If the lightest reading you’ve been doing lately is 50 pages of Aristotle by Monday, give your brain a break with Concordia’s Headlight Anthology.
Lacking the incredible dullness of required reading, Headlight is an annual anthology put out by students of the Concordia English department. Now in its sixth edition, Headlight presents, through a rigorous screening process headed by editor Sarah Steinberg, the best Concordia creative writing has to offer.
This time around Headlight has been able to capture several strong pieces with an eclectic mix of prose and poetry. The fiction ranges from simple, elegant storytelling to experimental visual tales, specifically a short story by Pasha Malla entitled The End of ????.
It’s an odd journey into the world of the mis-named Reuben Williams, who can’t tell a joke to save his life, yet due to his name is chosen by his boss, a Peacock by the name of Beckenbauer to head the office humour revival. The story relies on aesthetics to relay it’s true message.
The anthology begins with perhaps its most effective series of poems, if not piece, in The Doberman Essays, by Ryan Arnold. It tells a tale of two restaurant workers named Robert John and Cindy Lee. The poems are a set of anecdotes that create a feeling that dwells someplace between inconsolable grief and resigned calm.
Headlight’s best attribute is its internal flow. The editors have done a wonderful job maintaining a feeling of a complete work, mixing the funny with the angry and sad, surprising you with each piece.
An example of this is the book’s second poem Vision, by Angela Hibbs.
This short riff comes between two subtle stories and delivers a real gut-punch with the ending line, ‘I am forced to eat a bowlful of teeth.’
It really brings the party to the house.
It’s not all Salinger in here, though, as the prose towards the end of the book begins to weaken. Still a good read, they lack the natural flow of the book’s poetry and other stories.
Deserving special mention is Headlight’s actual aesthetics.
Designer Malin Holmquist has created a very beautiful cover depicting a line of cranes attached to thread. It’s a cover that screams “Hey, I have good fiction in me!”
Altogether Headlight is a solid anthology. Coming in at a concise 90 pages, it’s definitely a quick, worthwhile read, especially to any creative writing students fed up with all the claptrap handed them in countless workshops.
On the flip side, if you think you can do better, Headlight is open to submissions from all present and former Concordia students. Just bring your piece into the English office, LB-501, starting in October with your name and contact info, just not on your actual work, as the stories are judged blind to ensure fairness.
Headlight is available for $5 at Argo Books and at the English office in LB-501.
