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May 12, 2014
Acknowledgements: John Dejesus, Production
Book publishing, as an industry, is not unlike a Jenga tower held together by sheer force of will. If the industry works at all, it's only because many dedicated and diligent people work or little reward ...
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June 26, 2024
Read an Excerpt from Fungal: Foraging in the Urban Forest by Ariel Gordon
Though many of us live in urban surroundings, and may well be caught up in all of the concrete, glass, and metals that make up our neighbourhoods and streets, the natural world is always there, beneath ...
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May 20, 2021
Read an Excerpt from Philippa Dowding's Firefly, the Story of a Young Girl Finding Herself through Costumes After Family Trauma
Philippa Dowding has a special knack for exploring tough issues in her kids' books without sacrificing storytelling and imagination. She meets kids and teens where they are to tell fascinating and often ...
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May 20, 2016
The Long Odds
I used to keep a Word document detailing where I'd sent what. Now it's a Google spreadsheet, colour coded, sortable. It lists the titles of completed stories and their word counts, tells me where I sent ...
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May 31, 2014
So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Goodbye
This marks my last post as Open Book Toronto's writer-in-residence, and I want to thank everyone for their support this past month. Everyone has been extremely kind – both those authors, artists, and ...
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July 19, 2016
The Lucky Seven Interview, with James Bartleman
Former lieutenant governor of Ontario James Bartleman's life has been an inspiration to many. From early childhood poverty to his rapid rise as a diplomat and eventually to the province's highest honour, ...
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March 24, 2017
Why "Crazy" People Make Great Writers
A few years back The Naked Heart Festival, an LGBT festival of words, invited me to speak on a panel about writing and mental health. My second novel, Holding Still for as Long as Possible, is partially ...
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December 06, 2016
The Proust Questionnaire, with Bruce Meyer
Countless Canadian writers have created memorable characters in the pages of their books, but in Bruce Meyer's Portraits of Canadian Writers (Porcupine's Quill), the writers are the characters. From ...
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December 01, 2016
Photos! All Your Favourite Authors at the Writers' Trust Gala
The stars of CanLit came out for the Writers' Trust annual fundraising gala last week, and we've got all the glamorous photos to prove it. From publishers to novelists, broadcasters to poets, dozens of ...
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December 14, 2017
Richard Teleky Examines the "Ordinary Paradise" of the Unnoticed Art That Constantly Surrounds Us
Sometimes it is easy to forget we are constantly surrounded by works of art. In postcards and prints, books and movies, home crafts, and songs on the radio, we experience what author Richard Teleky refers ...