Columnists

How Writing a Grant App Can Make You a New Person

This month I broke down while revisiting the statement for my Research and Creation grant app with the Canada Council for the Arts. I cried because I saw – for what felt like the first time in a while ...

Book Therapy: Satellite Love

“I think my favourite thing about humans was how they couldn’t fathom the thought of being alone.”—Genki Ferguson, Satellite Love My birthday is in April and I’ll admit I’ve never been very ...

Speaking Your Story into Existence

Over the winter I was part of two separate online writing residencies through the Banff Centre. Each cohort involved wonderfully talented writers from across the land, sharing their stories, truths, and ...

The Writing Moment with Natasha Ramoutar's Bittersweet

Welcome to “The Writing Moment with . . .”!In this series of craft-focused columns, I will explore a wide range of works, topics, and interests that inspire me with the hope of inspiring you. I will ...

The Chaos of Creation and Why I Chase the Rupture Point

When I write, it feels like I am on the inside of a spinning wheel that never stops. The wheel lets itself loose from the chassis and throws itself, willingly, down the hillside. The after effects of ...

Book Therapy: In Praise of Retreat

“Chosen solitude is about agency, self-reliance and gaining clarity.When the churning mind-waters settle, I can begin to dip into the wellspring of my life.If I stay quiet long enough, I begin to forget ...

Zoom Class: Omar El Akkad and the Challenges of Writing Resistance

Sometimes there are Zoom meetings that can break you. Last week it took me five days to recover from the nausea, headaches, and light sensitivity caused by one single day of back-to-back virtual meetings. ...

On Giving Myself Permission Not to Write

I know I have to write it. The essay I’ve been trying to write for a year and a half.I will be in the grocery store or out in the muck of a hike dripping with sweat and a sentence of it will come to ...

BookTok: Shaping a Generation of Readers

Open Book and Word on the Street have partnered this year to bring new and innovative content to our readers and patrons. In an effort to share the ideas and experiences of a wider range of people in ...

Grinding Out a New Novel

Writing a novel is a grind. It’s an arduous, meticulous, and often repetitive process that can take years. There’s the actual typing of words onto the page, and then come the edits and rewrites, which ...