new from above/ground press: The Literary Cow Festival, by M.A.C. Farrant

The Literary Cow Festival
M.A.C. Farrant
$5

1.    Cow Satori

We believe cows experience eternity by living in a perpetual now.  Doing so, they achieve a kind of grace, an unintended cow satori.  
           And they are so unlike ourselves today, driving through rain to get the weekly eggs while worrying about Barbara.  Will she invite us to her annual party, which is catered and includes live music and clowns on stilts?  Or will we, once again, be left off the list?  
           We know it is remiss of us to dwell on Barbara and allow our well being to be tied to her in this way. We know there is the whole of life to inhabit, one that includes people who are not Barbara, and also the “myriad things” that are rumoured to be out there—blades of grass, tree bark, small bugs, worms, clouds, and the like.
           But if by some miracle we are invited to Barbara’s party, I will wear my sequined dress and matching neon red lipstick.  You, your pink and yellow dancing shoes.

published in Ottawa by above/ground press
as the twenty-fifth title in above/ground’s prose/naut imprint
July 2024
a/g subscribers receive a complimentary copy

M.A.C. Farrant is the author of over twenty books (fiction, non-fiction, prose miniatures, memoirs), chapbooks and plays. She has published nine books with Talon; the tenth, the Expanded 20th Anniversary Edition of her memoir, My Turquoise Years, will appear in the late summer of 2024. She lives on Vancouver Island.

https://talonbooks.com/authors/mac-farrant

This is Farrant's second title with above/ground press, after SOME OF THE PUZZLES (2021).

To order, send cheques (add $1 for postage; in US, add $2; outside North America, add $5) to: rob mclennan, 2423 Alta Vista Drive, Ottawa ON K1H 7M9. E-transfer or PayPal at rob_mclennan (at) hotmail.com or the PayPal button at www.robmclennan.blogspot.com

Jill Mandrake reviews M.A.C. Farrant's SOME OF THE PUZZLES (2021) in Geist #123

Thanks much to Jill Mandrake, who provided a first review for M.A.C. Farrant's SOME OF THE PUZZLES (2021) in the spring 2023 issue of Geist! Naturally, there are some copies still available, but be aware that most of the pieces also appear this month in her latest full-length from Talonbooks, Jigsaw!

new from above/ground press: SOME OF THE PUZZLES, by M.A.C. Farrant

SOME OF THE PUZZLES
M.A.C. Farrant
$5

Puzzle of Nothing

Two painters become bored with their subjects—daffodils, dogs, marinas.
        Then by chance they read a quote by artist Mary Pratt that appeared in her obituary. “My only strength is finding something where most people would find nothing.”
        Right then they decide to spend the rest of their lives looking closely at nothing, believing they have found the doorway into the sublime.   
        So far there is nothing of interest in this puzzle. It’s mainly Rolf working doggedly on a painting of his bathtub, Rita studying trash at the top of the driveway, some beige shading in the background.
        But then the puzzle begins to shimmer.  This is because Rita looks up and sees something where before she had always seen nothing of interest—the sky—and in particular, a towering cumulous cloud backlit by the sun.  The cloud sears her sensations.
        “The real secret of the arts,” said Zen master Shunryu Suzuki.  “is to always be a beginner.”
        When you finish this puzzle there will be nothing there.

published in Ottawa by above/ground press
as the ninth title in above/ground’s prose/naut imprint
June 2021
a/g subscribers receive a complimentary copy

M.A.C. Farrant is the award-winning author of seventeen works of fiction, memoirs, and two plays. She has published eight books with Talonbooks, the most recent being her trio of miniature fiction: The World Afloat (2014), The Days (2016), and The Great Happiness (2019) and the current One Good Thing—A Living Memoir (2021), a BC Bestseller. She lives in North Saanich, British Columbia. https://talonbooks.com/authors/mac-farrant

To order, send cheques (add $1 for postage; in US, add $2; outside North America, add $5) to: rob mclennan, 2423 Alta Vista Drive, Ottawa ON K1H 7M9. E-transfer or PayPal at rob_mclennan (at) hotmail.com or the PayPal button at www.robmclennan.blogspot.com