Ontario book news, interviews and more

Yard Dog author A.G. Pasquella on Keeping the Rawness from Draft to Draft (and a Tattoo Suggestion)

Sometimes getting the thing you want most doesn't quite work out. That's what Jack Palace discovers in A.G. Pasquella's gritty new thriller Yard Dog (Dundurn Press). When Jack gets out of prison, it ...

Lynne Golding on Weaving Family History into Her Historical Brampton Saga

In Lynne Golding's The Innocent (Blue Moon Publishers), there's a secret in Jessie's family. For some reason, unlike all their neighbours in turn of the century Brampton, her father won't allow anyone ...

On Re-Fusing CanLit--Or Why We Need Integrity, Community, and Roses

In a lot of the trauma memoirs I’ve been reading lately, I see the same metaphor used to describe the process of healing. You’ve likely heard it too. It compares healing from trauma to the Japanese ...

Read an Excerpt of Leon Rooke's The House on Major Street

Leon Rooke has been an important part of the Toronto literary scene for decades, so it is perfectly fitting that his newest novel, The House on Major Street (Porcupine's Quill) has an unapologetically ...

Want to Write a Book in 2019? Try These Tips from Iconic Authors

If one of your goals this year is to finally write that book (though it's very much okay if you don't, too), we're rounding up some helpful tips and tricks for you.The Guardian is famous for its literary ...

Daylighting Chedoke Author John Terpstra on Scattering Seeds for a Great Title

Hamilton is well known for its natural beauty, from waterfalls to parks. However, one natural feature in the city is more hidden than the rest: Chedoke Creek runs through Hamilton but is mostly covered ...

CBC Canada Reads Announces Eclectic Longlist for Canada's Most Moving Book

CBC Books has announced the Canada Reads longlist and the 2019 competition's theme: "One book to move you".The 15-title list includes fiction and nonfiction, new titles and older ones, from authors across ...

Memoirs Make Strong Showing on the 2019 RBC Taylor Prize Shortlist

This morning, jurors Camilla Gibb and Roy MacGregor announced the five finalists for the 2019 RBC Taylor Prize for Nonfiction, one of the most influential literary prizes in the country. A third juror, ...

Poet Susan Gillis on Landscapes, Ecologies of the Heart, and Czeslaw Milosz

Partly inspired by a memorable line in a Czeslaw Milosz poem, Susan Gillis' new collection Yellow Crane (Brick Books) is sharply observed and lovingly rendered, casting an observant and incisive eye ...

"Fairy Tales are a Sort of Magic in Themselves" Lauren B. Davis on Her Magical Kensington Market Novel

Kensington market is one of Toronto's most unique neighbourhoods, and it's no surprise it has inspired numerous books. Lauren B. Davis' The Grimoire of Kensington Market (Wolsak & Wynn) however, ...