Interview - Alison Gadsby and Breathing Is How Some People Stay Alive

From Canada Reads American Style by Canada Reads American Style

May 1, 2026 · 33 min · Episode 267

About this episode

Tara interviews Canadian author Alison Gadsby about her debut collection of short stories, exploring themes of loneliness and familial love.

Tara sits down for a chat with Canadian author Alison Gadsby, a first-generation Canadian living in Tkaronto, about her debut collection of short stories, Breathing Is How Some People Stay Alive, published by Guernica Editions in spring 2026. https://guernicaeditions.com/en-us/products/breathing-is-how-some-people-stay-alive "Breathing Is How Some People Stay Alive blurs the lines between horror, catastrophic speculative fiction, and psychological realism in a collection that might best be described as weird fiction. These connected stories offer dark reconstructions of lives brimming with desperate loneliness. They allow us to bear witness to the life-altering love of sisters, brothers, mothers… the life-altering love that buoys them as they struggle to stay afloat in the wake of childhoods they merely survived." https://alisongadsby.ca/home/ https://junctionreads.ca Books and Authors mentioned: Weird Babies by Jaclyn Desforges Tell Me Pleasant Things about Immortality by Lindsay Wong Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century by Kim Fu Rafael Has Pretty Eyes by Elaine McCluskey Widow Fantasies by Hollay Ghadery Every Night I Dream I'm a Monk, Every Night I Dream I'm a Monster by…

People in this episode

Host: Tara

Guest: Alison Gadsby

Topics covered

interview
Canadian literature
short stories
psychological realism
weird fiction

Keywords

Alison Gadsby
Breathing Is How Some People Stay Alive
short stories
Canadian author
weird fiction

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Guernica Editions

Books & works: Breathing Is How Some People Stay Alive, Weird Babies, Tell Me Pleasant Things about Immortality, Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century, Rafael Has Pretty Eyes, Widow Fantasies, Every Night I Dream I'm a Monk, Every Night I Dream I'm a Monster, Last Woman; Bad Endings, A Song for Wildcats, A Fast Horse Never Brings Good News