Erika Thorkelson

@ethorkel.bsky.social

1077 Followers 848 Following

Writer of CNF/fiction, instructor at Emily Carr U and writing consultant. Recent bylines at The Walrus, University Affairs, etc. She/ her https://linktr.ee/ethorkel

"The clumsy child is poor child is child who is not coordinated but is also not understood, who lacks the social and physical vocabulary that makes navigating the world look easy." That line lands because it
The top of a contract that reads Book*hug Press *Adventures in literary publishing since 2004. 401 Richmond Street West Suite 251 Toronto ON Canada M5V 3A8 +1 416 994 5804 BOOK*HUG PRESS CONTRACT AGREEMENT made this 19th day of February 2026, between: Erika Thorkelson hereinafter referred to as the AUTHOR, and Book*hug Press 401 Richmond Street West, Suite 251, Toronto Ontario Canada MSV 3A8 hereinafter referred to as the PUBLISHER, with respect to the work entitled How to Look at a Volcano hereinafter referred to as the WORK.
A woman’s head perched above a cake shaped like a woman’s body in a blue uniform. They are laid out on a table
Some decorative gourds dumped on the grass surrounded by fallen leaves
A man (Ben) and a woman (me) lean together over a heaping paper plate of Ukranian food
A restaurant with a light mint colours bar with dark chairs. In the foreground, a fake Christmas tree
In a leaf covered entry way, behind a dusty black gate, sits a small pumpkin with the words “I’m sorry” written across it in black letters
Three men sit on stage in front of a screen that reads An Evening With Marc Maroon VIFF Talks In conversation with Steven Feinartz, director of Are We Good?
Poster for Liars of Orpheus: Fantasy Planets featuring all the speakers. Doors at 6:30, show at 7. 2434 Main St. the Pleasant.
A photo taken from far back of two women on a stage. Both are seated. One, Roy, wears a yellow shirt dress over light slacks. The other, Klein, wears a red blazer and black skirt. Above, a screen reads Arundhati Roy in conversation with Naomi Klein
My work is valid. I can’t prove it, but I know.
An email from Canada Council for the Arts with a subject that reads: “Your Canada Council application results...” and “Find out when and how to view your res...”
The cover of Covert Joy, a short story collection by Clarice Lispector, held in a woman’s hand with a hotel room in the background.
A green sign reads: NEW LONGEVITY TREATMENT Microneedling + Salmon DNA Special intro offer: $400 ($550 VALUE)
Two pieces of watermelon cut into squares with cheese and meat and pickles in between on a plate. Inexplicably
A woman with short dark hair and muscles in a black tank top
An apartment with a corner marked with sliding doors that are meant to make it a bedroom
A white sand beach and calm waters early in the morning. A doc with a sign at the end that says Cancun reaches toward the bright sun
The cover of Awakened, a novel by A.E. Osworth.
May 5, 2025 Re/ Second Notice - Complaint about Unreasonable Excessive Noise Dear Erika and Lester, Since my initial written notice to you on October 11, 2024, I have continued to receive multiple written complaints regarding excessive and unreasonable noise coming from your apartment during early morning hours- specifically between 6:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m.-when all tenants are required to maintain a particularly quiet environment, as outlined in your Tenancy Agreement. While these disturbances may not occur daily, the frequency and consistency of the complaints indicate an ongoing issue that exceeds what may be considered reasonable. The reports describe loud noises such as thumping, furniture dragging/moving on the floor and items dropping on the floor. These noises are often occurring during weekends as well, and always during quite times. In addition to text message exchanges, I have received the following formal written complaints documenting disturbances during the early quiet hours, with a detailed log of events: November 14, 2024 January 12, 2025 January 13, 2025 April 26, 2025 May 4, 2025 I would like to remind you once again that Section 17 of your Tenancy Agreement requires you to avoid any unreasonable noise that may disturb neighbouring tenants, particularly during the designated quiet hours of 10:00 p.m. to 9:00 a.m., which is in no way inconsistent with your own right to quiet enjoyment. As defined in this Section, excessive noise includes: "Noise or behaviour which in the reasonable opinion of the landlord may disturb the comfort of any occupant of the residential property". Furthermore, your Tenancy Agreement clearly states that such noise must cease immediately upon a request from the Landlord, and must not continue thereafter. However, it seems that this requirement has not been met, even after the written notice you received from me on October 11, 2024. There’s a second sheet underneath
Book titled Magic Realism:Essays on Music, Memory, Fantasy, and Borders by Vanessa Angelica Villarreal
A playground with a yellow elections Canada Vote sign
Text reading: Don't bend; don't water it down; don't try to make it logical; don't edit your own soul according to the fashion. Rather, follow your most intense obsessions mercilessly. - Franz Kafka Below is the Instagram heart, comment and send buttons. 13 comments
A handful of delicious Reese’s Easter eggs in yellow foil
A white sign with a blue arrow that reads “VOTING PLACE” in white text. In the top right-hand corner, is the city of Vancouver logo
A conference room where attendees watch a panel of four people: (left to right) Shannon Gibney, Carmen Maria Machado, Vanessa Angélica Villarreal, August Grimm
A pot of bright red stew with cubes of carrots, leeks, onions and beets
A blue bowl full of dark purple beets
Three nerdy white men looking worrying. They’re the bad guys from season 6 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer
“Michael is the best”
A book held by a woman’s hand against a background of green vines. The book cover features a picture of a rocky stream and reads “a novel by William Kotzwinkle Swimmer of the Secret Sea”
A selfie of a middle-aged white woman with blond hair and blue eyes taken on a residential street. She’s wearing a big houndstooth coat and a blue and red striped scarf and she’s holding a black umbrella. Her nails are painted baby blue
A young white woman with light brown hair in an extremely 80s style where half the bangs are up and half are down. She’s also wearing a pink buttoned t-shirt and a very cool ankh necklace and is photographed against a brick wall
A woman’s hand holds the cover of Sula by Toni Morrison. The cover is dark green with yellow text
A fanned out collection of bright green stamp cards from Book Warehouse held in a woman’s hand wearing light blue nail polish
The cover of the novel The Sentence by Louise Erdrich held in a woman’s hand
SHORT PERFECT NOVELS Too Loud a Solitude, by Bohumil Hrabal Train Dreams, by Denis Johnson Sula, by Toni Morrison The Shadow-Line, by Joseph Conrad The All of It, by Jeannette Haien Winter in the Blood, by James Welch Swimmer in the Secret Sea, by William Kotzwinkle The Blue Flower, by Penelope Fitzgerald First Love, by Ivan Turgenev Wide Sargasso Sea, by Jean Rhys Mrs. Dalloway, by Virginia Woolf Waiting for the Barbarians, by J. M. Coetzee Fire on the Mountain, by Anita Desai
experience. At last 1 passed along ga lokarczuk's Drive Your Plow over the Bones of the Dead and became a little giddy ringing up the books stacked on the counter.
talked. How we had talked books! You don't have to leave, I whispered, and added in a surge of longing, The Tokarczuk, what did you think? I put Flora's book high on the shelf where we display Ojibwe
Flowers in deep burgundy rise stubbornly from the dry leaves littering soil at its feet
Rain forest with light breaking through the trees, dappling the ferns and vines on the forest floor
A crosswalk signal with a sticker beside it that reads “I HAVE NO MOUTH AND I MUST SCREAM.” This is the title of a Harlan Ellison shorts story about a group of people trapped and tortured inside a hellscape created by a vengeful AI
I LOVE you I LOVE you I Love you I LOVE YOU ILOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YoU I Love you SO MUCH!!!!!! The emotions you feel are Not for nothing. Feeling is a privilege, I swear! Why would I be made to feel so intensely if I wasn’t meant to do something with it? I will forever be grateful. I’ll be grateful the sun on the mountains makes me cry. I’m grateful for the hard nights. You are a glow. Why would you want to dim yourself? WHYWHYWHY oh why. You are opportunity. You!
A green table with a blue plate with broccoli fritters and curry chicken
If we continue to be gripped with outrage and stilled by stupefaction by each day's new proclamation, we will fail to discern what links them. To be gripped by his statements is precisely the aim of their utterance. We are in some ways in its thrall when it captures and paralyzes us. While there is every reason to be outraged, we cannot let that outrage flood us and stop our minds. For this is a moment to grasp the fascist passions that fuel this shameless grab for authoritarian powers.
The view from a window looking out on a snowy cityscape. In the distance the mountains shrouded by clouds
A side road with some evergreen trees. Snow falling
amaranth collectivise scarifyingcantle restfulness manholesannuities achieving blizzard
A poster with a greyscale book display shelf in the background. In the foreground in black text it reads, In Other Words. Below it reads: A Faculty Reading January 29, 6:30 pm, Libby Leshgold
A two-tower building under construction in the night with cranes hanging above. 41st & Cambie
A profile purporting to be Nathan Fillion. He only has three followers and follows 125 people. The only post is a still of Nathan Fillion from that cop show he’s in.
A city scape of warehouses with mountains in the distance bathed in pink and blue evening light
ethor 24-07-09 We need to let go of this individualist idea of creation. Any work of art arises from a mix of so many different elements that have to do with culture, community, time. When we put a single author on a pedestal (which is a capitalist idea anyway), we give them too much power to control and disappoint us. When we see creation as a collective act, we are better able to understand it in context and less likely to be hurt by the weaknesses of the person whose name is attached to it ethor 24-07-09 This is not the same as the separating the artist from the artwork argument. This is questioning the basis of a literary star system which, like every other star system, creates an environment rife with opportunities for exploitation. We've seen too many people put into the thrall of a single artist's public image. We've seen too many artists use their image to manipulate and abuse people who looked up to them. That's what we need to end
Three boxes of frozen meals. The word Chef is in big red letters on boxes that are pink, purple and yellow
A shot from Duolingo in Japanese that says Translate this Sentence. A brown bear with his arms crossed says 無色の緑色の考えが猛烈に眠る。 Colorless green ideas sleep furiously -this is a sentence Noam Chomsky uses to illustrate the difference between syntax and semantics
A copy of Husbands by Holly Gamazio on a fuzzy blanket in a cabin with a green forest in the background
A woman with a light blue toque and square-ish glasses stands before an old wooden bridge in the forest. Behind her, a rainbow in a blue sky
A Sailor Moon Monopoly board on the floor with money and properties set out
Poster for Nosferatu outside a theatre
A dark theatre and in the middle a frame from It’s a Wonderful Life in black and white where a young man, Jimmy Stewart, holds his hands out wide