According to a 2020 Prison Policy Initiative study on mass incarceration, one in five incarcerated Americans are in prison because of a drug-related charge. In the U.S., there are approximately one million drug-related arrests each year, and six times as many arrests for drug possession as there are for drug[Read More…]
Articles by Lowell Wolfe
The McGill Tribune Presents: THE BEST AND WORST OF 2021
ALBUMS Red (Taylor’s Version) by Taylor Swift 2012 was a simpler time: As conspiracy-theorists announced the approach of the world’s end, Taylor Swift was easing into pop music with catchy breakup songs. Nine years later, she has re-recorded her chart-topping album Red, adding 10 new songs (from the vault) that[Read More…]
‘Orcs in Space’ is bloody cute
Fantastical bloodthirsty main characters? Check. High-speed space-chases? Check. Modesty? Not quite. Orcs in Space, Justin Roiland’s new graphic novel published by Oni Press, features 100 pages of amusing, carefree adventures in an uncanny outer space backdrop, all illustrated by Montreal-based artist François Vigneault. Slated to be the first volume of[Read More…]
The significance of silence
Recently I drove two and a half hours to visit a long-time friend. Coming from different childhood backgrounds, and following similarly disparate pathways of life, our perspectives mesh and reinvigorate in surprising, and rewarding, ways. As my rickety Subaru accelerated its way north along Lake Superior’s rural coastline, we, too,[Read More…]
Ceilidh Michelle’s ‘Vagabond’ depicts hitchhiking’s joys and tears
It takes days to travel by bus from Montreal to Sacramento, California, and even longer to hitchhike and squat along the state’s coastal highway—the famous California State Route 1. Montreal-based author Ceilidh Michelle’s new novel Vagabond condenses such a quest into just over 200 pages through a series of creative[Read More…]
Evolution and 9 Horses’ ‘Omegah’
The genre-bending music of New York City’s chamber jazz trio 9 Horses proves that just three instruments are capable of creating anything from prog rock to folk music, with sounds both melodic and jarring. At least, it does for composer and mandolin player Joseph Brent, violinist Sara Caswell, and bassist[Read More…]
Ofer Pelz’s ‘Trinité’ experiments with audible embodiments of visual perception
Composers have experimented with the art of musical composition for centuries, but rarely have they gone so far as to remove something so integral to music as melody itself. Ofer Pelz is a Montreal-based composer, pianist, and improviser who uses traditional classical music instrumentation to create unique, experimental sounds that[Read More…]
Isaiah Rashad’s ‘The House is Burning’ incompletely embodies its fiery namesake
More than half a decade has passed since Isaiah Rashad released his dense, jazzy sophomore album, The Sun’s Tirade. While hip-hop music trends come and pass quickly, the release of Rashad’s new album The House is Burning on July 30 proved that he remains in the unique conscious, melodic, lo-fi-style[Read More…]
38 Spesh holds back the potential of Benny the Butcher and 38 Spesh’s ‘Trust The Sopranos’
Riding a train powered by the gritty, imaginative imagery of street crime and new-age lyricism, Griselda Records member Benny the Butcher’s 2020 and 2021 albums have been consistently potent. 38 Spesh, one of Benny’s lesser-known yet widely accredited contemporaries, collaborates with Benny on Trust The Sopranos, an 11-track LP. To[Read More…]
In speculative fiction, sex is no longer a fantasy
New and exciting fantasy novels are constantly making names for themselves in the present day: From Jim Butcher’s The Dresden Files to George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, the fantasy genre has continued to redefine and reinvent itself. While fantasy is not new—arguably over a century old, dating[Read More…]
Round table presents traditional Inuit knowledge in the contemporary world
Broadcasting live from Iqaluit, Nunavut on March 19, Aaju Peter lit and kindled a small fire over a large stone tub of oil as students, professors, and artists witnessed the flame spread. By lighting the qulliq—a traditional oil lamp used by Arctic Indigenous Peoples—Peter commenced Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit: Traditional Knowledge in[Read More…]
MMFA lecture examines Riopelle’s Arctic inspiration
On Mar. 10, Roy Ellenwood, a retired professor from York University and translator of Québécois literature, presented “Riopelle and Indigenous Art: The French Connection,” an online lecture with the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA). The presentation, which complemented the exhibit Riopelle: The Call of Northern Landscapes and Indigenous Cultures,[Read More…]
Human Rights Watch Film Festival shares compassion through screens
From Feb. 18-22, Human Rights Watch Canada showcased a selection of their films for Toronto’s 18th annual Human Rights Watch Film Festival, a cinematographic exhibition that celebrates diverse human perspectives from around the world. With COVID-19 disrupting the festival’s typical execution, Canadian cinematographer and festival co-chair Nicholas de Pencier discussed[Read More…]
How the pandemic has fuelled poetry’s popularity
The COVID-19 pandemic has altered and halted lives around the world. Whether studying in Montreal or from home, McGill students are experiencing a unique semester that has encouraged, and even forced, adaptation. In response to COVID-19–related challenges, many McGill students have turned to poetry and creative writing as outlets for[Read More…]
Queer McGill’s Zine keeps queer communities up-to-date and involved
On Jan. 29, Queer McGill held an online, synchronous open-mic night celebrating the debut of their winter semester zine—a self-published, pamphlet-style magazine showcasing queer art submissions from McGill students. The zine, which contained poetry, visual art, and prose writing, was Queer McGill’s second publication, succeeding their summer zine which exclusively[Read More…]
Playboi Carti’s ‘Whole Lotta Red’ is unique, for the best and the worst
Nearly two and a half years after the release of his debut studio album Die Lit, Playboi Carti dropped his long-awaited sophomore follow-up, Whole Lotta Red, on Dec. 25, 2020. When I tore into the record like a present under the proverbial Christmas tree, I soon came to realize[Read More…]
The McGill Tribune Presents: THE BEST AND WORST OF 2020
TV SHOWS 1. The Queen’s Gambit Netflix’s smash-hit scripted limited series follows Beth Harmon, an enigmatic chess prodigy. The twist? Harmon has had a tranquilizer addiction since she was child, a plot point that carries both her chess career and the binge-worthy nature of the show itself. 2. Normal People[Read More…]
Margaret Atwood and Lorna Crozier discuss cats, poetry, and widowhood
On Nov. 19, esteemed Canadian poets Margaret Atwood and Lorna Crozier read from and discussed Atwood’s new poetry collection, Dearly: Poems, and Crozier’s autobiography, Through the Garden: A Love Story (with Cats). Broadcast over Zoom through Montreal-based bookstore Drawn & Quarterly, the two writers discussed cats, deceased husbands and poetry’s[Read More…]
Kasia Van Schaik’s literary talents bridge separate spheres
Kasia Van Schaik, also known by her pen name Kasia Juno, is a McGill doctoral candidate whose work focusses on environmentalism, feminism, and physical spaces. Her writing has been featured in popular journals, including The Los Angeles Review of Books and The Best Canadian Poetry Anthology. Currently, Van Schaik straddles the[Read More…]
‘Only For Dolphins’ is excessively flavourless
Action Bronson is a man who wears many hats: As a chef, author, entrepreneur, and hip-hop musician, Bronson’s creative proclivities bleed across mediums. His most recent album, Only For Dolphins, reflects Bronson’s multifaceted artistry while remaining true to its identity as a hip-hop album. However, while the album is[Read More…]
‘You Will Love What You Have Killed’ presents a haunted childhood
Content warning: Violence, child abuse, and sexual assault Murder, rape, and infanticide are not usually present in conventional coming-of-age novels. In Québecois author Kevin Lambert’s You Will Love What You Have Killed, however, these themes take center stage. Exploring individuality and childhood, Lambert’s novel is about children who are victims[Read More…]