Fiction wields a uniquely compelling power to critique or disseminate political ideas, and in doing so, bend the course of history. Whether they examine a lost history of labour buried underneath Paris, a rent-controlled apartment in modern-day Manhattan, or a proletarian revolution at the end of the twenty-first century, these fascinating novels are bolstered by their political missives. Jordy Rosenberg’s Night Night Fawn offers an unhinged manifesto from a dying woman, and “the Marxist, trans, comedic dystopia we need in 2026” (Electric Literature). Lisa Robertson poetically excavates the unrepresented labour of Parisian laundresses, and of women past and present, in Riverwork. Capitalism is skewered in The Coffin of Honey, Geoffrey D. Morrison’s space-age fable of Marxist theory and ancient empires. Moderated by David Moscrop.
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GEOFFREY D. MORRISON is a language teacher and trade unionist who lives on unceded Squamish, Musqueam, and Tsleil-Waututh territory. His debut novel, Falling Hour (Coach House Books, 2023), was longlisted for the Dublin Literary Award and a finalist for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize. The Coffin of Honey is his second novel.
DAVID MOSCROP is a politics writer, commentator, and podcast host. A contributing writer for The Walrus, his work has also appeared in publications including The Globe and Mail, The Washington Post, The Toronto Star, Time Magazine, The New Statesman, and The Guardian. He holds a PhD in political science from the University of British Columbia and is currently an editor at McClelland & Stewart. He lives in Ottawa.
LISA ROBERTSON is a Canadian poet, essayist, and novelist who lives in France. Born in Toronto in 1961, she was a long-time resident of Vancouver. She was given the C. D. Wright Award for Poetry by the Foundation for Contemporary Art in 2018, and her novel The Baudelaire Fractal was shortlisted for the Governor General’s Award for Fiction.
JORDY ROSENBERG is the author of the novel Confessions of the Fox, a New York Times Editors Choice selection, shortlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, a Lambda Literary Award, a Publishing Triangle Award, the UK Historical Writers Association Debut Crown Award, longlisted for The Dublin Literary Award, and named one of the best books of the year by The New Yorker, Kirkus Reviews and others. Jordy’s work has been supported by MacDowell, The Lannan Foundation, The Banff Centre, and The Ahmanson-Getty Foundation. He is a professor in the Department of English and Associated MFA Faculty in the Program for Poets and Writers at UMass-Amherst.
