WESTERN FRONT – Retail Vérité: Vancouverama

Description:

Retail Vérité: Vancouverama is A Maior’s second novella, and the outcome of writing workshops led by A Maior at Western Front in February 2025. Through a blend of improvisation, LARPing, and speed dating, the participants sketched the characters, narrative, and setting for a supernatural murder mystery in real time. Operating in the spirit of exquisite corpse, the workshops were led by improvisational exchanges triggered by prompts. As a result, the collective writing process generated its own distinctive, internal logic. Set in a fictional strip mall in Marpole, Retail Vérité navigates thoughts on commerce, fashion, and popular culture to draw a portrait of contemporary retail phenomena.

The cohort featured James Albers, Kathy Feng, Manon Fraser, Fiona Glen, Tiziana La Melia, Ben Lickerman, Trey Le, August Mesic, Nina Ortiz, Paige Smid, Kiel Torres, and Yasmine Whaley-Kalaora.

Edited by: Trey Le, Kiel Torres

Editorial consultation: Janine Armine

Design: Elisabeth Klement

Binding: Perfect bound, soft cover

Pages: 160

Size: 11 x 16 cm

Publisher: Art Metropole, Bierke Verlag, Western Front

Year: 2026

ISBN 978-1-989010-36-5 (Canada)

ISBN 978-3-948546-49-6 (Germany)

A book cover with a brown background and a large green blob in the centre. Retail Verite appears in bold black letters at the top, and Vancouverama is written in a large spooky black font across the centre.

A copy of Retail Verite Vancouverama is open to page 5, the beginning of the book. The page is marked with the timestamp 8:30 AM.

A copy of Retail Verite Vancouverama is open to page 14 and 15. It’s the beginning of a new chapter, marked with the timestamp of 9:30 AM.

The backcover of Retail Verite Vancouverama. The novella’s synopsis appears in black bold text against a neon green blob floating on a bronze background.

Related People

Related Events

2026

Launch of Retail Vérité: Vancouverama

Captions:

A Maior, Retail Vérité: Vancouverama (2026). Design by Elisabeth Klement. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.
A Maior, Retail Vérité: Vancouverama (2026). Design by Elisabeth Klement. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.
A Maior, Retail Vérité: Vancouverama (2026). Design by Elisabeth Klement. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.
A Maior, Retail Vérité: Vancouverama (2026). Design by Elisabeth Klement. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.

Western Front is a non-profit artist-run centre in Vancouver.

We acknowledge the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations as traditional owners of the land upon which Western Front stands.