Ontario book news, interviews and more

For the Love of Dog – Hadley Dyer Creates a Smart, Moving Picture Book to Help Kids Grieve Animal Friends

Veteran children's book editor and writer Hadley Dyer has teamed up with beloved kids book creator Paul Covello (known for his Toronto ABC and Canada ABC, amongst other titles) to create a book ...

Managing a Writing Career and Mental Illness

As someone who's dealt with chronic depression and anxiety for most of my life, I know how difficult it can be to balance mental illness and writing. Sometimes, the thought of working on my latest book ...

"We Neglect the Arts and Stress the Sciences at Our Peril" Max Wyman on Why Arts Education is Both Beneficial & Necessary

When education is viewed as simply a pipeline to creating a skilled labour force, governments often find excuses to hack and slash at anything that could be considered a "frill", including (or at times, ...

Things I Didn’t Know About Residencies

Before 2023, I could barely describe what “residency” meant in the realm of writing and art. A residency felt like it was reserved for someone with more writing experience, more books, and just more ...

Things I Didn’t Know About Residencies

Before 2023, I could barely describe what “residency” meant in the realm of writing and art. A residency felt like it was reserved for someone with more writing experience, more books, and just more ...

Read an Excerpt from Denise Da Costa's And the Walls Came Down, an Absorbing Portrait of East Toronto in the 90s

A diary can be a powerful portal. In Denise Da Costa's And The Walls Came Down (Dundurn Press), Delia Ellis returns to her childhood home in east Toronto, years after making her ways through the trials ...

Read an Excerpt from When It All Syncs Up, Maya Ameyaw's Tale of a Dazzling Black Teen Ballerina

In Maya Ameyaw's new young adult novel, When It All Syncs Up (Annick Press), Aisha seems to have everything going for her. She has a coveted spot in an elite ballet academy, a relentless work ethic, ...

Grant Writing 101: How to write an artist CV

I know the pools are still open, and we’re still subsisting on popsicles and ice cream truck soft serve, but grant season is coming, and no matter what grant you’re applying for, you’ll need an ...

Lucian Childs on Writing a Funny (and Moving) Book about Grief, Trauma, & Queer Coming of Age

Juggling six different points of view and forty years of cultural history would be an impressive feat for a seasoned novelist, but Lucian Childs managed to pull it off—with style, humour, and pathos—in ...

Jean Rae Baxter on Bringing Canadian History to Life in a Captivating Coming of Age Tale

It's hard to imagine anyone asking a 14 year old to strike out on their own now, but in 1837, when Dory Dickson leaves his Niagara home, he's asked to shoulder all of his family's most desperate hopes. ...