Canadian Authors Discuss Pandemic Life in New Kobo/West End Phoenix Collaboration

Rakuten Kobo and Toronto community newspaper West End Phoenix have announced the arrival of Telegrams from Home, a three-volume eBook series featuring prominent Canadian authors as they reflect upon life during COVID-19. 

Releasing May 29, the first volume includes stories by Margaret Atwood, Claudia Dey, Dave Bidini, and Ivy Knight, as well as the contributions of a number of community members, each sharing their unique perspective on living through a worldwide pandemic. 

Sales of each anthology will go to charity, with the initial volume's proceeds being directed towards Community Food Centres of Canada. 

“Since the beginning of the pandemic things have progressed at break-neck speed—six weeks ago looks much different than four weeks ago, even two weeks ago,” said Dave Bidini, Editor in Chief, West End Phoenix. “With the pandemic, it is hard to publish, distribute and deliver a print newspaper as usual, so for this project we are going digital with Kobo Originals. West End Phoenix strives to tell the story of the city and urban life and there is no bigger event facing us than COVID-19. We wanted to cover it in a way that fit the circumstances. This collection is made up of three parts to reflect the ever-evolving state of the nation at this time. And although difficult, these stories embody hope and a bright future.”

Those interested in getting a preview can read selected stories over at the Kobo.com blog, while pre-orders for the first volume are currently being taken on the Kobo website.