This collection provides a diverse array of emerging voices in CanLit that demonstrate the changing field of CanLit. It is a collection that shows how CanLit is becoming what Smaro Kamboureli calls CanLits, as there are few formal or cultural similarities that appear throughout the selections, demonstrating the range of diversity that is emerging in Canadian publishing. A worthwhile read for anyone who keeps current with Canadian publishing.

Yeesh. After reading about various forms of rape and abuse in the first three chapters, I had to put this down. There is something perverse about treating diversity as synonymous with trauma. I prefer to read (and love being introduced to) writers from underrepresented backgrounds, but not when the stories are restricted to such narrow subject matter--that seems compiled to educate a mainstream reader, rather than for the pleasure and growth of a diverse audience who can see themselves in the stories.