Let the Day Perish

M. Wayne Cunningham is a past executive director of the Saskatchewan
Arts Board and the former director of Academic and Career Programs at
East Kootenay Community College.

Ten of the twelve stories in this collection previously appeared in such
literary periodicals as Prism International, The Fiddlehead, TickleAce,
Pottersfield Portfolio, and Event.

The carefully constructed and economically told stories are set in
British Columbia’s interior Cariboo Country and disseminate the
distinctive flavor of the small towns, sawmills, taverns, farms,
ranches, rodeo grounds, and camps where they occur. The characters
include alienated teenagers, arguing millworkers, competitive brothers,
and boys or men in crisis.

Petersen has an eye for the telling detail, an ear for rhythmic
language, and a gift for striking imagery (e.g., pickup trucks “wear
wry chrome smiles” and a farmer’s boots “snag in the twisted stems
of the broken oats and barley” as he inspects his fields after a
storm). In learning his craft as a creative writer, Petersen has worked
with Jack Hodgins and Steven Heighton. This collection demonstrates that
his apprenticeship was a productive one.