A Salty Ink Introuction to Darryl Whetter and The Push & The Pull
Darryl Whetter — heralded by such varied and esteemed names as Bill Gatson, Alistair MacLeod, and Mark Anthony Jarman — teaches English at Dalhousie University and is a prolific book critic, with over 100 reviews published in places like the Globe & Mail and Vancouver Sun. His short fiction and poetry has appeared everywhere: from staple journals like The Fiddlehead and Prairie Fire, to legendary-but-extinct journals like TickleAce and Dandelion, to hip magazines like Broken Pencil and prestigious anthologies, like Oberon’s Coming Attractions 98’ and Best Canadian Stories 2005. His 2003 book of short stories, A Sharp Tooth in the Fur, “offers lots of sex, a bit of violence, and a wickedly clever exploration of human nature.” It was named a top book of 2003 by The Globe & Mail, and had short story icon Mark Anthony Jarman raving, ““These devious and toothsome tales are a black attack on language and lives of smartass desperation. His debut is hallucinatory, a new brainscan, an incisor nudging our jugular.”
The Push and the Pull is Whetter’s debut novel, which acclaimed writer Bill Gatson called “Brilliant. Darryl Whetter’s style gleams like a rare and fresh metal … [A] solo journey to the heart.”
From Goose Lane’s Website: Andrew Day embarks on a bicycle trip from Halifax to Kingston, his childhood home. As he goes, the dual narratives of Andrew’s life emerge: the slow, painful death of his father and the disappearance of Betty, who may be lost to him forever. En route, Andrew sloughs off his fears, material goods, and attachments.
GG-winner Douglas Glover’s summary: A brash, vibrant, melancholy, sexy, and finally uplifting book about a mesmerizing father, the son who can’t tear himself away, and the women who make them grow up. Whetter is intoxicated with language. He writes like a dream in a quick, urbane, and witty style. A lovely first novel.”
The Push & The Pull was nominated by, and will be defended by, Nicole Dixon
Nicole Dixon won the Bronwen Wallace Award and was short-listed for the Journey Prize and a CBC Literary Award.
Her fiction has appeared in Grain, The Fiddlehead, and in The New Quarterly.
Her first book, a collection of short stories, will be published by Porcupine’s Quill in 2012, a year after she’ll earn her Master of Library and Information Studies from Dalhousie.
Please visiy nicoledixon.ca
(Follow the Contest Here: http://saltyink.com/atlantic-canada-reads-competition/)
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