StoryFest

Other Worlds is a newly published collection of nine short stories through which André Alexis draws fresh links between worlds: the ones we occupy, the ones we imagine, and the ones that preceded our own. He introduces readers to characters during moments of profound puzzlement, taking us from 19th century Trinidad and Tobago to small-town Ontario, from Amherst, Massachusetts to contemporary Toronto. A Trinidadian Obeah man finds himself reborn, a hundred years after his death, in the body of a Canadian child. A writer takes up a seasonal job as the caretaker of a set of mysterious large sacks hanging from the rafters of the houses in a small town. A woman starts a relationship with the famous artist who painted portraits of her mother. The contents of a sealed envelope upend a woman’s understanding about a tragic crime she committed at the age of six. These captivating stories reveal flashes of reckoning, defeat, despair, alienation, and understanding, all the while playfully using a multitude of literary genres, and referencing works from greats like Jane Austen, Jonathan Swift, and Yasunari Kawabata. Blending poignant philosophical inquiry and wry humour tinged with the absurd, here are worlds refracted and reflected to us with pristine clarity and stunning emotional resonance.