New Books in Literature

In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Christine Fischer Guy about her novel, The Instrument Must Not Matter (Wolsak & Wynn, 2026).
She sees the score for the Bach-Brahms in her mind’s eye, hears the indigo notes unfurl.
In this sweeping coming-of-age novel gifted young classical pianist Lila Rys finds herself in New York City studying under famed teacher George Vrubel. The move from Toronto to the American city is terrifying, but Lila is determined to bring music back to the Rys family, where the story of her grandmother refusing to play Soviet music after their tanks rolled into Prague in 1968 is family lore. Accompanied by her brother, Lucas, who is studying at NYU, Lila struggles to navigate the classical musical world and become the successful performer she’s expected to be. But in New York she has a romantic encounter with a renegade pianist and everything she knows about herself is turned upside down, until her brother discovers dissident literature that holds the stories her grandmother had not passed on, and Lila learns how to set her love for her family, and her music, free.
Christine Fischer Guy is a Toronto writer and journalist. She’s a 2024 VCCA fellow and is the author of The Umbrella Mender (Wolsak and Wynn 2014), a “terrifically entertaining read” that “keeps the reader interested partly because she avoids setting up stereotypical opposites.” Her second novel, The Instrument Must Not Matter, is a coming-of-age story about a classical pianist and arrives in spring 2026. Her short fiction has appeared in Canadian, American and British journals. She was awarded a National Magazine Award and contributes criticism and interviews to literary journals.
Hollay Ghadery is an award-winning Iranian-Canadian multi-genre writer living in Ontario on Anishinaabe land. She has her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph. Fuse, her memoir of mixed-race identity and mental health, was released by Guernica Editions in 2021 and won the 2023 Canadian Bookclub Award for Nonfiction/Memoir. Her collection of poetry, Rebellion Box was released by Radiant Press in 2023, and her collection of short fiction, Widow Fantasies, was released with Gordon Hill Press in fall 2024 and was longlisted for the Toronto Book Award. Her debut novel, The Unraveling of Ou, was released with Palimpsest Press in 2026, and is a 2026 Giller Prize finalist. Her children’s book, Being with the Birds, with Guernica Editions in 2027. Hollay is a host on The New Books Network, as well as a co-host on HOWL on CIUT 89.5 FM. She is also a book publicist, the Founder of River Street, and the co-chair of the League of Canadian Poets BIPOC committee, as well as the Poet Laureate of Scugog Township. She is also a member of The National Book Critics Circle, The Creative Nonfiction Collective, and The Writers Union of Canada. Hollay was also featured on the cover of issue 10 of The Ampersand Review. Learn more about Hollay here.

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In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Matt Cahill about Radioland, his mesmerizing 2022 literary thriller where music, fame and magic wind together in an eerie mystery.
There are whispers about murders on the scene in Toronto, from bartenders, hairdressers and others who trade in rumours. When the bodies are found they are altered in disturbing ways. No one knows who the killer could be. Perhaps it is Kris, a troubled musician who has just reached a level of fame only to have his life collapse around him. Perhaps it is Jill, a sensitive with a dangerous magic that calls strangers to her.
As Kris struggles to deal with a childhood experience of sexual abuse he finds a strange advertisement on a hydro pole. By answering it he begins texting Jill, another lost soul reaching out for connection. In bits and pieces, they share their stories, discovering truths about themselves and the people surrounding them, until they must face the danger that is stalking them both.
Matt Cahill is the author of two published novels and several published short stories and essays. His debut novel, The Society of Experience, was picked as a must-read by Harper’s Bazaar magazine and was longlisted for the Sunburst Award. His short stories have appeared online and in print in Canada and the United Kingdom. His essay, On Madness Within Imagination, was selected for The Best Canadian Essays 2017. His second novel, Radioland, was released in 2022 and was a finalist for the Foreward INDIES.
Hollay Ghadery is an award-winning Iranian-Canadian multi-genre writer living in Ontario on Anishinaabe land. She has her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph. Fuse, her memoir of mixed-race identity and mental health, was released by Guernica Editions in 2021 and won the 2023 Canadian Bookclub Award for Nonfiction/Memoir. Her collection of poetry, Rebellion Box was released by Radiant Press in 2023, and her collection of short fiction, Widow Fantasies, was released with Gordon Hill Press in fall 2024 and was longlisted for the Toronto Book Award. Her debut novel, The Unraveling of Ou, was released with Palimpsest Press in 2026, and her children’s book, Being with the Birds, with Guernica Editions in 2027. Hollay is a host on The New Books Network, as well as a co-host on HOWL on CIUT 89.5 FM. She is also a book publicist, the Founder of River Street, and the co-chair of the League of Canadian Poets BIPOC committee, as well as the Poet Laureate of Scugog Township. She is also a member of The National Book Critics Circle, The Creative Nonfiction Collective, and The Writers Union of Canada. Hollay was also featured on the cover of issue 10 of The Ampersand Review. Learn more about Hollay here.

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The seven stories and novella that comprise The Calamity of Desire, Judith Dancoff’s debut collection of short fiction, each focus on a famous painter or well-known work of art. Inspired by the art of Gustav Klimt, John Singer Sargent, Auguste Renoir, Diego Velásquez, Johannes Vermeer, Paul Gauguin, and Roman glass found around the world, these stories explore the imagined desires and dreams of both famous artists and the models they used to express their art. Each story is a gem, but you’ll never forget Dancoff’s tale about Gustav Klimt’s well-known, posthumous portraits of Ria Munk, a young Jewish woman who killed herself over a broken heart. Or the struggling young painter in Paris who poses for Renoir and gets involved in the Dreyfus Affair. As soon as you finish the book, you’ll want to study the paintings again, with new insight.
From the time she was very young, Judith Dancoff's first love was painting, before she went to UCLA and was kidnapped by filmmaking and ultimately writing. She holds two MFAs--one from the UCLA Film School and one from the Warren Wilson MFA Program for Writers. When she is not working on new writing projects or wandering museums, she takes community art classes, dreams of becoming an artist, and teaches writing and literature at Los Angeles City College. Recently, a part of her dream came true when her video and several small pieces were included in the art exhibit "Atomic Dragons" at Pitzer College in March-April 2026.
A Pushcart Prize Nominee, Dancoff's writing has appeared in The Georgia Review, Alaska Quarterly Review, Southern Humanities Review and elsewhere. Her awards include Best Short Story Collection of 2025 from the Next Generation Indie Book Awards, and fellowships at Hedgebrook, the Virginia Center for Creative Arts, and Djerassi, where she was the McElwee Family Fellow. Her film "Judy Chicago & the California Girls" has screened at and is owned by the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
G.P. Gottlieb is the author of the Whipped and Sipped Mystery Series and a prolific baker of healthful breads and pastries

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Danny Bradigan survived brutal fighting in Afghanistan and fought as a professional boxer, but a bullet finally puts him in a coma. Part of his recovery involves heading to a small Appalachian town where he’s inherited a property and a car mechanic business. He knows nothing about repairing cars and needs to understand who gave him this chance at another life. He begins mentoring Ryan, the young man who used to help the previous owner, falls in love with Amy, the boy’s older sister, and when he’s not stuck in his memories, spends his free time searching the town records. As he gets closer to discovering the town’s violent secrets, the threats against him and his new friends start festering. A Bunch of Fives (Falling Up Publishing, 2026) is a stunning, literary crime thriller that portrays a town simmering with hate, violence, and racism while Danny Bradigan struggles to overcome violent memories of war and a life built on violence and destruction.
William Kely McClung is a novelist, screenwriter, and filmmaker whose work is defined by its visceral pacing, atmospheric depth, and raw physical reality. Named as one of the “Top 100 Indie Filmmakers in the World,” McClung has written more than thirty feature screenplays and directed three award-winning feature films, cutting and mixing projects in legendary spaces from London to Berlin. McClung has spent decades learning and teaching martial arts across the United States, Southeast Asia, and Europe—a lifetime of elite combat discipline that directly infuses his prose with authentic, high-velocity stakes and action. He was twice inducted into the Martial Arts Hall of Honours for his contributions to martial arts and action cinema.
In A Bunch of Fives, as in his three previous thrillers, Loop, Super Ninja, and Black Fire, McClung strives to strip away traditional artifice to create an immersive non-linear experience where the presentation of words on the page becomes an active character. Besides spending seemingly endless time on the computer hammering out stories, McClung travels, trains, and teaches martial arts, and studies graphic design, writing, and photography.

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In How to Date a Fanatic (HarperVia, 2026), a novel by Aruni Kashyap, a young professor searches for connection and love during a time of political and cultural upheaval.

As political tensions rise precipitously across India, Rohit returns to Delhi University to teach and gets caught in a web of unrequited love with his friend Dhruv. To alleviate his inevitable heartbreak, Rohit seeks relationships with other men on campus, until he meets and embarks on a delicate new romance with the effervescent Sayan, a literature student he hopes will be the answer to getting over Dhruv.

Rohit’s life soon becomes more complicated as the country's political tensions erupt on campus, sparking a turbulent student-led movement that entangles Rohit when Dhruv joins the fray, a tipping point that changes Rohit’s life forever. Set against the vibrant, volatile tapestry of modern India, Rohit and his friends must learn to navigate the challenges and triumphs of queer life to survive in an unpredictable political landscape.

Propulsive, tense, and charged with humor and tenderness, How to Date a Fanatic is an exploration of identity, connection, and the enduring hope for a better future in a rapidly changing world.

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