The Cicada Year

I’m pleased to announce that my short story, “The Cicada Year,” has been published by Bundoran Press in their anthology 49th Parallels: Alternative Canadian Histories and Futures.

In a response to Canada 150 (the 150th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, for any non-Canadians who might read this), Bundoran Press put together a collection of stories and poems from across the country comprised of visions of Canada’s past and future.

scientific cicada illustration
Cicada illustration from: ’A monograph of oriental Cicadidæ’ By W.L. Distant

“The Cicada Year” came together at the axis of two intersecting narrative lines. The first was a story told to me by a friend, like so many stories we are hearing lately, of an aggressive professor pursuing a student—and how the ways in which women are taught to respond to such aggression (with politeness and deference usually) can trap one in a timeline over which one often feels little control.

Similarly, the second story line—about the effects of climate change and how narratives around climate change are being talked about for various political aims—is one about how attempts to control a narrative often lead to unintended consequences.

This is an early story of mine and the first in which I tried to ratchet up the tension for a thriller-like pace. I’m pleased it’s found a home with so many other great Canadian stories.

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