about us
Prairie Soul Press (formerly Kouros Publications) stands for truth, community and story. We look to find and promote authors from the Canadian Prairies and elsewhere whose work speaks truth through a captivating story and who are plugged into their local writing communities.
We publish multiple genres, but focus on works dealing with mythology, cultural exploration and the craft of writing.
Prairie Soul Press
books
The Philosophy of Blue
The Philosophy of Blue brings to light esoteric (possibly ancient, possibly just cooked up recently as a gag) fragments of tenets—words to live by—and pairs them with tiny stories from up-and-coming flash fiction authors.
These little stories will change the way you look at the world, even for a minute, and let you see past the everyday into the numinous space where we are most ourselves.
Or it’s just a gag to give you a good laugh. Nobody’s really figured that out yet. Read the book and let us know your theory.
Curated by Jim Jackson
Glass Half Full of Poetry
Would the contents of your bookshelf get you burned as a witch in the past? Throughout history, women accused of being witches and put to death by burning, stoning, hanging, or drowning were women who were smart, educated, healers, single, widowed, old, overly social, confident, too beautiful, too ugly, sexual, subversive, and deviant. Witches have been most often portrayed as evil, living solitary lives in the forest, eating children, and communing with the devil. But in recent years, women have been reclaiming the word "witch" to symbolize female empowerment. This excites us very much and makes us wonder what stories about witches and the Canadian Prairies could be told!
Edited by StaceyKondla
Prairie Witch
Would the contents of your bookshelf get you burned as a witch in the past? Throughout history, women accused of being witches and put to death by burning, stoning, hanging, or drowning were women who were smart, educated, healers, single, widowed, old, overly social, confident, too beautiful, too ugly, sexual, subversive, and deviant. Witches have been most often portrayed as evil, living solitary lives in the forest, eating children, and communing with the devil. But in recent years, women have been reclaiming the word "witch" to symbolize female empowerment. This excites us very much and makes us wonder what stories about witches and the Canadian Prairies could be told!
Edited by StaceyKondla
Prairie Witch
Would the contents of your bookshelf get you burned as a witch in the past? Throughout history, women accused of being witches and put to death by burning, stoning, hanging, or drowning were women who were smart, educated, healers, single, widowed, old, overly social, confident, too beautiful, too ugly, sexual, subversive, and deviant. Witches have been most often portrayed as evil, living solitary lives in the forest, eating children, and communing with the devil. But in recent years, women have been reclaiming the word "witch" to symbolize female empowerment. This excites us very much and makes us wonder what stories about witches and the Canadian Prairies could be told!
Edited by StaceyKondla
Prairie Gothic
It’s scarier when it can’t hide from you.
That’s the idea behind Prairie Gothic, the new anthology of psychological and supernatural horror from Prairie Soul Press. Gothic tales, set in decaying, abandoned settings and characters with dark secrets mingle on the high Canadian Prairies.
Something wicked this way comes ...
Edited by StaceyKondla
How to Tell a Really Good Story about Absolutely Anything in 4 Easy Steps
You want to get your spouse to stop leaving his socks on the floor, and nagging isn’t working. You want to get your staff to start using the new expense form, but the memo was ignored. How do you get to where you need to be?
Jim Jackson
Bones by Breakfast:
a King Wong adventure
Fantasy noir and old-style pulp explode in Hong Kong's seedy, mystical underbelly!
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King Wong, the world’s only exoterric consultant and expert on the Otherkind, is tracking down ancient, mystical elements with the help of a sassy woman of the night and whatever allies he can muster from the mists of Chinese myth.
Jim Jackson
The Guru Girl Gambit:
a King Wong adventure
King Wong's most dangerous case yet!
A gang of Korean mythical beasts who take their bodies from cast-off belongings move into the streets of Hong Kong just as people are in the thrall of a decluttering guru who's convincing everyone to cast-off their belongings.
From the streets of Tsim Sha Tsui to the sewers under Kowloon Walled City to the Jade Palace of the Celestial Emperor himself, this thrill ride promises a few laughs between shivers and shudders.
Jim Jackson
Stones in My Passway
A folklore-laden, bluesy trip to the devil's crossroads with bluenotes and hellhounds tripping behind the beat.
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Stones in My Passway – like the blues it was born of – is a harrowing transcendental journey. Sometimes sexy, sometimes comical, sometimes heart-rending – always enjoyable.
Jim Jackson
fun
Jim Jackson interviews Jim Jackson
Josephine LoRe reads "Geographies"
Jim Jackson talks about storytelling
authors & illustrators
Jim Jackson
author – speaker – gentleman
Jim Jackson is a Calgary Herald bestselling author, vintage leather jacket enthusiast and dabbler in the dark arts of blues music. Jim’s mission is to show how the stories we all grew up with – the heroes, the monsters, the adventures – are still solid, muscular realities that shape our lives.
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He’s the creator of the storytelling guides How to Tell a Really Good Story about Absolutely Anything in 4 Easy Steps and Elemental Tales, a handful of pulp mythology books and the blues record Flypaper Motel.
Janice Blaine
Janice Blaine is an Aurora-nominated artist working out of Calgary. Throughout her career, she has worked on a wide variety of projects, ranging from pre-production animation to design & illustration of children’s books. She is co-editor and illustrator of the Aurora-nominated Urban Green Man short fiction anthology, and her illustrations have appeared on the covers of numerous magazines and books.