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September 11, 2021
On Anabiosis and Mosses Helping with Sleep
On Wednesday, on the way to the river, I stopped in my tracks, struck by the moss habitat on a birch tree on the bank. It is a twinned paper birch — with one dead trunk snapped off about two meters ...
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April 29, 2016On Back and Forth
Much like how poetry and fiction can give perspective on inner dialogue—the stuff of conscious thought—and how it works, interviews can be displays of outer thought—the stuff of collaboration and ...
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June 03, 2022On Becoming an Acquiring Editor
For thirty years I was on the other side of the desk: submitting books to editors who didn’t reply or who took six months to reply, who replied with no-thank-you formulae, or who replied with suggestions ...
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April 30, 2015
On Blogging, Accompaniment, and Gratitude
This has been an interesting April of blogging for me. While I read blogs, I’ve never myself blogged before. It was more difficult than I’d anticipated, and more enjoyable. What I so value in the ...
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March 09, 2020On Book Collecting
My favourite place to write is lying on an overstuffed grey sofa, in what was once our attic. My propped-up knees, with a firm cushion over top, form a kind of makeshift desk, on which my notebook perches. ...
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September 27, 2019On Building a House
When I was a young girl throwing myself into books, I I remember how I used to pull random books from library shelves without concern about what the book was about or who wrote it. I ran my hands down ...
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February 19, 2019On Burnout
I’ve finished my first book. I’ve done the writing, the rewriting, the editing, more rewriting, the copy editing, the fact checking… I think you get the point. It was a lot of work. But now I’m ...
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June 18, 2015On Buttery Butter, Compress to Impress, Less Is More, Etc.
To indicate her displeasure with overwritten sentences, my grandmother used the phrase "buttery butter." What she meant by it was this: if you write "butter" it’s clear already what you’re talking ...
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August 31, 2012On Editing, with Anita Chong
On Editing is our newest interview series at Open Book, giving us the chance to speak to the great editors who help writers shape their work into the very best version of itself.Today we're pleased to ...
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April 07, 2016On Fallout: an Interview with Michael Lista About "the Shock Absorber"
Please note the views and opinions expressed by writers in the Open Book writer-in-residence program are the authors' own and do not necessarily reflect those of Open Book, its staff or contributors__________________________________________________________________________When ...