The politics of space and place are never neutral. Though many would like us to believe otherwise, the authors who have contributed to The Art of Trespassing know that geographies are always contested. They take the ancient art of trespassing to new levels by questioning and transgressing not only personal boundaries, but society's as well.

André Alexis's new book, he writes, is an "attempt to see over the fence of my own imagination, to look beyond the self into other worlds." Indeed, in Beauty and Sadness -- a collection of four stories, two essays and a memoir -- Alexis has written a number of pieces that explore the liminal space between worlds.

Alexis -- the author of two novels, Childhood and Asylum, and a volume of short fiction, Despair -- was born in Trinidad in 1957 and came to Canada in 1961. As such, he uses the language of immigration to articulate his engagement with literature. "I explore literary worlds and use unfamiliar literary symbols as I explored Canada...when I first came to the country."

A drug dealer with a conscience, straight boys who jog naked at night in a group, and a hit-man who finds himself in a life changing ceremony; yes, there's everything under the sun (and moon) in Richard Van Camp's new collection of short fiction The Moon of Letting Go.

A member of the Dogrib Nation of North West Territories, Van Camp is one of Turtle Island's (Canada's) premier writers. Published in The Walrus, Descant and Up Here Magazine, Van Camp brings stories from the North to the rest of Turtle Island.

Henry Chow is an unlikeable character. He is the embodiment of the clichéd high-school student: A class clown with a crush on Charlene, a "close-lip smiler, always trying to conceal her lavender braces," who Henry doesn't even think is "hot" because she's flat chested. He's that guy -- the one who concludes a love interest is a "bitch" when he realizes his affection is unrequited.