Ontario book news, interviews and more

Daddy Writer To Be – The Gift of Surrogacy

Tarn and I always shared the same dream: we wanted to have a baby and start a family together. We come from two different religions and cultures. I am Iraqi Muslim while Tarn is Punjabi Sikh. While these ...

Daddy Writer To Be – Writing for Children

For many years, I had a dream to write a children’s book. My passion of becoming a father inspired me to write a children’s book.    As a child who questioned their own gender identity, I wanted ...

"There's a Moment When Everything's Heightened" Marlene Cookshaw on the Synchronicity and Bliss of Poetry

Marlene Cookshaw's new poetry collection Mowing (Brick Books), her first in over ten years, was worth the wait. Focused on themes of harvest, both literal and figurative, it's a meditative, beautiful ...

Cat Lovers Will Go Wild for John Spray & Mies van Hout's Playful & Gorgeous New Picture Book, What Cats Think

Have you ever looked at your cat as they push the remote off the coffee table for the hundredth time and wondered just how their minds work? John Spray's new picture book text, based on the illustrations ...

Contest! Win Poetry by Maureen Hynes and Marlene Cookshaw with Brick Books' Time and Talismans Giveaway

This fall, Brick Books has new collections from two of CanLit's most vibrant poetic voices, Marlene Cookshaw (Mowing) and Maureen Hynes (Sotto Voce).To celebrate, Brick is giving away a prize pack of ...

Daddy Writer To be – Love at First Tarn

The older I got, especially when I started going to Simon Fraser University, the less I was interested in writing horror stories. As I was contemplating my own sexuality and identity, my stories shifted ...

Read an Excerpt from Deborah Ellis' My Story Starts Here, where Young Offenders are Given Space to Speak

For many younger offenders, the first step off the accepted path represents a turning point; a crossroads where their futures hang in the balance. With intersectional pressures often including poverty, ...

"Delight & Surprise Have to Carry Through a Whole Poem" Chris Banks on His Process, the Poem He Reads Daily, & His Beautiful Losers

Waterloo-based poet Chris Banks' fifth collection, Midlife Action Figure (ECW Press) is uncommonly fun, with Banks' playfulness on full display in lines like his comparison of time and memory to "a ...

Governor General's Literary Awards Shortlists Announced, Featuring Big Honours for Small Presses

The Governor General's Literary Awards (or "the GGs", as they're affectionately known) are some of the longest running book prizes in the country. Established in 1936, the prizes, which each year award ...

Daddy Writer To Be – Introduction

Hi everyone. My name is Hasan Namir. I’m the author of God in Pink (Arsenal Pulp Press) and poetry book War/Torn (Book*Hug Press).First, I want to express my gratitude to Open Book for inviting me ...