners at the 30th Annual Canadian Magazine Awards, visit their website here

A year earlier, we received 'Honourable Mentions' in the following two categories:

2006 Poetry, Honourable Mention
P.K. Page "Up the Amazon: 1959"; "Mexico: 1960"
(which appeared in Descant 130, Fall 2005 Vol 36, No 3)

2006 Words & Pictures, Honourable Mention
Larry Frolick, Donald Weber, Karen Mulhallen "Kebabistan—The Woman with Seven Heads"
(which appeared in Descant 131, Winter 2005 Vol 36, No 4)

Descant-related Journey Prize nomination:

Congratulations to Craig Boyko for having his piece "The Baby" reprinted in the prestigious The Journey Prize Stories #18 anthology (out now), which annually presents the best stories published in Canada by new authors... order it today!

("The Baby" originally appeared in Descant 131)

Our literacy outreach project NOW HEAR THIS! has its own website: nowhearthis.ca

...the program, now in its 4th year, connects practicing authors with a broad spectrum of Toronto’s population, helps at-risk youth articulate their experiences and, above all, promotes Canadian writing and literature through a culture of self-expression, participation and inclusion.

Descant Bonus Publication!

134+: Cuba por dentro y por fuera (PDF)
A free 78-page PDF bonus-book has been prepared to accompany our paper Cuba issue; it expands on the print edition by offering the original Cuban texts that appear in a translated form in Cuba, Inside/ Out.

To access this special project, go here

Descant Index v001-132 (1970-2005) /
An alphabetical indexing (listed by author) of everyone who has appeared in the pages of our magazine. This comprehensive index was printed on pages 153-256 of Descant 133; you can download the PDF here