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June 25, 2023
The Rule of Three
I read somewhere once that a writer will always write three versions of their book: one for themselves, one for the professional reader, and one for the public reader. Knowing this has changed my life ...
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October 22, 2018
Uncomfortable Questions
One of the most common questions any writer from a marginalized background gets is “who did you write this for?” A variation of that is “what audience did you have in mind when you wrote this?” ...
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April 26, 2021
Red Light, Green Light: how to actually listen to your body while writing
It’s the last week of Careful Inventory! I’m very grateful to Open Book for all the time they have afforded to me in this residency. Today is the penultimate post, building on last Friday’s piece, ...
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June 13, 2024
Ho Ka Kei (Jeff Ho) Tells a Story of Survival and Being in cockroach (曱甴)
After inspiration struck, Ho Ka Kei (Jeff Ho) took to his phone in the night and spoke the monologue for what would become cockroach (曱甴) (Playwrights Canada Press). The result was a thought-provoking ...
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October 19, 2021
"A Distinctive Voice" Editor Russell Smith on Dundurn Press's New Rare Machines Imprint
Dundurn Press has been a mainstay of the Canadian publishing landscape for almost fifty years, founded in the 1972 by Kirk Howard, who went on to serve as the press's longtime publisher as Dundurn expanded ...
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September 05, 2024
An Ex-Christian Bisexual Hooker Goes Through Trials and Tribulations in Angel B.H.'s Powerfully Honest Debut Novel, All Hookers Go to Heaven
After a number of false starts in her writing, debut novelist Angel B.H. finally decided to simplify and focus on short fiction, aiming to write a series of stories with themes that were constant in ...
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February 26, 2021
LOVE IN THE TIME OF COVID: The writing process Part 8 of 9
What happens when the unexpected occurs. As a writer, I like to throw unexpected elements in when things seem to be progressing smoothly. The same way I don’t conceive of a beginning or middle before ...
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April 08, 2021
The void gazes back: online safety for poets
Welcome back, emerging poets and friends! It’s time to talk about that place where we spend approximately 39 hours a day. This first official post of Careful Inventory is about online safety because ...
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April 10, 2021
Raise your shields: performance boundaries for poets
Thanks so much to everyone who reached out to say that Thursday’s post resonated with you. Today we’re building on our poet boundaries by extending them from the Internet to the stage—before, during, ...
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April 10, 2019
Ian Thomas Shaw on Drawing on his Work and Travel in the Middle East to Write His Debut Novel
Ian Thomas Shaw's debut novel, Quill of the Dove (Guernica Editions), follows French journalist Marc Taragon, a seasoned pro who has been reporting on and from the Middle East for decades. Just as he ...