Blues Brother bringing sci-fi debut this fall
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He’s busted ghosts, wailed on a harmonica in sunglasses, created a vodka brand sold in a skull-shaped bottle and dabbled in the Niagara Peninsula wine industry. And now Ottawa-born actor and comedian Dan Aykroyd is trying his hand in a new field — writing fiction.
Aykroyd’s literary debut Soulhider lands in bookstores Oct. 27 via HarperCollins, falling squarely into the paranormal/science fiction genre, while bringing the Ghostbusters and Saturday Night Live star’s inevitable touch of humour.
The novel follows an insurance adjustor in New York State recruited by aliens to hide human souls they’ve harvested — and invariably getting caught up between warring alien factions.
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Some literary collaborations make sense — think Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child’s jointly written thrillers. Others are a bit more out of left field — for example, prolific author James Patterson’s recent book The Most Dangerous Games, which he wrote with YouTuber MrBeast.
Leaning more towards the former is a forthcoming collaboration between an award-winning, Winnipeg-born illustrator and a musical legend, with an adaptation of one of the latter’s songs into a picture book for kids.
The Raffi (Cavoukian) song I Wonder if I’m Growing will be published in picture-book format on Oct. 20, with illustrations by Jon Klassen, winner of the prestigious 2026 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Prize (and longtime Raffi fan).
Aimed at children from three to seven years of age, the book will be published by Tundra Books.
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Toronto-born, California-based writer Mariko Tamaki took home two Eisner Awards at the 2026 ceremony, held July 24 at Comic-Con in San Diego and which honours work in 32 categories.
Tamaki won best writer for her graphic novel This Place Kills Me, illustrated by Nicole Goux. The pair also won the award for best publication for teens for the same title.
Tamaki is no stranger to winning Eisner Awards; the 2023 graphic novel Roaming won best graphic album, with Tamaki winning the best writer award and her cousin Jillian Tamaki picking up the prize for best penciller/inker.
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Winnipeg children’s book author Anna Lazowski’s next book will detail one of the most celebrated writers in her field — cherished children’s author Robert Munsch.
Lazowski has released three picture books — I built a Rocket Ship (illustrated by Jessica Lounsbury and published in June), Dark Cloud (illustrated by Penny Neville-Lee) and T. Rexes Can’t Tie Their Shoes (illustrated by Steph Laberis).
On social media, Lazowksi announced her next book will be Let Me Tell You A Story: The Incredible Imagination of Robert Munsch, which will look at the legendary author’s life and the connections he made with legions of readers.
To top it off, the book will be illustrated by Michael Martchenko, a longtime Munsch collaborator who illustrated such classics as Mortimer, The Paper Bag Princess, Smelly Socks and Stephanie’s Ponytail.
Let Me Tell You A Story is slated to be published in fall 2027 by Annick Press.
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The 15-book long list for the 2025 Cundill History Prize has been revealed, with two of the finalists hailing from Canada.
The US$75,000 prize is administered by Montreal’s McGill University, and is awarded to historical non-fiction with a wide appeal and literary excellence.
University of Toronto professor Eric T. Jennings is among the books in contention for the rather self-explanatory Vanilla: The History of an Extraordinary Bean. The paperback version of the book, published by Yale University Press, lands in bookstores on Saturday, Aug. 15.
The other Canadian finalist is Jonathan Cheng, orginally from Toronto and now the China bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal, whose book Korean Messiah: Kim Il Sung and the Christian Roots of North Korea’s Personality Cult (published by Knopf in April) is in the running.
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Whodunit? Mystery Bookstore (163 Lilac St.) is once again taking the opportunity to freshen up the store’s used offerings this summer.
All used books purchased and paid for, either in person or online, before the end of day tomorrow (Aug. 9) will be half price.
ben.sigurdson@winnipegfreepress.com
Ben Sigurdson
Literary editor, drinks writer
Ben Sigurdson is the Free Press‘s literary editor and drinks writer. He graduated with a master of arts degree in English from the University of Manitoba in 2005, the same year he began writing Uncorked, the weekly Free Press drinks column. He joined the Free Press full time in 2013 as a copy editor before being appointed literary editor in 2014. Read more about Ben.
In addition to providing opinions and analysis on wine and drinks, Ben oversees a team of freelance book reviewers and produces content for the arts and life section, all of which is reviewed by the Free Press’s editing team before being posted online or published in print. It’s part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Ben Sigurdson
Literary editor, drinks writer
Ben Sigurdson is the Free Press‘s literary editor and drinks writer. He graduated with a master of arts degree in English from the University of Manitoba in 2005, the same year he began writing Uncorked, the weekly Free Press drinks column. He joined the Free Press full time in 2013 as a copy editor before being appointed literary editor in 2014. Read more about Ben.
In addition to providing opinions and analysis on wine and drinks, Ben oversees a team of freelance book reviewers and produces content for the arts and life section, all of which is reviewed by the Free Press’s editing team before being posted online or published in print. It’s part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
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