Lucky Seven InterviewTag

David Goutor on Mining Family History to Write an Extraordinary Winnipeg Man's Fight Against Fascism

In 1936, a German man living in Winnipeg was following the inexorable march of Franco's armies towards Madrid. Hans Ibing recognized the significance of the Spanish Civil War in the struggle against ...

D. Nandi Odhiambo on Writing Violence, Authentic Choices, & Radical Doubt in His New Novel

In D. Nandi Odhiambo's Smells Like Stars (Book*hug), a diverse and vibrant cast of characters struggles with change, each in their own way. Journalist Kerstin Ostheim and freelance photographer P.J. ...

Karl Kessler & Sunshine Chen Honour Waterloo's Vanishing Trades with Stunning Portraits in Overtime

From shoemakers to sign painters, felt workers to glove cutters, there are countless skilled, traditional trades and jobs that are slowing disappearing from our increasingly mechanized existence. With ...

Kim Trainor on Capturing Both a Tattooed Iron Age Woman & Modern Day Trauma in Her Book Length Poem

In 1993, a Russian scientist discovered the mummified remains of an Iron Age Pazyryk woman. She was covered in tattoos and buried with great ceremony. During the complex and difficult excavation, the ...

"The Black Lives Matter Movement has its Roots in this Historical Moment" David Austin on his Book Exploring the 1968 Congress of Black Writers

2018 marks the 50th anniversary of the Congress of Black Writers, which took place in Montreal. To mark this year's milestone anniversary, David Austin has brought that historic gathering to life in Moving ...

"A Rough and Guttural Music" Adrian Michael Kelly on Writing His Short Story Collection, The Ambassador of What

13 years ago, Adrian Michael Kelly published his Alberta Book Award-nominated first novel, Down Sterling Road, with Coach House Books. Both readers and author expected more would follow soon, but ...

Aparna Kaji Shah on Writing Strong Women, the Importance of Writer Friends, & the Timeless Value of Middlemarch

The title of Aparna Kaji Shah's The Scent of Mogra (Inanna Publications) refers to species of flowering jasmine, a beautiful and fragrant plant cultivated in South and Southeast Asia. It gives a nod ...

"I Could Only Find the Answer as I Wrote" Mina Athanassious on His Collection of Coptic Egyptian Coming of Age Stories

Mina Athanassious's A Face Like the Moon (Mosaic Press) gathers eight deeply personal stories of Coptic children growing up in Egypt, including a story set in the largely-Coptic neighbourhood where the ...

Shauntay Grant Brings an Important Chapter of Black Canadian History to the Page for Children

Africville was once a vibrant community in Halifax. For over 150 years, it was home to Black Nova Scotians. Due to neglect and targeting by the city government however, the community eventually shuttered ...

"The Words Felt Right and Honest" Deep Underwater author Irene Luxbacher on Finding Her Way Through Tough Times with Writing

Irene Luxbacher's Deep Underwater (Groundwood Books) calls out to the wild imagination of young readers, those years when we were sure we could find mermaids, adventures, and secrets, if we could just ...