The World as We Know It

Giller Prize finalist Thea Lim hosts a conversation with Catherine Hernandez and Saleema Nawaz, whose novels imagining near-futures of social upheaval and conflict seem eerily prescient in the COVID era.  

In Crosshairs. Catherine Hernandez weaves an unforgettable and timely dystopian account of a near-future when a queer Black performer and his allies join forces against an oppressive regime that is rounding up those deemed “Other” in concentration camps. Massive floods that lead to rampant homelessness and devastation, a government-sanctioned regime called The Boots seizes the opportunity to force communities of colour, the disabled and the LGBTQ2S into labour camps in the city of Toronto. Crosshairs, a cautionary tale filled with fierce and vibrant characters, explores the universal desire to thrive, to love and to be loved as your true self.

Songs for the End of the World by Saleema Nawaz, the award-winning, Canada Reads-shortlisted author of Bone and Bread, is an immersive novel about the power of community and the triumph of human connection, as the bonds of love, family, and duty are tested by an impending pandemic. Elliot is a first responder in New York, a man running from past failures and struggling to do the right thing. Emma is a pregnant singer preparing to headline a benefit concert for victims of the outbreak—all while questioning what kind of world her child is coming into. Owen is the author of a bestselling plague novel with eerie similarities to the real-life pandemic. As fact and fiction begin to blur, he must decide whether his lifelong instinct for self-preservation has been worth the cost. 

A limited number of signed books are available from our friends at Perfect Books.

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