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April 24, 2017The FOLD 2017: Talking with Guest Author Kamal Al-Solaylee
Author Jael Richardson, in observing the unbalanced lineups at many literary festivals, founded the The Festival of Literary Diversity (The FOLD) to celebrate diverse voices and stories in Canadian ...
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August 25, 2023Book Launch Season, Part One: Being an Author
In the book world, the arrival of fall usually means the arrival of a whole host of new books to look forward to. And with new books comes book launches, tours, and celebrations—and sometimes it can ...
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November 30, 20237 Ways to Develop Secondary Characters
Many authors do a good job at developing their protagonist or POV characters. After all, readers will be in these characters’ heads throughout an entire book. But as many readers can attest to, sometimes ...
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October 03, 2019Read an Excerpt from Deborah Ellis' My Story Starts Here, where Young Offenders are Given Space to Speak
For many younger offenders, the first step off the accepted path represents a turning point; a crossroads where their futures hang in the balance. With intersectional pressures often including poverty, ...
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August 31, 2018On the future of Canlit
You guys, this is my last Open Book column.I have been writing this column for a year now and I’ll admit I didn’t know what I was going to write about when Holly Kent and Kevin Hardcastle asked me ...
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June 01, 2018On Middles
Recently I sat at the booksellers’ table during a poetry reading. This is best-case scenario seating. You might feel a little nervous that you’ll spill your drink on hundreds of dollars of merch, ...
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August 16, 2017Considering the Incomplete
I love to buy something then cut it in half. I did this recently with a product called the World’s Best Dishcloth and felt like a genius. Now I had two dishcloths and they were both the best dishcloth ...
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December 08, 2024Low-Stress Yearly Reading Challenge Ideas
If you’re a reader with internet access, you’ve likely encountered yearly reading challenges and goals. The most common type of reading challenge is the “Read X Number of Books This Year” type, ...
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June 13, 2019Dream Casting Frying Plantain
I know, it's super brave of me to make a post right after the Raptors won the championship (!!!!) but I'm going to do it anyway. The other day I did a talk at the Toronto Public Library (the Annette branch) ...
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August 22, 2019"It is So Special to Carry a Name in My Traditional Language" Getting to Know Fireweed Author Tunchai Redvers
Tunchai Redvers' Fireweed (Kegedonce Press) is an unmissable powerhouse of a debut. A poetry book that is literally dedicated to the Indigenous youth who Redvers works with through her non-profit organization, ...
