Kevin MacDonell (he/him)
@kevinmacdonell.bsky.social
Writer and lifelong diarist. Nova Scotia, Canada. Creative nonfiction, personal essays. Recent/forthcoming: Malahat Review, Queen’s Quarterly, Grain, Dalhousie Review, Camel, Rural Delivery, Riddle Fence, Globe & Mail. A.I.-free since 1969.
Clam Harbour Beach this morning. Twenty degrees. Barbecue dinner home on our deck in Bedford where it is 29 degrees. Normal Nova Scotia weather for October. Yep TOTALLY NORMAL.
October 6, 2025 at 8:39 PM
Clam Harbour Beach this morning. Twenty degrees. Barbecue dinner home on our deck in Bedford where it is 29 degrees. Normal Nova Scotia weather for October. Yep TOTALLY NORMAL.
Huge benefit to living in Halifax NS: Sunday evening jazz at Lions Head Tavern. The Hali-famous and world-fabulous Chris Mitchell, Dave Staples, Jeff Goodspeed, Jamie Gatti, and Silvio Pupo.
September 22, 2025 at 1:11 AM
Huge benefit to living in Halifax NS: Sunday evening jazz at Lions Head Tavern. The Hali-famous and world-fabulous Chris Mitchell, Dave Staples, Jeff Goodspeed, Jamie Gatti, and Silvio Pupo.
As long as you continue to display this X symbol of hate, no, I will not follow you.
September 18, 2025 at 11:09 PM
As long as you continue to display this X symbol of hate, no, I will not follow you.
Every time I read this essay by Lynn Coady I laugh out loud. Brilliant.
September 12, 2025 at 1:11 AM
Every time I read this essay by Lynn Coady I laugh out loud. Brilliant.
On the nose.
September 4, 2025 at 12:07 PM
On the nose.
Great event this afternoon in the old United Baptist Church in Sandy Cove, Nova Scotia. Sarah MacLachlan, former president and publisher at House of Anansi Press (centre), in conversation with former CBC host Shelagh Rogers and poet and writer Sheree Fitch.
August 30, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Great event this afternoon in the old United Baptist Church in Sandy Cove, Nova Scotia. Sarah MacLachlan, former president and publisher at House of Anansi Press (centre), in conversation with former CBC host Shelagh Rogers and poet and writer Sheree Fitch.
This beautiful issue of TNQ in my summer reading stack features an essay by the late Alister Thomas, whom I was fortunate to be acquainted with via an online writing workshop led by Adrienne Gruber, a few months before his death this past January. Our little group continues to meet every month.
August 13, 2025 at 3:41 PM
This beautiful issue of TNQ in my summer reading stack features an essay by the late Alister Thomas, whom I was fortunate to be acquainted with via an online writing workshop led by Adrienne Gruber, a few months before his death this past January. Our little group continues to meet every month.
I fear a major wildfire in Nova Scotia is a “when and where,” not an “if.” This dam spillway is rarely dry.
August 10, 2025 at 1:54 PM
I fear a major wildfire in Nova Scotia is a “when and where,” not an “if.” This dam spillway is rarely dry.
A beach on the Bay of Fundy is my church, after a fashion, and low tide is my time to worship. It’s a noisy world. Even on the beach, the noise finds me. People do not respect quiet spaces, not even in their own hearts. I try not to add to their noise; the rest is out of my control.
August 4, 2025 at 8:07 PM
A beach on the Bay of Fundy is my church, after a fashion, and low tide is my time to worship. It’s a noisy world. Even on the beach, the noise finds me. People do not respect quiet spaces, not even in their own hearts. I try not to add to their noise; the rest is out of my control.
How lovely after a week away to come home to peonies still hanging in there, and two copies of Grain with one of my pieces in it — and plenty of great new works for a summer reading day. (Cover art by Etty Anderson @e-tt-yyy.bsky.social )
July 12, 2025 at 2:57 PM
How lovely after a week away to come home to peonies still hanging in there, and two copies of Grain with one of my pieces in it — and plenty of great new works for a summer reading day. (Cover art by Etty Anderson @e-tt-yyy.bsky.social )
How’s this for a work of art. It’s my pizza stone.
June 15, 2025 at 2:25 PM
How’s this for a work of art. It’s my pizza stone.
The election canvassing in our neighbourhood has been intense. Here is our sign. Gotta show our allegiance. Elbows up!
April 28, 2025 at 10:36 PM
The election canvassing in our neighbourhood has been intense. Here is our sign. Gotta show our allegiance. Elbows up!
Books! In Halifax, Nova Scotia! Bookmark is a frequent drop-in on the two days a week I am downtown. (Their Fredericton NB location, Westminster Bookmark, is a favourite as well, though I don’t get there often.)
April 23, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Books! In Halifax, Nova Scotia! Bookmark is a frequent drop-in on the two days a week I am downtown. (Their Fredericton NB location, Westminster Bookmark, is a favourite as well, though I don’t get there often.)
UK book haul so far. Could have found some of these in Nova Scotia. Could have ordered any of them, but I am a browser: I have to hold the thing. I do support NS independent bookstores. I’ve highlighted UK stores in recent posts; I promise to highlight NS stores in the coming months.
April 9, 2025 at 8:51 PM
UK book haul so far. Could have found some of these in Nova Scotia. Could have ordered any of them, but I am a browser: I have to hold the thing. I do support NS independent bookstores. I’ve highlighted UK stores in recent posts; I promise to highlight NS stores in the coming months.
It’s clear the Loch Ness Monster is effing with the markets.
April 9, 2025 at 5:42 PM
It’s clear the Loch Ness Monster is effing with the markets.
Books! And lots of them. (Foyles, Charing Cross Road, London)
April 9, 2025 at 12:58 PM
Books! And lots of them. (Foyles, Charing Cross Road, London)
In the two hours or more we were at the Tate Modern, these men made no appreciable progress in assembling Louise Bourgeois’s “Maman” (gigantic spider sculpture) for exhibit this week. In fairness, it’s not a bookcase from IKEA.
April 8, 2025 at 5:57 PM
In the two hours or more we were at the Tate Modern, these men made no appreciable progress in assembling Louise Bourgeois’s “Maman” (gigantic spider sculpture) for exhibit this week. In fairness, it’s not a bookcase from IKEA.
Objects from a few minutes’ mudlarking along the Thames, the oldest finds likely being the clay pipe stems. I imagine every day’s flow leaves new things to find, like the passing of a life’s days, which is why no diarist is ever blocked.
April 6, 2025 at 7:23 PM
Objects from a few minutes’ mudlarking along the Thames, the oldest finds likely being the clay pipe stems. I imagine every day’s flow leaves new things to find, like the passing of a life’s days, which is why no diarist is ever blocked.
