Green Fuse burning, Tiffany morris

Stelliform, 2023

From my humble horror collection to yours, I recommend Green Fuse Burning by Tiffany Morris. During an isolated artist’s residency near her late, estranged father’s Mi’kmaq birthplace, Rita is intent on sparking her creativity and reconnecting with the language, community, and culture she’s been stripped of. When grotesque, decaying creatures appear by the pond near her cabin, Rita convinces herself they’re hallucinations—manifestations of her grief. But once Rita submerges herself in nature, her learning and healing truly begin. Morris paints loneliness, loss of identity, and ecological crisis with a delicate brush; her eco-horror instils dread and yearning at every turn and considers the extent to which nature can heal us if we don’t—or won’t—heal nature.

—Filomena Cozzolino, Vaughan