Spotlight: Edmonton Reads
March 13, 2025
Edmonton is home to a diverse and vibrant literary scene, filled with both established voices and emerging talents. To help you choose your next local read, we’ve asked Audreys Books, Magpie Books, Paper Birch Books, and our own EAC Shop & Services to share a standout local release from their recent or next-to-read stack. As an added bonus, they’ve also paired each book with a local restaurant or dish, offering the perfect culinary complement to your literary experience (and yes, one restaurant is so exceptional it made the list twice!).
Paper Birch Books
Celine, Paper Birch Books:
“South Side of a Kinless River, the most recent work by acclaimed local Métis poet Marilyn Dumont, is next on our to-be-read pile. While we have not read the book in full yet, we had the honour of hosting Marilyn’s book launch last fall where she read pieces from the book. A nuanced work of decolonial archiving and Métis place-making, the poems are at times visceral, uncompromising, funny, and heartbreaking, and the poet’s artistry, as well as the care and adeptness in her work, come through vividly. South Side of a Kinless River traces suppressed histories and stories of Métis women to create what the publisher calls “a Métis woman’s prairie history.” In hearing Marilyn read from the book out loud, we also got a sense of the powerful and polyphonic dialogue that such poetry instigates; her work is as much in conversation with Métis ancestors and those who came before as those who are still here, and those that are to come.”
We would pair this book with the raw elk and jingle dress salad at Bernadette’s! Bernadette’s is a downtown restaurant, the latest labour of love from Chef Scott Jonathan Iserhoff of Pei Pei Chow Ow, and ode to Indigenous grandmothers. The elk dish, similar to tartare or butter beef, comes gorgeously plated and topped with fried capers, shallots & blueberries. It’s simple and delicious, with the perfect marriage of flavours. We highly recommend adding the charred bannock to accompany it. The jingle dress salad, which comes with berries and seasonal greens, is maybe the best salad you’ll order in a restaurant — fresh, balanced, beautiful, and textural, with just the right amount of acidity. Everything we’ve tried there is phenomenal, and similar to Marilyn’s work, all grounded in a deep love for the land, ancestors, and stories. The interior is also stunning, with a full wall mural of native plants, and the service always warm and lovely. One of our favourite spots in town!”
Audreys Books
Levi, Audreys Books:
“I am really looking forward to Kelly Shepherd’s new poetry book Dog and Moon.
The poetry is beautiful and aphoristic. Shepherd’s phrases are dreamlike and yet so precise and clear in the language. This is poetry that will excite lovers of the genre and perhaps convince a few readers who say they don’t like to read poetry.
This book would go so well with a hot cup of black coffee from District alongside their tuna sandwich. I would happily spend an afternoon there, entranced in the book, taking a break to glance out the big windows.
If I can be so bold as to pair this with a second experience, since spring is starting to peek around the corner. It would be such a wonderful experience to read this book while sipping on one of Clementine’s classic cocktails. Enjoying the richness of language in the cozy and elegant environment amidst the gleaming bottles of the back bar would truly be an evening well spent!”
Magpie Books
Moriah, Magpie Books:
“Our recommendation is Cousin Bear Comes to Visit by Halie Finney. Cousin Bear follows Francis as she readies her home for her cousin to come visit, including going out into the bush to pick saskatoon berries to make a pie for Cousin. It pairs Finney’s beautiful and distinctive art style with a tender story about family and grief.
Our restaurant recommendation is Bernadette’s. Bernadette’s serves seasonal and delicious contemporary Indigenous cuisine. Their menu highlights foods that are staples in our prairie landscapes, such as a saskatoon berry tart and saskatoon berry brisket served on bannock.”
Edmonton Arts Council Shop & Services
Danny, Edmonton Arts Council Shop & Services:
“Jason Purcell’s Crohnic is on my Magpie Books pre-order list. I appreciate Jason’s desire to bring together the arts community in the book’s production, including the addition of an original Cyanotype by Blue Pine Press for the cover art. I am a huge fan of Jason’s previous title, The Swollening, and look forward to reading Crohnic in September.
I really appreciate comfort and routine in the wintertime (one of the book’s themes), so I would visit either of my favourites, Cavern or Bar Henry downtown for a fennel salad and a cheese plate.”
