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March 28, 2019Writer at Work: “Identity is a pain in the arse” (On Zadie Smith)
Last month, Zadie Smith said: "identity is a pain in the arse." She said this at a festival in the context of a discussion about identity politics and her (white) partner, Nick Laird. Here's a snippet ...
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September 07, 2015A Piece of Fiction Is a Piece of Consciousness– a Conversation with Dr. Keith Oately
This summer, I pestered Dr. Keith Oately. He’s a Professor of Cognitive Science at the University of Toronto, and the author of three novels and many works of non-fiction. He’s specialized in, among ...
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November 26, 2022
Ask Jane (Agony Aunt)
Hi, I’m Jane, and I’m the protagonist of Helen’s novel, Pull Focus. I’m taking over the blog today to answer questions readers may about me, or the book, or anything else. What’s an Agony ...
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July 25, 2019"Something in That Moment Inspired Me" Writer & Artist Scot Ritchie on Finding His Newest Story in a Beloved Berlin Park
Vancouver-based author and illustrator Scot Ritchie has published a staggering 60-plus books for young readers, many of which are beloved titles in households across Canada, including favourites like Let's ...
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December 06, 2016The 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 04, 2017"What's Your Story?" Final Instalment of the 2017 Obpo Writing Contest Winners: Etobicoke
Today we're proud to present the winners from the final instalment of the Ontario Book Publishers Organization's and Arts Etobicoke's What's Your Story? writing contest. Our final region this year, ...
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September 06, 2017
Unsung Heroes of Literature: Interview with a Semicolon
On Semicolon’s suggestion, we agreed to meet at Future Bakery, a coffee house at the corner of Bloor and Brunswick in downtown Toronto. The location was surprisingly humble, a place where third-year ...
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September 18, 2017The Word on the Street interview with comedian Shawn Hitchins
It's nearly time for The Word on the Street! We're continuing our series in celebration of the festival, talking to some of the talented authors from the Vibrant Voices tent.Today we chat with Shawn ...
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October 04, 2017Gillian Wigmore on Creating Characters from Her Road Not Travelled
Newlyweds arriving in a strange and remote small town makes for a classic, foreboding opener to a story. But Gillian Wigmore's Glory (Invisible Publishing) is like nothing readers have seen before, taking ...
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March 25, 2018
There's a lot to be said for not knowing what you're doing.
I’ve been writing professionally for nearly 40 years now, across a variety of media, and even now, every time I start a new project, it’s as if I’ve never written anything before in my life. I generally ...