Kristjana Gunnars:
Books and journal publications since 2016
“…there is nothing quite like Kristjana Gunnars’ project in contemporary Canadian writing."
—Neil Besner, Winnipeg Free Press
The Silence of Falling Snow is a mixed-genre work of reflections on philosophy, art, Buddhism and how to remember the traumas of living and dying. Published in 2025 by Coach House Books, Toronto.
The cover shows a pen and ink drawing by Gunnars, titled “Scree.”
The book was launched in a Q&A with Cody Caetani at the Alberta Litfest on October 18, 2025.
The Scent of Light is a collection of five novellas published between 1998 and 2008 by Red Deer Press, here in a new edition together published in 2022 by Coach House Press, Toronto. Edited and introduced by Kazim Ali.
Cover shows detail from Gunnars’ painting “soft bouquet.”
The book was launched in a Q&A with Kazim Ali online, sponsored by Coach House Books, in 2022.
"Coach House has collected five short, perpetually migratory Gunnars books for The Scent of Light, as rewarding and important a compilation as Fanny Howe’s Radical Love." – Sasha Frere-Jones, 4Columns
“The five works within The Scent of Light offer readers entrance into a deeply magnificent coalescence of human experience, and with mystery and grace, Kristjana Gunnars and her protagonists lead the way through one immense, remarkable life." – Regan Mies, Necessary Fiction
On The Substance of Forgetting:
“Magical, as delicious as the escape of a hazy mountain morning."
—University of Toronto Quarterly
On Night Train to Nykøbing:
“…[An] innovator in … Literature who should be talked about in autofiction as much as Cusk or Ernaux. The ability to seamlessly incorporate small moments of earnest and fully-formed criticism in passing vignettes is unmatched.
—Lønningspils
Ruins of the Heart is a collection of six longpoems, published by Angelico Press, New York in 2022.
Cover shows detail from Gunnars’ painting “the slow passage of sun.”
112th Street Notebook is a chapbook of a cycle of poems, published by Akinoga Press, Baltimore, in 2022.
Cover shows detail from Gunnars’ water-colour painting “paper lanterns.”
At Home in the Mountains is a chapbook of twenty poems, published by Junction Press, Toronto, in 2019.
The book was launched in a reading and discussion in Nelson, B.C. in 2019.
snake charmers: a cycle of twenty poems is a paperbound chapbook published by above/ground press, Ottawa, in 2026.
The cover bears an image of one of Gunnars’ asemic characters.
For books and publications by Kristjana Gunnars prior to 2015, see the website kristjanagunnarswritings.com. There you will find a detailed list of publications as well as academic work and theses on Gunnars’ writings. The two sites are used by scholars to help navigate the labyrinths of the internet and brings most of the information together in one place. Similar publications after 2015 will be added to this site over time.
" It's measure of the power of Gunnars's thoughtful writing that we cheer for her characters, wherever they happen to find themselves in life, that we are drawn into their lives and homes and fervently wish them to be doing well.” —g, Books in Canada
Any Day But This is a collection of short stories published in 2004 by Fitzhenry & Whiteside, Leaside Ontario. The stories are narrated by diverse characters living their lives on the Sunshine Coast of B.C. and sometimes elsewhere in Canada. Even though they are different characters in different spaces, their lives sometimes intersect.
Sometimes this book is listed as out of stock, but readers who wish to acquire a copy can contact the publisher, Fitzhenry & Whiteside, or contact this site.