Ontario book news, interviews and more

Writer at Work: A Book Is A Community

Yesterday, my first book of poems, Port of Being, was shortlisted for the 2019 BC and Yukon Book Prizes (BCBP), for the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize. I expected to feel happy but I feel disbelief. The ...

CBC Canada Reads 2019 Panelists on Debate Strategy, Heartbreaking Reads & Fighting for Their Authors

CBC's beloved books showdown, Canada Reads, is less than a week away, with the 2019 debates starting on Monday, March 25. We got the chance to speak to the panelists, who take on the daunting task of ...

Kathy Kacer's Middle Grade Novel Reveals Famous Mime Marcel Marceau as a WWII Hero

Kathy Kacer's books for young readers are not only great stories packed with memorable characters - they also serve the valuable purpose of educating readers about the Holocaust. As the daughter of two ...

Writer at Work: Where I’m Writing From (On Dionne Brand, Black Earth Rising, and Writing with “Love”)

Books that change us challenge us and console us. They break our hearts, they make us think, but most of all, they make us see people as people. Aside from being a generalized and sentimental statement ...

Joel Adam Struthers' Memoir Offers a Fascinating, Myth-Busting Account of the French Foreign Legion

The French Foreign Legion, a branch of the French army, is one of the most famous military organizations in the world. Joel Adam Struthers tells his story of six years as a legionnaire (and more specifically ...

How Twitter Transformed My Writing Life

“Ugh, I’m on Twitter and I hate it,” I remember telling a friend and fellow writer at her birthday party last year.The room was full of writers and the conversation had somehow shifted to talk about ...

Contest! Win a Monsters and Mayhem Prize Pack from Porcupine's Quill

From ravenous monsters and urban wildlife to fantastical worlds and remarkable lives, independent Ontario publisher Porcupine's Quill has books that capture the wild creativity of Canadian writers. Now ...

Excerpt! Michael Hutchinson's Young, Indigenous Adventurers are Irresistibly Fun in The Case of Windy Lake

Michael Hutchinson has worked as a journalist and communications professional, a television host for APTN (The Aboriginal Peoples Television Network), and now works at the Assembly of First Nations in ...

Antanas Sileika on Writing the "James Bond of Lithuania" in his Compelling New Historical Novel, Provisionally Yours

At the opening of Antanas Sileika's Provisionally Yours (Biblioasis), Justas Adamonis is returning to his hometown. It's not a simple and happy homecoming though - Justas is a former counterintelligence ...

Excerpt! From Michael McCreary's Witty & Educational Debut About Life on the Spectrum: Funny, You Don't Look Autistic

Comedian Michael McCreary's Funny, You Don’t Look Autistic: A Comedian’s Guide to Life on the Spectrum (Annick Press) takes on stereotypes about autism with wit and heart. Explaining how Autism Spectrum ...