Ontario book news, interviews and more

Bringing It All Back Home

As I write this, I am sitting outside in the backyard of a rowhouse in Toronto’s East End. The wind is stirring the leaves of a big maple tree spreading its branches high above me, and stirring the ...

Philipp Schott on Weaving Together Iceland, Ostriches, and ASD in His Newest Mystery Romp

After a long period of dominance by dark and gory Scandi-style titles, the mystery genre seems to be spreading some love to less grim aesthetics, as book lovers twig to the pleasure of reading tightly ...

Liem, McDonald, & Hernández-Ramdwar: 3 WOTS Guest Authors on What They're Reading at the Festival & Why

This weekend, The Word on the Street will take over Queen's Park in Toronto to bring together over 100 writers and creators for two full days of literary celebrations. There will be panel discussions, ...

On Writing in Longhand

I have bad handwriting. I always have. I remember as a child being put through the terrible paces of the Canadian Penmanship books at school, which were intended to teach us to write in cursive (one of ...

SJ Okemow on Her Heartwarming Debut Picture Book's Unconventional Path to Publication

The humble dandelion rarely gets much love, often cited as a nuisance weed that spreads easily and takes over. But the hardy little plant has many lessons to teach us, and in SJ Okemow's Âmî Osâwâpikones (Annick ...

The Word on the Street's Sienna Tristen on Programming 100+ Writers to Create an In-Person Version of Bookstagram & BookTok

The Word on the Street returns to Toronto this weekend, May 27 and 28, for their second year back in Queen's Park after a long absence. The two-day schedule is packed with programming that would make ...

Dessert

Outside my window are two strands of spidersilk, about five inches apart, both slanting downwards from left to right at a sharp angle. They move semi-independently in the slight morning breeze, almost ...

The Joys and Challenges of Writing for Adults AND for Kids

I’ve had May 2 circled on my calendar for months and months—it marks the pub date of my debut picture book, Dear Street. As the launch approaches, I’ve been thinking about how different the processes ...

Sandra V. Feder & Rahele Jomepour Bell on Creating a Picture Book that Celebrates Finding Peace Within

Anyone who spends time with children knows that when it comes to kids, the feelings are big. Happiness, sadness, anger – it's all magnified, and it's not always easy to navigate. Writer Sandra V. ...

D.M. Bradford on Translating Nicholas Dawson's Stunning Poetry Collection, House Within a House

Nicholas Dawson's Désormais, ma demeure (Triptyque, 2020) was received as a powerful and authentic exploration of depression when it was published, and it became one of the most decorated French-language ...