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June 22, 2018
Mentors & Allies 1: Jen Sookfong Lee
Jen Sookfong Lee told me to write a novel. No, wait. I tried to pass off a book-in-progress as a book of short stories and she said it felt more like a novel. I think that was a nice way of saying, Chelene, ...
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May 29, 2019
John Elizabeth Stintzi Wins 25th Annual RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers
Bronwen Wallace Award winner John Elizabeth Stintzi (right) with event host and CBC personality Shelagh RogersYesterday evening in Toronto, John Elizabeth Stintzi was named the 25th winner of the Writers' ...
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June 30, 2019
Behind 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 ...
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April 19, 2019
The “Place” of Poetry and the Brain's GPS
And so in poetry we again come around to the notion of “place” – a map composed in the size of the world.Poetry explores, pulling itself through the filter and modifying axis of the brain adapting ...
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August 08, 2020
A sentence & a breath
You want to write a book. Terrific! You've thought about this for years. In fact, whenever you tell your stories, people always say, you should write a book. And they’re right! You should. There’s ...
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July 19, 2015
At the Start of a New Creative Writing Class
I’m about to teach a new class, “Writing That Resonates,” starting tomorrow at Haliburton School of the Arts and, as happens each time, I pause.The students in the room will be diverse. Some will ...
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September 18, 2020
CBC Books Announces 35-Writer Nonfiction Prize Longlist, including Kevin Chong & Adrienne Gruber
Yesterday CBC Books announced a whopping 35-writer longlist for the CBC Nonfiction Prize. One of three literary awards run by CBC (in addition to a poetry and a short fiction award), it's one of the ...
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September 03, 2020
How To Become That Kind of Bitch (or, One-Night Stands and New Selves)
Before the pandemic, I had a one-night stand with a person I met at a rave, Tyler. The morning after we slept together, I was buttering my toast and he began to ask probing questions about my life and ...
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June 16, 2020
The School Library - Why It Matters More Than Ever
School libraries, now sometimes called Information Centres, have been getting short shrift in the last decade or so. Budgets have been slashed, staff hours cut and distributed among multiple locations, ...
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September 02, 2021
Reintroducing Poplar Press!
Here's some exciting news from OBPO member, Wolsak and Wynn, as they open up a new imprint for the press. The details are below, in their official release:Wolsak and Wynn is happy to announce that long-time ...