Mitchell Gauvin

I had a great experience working with NFFR from submission to publication. Make sure to follow and check out their past issues for the best in flash fiction.

Problems with Zero by Mitchell Gauvin | Issue #38 When Zero came to me after Polygon’s attack, hands like knives cutting wind and flesh, I could see Zero’s hurt at having to endure in this geometry.

My latest fiction is now out in Issue 38 of @nffr.bsky.social! Read (or listen 🔊) below. Check out of the full issue to see more great writing as well as interviews with the contributors.
newflashfiction.com/problems-wit... #fiction #writing #flashfiction

New flash fiction from me coming in September! 👀 Keep your eyes on the New Flash Fiction Review (@nffr.bsky.social)‬.

My first article for the European Relations Association is now out! Confused over what Trump means for Canada and the EU? I breakdown how tariffs, annexation, and Mark Carney are bringing the two regions closer together -- sort of. europeanrelations.com/canada-wants... #TariffWar #tariff

I return to this poem about once a week. On the surface, Shelley's emphasis on inevitable decay suggests an element of nihilism, but I think instead the poem is an invitation to think about what's truly valuable. Material legacies are fleeting, so what then is left?

Among Us by Mitchell Gauvin — Quibble

Finally found the time to punch out a short story, which is now free to read in Quibble Lit. It's a story born from my childhood growing up in Northern Ontario. Click below and support indie publishers!
www.quibblelit.com/among-us-by-... #fiction #writing #shortstory

Recently re-read Joan Didion's novel PLAY IT AS IT LAYS (1970). Was struck at how contemporary it continues to feel; a deeply nihilistic story that manages to capture the way American culture seems to be constantly spinning towards self-destruction. An enduringly relevant novel. #books #reading

“The Empire Market”, 24” X 30”, Acrylic on canvas, 2025

Went to a fantastic lecture and chat today by Prof. Dr. Karsten Fitz (Universität Passau) who talked about Indigenous Futurisms and Ryan Singer, a Navajo painter who blends pop culture iconography like Star Wars with contemporary landscapes. Definitely an artist that deserves more attention.

Different historical situation, but interesting to compare with post-Great Recession and post-COVID politics. Working and middle class confront similar 'unpleasantness of historicity' that defines turn towards Trump. DNC failure to understand this underwrites their rejection of Sanders.

Reading Jameson's oft-cited review of DOG DAY AFTERNOON (1975). Interesting point about class consciousness arising from various national traumas, explains middle class sympathy for Al Pacino's character. But the larger issue is the movement towards a different kind of politics and the consumer.

YouTube video by Ben Laude How Glenn Gould Broke Classical Music

Fantastic breakdown by Ben Laude on Glenn Gould. Not just for classical music lovers, this is a meditation on how we engage with art in general.
youtu.be/ei18TjGnOjA?...

This overemphasizes the military and administrative capacity of European colonies in North America AND under emphasizes the degree to which Indigenous nations were running the show. Misleading notions of primitivism go hand in hand with this misconception.

Part of the issue with pop history is that it favours misleading settler colonial narratives of the "New World" in which Europeans secured legitimate sovereignty over the land through conquest - a "history is written by the winners" type of historiography.

Been chipping away at this over the last few months. Sprawling book (perhaps even too ambitious of a project) but very revealing of how the complexity of Indigenous presence has been obscured by simplistic histories of conquest.

I mean, Melville in *1855* was writing short stories that were critical of American imperial ambition in South America against the backdrop of the country's continuing insistence on racial slavery.

It's surprising/not surprising that 19th-century American imperialism, which treated its sphere of influence as hemispheric, is still relevant for understanding why mainstream narratives of South America treat it as America's "backyard."