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Mahaila Smith (they/them)

@mahailasmith.ca

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Co-Editor for The Sprawl Mag Poet Water-Kin (2024) with Metatron Press Enter the Hyperreal (2024) with above/ground press Seed Beetle (2025) with Stelliform Press Mahailasmith.ca

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Mahaila Smith (they/them) @mahailasmith.ca · May 15

Today is the day! Welcome to the world little beetle :’)

Stelliform Press @stelliform.press · May 15

Today we're sending this little beetle out into the world. May it burrow into your hearts, in a nice way.

Congratulations to Mahaila Smith for this beautiful, innovative and tender collection of narrative science fiction poetry!

Now available everywhere!

www.stelliform.press...

Happy Book Birthday graphic for Mahaila Smith's Seed Beetle, published May 15 2025. Now Available Everywhere books are sold. With color blotches and beetles and a blurb from Tiffany Morris. “Truly cyborgian poetry.” - Tiffany Morris, author of Green Fuse Burning and Elegies of Rotting Stars

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Mahaila Smith (they/them) @mahailasmith.ca · 1d

May I submit Many Moons by Janelle Monáe to this list m.youtube.com/watch?v=EZyy...

Mahaila Smith (they/them) @mahailasmith.ca · 6d

Thank you Susan! 🥰

Mahaila Smith (they/them) @mahailasmith.ca · 6d

So thrilled to share that Water-Kin has won second prize in the Elgin Chapbook award! Congrats to all the nominees and my fellow chapbook authors, Katherine Quevedo and @bugthewriter.bsky.social! You can read Water-Kin for free online here: metatron.press/digipub/wate...

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Reposted by Mahaila Smith (they/them)

Charlie Angus @charlieangus104.bsky.social · 11d

Brit Griffin and I have obsessed about the landscape and history of Cobalt for 30 plus years. We have walked its scarred hills, researched its wild history, written its dark stories.
It's all in her new book The Haunting of Modesto O'Brien.
Join us for a conversation.
Oct. 9
Perfect Books Ottawa.

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Mahaila Smith (they/them) @mahailasmith.ca · 12d

Purple prose ;)

Joanne Merriam @joannemerriam.bsky.social · 12d

4/12 #SmallPress #books #BookSky #DSPBposts 💙📚 @skunkbabepoet.bsky.social ‬ @mahaila.bsky.social @stelliform.press

Book cover for poetry collection Coining a Wishing Tower by Ayesha Raees (Radix Press), with a single cube within a circle against a navy background. “In the end, living is dying many times in one singular life,” writes Ayesha Raees, inviting you to consider the departures that make up one lifetime. The splintering of a voice from domestic life, the defiance of wisdom leaving childhood behind, the egress from one’s country of birth, and the non-permanence of life and inanimate objects become the rich pasture for the hybrid epic poems in this collection. Through investigation of family, faith, empire, and desire, Raees sutures together parables, both real and imagined, as concrete prose-poems of chronicle and whimsy. Winner of the 2020 Broken River Book Prize. https://radix.coop/product/coining-a-wishing-tower/ or https://www.akpress.org/coining-a-wishing-tower.html

Book cover for Black Writers Matter edited by Whitney French (University of Regina Press), with title and author text against a purple background, on which is written in lavender: "Black Writers? African, Bluesy, Classical, Disrespectful, Erudite, Fiery, Groovy, Haunting, Inspiring, Jazzy, Knowing, Liberating, Militant, Nervy, Optimistic, Pugnacious, Quixotic, Rambunctious, Seductive, Truculent, Urgent, Vivacious, Wicked, X-ray sharp, Yearning, Zesty. And so, they matter!" —George Elliott Clarke. An anthology of African-Canadian writing, Black Writers Matter offers a cross-section of established writers and newcomers to the literary world who tackle contemporary and pressing issues with beautiful, sometimes raw, prose. https://uofrpress.ca/Books/B/Black-Writers-Matter

Book cover for Now You Know Me: Seeing the Unhidden Truth in Settler Colonialism by k'ʷunəmɛn Joe Gallagher & John Matterson (Hancock House). Now You Know Me tells of a journey of understanding between two old friends who grew up in different worlds in the same small town of Powell River, BC, on traditional Tla’amin land. Joe Gallagher, who is Tla’amin, and John Matterson, who is white, were friends as teenagers but went their separate ways before reconnecting 35 years later and truly getting to know each other. In their illuminating dialogue, we learn what it took for Joe to straddle two worlds while battling racism, a traumatic childhood, and his father’s warning that he couldn’t succeed in a white world without working twice as hard. Despite ongoing suffering from multigenerational harms, Joe garnered broad respect on his way to becoming CEO of a groundbreaking Indigenous-led health organization, bringing hope and a collaborative spirit to a revolution in health and wellness for BC First Nations. https://www.hancockhouse.com/products/now-you-know-me

Book cover for Seed Beetle by Mahaila Smith (Stelliform Press‬), with a mechanical beetle in bright colours with gears exposed against a soft lavender background. In a climate changed future, Canada is thought to be a promised land. But in southern Ontario, the promise and the land are exhausted: industrialization has led to widespread destruction, desertification and food insecurity. So when Utopic Robotics promises growth and presents a community with a swarm of automated beetles that will revitalize the land and rebuild utopia, community members rally behind the corporation and its message of hope. But technological solutions often come with secret risks. This collection of illustrated poems explores those risks inherent in utopia and the idea that through science alone we can solve our environmental problems. Through femme and queer perspectives, Smith lays bare the social implications of a technological savior, and creates a blueprint for co-opting technology in the name of community and connection. https://www.stelliform.press/index.php/product/seed-beetle-by-mahaila-smith/

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Mahaila Smith (they/them) @mahailasmith.ca · 14d

Ya and last time i was there they had removed the vending machines too D:

Mahaila Smith (they/them) @mahailasmith.ca · 14d

Ottawan here! Ya lol. As ppl have said, the train station used to be downtown but that‘s now the Senate. The VIA station is on the LRT line which you could use to go downtown

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Mahaila Smith (they/them) @mahailasmith.ca · 19d

This is perfect, thank you :’)

Mahaila Smith (they/them) @mahailasmith.ca · 20d

Guys!!! I made it!!

Stelliform Press @stelliform.press · 20d

Thrilled to see 3 Stelliform authors and lots of friends on the TOC for the Year's Best Canadian F&SF volume 3!

Find these works published by Stelliform in this year's Year's Best:
"Our Time and Space" by @mahaila.bsky.social, and
"Desolation Sounds" by @geoffreywcole.bsky.social

🎉

Stephen Kotowych 🇨🇦 @ourmankoto.bsky.social · 20d

I need a timeline cleanse. How about a table of contents announcement! That’s right—despite the world being on fire, it’s time to reveal the TOC for Year’s Best Canadian F&SF Volume 3! It was VERY hard to narrow the list down but it's all killer, no filler. The book launches October 14. Enjoy! 1/2

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Mahaila Smith (they/them) @mahailasmith.ca · 20d

Eeep!! Thank you friend :’)

Reposted by Mahaila Smith (they/them)

Paul Vermeersch @paulvermeersch.bsky.social · 21d

Ladies and gentles, animals and machines, and everyone in-between . . . . we are ONE WEEK away from the launch of NMLCT! I'd love it if you could join me to celebrate!
Wed, Sept 24, 2025
at The Piston
937 Bloor Street West,
from 7 to 10pm
[festivities included]

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Reposted by Mahaila Smith (they/them)

Augur Society | Augur Issue 8.1 is NOW LIVE ! @augursociety.bsky.social · Sep 5

TO ENTER:
☑️ Post a piece up to 50-100 words to your feed on a public Instagram OR Bluesky account
☑️ Use the hashtag #AugurMicros2025
☑️ Tag @augursociety
☑️ Follow Augur Society on Bluesky and/or Instagram

Read the content policies laid out by the platform and in Augur’s subs guidelines -🔗in bio! 👀
🧵

A purple background with a light yellow textbook in front of it. The text box reads: how to enter, 1. Post your microfic to your public Instagram or Bluesky account
2. Use hashtag #AugurMicros2025
3. Tag us: @augursociety
4. Follow us: @augursociety, Enter by September 30, 2025 to be selected as one of three microfiction winners.

All winners will receive $75 and be published on the issue page for the next released issue of Augur Magazine." A purple text box in the middle of the image reads "Read more @ link in bio"

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Reposted by Mahaila Smith (they/them)

The Sprawl Mag @thesprawl.bsky.social · Aug 26

So happy that the folks in Seattle got to see this excellent poem! Read The New Knights here or in our inaugural issue 🗡️🗡️🗡️

Lynne Sargent @lynnesargent.bsky.social · Aug 7

So delighted to share this beautifully illustrated reprint of my poem "The New Knights," in this year's @seattlein2025.org souvenir program (originally printed in the @thesprawl.bsky.social ).

A poem "The New Knights" is to the left of a sepia-toned illustration of a knight jousting from dragonback. The text of the poem is as follows:

The New Knights
by Lynne Sargent

Chivalry didn’t die,
it just needed a little more hopepunk:

Gawain crafts fake-ids for immigrants,
implants bio-hacked RFIDs
to help them through the scanners.

Morgana white-hat hacks for the climate resistance
making sure there is still a dream of paradise
before Avalon.

Merlin is playing butler to the billionaires
biding xyr time until xe flips the switch
make the mansions go dark and the money disappear.

Gwen and Lance are still there too,
they’ve figured out their ethical sluttery
and lead a polya farming commune,
because what’s a romance without a lot love?

Galahad has gone to craft a new grail,
and I promise you he knows it isn’t on Mars.
he knows it’s in same place chivalry lives,
where it has always lived

in the hearts of those who care for others,
who know that code, love, and craft,
that service, labour, and art
all can be swords against the darkness.

"The New Knights" originally published in The Sprawl Mag October 2022.

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Mahaila Smith (they/them) @mahailasmith.ca · Aug 25

I’m very grateful to have a story in this anthology and among such talented conpany!

Joanne Merriam @joannemerriam.bsky.social · Aug 25

1/5 Daily(ish) #SmallPress #books mini-thread about Stasis, edited by Libby Graham @okaylib.bsky.social (@bellpressbooks.bsky.social) (who also edits @thesprawl.bsky.social), & related folks. Stasis contrib Harper Walton is also the editor of Carnival... (Buoy Press).

#DSPBposts 💙📚 #BookSky

Book cover for Carnival at the End of the World edited by Harper Walton (Buoy Press), with a pencil drawing of lines and circles. Photo from Buoy Press's Linked-In account of several copies of the book lined up on a sales table. People metamorphose into birds, vows of silence become clown eras, hallucinogenic visions are plentiful, language and form disintegrates and evolves, drugs unlock psychogeography, sex and gender fluctuate and threaten to explode, bodies open and close, toilet queues stretch on for infinity, and streams of consciousness are polluted. In our contemporary moment of poly-apocalyptic anxiety, can we find a rugged sense of optimism? Or perhaps it is already too late, with nothing left for us to do but dance into the flaming rubble. Contributors Olly Barrett, David Dobson, Jack Houston, Nick Maynard, Alice Musgrove, Luke Reilly, Maria Robinson, Lily Steve, James Tilden, Harper Walton, and Alfie White. https://buoypress.sumupstore.com/product/carnival-at-the-end-of-the-world

Book cover for Stasis: An anthology of retrofuturisms edited by Libby Graham (Bell Press‬‬‬‬), with a person with flowing long hair floating in futuristic scuba gear in a tank filled with liquid, against a backdrop of a space ship and viewing port showing a blue planet. This collection of short stories looks to the future but is inspired by the science fiction of the past. A waitress, her lover, and a retro diner take off from Roswell, New Mexico. A storyteller uses poetry as a tool for colonial resistance. A single chess match determines the future of humanity. You’ll never know where you end up as the adventuresome tales of Stasis send you to the far reaches of time and space! Contributors: Roxane Llanque, Harper Walton, Antoinette Rydyr, Anthony Boulanger, Angela Acosta, Gregory Lawrence, Stephanie Osuji, Charles Chin, Adrienne Stevenson, Mélodie Langevin, Pauline Barmby, Mahaila Smith, and Marc Fleury. https://bellpressbooks.com/product/stasis/

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Reposted by Mahaila Smith (they/them)

Lynne Sargent @lynnesargent.bsky.social · Aug 16

This is your chance to see @mahaila.bsky.social in #HamOnt!!

Wolsak & Wynn @wolsakandwynn.bsky.social · Aug 16

Hamilton friends, the first Lit Live of the season is coming up soon featuring many great writers, including our own James Cairns!

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Mahaila Smith (they/them) @mahailasmith.ca · Aug 15

Come celebrate!

Stelliform Press @stelliform.press · Aug 14

Hamilton folks! Come to the first Lit Live of the season at The Staircase. Hear Mahaila Smith read from SEED BEETLE, and many other wonderful writers read from wonderful works!

Sunday Sept 7-9pm
At The Staircase, 27 Dundurn N, Hamilton
PWYC $10 INCLUDES BEVERAGE
Theme: ✨ Mystery/Clarity/Light✨

Lit Live Readings
Premium High Quality Literature
30th Year
Sunday Sept 7-9pm
The Staircase
27 Dundurn N, Hamilton
PWYC $10 INCLUDES BEVERAGE
Theme: Mystery/Clarity/Light
FEATURING:
Mahaila Smith
Zalika Reid Benta
James Cairns
Chyana Marie Sage

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Reposted by Mahaila Smith (they/them)

rob mclennan @robmclennan.bsky.social · Aug 7

TONIGHT! the above/ground press 32nd anniversary reading/launch/party! tickets still available! (and might there even be a new Stuart Ross chapbook on-hand? / @mreid.bsky.social @razovsky.bsky.social @jasonchristie.bsky.social @linarvitvideopoet.bsky.social ;
robmclennan.blogspot.com/2025/07/the-...

the above/ground press 32nd anniversary reading/launch/party! August 7 at RedBird,

celebrating THIRTY-TWO YEARS of continuous activity (and nearly fourteen hundred publications), Ottawa publisher above/ground press presents...

robmclennan.blogspot.com

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Mahaila Smith (they/them) @mahailasmith.ca · Aug 5

Thanks so much for sharing! It’s so nice to see Seed Beetle in the wild 💚

Teresa Ardrey (She/Her) @teresa-ardrey.bsky.social · Aug 4

It is a great day when @stelliform.press orders show up! Origins of Desire in Orchid Fens by @lynnhutchinsonlee.bsky.social and Seed Beetle by @mahaila.bsky.social.

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Mahaila Smith (they/them) @mahailasmith.ca · Jul 31

“It’s high-concept science fiction, but it all feels painfully relevant to today. Easily one of my favorite books of the year. (I enjoyed the electronic review copy so much I bought it in hard copy.)”

Thank you so much @johnrplatt.bsky.social! I’m so happy you enjoyed Seed Beetle

John R. Platt @johnrplatt.bsky.social · Jul 30

Earth Versed: 10 New Poetry Books About Our Relationship With Nature -- by me @therevelator.org featuring @mahaila.bsky.social @maidervang.bsky.social @monaarshiwrites.bsky.social @karenmccarthywoolf.bsky.social @whitneyhanson.bsky.social @mariaschrater.bsky.social therevelator.org/environmenta...

Earth Versed: 10 New Poetry Books About Our Relationship With Nature • The Revelator

From a collection set in a landfill to an author’s cultural exploration of a critically endangered species, these books celebrate Earth and mourn its destruction.

therevelator.org

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Mahaila Smith (they/them) @mahailasmith.ca · Jul 31

Thanks for the shout out :’)

Lynne Sargent @lynnesargent.bsky.social · Jul 26

Since this is getting some uptake, it may not be from a big publisher, but y'all should check out @mahaila.bsky.social 's SEED BEETLE out now from @stelliform.press!!

www.stelliform.press/index.php/pr...

Mahaila Smith (they/them) @mahailasmith.ca · Jul 17

New to me! And I’m excited to read. A story by Tomas Landolfi inspired Winter, but unfortunately I did not get the title.

Mahaila Smith (they/them) @mahailasmith.ca · Jul 17

Yes! It was a lovely evening. He had many recommendations I need to read, including the short story, Dinner at Countess Pavahokes by Witold Gombrowicz which inspired his story The Bridle Path

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Mahaila Smith (they/them) @mahailasmith.ca · Jul 17

I met André Alexis tonight at the All in a Day book club, and truly want to recommend this book! There are so many layers of literary excellence. Stories on parents, childhood, Trinidadian culture, and all slightly uncanny which, he said, was intended to put the reader in the mind of the immigrant.

Jeff VanderMeer @jeffvandermeer.bsky.social · Jul 16

Reading Other Worlds by André Alexis and it's spectacular. The first, long story "Contrition: An Isekai" is a work of genius, I think. Absolutely perfect in its canny uncanniness and also beautiful evocation of an immigrant experience in such a fresh and insightful way. Funny, deep, compassionate.

Against a patterned green cover with red in lower left, Other Worlds: Stories, André Alexis, winner of the Giller Prize.

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Mahaila Smith (they/them) @mahailasmith.ca · Jul 13

Thank you @yukondawn.bsky.social for taking the time to read a review Seed Beetle, I truly appreciate it!

Dawn Macdonald @yukondawn.bsky.social · Jul 13

"This is a twisty ride, at the level of the line and of the narrative arc."

New review of Mahaila Smith's sci-fi poetry collection Seed Beetle:

reviewsofbooksigotforfreeorcheap.substack.com/p/mahaila-sm...

@stelliform.press

Mahaila Smith's Seed Beetle

Resistance and regrowth

reviewsofbooksigotforfreeorcheap.substack.com

Mahaila Smith (they/them) @mahailasmith.ca · Jul 10

My first ever audio-produced story is out today! You can listen to it wherever you get your podcasts :)

CB Droege (Manawaker) @cbdroege.bsky.social · Jul 10

Manawaker Studio's Flash Fiction Podcast presents:

“The Tower, The Mother, and Death” by Mahalia Smith (@mahaila.bsky.social)
bit.ly/4ldDQYu

Supported by Patreon patrons: patreon.com/manawaker

#flashfiction #podcast #narratedfiction #speculativefiction #sciencefiction #scifistories #futurefiction

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