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August 01, 2025Electrifying Playwright Erin Shields Flips the Script on Homer and Virgil in RANSACKING TROY
In Ransacking Troy, award-winning playwright Erin Shields flips the script on the Trojan War with a fierce, feminist retelling that gives long-silenced voices the spotlight they deserve. Tired of waiting ...
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April 24, 2017The FOLD 2017: Talking with Guest Author Kamal Al-Solaylee
Author Jael Richardson, in observing the unbalanced lineups at many literary festivals, founded the The Festival of Literary Diversity (The FOLD) to celebrate diverse voices and stories in Canadian ...
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April 30, 2018Robert Chafe on Writing a Play About a Man Who Spent His Life Freeing Things Only to Become Trapped Himself
Governor General's Literary Award winning playwright and author Robert Chafe has made a name for himself with both his acclaimed original plays and fiction and his stunning stage adaptations of works ...
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May 10, 2018Artist and Children's Author Lori Joy Smith on Her Cross-Canada Workspace Evolution
"How do I love thee? Let me count the ways." Ever since Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote those lines, starry eyed lovers everywhere have had a verse to describe their feelings. Riffing on the same idea ...
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January 03, 2019"This Form of Grace Almost Never Happens" Beth Follett in Conversation with Barbara Nichol
Screenwriter, songwriter, and children's book author Barbara Nichol has packed a lot into her writing life, with highlights as varied as being nominated for an Emmy for her Sesame Street special to ...
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January 04, 2017The In Character Interview, with Paul Carlucci
The characters in Paul Carlucci's A Plea for Constant Motion (House of Anansi Press) are not necessarily people you'd want to befriend, but they are not people you'll ever forget. From the damaged to ...
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June 23, 2020
The Male Default in Children's Literature - What It Is and Why It Matters
Perhaps you’ve heard of the Bechdel Test for movies. A film that passes the Bechdel Test must have at least one scene in which two female characters are talking to each other – and not about a man. ...
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August 24, 2017
Revising Your Vomit Draft
Every time I sit down to revise a new picture book (aka vomit draft), I can’t remember how to do it. How can I turn something terrible into something better? How do I make things actually happen in ...
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February 07, 2017
Kid Lit Can: Spotlight on Middle Grade Fiction - Part 1
Happy 2017! This month and next, I’m spotlighting middle-grade (MG) novels -- stories written for readers who are generally within the 7 to 12-year-old age range. I’ve written one MG novel (Island ...
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May 22, 2022
The Reasons I Write
I can think of many reasons why I should not write. The pay is terrible. The hours, though flexible, are insufferably long (i.e., even when I stop doing writing, I am thinking about writing). It can be ...