Böcker av Nicholas Ruddock

International-award-winning stories of life and love in the midst of planetary decline.In Planet Earth, Nicholas Ruddock moves nimbly through a range of styles-from conventional to flash-fiction to his unique mastery of the long sentence-in stories exploring themes of love and passion, all with an awareness of our species-specific carelessness burning up the world.This collection showcases a gifted writer at the top of his game, each story fresh and unexpected: the time Mario Vargas Llosa sucker-punched Gabriel García Márquez at a theatre in Mexico City inspires a young Marxist couple's violent act of revenge in Toronto years later; an anxious young man finds solace in the employ of Prince, the musician; a haunting glimpse of Toronto's polio epidemic at its peak in 1953; a young Canadian student bears witness to the Algerian protests and police violence in 1961 Paris; a pair of naïve young women find themselves involved with a mysterious circus troupe in Nice. These provocative but contemplative stories are paradoxically positive and quick-witted, with a humorous fondness for humans and all our failings.

"Would you help a tiny fragile snake? Fifteen poems explore close encounters with animals ... and choosing to respond tenderly. Whether it's helping a hummingbird escape, respecting a bear's habitat, admiring a heron's beauty, or giving way to ants at a picnic, the human response in these poems is to do no harm, and to help whenever possible. The poems follow a seasonal progression, ending with a final poem that imagines where each animal might be on a winter night. Inspired by personal experiences, Nicholas Ruddock's poems are simply written, with a pleasing rhyme, and fun to read aloud. In the spirit of the text, Ashley Barron's cut-paper collage illustrations portray each creature with respectful realism, in environments ranging from rural and wild to urban and suburban. A delightful dip into poetry for young animal lovers!"--

Following an awkward sexual encounter under a wharf in outport Newfoundland, sixteen-year-old Rowena Savoury travels to St. John's for a secret abortion. But in the early 1970s, the procedure is illegal, and after complications, Rowena finds herself in a hospital being questioned by a young constable who is uncertain of how to proceed. Though she doesn't know it, Rowena's decision will ripple through the lives of an entire cast of characters. Patient and luminous, Night Ambulance is the story of a place on the cusp of change, where characters stand between coercive societal expectations and the right to decide their own fates.