Ontario book news, interviews and more

Read an Excerpt from Secret Sex, an Anthology of R-Rated Fiction Written Anonymously by CanLit's Finest

24 stories, all of them firmly NSFW, make up the cheeky new collection Secret Sex, edited by Russell Smith (Dundurn Press/Rare Machines). Smith gathered 24 of the most acclaimed authors in the country, ...

CBC Books Announces Canada Reads Shortlist for 2024, with Former Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi Serving as a Panellist

CBC's book competition Canada Reads is returning for 2024 with a new theme. This year, they're looking to crown "one book to carry us forward".The five panellists chose their books from a 15-title longlist. ...

"I Dedicated This Novel to Our Nonhuman Kin" Lydia Kwa on Her New Novel Blending Chinese Myth & a Chilling AI Future

Nearly two hundred years in the future, the half-human, half-fox spirit Yinhe finds herself in her newest incarnation, plunged into Luoyang, a city still reeling after the great cataclysm. The city ...

"We Crave Authentic Stories" Olivia Saunders on Sharing Her Experience Living with Autism with Young Readers

From avoiding sensory overloads to explaining her necessary strategies to friends and teachers, Olivia Saunders' experience of living with autism has impacted her life for more than 18 years. Now, as ...

Shawna Lemay Uses the Still Life Form to Explore Marriage, Beauty, and Time in Her New Essays

The still life is one of visual art's most enduring forms. From Picasso's revolutionary relief constructions to Van Gogh's iconic sunflowers, it is an artistic experiment that has been embraced, reimagined, ...

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, ...

"A Paradigm Shift That Has Become Entirely Normalized" Read an Excerpt from Gary Barwin's Essay Collection, Imagining Imagining

Renaissance man Gary Barwin has exhibited art, written music, and published in virtually every literary genre, to acclaim that has included nominations for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and Governor General's ...

When Life Influences Form

What’s the best form for your next writing project? Often, this is decided by the sort of thing you want to write. Your sprawling epic fantasy idea likely won’t work as a short story, for example. ...

Book Therapy: Favourites From My Favourites

“My eclectic reading habits often lead me through various genres, from memoirs and horror novels to young adult fiction and anything else that I happen to grab. However, I have a particular fondness ...

The Transition to Short Stories (as a poet)

I’ve spent years now honing my craft as a poet. I know how to edit individual poems, as well as to approach and rewrite entire manuscripts. Why did the need to do the same in fiction seem so daunting ...