Search
-
November 05, 2017
Considering life noir
This grey November Sunday afternoon, we will be discussing writing about life noir and I’m honoured to be joined by the amazing Lynn Crosbie. I’m such a huge fan of everything Lynn has written and ...
-
June 13, 2022
Feel the Power of Indigenous Spoken Word in an Excerpt from Slam Coalkan Performance Poetry
Back in 2021, the Festival of the Peripheries (FLUP) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and the Toronto International Festival of Authors (TIFA) came together to stage a spectacular poetry happening: 17 Indigenous ...
-
February 18, 2014
If One Can Argue Against Traditional Non-Academic Literary Schools, Then One Can Reason Against a Purely Academic Model (part1)
Whoo! I'm exhausted writing that title. As stated in my first entry this month, all my posts are my opinion and are not necessarily shared by any members or staff of Open Book Toronto. Before we start, ...
-
January 19, 2018
Ele Pawelski on the Most Surprising, Awkward, and Delightful Parts of Publishing for the First Time
Ele Pawelski's debut novella, The Finest Supermarket in Kabul (Quattro Books), follows three characters in the aftermath of an explosion at the titular shop - a real event that occurred in 2011. Merza ...
-
November 29, 2022
Ann Lambert Shares the Inspiration for Her Irresistible New Climate-Centric Mystery, Whale Fall
Ann Lambert's Whale Fall (Second Story Press) brings readers back to her series heroes, Marie Russell and Detective Roméo Leduc, at a happy time; the two are just about to marry, following their adventures ...
-
December 10, 2018
"I Need to be Deep Inside Their Hearts and Minds" Fran Kimmel on Building the Fascinating Characters in No Good Asking
Moving with family to an idyllic farmhouse sounds like a charming idea, but in practice, behind the scenes, Ellie and Eric Nyland's family is unravelling.Fran Kimmel's No Good Asking (ECW Press) opens ...
-
May 10, 2017
The In Character Interview, with Margaret Gracie
Margaret Gracie's Plastic (Porcupine's Quill) dives into the dark side of the American dream. Following a former Miss America whose quest to "have it all" becomes a twisted obsession, the connected stories ...
-
January 18, 2023
Deborah Hemming Holds a Mirror Up to Wellness Culture in Her Fascinating Sophomore Novel, Goddess
Contemporary wellness, as a lifestyle and an industry, is a fascinating subculture. With fervent defenders, scammers, dubious science, believers, and deniers all swirling together in one strange (and ...
-
March 05, 2020
Book Therapy: Shani Mootoo’s Polar Vortex
“The body is always in the moment. It doesn’t care if it was warmer or colder any other time. It’s concerned—a matter of survival, naturally—only with how it is in the present.”—Shani Mootoo, ...
-
June 16, 2016
Q&A: Where Life, Art, Childhood, and Nadia Bozak Intersect
Always trust your editor, she reads your words, your inner thoughts – she knows you well. That’s why, when my editor handed me a copy of Nadia Bozak’s newest book, Thirteen Shells, (“I don’t ...