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May 24, 2018"The Human Endocrine System Represents a Kind of Poetics" Adam Dickinson on his Poetic, Chemical Autobiography
Adam Dickinson's cerebral and innovative poetry has garnered him honours including nominations for the Governor General's Literary Award for Poetry, the Trillium Book Award for Poetry, and the ReLit ...
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May 31, 2016Writing What’s Closest to Home
Last year, when I turned in the first draft of a memoir on rape trauma, my editor had a pretty reasonable observation. Despite divulging various details of violation, illness, and the path to getting ...
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November 26, 2025Charlie Petch's INFINITE AUDITION is an Unpredictable, Theatrical Poetic Tour de Force
Our featured title today comes from Charlie Petch, a celebrated artist who explores transmasculine and disabled perspectives in their writing. Their work invites readers to engage with art that refuses ...
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July 10, 2015On Sports and Writing
Years ago, when applying to MFA Programs, I was asked for a personal essay about my writing and writing influences. Without a shred of irony I stated that my earliest literary influences were televangelists ...
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April 05, 2025Every Ingredient in Our Ancestors' Kitchen by Willie Poll Thrums With Meaning and Tradition
Métis activist and storyteller Willie Poll has deep connections to her community and traditions, all of which is on full display in a beautiful new picture book from the author. Poll's poetic voice ...
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February 22, 2022Monique Polak on Helping Kids Find Themselves While Exploring Parental Alienation in Her New Middle Grade Book
Everything in Justine's world has changed since her parents got divorced. She and her little sister Bea travel across Montreal from one house to the other, living two lives. But when Justine's mother ...
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May 03, 2009
Our Town, 2009 Edition
Come the goodweather folks inthis Portuguese-Italian neighbourhoodhang their clothesout to dryso stirring linesof laundryin the breezeare a sure signit’s warming up.Come fill the cupthe poet said…Of ...
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April 28, 2014
Shake It Up
Range is something to aim for – a poet’s ability to go multiple, whistle one minute, moan the next. Sound like a basset hound, then go for a high-pitched squawk of geese. Try tender, then bold; try ...
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February 14, 2022
Valentine's Day! (and one or two other things I don't really like)
Hello, Open Book reader. Glad to have you back. So…remember that promise I made early on to curb the sass mouth? Well, apologies in advance because I’m breaking that promise today. Originally, I wasn’t ...
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March 25, 2025Author Ella Russell Shows Why Respecting Boundaries is Important in Hugs Are (Not) for Everybody!
Young people today have plenty to contend with in terms of their social education, and it is heartening to see that they are encouraged to be aware of their own space and autonomy. And, there are excellent, ...
