Vanishing Monuments

Alani Baum, a non-binary photographer and teacher, hasn't seen their mother since they ran away with their girlfriend when they were 17, almost 30years ago. But when Alani gets a call from a doctor at the assisted living facility where their mother has been for the last five years, they learn that their mother's dementia has worsened and appears to have taken away her ability to speak. As a result, Alani suddenly find themselves running away again,only this time, they're running back to their mother.

Staying at their mother's empty home, Alani attempts to tie up the loose ends of their mother's life while grappling with the painful memories that in the face of their mother's disease they're terrified to lose. Meanwhile, the memories inhabiting the house slowly grow animate, and the longer Alani is there, the longer they're forced to confront the fact that any closure they hope to get from this homecoming will have to be manufactured.

This beautiful, tenderly written debut novel by Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers winner John Elizabeth Stintzi explores what haunts us most, bearing witness to grief over not only what is lost, but also what remains. (FromArsenal Pulp Press)

Vanishing Monuments is a finalist for the 2021 Amazon Canada First Novel Award.

Stinzi is anovelist, poet, teacher and visual artist. They won the RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for emerging writers for their workSelections From Junebat.CBC Books named them a writerto watch in 2020.

• John Elizabeth Stintzi wins $10K RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for emerging writers
• Northwestern Ontario authors recognized as emerging writers through RBC award
• 47 works of Canadian fiction to watch for in spring 2020
• The CBC Books 2020 summer reading list
• How writing a novel helped John Elizabeth Stintzi connect with their own genderqueer identity
• The CBC Books Writers to Watch 2020 list
• The best Canadian fiction of 2020
• Why John Elizabeth Stintzi used their debut novel to explore the nature of gender, identity and memory

Why John Elizabeth Stintzi wrote Vanishing Monuments

"I started writingVanishing Monumentsbefore I had an idea of my identity in terms of queerness and gender. I had, previously, lightly identified as genderqueer, but without really unpacking or understanding what that could mean. I was growing in fascination and interest with gender and the reality of these sort of non-normative gender identities.

I was growing in fascination and interest with gender and the reality of these sort of non-normative gender identities.- John Elizabeth Stintzi

"In writing the book, I wrote a nonbinary genderqueer character as something that I assumed was different, outside of myself and interesting to write thematically.

"But as I was writing and rewriting the book and as I was researching and reading more trans literature the distance between the main character and me got smaller and smaller. I started to identify with them more than I thought I was going into it."

Read more in theirinterview with CBC Books.

Interviews with John Elizabeth Stintzi

The Next Chapter10:50John Elizabeth Stintzi on Vanishing Monuments

John Elizabeth Stintzi talks about their novel Vanishing Monuments, which follows a photographer's return to their mother's home in Winnipeg after a 27-year absence.

Other books by John Elizabeth Stintzi