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January 23, 2017Celebrate Northrop Frye by Reading CanLit!
Between getting referenced in Tragically Hip lyrics and acting as a mentor to the likes of Margaret Atwood, the late literary theorist Northrop Frye is an intrinsic part of the Canadian cultural landscape. ...
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January 05, 2024An Ode to Writing Research
I have realized that second only to holding a bound book in my hands, my favourite part of writing a book is the research. I love choosing worlds that I don’t know much about—rare books libraries, ...
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October 27, 2018
Characters like family
One of my favourite parts of the writing process is creating and developing characters. I’ve always believed a story is only as strongly crafted as the people in it. Characters are the pillars of and ...
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October 27, 2017How My Version of the Canlit Community Sustains Me
Two months ago, one of my best friends was diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia. She is a mother. She is a prolific, brilliant writer. And she was my very first writer friend.We first met working ...
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November 29, 2017So You Want to Write About Race
Somehow I have become on expert on writing race.This was not something I planned for. When I started publishing, I was writing fiction about Chinese Canadian characters, about families who had been invisible ...
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November 06, 2019
"I Wanted to Write a Memoir About the Beauty and Tragedy of Reunion" Weston Non-Fiction Prize Shortlist Authors on Inspiration, the Highs of Non-Fiction & What Everyone Should Be Reading
Sponsored by former Lieutenant Governor of Ontario Hilary M. Weston since 2011, the Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Non-Fiction is awarded annually to a work of non-fiction which not only demonstrates ...
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January 10, 2020“It Happened to a Friend of a Friend of Mine:” What I Learned from Serialized Horror
You’ve heard this tale before. It’s the one about the hook hand, a lone accessory on the car door of an unsuspecting couple. Or better yet, it’s the call that the babysitter finds out is coming ...
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January 28, 2017Tribute to Ed Yanofsky
No, no, Ed Yanofsky's not dead.He just happens to be retiring. And... retired.The retirement is recent. After promoting writers and literary events for the University of Toronto Bookstore, Ed worked for ...
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April 15, 2021"I Continued To Write It Anyway" Jen Sookfong Lee Shares Her Best Advice, Memories, & Tips from Her Iconic Writing and Publishing Journey
Jen Sookfong Lee has been leaving readers awed and moved for years with her powerful and award-nominated novels, nonfiction, and children's books. She also knows a thing or two about publishing, working ...
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April 20, 2016Kid Lit Can, with Susan Hughes: the Magic, the Wonder - Chatting with Ya Fantasy Authors (Part 1)
In my capacity as freelance story coach and manuscript critiquer, I receive many inquiries and, interestingly, I’ve realized that a disproportionately high number of them are from writers working on ...
