Storm Over Camelot by Sophie Keetch

BYLINE: Juliet Pieters, Associate Editor, Arts and Culture

Storm Over Camelot is the third book in Sophie Keetch’s Morgan Le Fay series and is the concluding act to her Arthurian fantasy trilogy. Keetch gives Morgan Le Fay, the enchantress sister of the mythical Welsh King Arthur, a story outside of the traditional villain caricature reserved for her. 

The book explores her identity as a woman, a mother, a healer, and a witch in the world of the famed legend of Camelot. This final book is rife with scheming as Morgan embraces the villainy pushed onto her by the royal court of Camelot. Her character, however, remains far from irredeemable. Keetch’s prose is emotional and cutting in the cold, detached way of the Fae.

Rewatching The Mindy Project

BYLINE: Bushra Azim Boblai, Arts & Culture Editor

The groundbreaking sitcom that follows an Indian American gynaecologist, Dr. Mindy Lahiri, is still as riotously funny and entertaining after 14 years as it was when the show first aired. It’s comforting to watch a fat woman just get to be flawed, funny, angry, and full of desire. 

The episode where Mindy gets interrogated by security at the Empire State Building for being ridiculously romantic is one of the funniest episodes of rom-com television ever written. This show from the early 2010s seems to be free of all the stereotypes and clichés of immigrant strife and ambition that stifle a lot of modern TV representation of Indian American identity. A refreshing watch!

Even a Child Can Cover the Sun With a Finger by FORAGER

BYLINE: Bushra Azim Boblai, Arts & Culture Editor

When I was struggling to finish my late assignments and study for my tests in April, I bribed myself with the possibility of being able to listen to this delightful album that came out in February, while sitting under a tree in a sunny garden. 

Now that spring is here to stay, head over to the dog-sculpture fountain near St. Lawrence Market and give this glorious indie folk album your time and attention. Standouts like “Age of Mythology,” “Double Dutch,” and “Disaster Friend” will captivate you with a quality of storytelling that is rarely seen outside the concept album in a musical culture that favours trends over narrative.

“Rock Music” by Charli xcx

BYLINE: Bushra Azim Boblai, Arts & Culture Editor

The British pop singer-songwriter’s latest release is an acoustic thrill. When Charli xcx teased the lyrics in an interview with British Vogue on April 16, the new project had sounded dubious at best, if not completely awful. But just like the accompanying album to Emerald Fennell’s garish adaptation of Wuthering Heights in February, Charli has again proven her critics wrong and shown them that she still has some surprises up her sleeve. The musical trill on “rrrrrrock” will be getting me through the work week.

Montréal pothole man as political performance art

BYLINE: Bushra Azim Boblai, Arts & Culture Editor

Move over, Marina Abramović! There’s a new performance artist capturing the hearts and minds of the zeitgeist! Saad Tekiout, a local landscaper, has been fixing Montréal’s seemingly endless potholes himself, at a personal cost of $50 per fix. A performance of public service that is both farcical and authentic without devolving into right-wing populism is very on point for Montréal.

The city’s 311 service has received around 14,000 complaints related to potholes in the past four months alone. Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada does not approve of this vigilante community service and wants Tekiout to bid for new contracts to fix the potholes through the additional $1 million she announced in funding. 

Tekiout is showered in affection from seniors to young influencers who want to drive their sports cars safely on the road. A bag of asphalt, a roller, a charismatic young man, and a camera have put the shiny new mayor to shame. He has shown no signs of running for office and does not seem to have a personal agenda to spread. The only motivating factor he lays claim to is wanting to look after his city and attend to what bureaucracy has, thus far, neglected. 

If Tekiout had not chosen TikTok as the medium for his video performances, they wouldn’t look out of place in a museum of contemporary art. For now, he enjoys an audience much larger and affected by material conditions than simply one that enjoys commenting on them.