Ontario book news, interviews and more

"You're Not Alone" Rosena Fung Explores Childhood Anxiety in Her Insightful Graphic Novel Debut

It's tough enough being the new girl in school. But for Livy, the biggest complication is Viola. Not quite a friend, not quite a twin, Viola is always with her. The only thing is, no one else can see ...

Read an Excerpt from Cultural Activist & Prolific Writer Rummana Chowdhury's Story Collection, Dusk in the Frog Pond

Rummana Chowdhury has been a voice for the voiceless for decades: in her work advocating for issues surrounding migration, violence against women, and human rights, particularly in relation to the South ...

Daniel Scott Tysdal Examines the Darkness, Strangeness, & Flickering Hope of Life in the 21st Century in His Spectacular Debut Story Collection

Daniel Scott Tysdal is a beloved creative writing professor at the University of Toronto Scarborough and a decorated poet. And of course, Tysdal is also an Open Book columnist and the subject of one ...

I am a celebrationist

I am a celebrationist.I celebrate big things and small things, all the things, really—kids getting their final molars, the anniversary of my fella and I meeting, the first day of summer (and fall and ...

Priti Birla Maheshwari on Her Debut Picture Book & Finding the Joy in Small Moments

With the holidays approaching, we're reminded how intrinsic the connections between food, culture, and family can be. The feelings evoked by the aroma and taste that comes with certain dishes are some ...

Writing + Joy = A Revelation

For years I believed I was only a writer if I wrote every day. I would wake up early and take my laptop to the coffee shop nearby and sit in the corner and write. Words and words and coffee and more ...

Poet Talya Rubin on Glacier Funerals, Sacred Family Books, and "How Deeply a Poem Will Land Inside You"

How does our human connection to the natural world change in a time of climate crisis? In Australia-based poet Talya Rubin's urgent (and spectacularly titled) new collection, Iceland is Melting and ...

"Maximum Curiosity and Maximum Respect" Susan Glickman's Collected Essays are a Hymn to Thoughtful Literary Criticism

For those who worry that thoughtful, long-form literary criticism is becoming a thing of the past, Susan Glickman's Artful Flight (forthcoming from the Porcupine's Quill; available for pre-order now) ...

Vancouver's Lisa Gaston Wins 2021 CBC Poetry Prize for Her Heartbreaking & Powerful Piece "James"

Good news comes in threes, as this morning we had a third literary prize announcement of the day, with CBC Books announcing that Lise Gaston of Vancouver has won the 2021 CBC Poetry Prize for her poem, ...

The Munk School's Dan Breznitz Captures First Ever, $60,000 Balsillie Prize for Public Policy

We've got more literary prize news for you as this morning The Writers’ Trust of Canada today announced the winner for the inaugural Balsillie Prize for Public Policy.The brand new $60,000 literary ...