Ontario book news, interviews and more

The 2024 Griffin Poetry Prize Shortlist Has Been Set

Today, the Griffin Poetry Prize announced its 2024 shortlist. With the previous international and Canadian awards combined into one, the Griffin Prize has become the biggest poetry award in the world, ...

Danila Botha's New Short Story Collection Makes Us Laugh, Cry, and Feel Less Alone

The best short story writers often show an unmatched precision in their work, finding ways to illuminate truths about the world with economy and elegance. They carefully observe the characters, places, ...

Melanie Marttila Shows the Reader How She Moves Through the World in The Art of Floating

Inspired by the natural world and landscapes of northeastern and southwestern Ontario, and by personal, intimate moments in a person's life, Melanie Marttila has written a new collection of poems that ...

Adam Pottle Takes Us Behind the Curtain of the World's First Deaf Musical

Searching for more fantasy and escapism in modern theatre, acclaimed author and playwright Adam Pottle paired his love of genre work with the power of music, using the medium as more than just a listening ...

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 ...

Read an Excerpt from Summer in Furnished Rooms by Marc Plourde

People and places may come and go in our lives, but their imprint lasts long, and can sometimes linger and evolve in peculiar and interesting ways. In the new collection Summer in Furnished Rooms (Cormorant ...

Marc Perez Follows the Paths of Strangers and Wanderers in Dayo

Identity, language, and self are all at play in Dayo (Brick Books), the new collection of poetry from Marc Perez. It's a striking debut from the author, and one that explores what it truly means to ...

Ellen Chang-Richardson Confronts the Past and Perseveres in Their Debut Poetry Collection

While an author may carry scars from the past, and from wrongs done to their family and ancestors, they are not always visible or clear. Sometimes, they even become so familiar that the author finds them ...

"Try to Enjoy the Small Moments of Magic" - Kate Hilton and Elizabeth Renzetti Talk About a Writing Life and Their New Mystery Novel, Bury the Lead

In Bury the Lead (House of Anansi Press), mystery abounds when big city journalist Cat Conway moves to a small town in cottage country, and begins to uncover secrets lurking below the surface in the ...

The Collected Essays in Work to be Done Share Remarkable Insights Into Fifty-Years of Literary Criticism and Analysis

Bruce Whiteman is an accomplished poet, translator, and scholar who has shown a vast scope of knowledge over his literary career. His essays have been published far and wide, and have provided valuable ...