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December 06, 2016
"What's Your Story?" OBPO Contest Winners Part 4: Scarborough
We've had a season of amazing original writing on Open Book through the Ontario Book Publishers Organization's inaugural What's Your Story? writing competition. Today is our fourth and final instalment: ...
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November 04, 2020
"If Someone Feeds Me Wonder, They Have My Heart" Poet Sarah Venart on the Long Road to Her Powerful New Collection
Poet Sarah Venart dives deep into love, family, need, and grief in her powerful new collection I Am the Big Heart (Brick Books). But what is the big heart? In these poems, big-heartedness means being ...
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May 06, 2019
Contest! Enter to Win Sinister Stories from Porcupine's Quill
If you're feeling sinister (shout out to our readers who are Belle & Sebastian fans), have we got the contest for you! The good people at Porcupine's Quill are greeting our long-awaited spring by ...
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June 11, 2019
"I Love How Short Fiction’s DNA Embodies the Broken" Elise Levine on Her New Story Collection & the Craft of Short Fiction
So much has been said - or rather, raved - about Elise Levine's fiction that an introduction to her writing could nearly be a book in itself. To pick just a few: NOW Magazine called her "A cutting-edge ...
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June 30, 2020
Alex Pugsley Gets to the Heart of Halifax in His Debut Novel
In certain stories, the setting itself becomes a character, containing all the rich history and moody dynamics of the people who occupy it. Such is the case with Alex Pugsley's debut novel Aubrey McKee ...
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December 01, 2020
"All of the Pieces are Aware of and Concerned With the Unknowable": Paige Cooper on Taking Up the Best Canadian Stories Mantle
Every year, one editor is tasked with finding the very best short stories from Canadian writers. It's a daunting challenge, given the wealth of great short fiction in Canada, but one that has turned out ...
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October 02, 2018
The Story of My Face Author Leanne Baugh on Teenaged Self-Consciousness & Crafting Memorable Characters
Every teen feels awkward and self-conscious sometimes, but 17-year old Abby Hughes, the resilient young protagonist in Leanne Baugh's The Story of My Face (Second Story Press), has a serious reason ...
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December 20, 2023
The Transition to Short Stories (as a poet)
I’ve spent years now honing my craft as a poet. I know how to edit individual poems, as well as to approach and rewrite entire manuscripts. Why did the need to do the same in fiction seem so daunting ...
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May 15, 2022
The Stories I Shelve, Part I
With the advent of the Kindle, the refrain among publishing analysts was that the book’s days were numbered; the e-book would change accessibility for stories as the printing press had all those centuries ...
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September 25, 2017
"What's Your Story?" 2017 Obpo Writing Contest Winners! Part One: Scarborough
Every street, every alley, every corner in Toronto has a story - or many stories - to tell. To dig into that vibrant potential, the Ontario Book Publishers Organization's and Scarborough Arts’ What's ...