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May 04, 2023Emily Osborne on Weaving Together Translations of Old Norse Skaldic Poetry with Personal Lyrics in Her Bold Debut
Sometimes in discussing poetry, there is an idea that a collection must swing towards either the personal and emotive, creating powerful connections with readers in that vein, or towards a more form-focused ...
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May 08, 2024In Crazy / Mad, AJ Dolman Challenges Poetic and Societal Norms, and Offers Hope
In this day and age, mental health, gender, sexuality, and other important social issues are acknowledged more than they were in the past. However, there is often little truly honest engagement with the ...
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June 17, 2016Revenge of the Indie Bookstore
In 2014, when I began booking my Crushes and Mountains US book tour with fellow Toronto-based writer Elisha Lim, I Googled “gay bookstore” or “independent bookstore” in cities we were planning ...
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May 02, 2014Words & Curds: Jonas T. Bengtsson, Author of a Fairy Tale
On April 16, I met with Danish author Jonas T. Bengtsson, whose newest English translation, A Fairy Tale, has just been published by House of Anansi. He was in town for the IFOA Weekly readings. We visited ...
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January 16, 2017Canadian Melancholy
During the nineties, barely out of teenagehood, I walked up to the run-down apartment building in Cabbagetown where Seth lived. I rang the bell and when he answered, in shirt sleeves and suspenders naturally, ...
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September 08, 2014On the Handmade (Part 3): Q&A with Jennifer Still
(Part 3 of 3. I'm reposting the introductory text from Post 1 to set up the context for Jennifer Still's response.)It’s been said that the hand-written letter is becoming lost to us, or that for many ...
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April 12, 2016Why Don’t We Take Sports Writing Seriously?
In February of last year, Canadian Notes and Queries publisher Dan Wells kindly approached me with a question. “Brainstorming a games issue of CNQ,” he wrote in an email. “Wondered if you might ...
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June 02, 2022Janet Calcaterra on Crafting a Powerfully Intimate Novel Exploring the Legacy of War and Secrets
The myths and silences that grow up around family secrets can be like knots – tightening, fraying, and tangling over time until they seem impossible to unravel. In Janet Calcaterra's riveting family ...
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May 10, 2022Genres You Didn’t Learn About in Kidlit 101
One of the most formative experiences in my development as a writer was working in a bookstore. For four glorious years I was the manager of the award-winning, much beloved Flying Dragon Bookshop in Toronto. ...
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February 18, 2021Fired Up About Consent Author Sarah Ratchford on the Books That Brought Them Tears, Lessons, & Laughter
The rallying cry often heard in conversations about consent is the simple truth: consent isn't just sexy—it's mandatory.And it's a topic that we're finally discussing with young people, with the hope ...
