Columnists

Perfect Gifts for Writers

Tis the season to ask the most pressing of all questions: What is the perfect gift for the writer in your life? Books? Pens? Journals? A six-figure book deal: (Note: we all want the latter!)Authors Farzana ...

Writing Lessons from Joni Mitchell

I often look to books for inspiration, but I just got back from seeing Joni Mitchell play in L.A., and as I was sitting at the Hollywood Bowl, with the moon rising over the hills, I realized how much ...

Grant Writing 101: How to Write a Final Report

You got a grant, YAY! But now it’s time to write your final report. I’ve heard from so many artists panicking about writing them, but I promise, there’s no need to panic!Final reports are a way ...

The Magic of Letter Writing

Summer challenge: Write a letter to your favourite authorWhen I was in Grade 3, I loved Jean Little’s books. So I did what I always do: I wrote her a letter. I told her all of my favourite things about ...

Mentorship: Part II - Author Roundtable

After chatting with Rudrapriya Rathore, the founder and manager of the Flying Books Mentorship Program about the value of having a mentor, I turned to fellow authors to chat about what mentorship has ...

Mentorship: Part I

I’m deep in the weeds on a WIP and have been struggling to figure out what it needs, and what I need to get it to where it needs to be. My writing group is amazing, and I’m so grateful to my beta ...

Grant Writing 101: Changes to Canada Council Grants

There are changes at the Canada Council! They were posted without any fanfare or public announcement, but the Canada Council for the Arts has made some significant changes to their granting programs.  DeadlinesThere ...

An Ode to Writing Research

I have realized that second only to holding a bound book in my hands, my favourite part of writing a book is the research. I love choosing worlds that I don’t know much about—rare books libraries, ...

Interdisciplinary collaboration: The highlight of my writing year

Writing can be lonely—we hear that all the time. And though I generally love working alone, this year, I’ve been working with a dancer friend on a collaborative process and it’s been one of the ...

Grant writing 101: Writing a budget

Writing a grant budget can be daunting, but I promise it doesn’t have to be! Many writing grants don’t even require budgets (TAC and OAC!), but some grants, including the Canada Council for the Arts ...