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January 16, 2017This Was the Countryside
In Buttermere, the land hugs the lakes. Some of the lakes contain islands. Some of these islands are so small, they lack roots. They bounce from point to point, as slowly as fingernails grow. To make ...
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April 16, 2019A Poem is a Rhetoric of Substance and Selection
We shape and are shaped by language. It orients who and where we are.The operational shape of a poem’s plan is always emergent; its layering is a rhetoric of substance and selection:POETIC LAYERINGdiscovery ...
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October 29, 2020"It Is Okay to Go Inside of Yourself Even if it Scares You" Poet Joseph A. Dandurand on Opening Doors
Perhaps Richard van Camp said it best about prolific and powerful poet Joseph A. Dandurand's writing when he commented "Good Lord—what a voice!" Dandurand's 13 collections of poetry have consistently ...
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November 30, 2021Daniel Scott Tysdal Examines the Darkness, Strangeness, & Flickering Hope of Life in the 21st Century in His Spectacular Debut Story Collection
Daniel Scott Tysdal is a beloved creative writing professor at the University of Toronto Scarborough and a decorated poet. And of course, Tysdal is also an Open Book columnist and the subject of one ...
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February 10, 2017
The absurdity of literary prizes part 2 of 2
“ I saw a highway of diamonds with nobody on it.”For my most recent book, I had a reviewer who skewered me for quoting Shakespeare, and then citing it in my end notes. Because, everyone who reads ...
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February 15, 2014
Creative Writing as Martial Art? Part 2 (Final)
Step one is acknowledging that writing is a martial art. Words have power. To this day, in many countries the first people executed in times of war are poets. In the West this may be lost, but we have ...
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February 17, 2017A few minutes with ... Whitney French
Throughout the month, I am posting my interviews with members of the literary community. Today, I am pleased to share my conversation with Whitney French. Whitney is a talented writer, performer, and ...
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February 27, 2017
On Racism 2 of 3
Part 2If silence is no longer an acceptable act, we can no longer be silent as publishing houses receive government funding while making little to no efforts to have authors who reflect the nation's diversity. ...
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February 17, 2014Profile: David Delisca & Andrea Thompson
David O. Delisca (delisca.com)Poet. Brother. Child of the Haitian Diaspora. Speaker. Stirrer of smiles and thoughts. Author of "I Grew Up Right Beside You". 4-time member of the Toronto Poetry Slam team ...
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February 10, 2014Writer's Block Does Not Exist (Part 1)
Or it does. But for the sake of this blog it does not. What is writer's block? I don't know, because it does not exist. Here's the thing, whether you are a professional creative writer, a skilled hobbyist, ...
