These are short stories about people who harbour relics from their past: a postcard from Vienna, the cigarette burns that scar a boy's chest, a stolen USB pen, blue concentration camp numbers tattooed on a forearm, a man's sense of his own body as HIV overtakes him. Alice Zorn's remarkable debut collection displays these talismans of personal history and transforms them into extraordinary stories about relationships between partners, family, friends, and strangers.
Praise for Ruins and Relics
"It's a treat to encounter a writer so keenly aware that writing and reading are a creative continuum. ... The titular Ruins and Relics closes the book. A story of fractious love spun in new directions by the challenges of a holiday in Tunisia, it blends shimmering visuals with a nuanced probing of yawning cultural divides. Even better, it never reads like a travelogue tweaked into fiction."
~ The Globe and Mail
"In Ruins & Relics, Zorn delivers a strong showing and promises to be a Canadian writer to watch."
~ Vue Weekly
"Zorn leaves you wanting just one more story, and the end of the book comes all too quickly."
~ The Star Phoenix