Though it’s insightful to have Alberta read through the eyes of immigrants, former Albertan Anar Ali’s first short fiction collection has little but its subject matter to recommend it.

A graduate of UBC’s highly regarded creative writing program, Ali plunders her experiences as an immigrant from Tanzania in her fiction. The writing, as would befit someone emerging from such a program, is smooth and well-polished, but this immaculately contemporary style belies a curious absence of literary personality.

A Christmas Baby is a story typical of the collection (and its mandate to reflect the immigrant experience without challenging systemic racism): Ugandan refugees trying to make a go of it in Hicksville, AB, but at the end of the story, a couple of stereotypical small-town racists ruin the day. We feel bad for the protagonists, we associate discrimination with people who are not us and not anyone we would ever know. Sure, a critique of multiculturalism isn’t everyone’s thing, but this collection plays it so safe that we’re grinding our teeth.