Ontario book news, interviews and more

Contest! Enter to Win Wolsak & Wynn's Powerful Women Prize Pack!

Indie powerhouse press Wolsak & Wynn has a an amazing group of powerful women writers in their Spring 2019 season, and they're kindly offering to share the wealth. You can enter for a chance to win ...

"For Me, Voice is Everything" Talking with Michael Libling About Writing, Advice, & His Debut Novel, Hollywood North

Michael Libling's Hollywood North: A Novel in Six Reels (Chizine Publications) mines the rich - and largely unknown - history of a surprising Canadian film hotspot: Trenton, Ontario.Dark, smart, and ...

Songwriter Dayna Manning Opens Up About Music, Change, & Connection in Her First Memoir

As a singer, songwriter, producer, and sound engineer, Dayna Manning is a musical talent on several fronts. Honoured with nominations for a Juno Prize and the Polaris Prize (as part of her folk trio, ...

What We Owe To One Another

In the immediate few weeks and months after the Festival of Literary Diversity (FOLD) takes place in Brampton each May, I’m always struck by a strange feeling, something that’s equal parts euphoria, ...

Read an Excerpt from Hassan Ghedi Santur's Powerful Second Novel, The Youth of God

Journalist and author Hassan Ghedi Santur's second novel, The Youth of God (Mawenzi House), is a moving portrait of a young man caught between two worlds. Nuur is 17-years old, whip-smart, and at a ...

Behind the Title: "Frying Plantain"

This is my last post for Open Book and I’ve been thinking about how I should end my June tenure as Writer in Residence. I landed on writing about the title of my book. I’ve been asked a few times ...

Navigating Microaggressions as a Black Writer in CanLit

Story time! Yesterday evening, I had the pleasure of doing a talk with the wonderful and talented Olive Senior and I was excited because it was held in the same neighbourhood where my protagonist, Kara, ...

On Hanging Laundry

I have an obsession with laundry hung on lines. The image literally stops me in my tracks. There’s so much thought put into the way the sleeves of shirts are pinned just close enough to the hem of a ...

"I Wanted to Show What an Ongoing Juggling Act It All Is" Lisa de Nikolits on Her Writer for a Year Video Series

Plenty of writers, emerging and established, have questions about how to handle the professional aspects of the writing life. How to approach social media? Are festivals important? What about reviews? ...

"For Me, Everything That Isn’t Asphalt and Concrete is Part of the Urban Forest" Read an Excerpt from Treed by Ariel Gordon

A walk in the woods is a deceptively simple thing. From the complex ecosystems we pass to the psychological effects of spending time in a natural setting, our simple walks can be something fascinating ...