Search
-
October 20, 2022Gary Barwin on Form, Social Media, and the "Epistemological Hijinks of Poems"
Known for his humour, creativity, and general up-ending of the peskily staid CanLit stereotype, poet and fiction writer Gary Barwin shows no signs of slowing down with 26 books to his name. His newest, ...
-
April 06, 2017
Kid Lit Can: Personal "Firsts" In Kid Lit, Part One
My Time To series of three board books– Nap Time, Play Time, and Bath Time – are being published this September. This signifies two “firsts” for me – first board books ever, and first time ever ...
-
December 19, 2023Mumbi Tindyebwa Otu on Collecting 21 Answers to the Question "What is the Future of Blackness?"
In 21 Black Futures: The Anthology, Obsidian Theatre, Canada's leading theatre for Black art, imagines the future of Blackness. Gathering 21 of the country's most talented writers, the anthology collects ...
-
June 30, 2019Behind the Title: "Frying Plantain"
This is my last post for Open Book and I’ve been thinking about how I should end my June tenure as Writer in Residence. I landed on writing about the title of my book. I’ve been asked a few times ...
-
March 23, 2020On Road Maps
Before beginning a project, is it worthwhile to do a detailed outline? Or is it preferable just to dive in? I’ve tried both approaches. In writing my first novel, After the Bloom, I outlined extensively. ...
-
January 24, 2017On Writing, with Monia Mazigh
Monia Mazigh's Hope Has Two Daughters (translated by Fred A. Reed from its original French) is a powerful family story that covers not one but two revolutionary periods in Tunisian history. When Nadia ...
-
April 26, 2010Canadians in New York: The Chelsea Hotel
Despite parboiling myself in the shower a few times I began to like the hotel, or at least some of the residents, or denizens as some liked to call themselves. You could get high in the elevators on the ...
-
March 09, 2016Kid Lit Can, with Susan Hughes: Sex, and Drugs, and Rock and Roll: Writing Edgy Ya (Part 2)
They’ve written about it all: drugs, gambling, sexual harassment, suicide, sexual abuse, physical abuse, cutting, death, sex, drugs, body image issues, bullying, STDs, abduction...Today I continue my ...
-
August 05, 2016The Lucky Seven Interview, with Eve Zaremba
The Toronto Women’s Bookstore, Interval House, Rape Crisis Centres, and Broadside: A Feminist Review — Eve Zaremba's legacy for women in Toronto and beyond is so far-reaching it's hard to summarize. ...
-
August 17, 20226 Tips for Effective School Visits
With September fast approaching, it’s time for children’s authors to start thinking about school presentations. School visits can be a great way to connect with your audience, promote your work, and ...
