Alex Turner Novel to be Published by Arsenal Pulp Press
The moon reflected in a puddle on the concrete. (Image courtesy Lucian Childs)
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Toward Another Shore, a queer love story set in 1960s BC, was posthumously co-written by the late artist’s husband, author Lucian Childs.
A forthcoming novel-in-stories by the late visual artist, writer and Emily Carr University of Art + Design (ECU) alum Alex Turner has been acquired for publication by Arsenal Pulp Press.
Edited and expanded by Alex’s husband, writer Lucian Childs, Toward Another Shore is both a tale of personal development and a window into the queer history of 1960s Vancouver.
“Despite the ’60s push for sexual liberation, in Vancouver, gay love and sexuality were, as elsewhere at that time, relegated to the sidelines,” Lucian writes. “And, as the story illustrates, the city's lively queer community — far from benefitting from the era’s drive for civil rights — continued to suffer discrimination and police harassment. Even so, Vancouver was a mecca then for a new generation of queer people. Their social networks and gathering places — albeit largely out of sight — were the foundation for the city’s thriving queer culture that blossomed with the gay liberation movement post-Stonewall.”
Sea Change, the penultimate chapter of Toward Another Shore, appeared earlier this year in the summer 2025 edition of Canadian literary journal Prairie Fire.
Alex Turner (left) and Lucian Childs. (Photo courtesy Lucian Childs)
In more than one sense, Toward Another Shore can be read as a kind of love letter. As with much of Alex’s artistic output, the story is in part an evocative glimpse of life in the Upper Fraser Valley, where Alex grew up and to which he returned every year throughout his life.
The story’s publication is also an act of love extended to the author himself. As Lucian’s process notes reveal, his tender engagement with Alex’s archive is rooted in a wish to share his late husband’s creative vision with the world.
“Alex generated a lot of material over the nearly two decades he laboured on the work,” Lucian says. “He had a natural dramatic sense that lent tension to each story. His language was poetic, humorous and exuberantly down to earth. But with only scant training in writing fiction, he didn’t always know how to shape this material.
“When I took on the project after his death, I found a few of the stories worked well. As for the rest, it was a bit like archaeology — requiring me to dig through draft after draft to find the shape he was driving toward and to sharpen its arc.
“Fortunately, Alex was a huge pack rat. So, on the occasions where beats needed fleshing out or new scenes added, I was able to utilize text and incidents gleaned from his copious editorial notes, letters, journals and photographs from the period.”
Visit Alex’s website to learn more about his multidisciplinary practice. Visit Lucian’s website to learn more about Toward Another Shore, which will be published by Arsenal Pulp Press in 2026.