Double Book Launch: Back in the Land of the Living and How to Be Alone

Join Eva Crocker and Heather Nolan at La Petite Librairie Drawn & Quarterly at 176 rue Bernard O at 7 pm on Wednesday, September 20th for the double launch of Back in the Land of the Living and How to Be Alone! The evening will feature a reading, a conversation, a Q&A and a signing.

The event is free and open to all. Books will be available for purchase at the event and the authors will sign copies of their books.

Please note that we are encouraging all guests to wear masks at this event. Masks will be available free of charge upon entry.
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A sexy, unforgettable story about love and longing in a time of chaos by Scotiabank Giller Prize longlisted author Eva Crocker.

Back in the Land of the Living brings us a year in the life of Marcy, a young queer woman who moves to Montreal in the fall of 2019 after making a mess of her life in St. John’s. Alone in a big city on the brink of lockdown, Marcy finds herself working an assortment of odd and sometimes dangerous, sometimes ethically questionable jobs, and swept up in a tumultuous romance with a charismatic woman. As friends, loyalties, and philosophies collide, Marcy tries to carve out a future amidst the intertwined crises of late capitalism, the climate apocalypse, and the Covid-19 pandemic.

With all the candour, wit, and bracing wisdom that have won her accolades and awards across Canada, Eva Crocker gives us a sexy, unforgettable story about love and longing in a time of chaos.

Eva Crocker grew up in Ktaqmkuk (Newfoundland) and lives in Tiohti:áke (Montreal).
Her debut novel All I Ask was long-listed for the 2020 Giller Prize and won the 2020 BMO Winterset Award. Her short story collection Barreling Forward was shortlisted for Dayne Ogilvie Prize for Emerging LGBTQS2 Writers and won the Alistair MacLeod Award for Short Fiction and the CAA Emerging Author’s Award. Her forthcoming novel Back in the Land of the Living will be published by House of Anansi Press in August 2023. She is a PhD student in Concordia University’s Interdisciplinary Humanities program where she is researching visual art from Newfoundland.
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A breathtaking duet of spare, poetic novellas documenting the double-edged sword of self-acceptance.
Heather Nolan returns with How to Be Alone, a pair of novellas that depict the euphoric highs of a Queer awakening and the crushing lows of feeling Othered in a world that isn’t built for you. In this short but weighty book, Nolan explores themes such as isolation, trauma, and loss against the vibrant streets of Montreal. Here, in a city famous for bringing people together, the streets serve as a palette with a different purpose: a foil for those struggling to connect with the world around them.

Heather Nolan’s work has been published in numerous journals and anthologies across Canada, the US, and the UK, including ARC Poetry Magazine, EVENT Magazine, Riddle Fence, and Solliloquies Anthology. They are the author of the critically acclaimed novella This Is Agatha Falling and the poetry collection Land of the Rock: Talamh an Carriag. They’ve also worked as a musician (they are the former guitarist for the band, Lady Brett Ashley), photographer, and knitwear designer. Nolan’s knitwear designs, published under the name Oileánach Knits, use making as a tool for connecting with place, heritage, and lost ancestral language.
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Librairie Drawn & Quarterly would like to acknowledge that our events and bookstores are located on the unceded territory of the Kanien’kehá:ka. Many of us refer to Montreal as our home, but it is named Tiohtiá:ke. It has always been a gathering place for many First Nations and continues to be home to a diverse population of Indigenous peoples. We are grateful that creating and sharing stories has been a part of this land for thousands of years.
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La Petite Drawn and Quarterly Accessibility information:
– We encourage the wearing of masks at our events.
– Our event space uses StopGap.ca ramps in an effort to encourage accessibility. Both the step at the entrance, followed by a half step and a door have StopGap ramps. The door opens inward and is not automated. Once inside, there are no additional steps.
– It is not a sober space, our events sometimes offer alcohol.
Please email events@drawnandquarterly.com if you have any questions!

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