Kevin MacDonell (he/him)

@kevinmacdonell.bsky.social

1744 Followers 829 Following

Writer and lifelong diarist. Nova Scotia, Canada. Creative nonfiction, personal essays. Recent/forthcoming: Malahat Review, Queen’s Quarterly, Grain, Dalhousie Review, Camel, Riddle Fence, Emerging Writing Reading Series. Site: kevinmacdonell.com

A display of red onions in a grocery store. A sign above the onions says they are a “Product of Canada/USA,” and $2.79 a pound.
Five brightly-coloured pamphlets arranged on a carpeted floor.
Black and white photo of a harness racing horse with a rider in a sulky (I think it’s called).
Magazine held open, left hand page is an illustration of a copper-coloured whiskey bottle with a field, hay bales, and a church bell inside, the bottle superimposed on black-and-white illustration of household items from an old farmhouse. Right-hand page is first page of essay by Kevin MacDonell. Also in photo is another copy of the magazine, showing the cover, a camel in silhouette and a green border.
Musicians playing piano, trombone, saxophones, standup bass, and drums, surrounded by an appreciative audience in the intimate performance space of the Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance.
Cover of the current issue of the Newfoundland literary journal, Riddle Fence.
Two handmade signs. One says “All arts belong in schools,” and the other says, “Cut the crap, Houston, not the arts.”
Close up photo of hand holding a loupe magnifier.
Two protest signs, obviously handmade, laying in the floor. One reads “ALL ARTS BELONG IN SCHOOLS” and the other, “CUT THE CRAP, Houston, NOT THE ARTS.”
Protest sign lying on the floor with lettering only partially coloured in. A slim Sharpie is resting on the poster.
Photo of people marching, with text: SHOULDER TO SHOULDER TO SHOULDER; NEW BUDGET NOW; RALLY; TUESDAY MARCH 10 AT NOON; PROVINCE HOUSE, 1726 HOLLIS ST, KJIPUKTUK/ HALIFAX; CULTURE IS CRITICAL; WE ARE ALL TREATY PEOPLE
Crowd carrying signs in front of the NS legislature. “WRITERS BELONG IN THE SCHOOLS”, “SUPPORT MUSEUMS”, “DEFEND NOVA SCOTIA BOOKS.”
Fragment of handwritten scrawl dated Wednesday, February 26, 1986, time 3 p.m., which reads “C.U.P.E. strike ended today …"
Emoji of two hands making the “heart” sign. (Ugh.)
Poster for Emerging Writers Reading Series, online event, 7 p.m. EST, February 9, 2026.
Headshots of writers Kevin MacDonell, Allegra Kaplan, Erin Vosters, and Unice Leim. Text underneath says, “Emerging Writers Reading Series, online, February 9th at 7 p.m. EST.” Also, logos for the Ontario Arts Council and the Province of Ontario.
Middle aged man smiling with hands in the pockets of his shorts standing in bright sun on an expansive beach. Yours truly.
Snippet of newspaper text about solar flares, which includes the line, “NASA has been monitoring the sun’s activity since the 1600s.”
Dimly lit tavern with musicians playing saxophone, drums, bass guitar, keyboards.
Screen capture of the footer of a CBC email showing an X (formerly Twitter) logo.
Image of a book page, the first paragraph of an essay entitled “On Behaving Badly,” by Lynn Coady. FYI, it’s fucking funny.
Skeleton propped against a chain-link fence, dressed in overalls and holding up a sign that says, “WELCOME BACK TO SCHOOL, KIDS!” (This fellow is posed beside a path leading to a school in the Halifax, Nova Scotia suburb of Bedford.)
Shelagh Rogers, Sarah MacLachlan, and Sheree Fitch seated on the dias of an old church.
The cover of the current issue (#175) of The New Quarterly.
View of the dam at Paper Mill Lake in Bedford, Nova Scotia. The spillway and streambed are dry, which is an unusual occurrence.
A string of footprints on a sandy beach.
Hand holding two copies of the magazine Grain in foreground, with two huge, pink peony blossoms in background.
Lizard-like head of a dead, milky-eyed, dark-coloured fish washed up on a Nova Scotia beach at low tide.
Closeup of a whitish ceramic pizza stone bearing the many brown stains of burnt cheese and crusts of pizzas past.
A small Canadian flag hanging in a window.
Storefront of Bookmark bookstore on Spring Garden Road in Halifax, NS, on a sunny day.
Chaucer’s tomb in Westminster Abbey.
Concerning the Spiritual in Art, by Wassily Kandinsky; Cairn, by Kathleen Jamie; Steering the Craft, by Ursula K LeGuin; One Year to a Writing Life, by Susan M. Tiberghien; On Poetry, by Glyn Maxwell; Free Play: Improvisation in Life and Art, by Stephen Nachmanovitch; Index Cards, by Moyra Davey; Affinities, by Brian Dillon
North American stock indices charts resembling the long-necked beast of legend.
Text on wall of bookstore, “Welcome book lover, you are among friends.” Stacks of books in foreground.
Overhead view of a small crane and a crew of people among a scattering of bronze meters-long spider legs.
Sign posted on a railing that says “Southbank Book Market,” with the Thames River in background.
Storefront of John Sandoe Books in Chelsea, London.
“Welcome to The British Museum Reading Room. Quiet Please.”
Resting in my palm are shards of pottery and glass, along with four clay pipe stem segments, each roughly an inch long.
Kevin MacDonell holding a book and standing at the rail of the upper gallery of Daunt Books store in Marylebone, London.
Message one gets on trying to access the website of The Antigonish Review: “This website is no longer available."
“Kevin MacDonell’s father’s advice on the four-way stop is what we all need now.”
Headline of a CBC news story which reads, "Columbia University makes policy changes while under threat from Trump administration"
Cover of a Canadian passport with holes punched through it, indicating that it is expired.
Cover of the latest issue of The Dalhousie Review.
Several hundred sign-carrying protesters at the Nova Scotia legislature in Halifax.
A snow shovel stuck in a melting snowbank, tilting at a precarious angle as the snow and ice release their grip on it after a night of rain.
Closeup of eyes and glasses.
To the CBC Ombudsman: I am a lifelong CBC listener and supporter who is deeply troubled about the Feb. 23 Cross Country Checkup special show, “51st State: A Cross Border Conversation.” The CBC’s apparent attempt to attract listeners by framing a provocative question is playing a dangerous game. You have inexplicably blundered into giving the impression to American listeners -- who are suffering a constant barrage of Trump-related news and do not have time for a nuanced consideration of Canadian sovereignty -- that here in Canada, annexation is a both-sides discussion that we are actually seriously entertaining. Let’s be clear: The Trump regime is issuing aggressive threats to annex our sovereign nation. The prospect represents a grave threat, one that must be met by a serious, internal, and wholly Canadian conversation. Instead, what has CBC done? Lend a platform to traitors like Kevin O’Leary! What on Earth are you people thinking? You have seriously misread the mood of Canadians. You have seriously misunderstood your role in defending Canadian values and sovereignty. And you have handed people in the United States, both friendly and not, the mistaken impression that Canadians are having a discussion about annexation options.We aren’t. We are standing on guard! With no help from CBC tonight. Kevin MacDonell (he/him) Bedford, Nova Scotia
Leaving NBC Studios after SNL -- late late on Nov 10, 2018.
Vase of pink tulips in foreground, canvas on easel and a full bookcase in background, all bathed in bright morning sun.
Tree branches and a chain-link fence in very early morning light, all encrusted with white ice crystals. Location is the dam at Paper Mill Lake, in Bedford, Nova Scotia.
Screen grab of a portion of a Google Maps screen showing the Gulf of Mexico labelled “Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America)”.
Picture of a blank Moleskine notebook open on a desk, with a pencil.
A pop-up message on a MacBook Air laptop that reads, "Ready for Apple Intelligence. Time to experience the new personal intelligence system."
Ami McKay, Angela Reynolds, & Blanca Baquero seated behind typewriters at the Wolfville Farmers' Market.
Current issues of Canadian literary magazines Brick, Queen’s Quarterly, The Malahat Review, The New Quarterly, and EVENT.
A copy of The Fiddlehead, issue 302, none the worse for its hoppy dunking.