Christine McNair
@christinemcnair.bsky.social
Book person — read them, bind them, fix them, write them. I like type. Author of Conflict (2012) and Charm (2016) & Toxemia (poetic non-fiction) from Book*hug (fall 2024). President of CBBAG. Former co-organizer of the Ottawa Promise Walk for Preeclampsia.
Unbelievably, it's been 25 years since we lost Kirsty MacColl yet the beauty of her music and her memory still resonate. Here's a song I wrote for her to sing in the 1995 movie 'Mad Love'. www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWjl...
Kirsty MacColl - As Long As You Hold Me
YouTube video by PassionateFriend
youtube.com
TIL about a memorial ceremony in Iceland in 2019 to mark the end of a glacier, changing the place name from Okjökull to Ok (jökull = glacier). Uncompromising wording on the bronze plaque: "This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".
University of Ottawa campus radio must hit massive fundraising target to avoid shutdown
University of Ottawa campus radio must hit massive fundraising target to avoid shutdown
Emotions are running high on the lower level of the University of Ottawa’s Morrissett building, where dedicated staff and volunteers are preparing for what could be some of the last broadcasts on CHUO 89.1 FM.
bit.ly
I contain multitudes Oh Oh shit My multitudes containment system is failing, everyone retreat to a safe distance
NEW: ProPublica has found multiple cases of women with underlying health conditions who died when they couldn’t access abortions. Tierra Walker, a 37-year-old mother, was told by doctors there was no emergency before preeclampsia killed her.
“Ticking Time Bomb”: A Pregnant Mother Kept Getting Sicker. She Died After She Couldn’t Get an Abortion in Texas.
Walker is one of several women ProPublica found with underlying health conditions who died when they couldn’t access abortions.
propublica.org
hey! did you know that Christine McNair is reading at Acadia U on Thursday? if yr nearby, you should go to that, / @christinemcnair.bsky.social @bookhugpress.bsky.social ; english.acadiau.ca/get-involved...
Authors @ Acadia - English
Each year the Department of English and Theatre hosts a series of readings and presentations by authors from across the region and around the world. These events are open to the public and are an important source of cultural enrichment for student, faculty, and Wolfville community members alike.
english.acadiau.ca
hey, Toronto! Come out to the TIFA small press market at Victoria College, Chapel Lobby, UToronto until 5pm!
Thanks to @49thshelf.bsky.social for shining a light on us in the Publisher Spotlight series. We had the pleasure of chatting about our story & when we arrived on the CanLit scene 21 years ago, stand-out titles over the years, upcoming books we're excited about, & more. 49thshelf.com/Blog/2025/10...
Publisher Spotlight: Book*hug Press · Blog Post · 49th Shelf
Welcome to our new Publisher Spotlight series, where we highlight Canadian independent presses doing standout work in the literary and academic world.
49thshelf.com
Parents, please check your kids’ candy this Halloween. I’ve just found an ancient metal whistle with the inscription “QUIS EST ISTE QUI VENIT" inside a Snickers bar. I blew it and heard a note of infinite distance, and now I’m haunted by a figure in pale, fluttering draperies. Be safe.
Marbling workshop with Chena marblers. SATISFYING swirls in vat.
Post you from a different era. (Blue Jays edition)
Thanksgiving reading www.latinobookreview.com/voyager-cons...
Voyager: Constellations of Memory - Nona Fernández | Latino Book Review
When her mother begins suffering fainting spells, losing consciousness and waking moments later with no memory of what occurred, Nona Fernández takes her to the hospital for an electroencephalogram te...
latinobookreview.com
An increase in stress means an increase in food processing. Reviving my dormant sourdough from its fridge prison. Attempt at Concord grape jelly. A no-knead bread.
Gemini: Take a vacation from your problems. Your assassin isn’t in a rush.
very nice! my first ever shortlist for the Ottawa Book Awards, for On Beauty: stories (University of Alberta Press); ; congrats to Manahil, Nina, Paul and Chuqiao for also shortlisting! / @ualbertapress.bsky.social @manahil.bsky.social ; ottawa.ca/en/city-hall...
‘Prejudice against the disabled was still so widespread that in 1980 a Frankfurt court ordered the reimbursement of the cost of a hotel to a tourist who had been upset by the presence of a group of guests with cerebral palsy.’ Richard J. Evans on German eugenics: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Richard J. Evans · Alien to the Community: Eugenics in Germany
In Hitler’s mind, eugenics was part of Germany’s long-term preparation for victory in the struggle between races....
lrb.co.uk
Today in AI Is Not A Good Source For Learning About The World's Most Misunderstood Body Part, meet this ChatGPT gem. Funnily enough, we're actually going to talk about how most of this is kinda sorta right (for small values of right), as a cautionary tale about generative AI.
Trying to imagine completing another/next book & it all feels impossible. Like trying to climb a mountain of melting ice cream.
Outstanding work from @nicktsergas.ca Immunity debt isn’t a thing It’s made up. It’s a get out of jail free card for the folks who encouraged you to get infected with Covid www.bmj.com/content/390/...
Why scientists are rethinking the immune effects of SARS-CoV-2
“Immunity debt,” a theory to explain the global surge in non-covid infections since pandemic restrictions were lifted, is increasingly being challenged by emerging evidence. Nick Tsergas reports Myco...
bmj.com
#PostpartumPreeclampsia #BlackWomen "In the U.S., 5-8% of pregnancies are impacted by preeclampsia, a complication that leads to life threatening high blood pressure." This disproportionately affects #BlackWomen. www.12onyourside.com/2025/08/13/i...
‘I could feel my body shutting down:’ Raising awareness about postpartum preeclampsia
Anchor and On Your Side Investigator Jasmine Turner learned how dangerous preeclampsia can be after giving birth to a baby girl in April 2025. She is now hoping to help others by sharing her story and...
12onyourside.com
“wellness” culture feeds directly into eugenics. It perpetuates the idea that disability is a moral failing. That we can “try harder” our way out of it and if we can’t, we didn’t really “want” to get better. It makes it easier to punish the sick & poor. Disability is not a moral failing.
hey everyone! ive had a couple of dozen folk telling me they're going to this event on thursday, but only 5 tickets have sold, which is prompting the venue to talk about cancelling; if you are planning to go, could you please pre-purchase your ticket? thanks! robmclennan.blogspot.com/2025/07/the-...
the above/ground press 32nd anniversary reading/launch/party! August 7 at RedBird,
celebrating THIRTY-TWO YEARS of continuous activity (and nearly fourteen hundred publications), Ottawa publisher above/ground press presents...
robmclennan.blogspot.com
In the death registers of early modern Venice, marginalia often marks the cause of death: drawings of daggers for murders, for instance. In 1696, Giovanni Battista Rinaldi was killed by a dog. This is the drawing by his entry.
Good LORD. I'm nervously waiting for Pinhead and their buddies to turn up, listening to that.
Tyler, from the Internet@tylerfromtheinternet.com · last yr.Ice cream truck funerals apparently produce the most horror movie ass sound you can hear in real life
Get Ready For Hot Book Summer: A Reading List It’s that glorious time of year again to leave your worries behind and do more of what you really love (ahem, reading). Whether on vacation or a staycation, summer is the perfect time to get lost in a book. bookhugpress.ca/get-ready-fo...
Get Ready For Hot Book Summer: A Reading List | Book*hug Press
It's that glorious time of year again to leave your worries behind and do more of what you really love (ahem, reading). Whether on vacation or a staycation, or relaxing at the beach or pool, summer is...
bookhugpress.ca
A packed house for our Books Upstairs reading in Dublin today! Éireann Lorsung, Christodoulos Makris, Christine and myself, // @christinemcnair.bsky.social @cmakris.bsky.social @eireannmor.bsky.social @poetryireland.bsky.social
This Sunday 13 July @booksupstairs.bsky.social I’ll be reading w/ @eireannmor.bsky.social @robmclennan.bsky.social & @christinemcnair.bsky.social. A pleasure to put this special reading together, gratefully supported by @poetryireland.bsky.social. Come! yesbutisitpoetry.blogspot.com/2025/07/tran...
Transatlantic Poetry Salon at Books Upstairs, Dublin
It's a great pleasure to announce this very special reading at Books Upstairs , Dublin's oldest independent bookshop, taking place on Sunday...
yesbutisitpoetry.blogspot.com
