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Northern Bull

  • Publication Date: January 21, 2026
  • ISBN: 9781997534051 / 1997534053
  • 252 pages; 5½" x 8½"

Over the course of one bitterly cold winter day in Yellowknife, Northern Bull takes readers on a joyful and hilarious journey of love and friendship as a quirky cast of characters sets out to find a missing moose head.


It’s a cold, dark January day in Yellowknife. A down-on-his-luck fisherman, Jacques, needs to convince his landlord not to tear down his ramshackle house. But when his volatile hunting buddy, Craig, accuses him of stealing a prized moose head, Jacques must put everything aside to find the bull before midnight, or there’s no telling what Craig might do.


Meanwhile, Jacques’s next-door neighbour Maggie is trying to face her fears by writing a story for the annual community burlesque show. But when she accidentally breaks Jacques’s window, she is determined to help save his home and find the moose head—and maybe something more.


Over a single day, with flashbacks to the hunting trip that started it all and culminating in a wild night no one in Yellowknife will ever forget, we follow Jacques, Maggie and a quirky cast of supporting characters as they race against time—on snowmobiles—to find the moose, brave the stage, and take a chance on themselves and on love. A hilarious and charming ode to life in the north.

Northern Bull is a sure-footed, exhilarating debut full of humour and heart, featuring a raucous cast of loveable weirdos, an unforgettable setting, and a wild ride of a story that will leave you breathless, laughing, and wishing it would never end. With this novel, Michelle Swallow has firmly planted herself among the funniest and most original of Canadian writers, and I can’t wait to see what she does next!” AMY JONES, author of We’re All In This Together and Pebble & Dove

“Quick-witted, big-hearted and richly observed, Swallow’s debut novel, Northern Bull, is the most fun you’ll have at forty below. A rollicking celebration of love, community and Canada’s north.” ALI BRYAN, author of Coq and The Crow Valley Karaoke Championship


“A joyful and hilarious journey of love and friendship as a quirky cast of characters sets out to find a missing moose head.” DAWN MACDONALD, The Seaboard Review of Books

News & Events

Northern Bull in the Seaboard Review
Northern Bull on CBC's The Homestretch
Northern Bull on the CBC Books Spring Fiction Preview
Northern Bull on CBC's The Trailbreaker
Quill and Quire Spring 2026 preview: Tales of the Mountains and the Sea and Northern Bull
01.29.2026 (Yellowknife): Michelle Swallow launches Northern Bull
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