Search
-
May 03, 2016Some of the Best Books I Ever Read Weren't Books at All
I am on the record—somewhere, or perhaps multiple somewheres—as having said that one of the stories in my first collection, What You Need, represented an effort on my part to capture the feel of a ...
-
August 04, 2016The Entitled Interview with Jenny Kay Dupuis
Dr. Jenny Kay Dupuis's family and personal history led her to write I Am Not a Number (Second Story Press) with Kathy Kacer, a book which tackles the difficult and tragic history of residential schools ...
-
January 09, 2017The WAR Series: Writers as Readers, with JonArno Lawson
JonArno Lawson The Hobo's Crowbar (Porcupine's Quill) is an infectiously rhythmic collection of children's poetry, filled to the brim with Lawson's trademark (and award-winning) whimsy and wit. The playfulness ...
-
October 01, 2019
Daddy Writer To Be – Introduction
Hi everyone. My name is Hasan Namir. I’m the author of God in Pink (Arsenal Pulp Press) and poetry book War/Torn (Book*Hug Press).First, I want to express my gratitude to Open Book for inviting me ...
-
July 12, 2020Why I've Been Waiting for Lovecraft Country
One of the most divisive and important figures in the horror canon is H.P. Lovecraft (the H.P. standing for Howard Phillip). His impact has been unmistakable, heavily influencing the work of artists across ...
-
August 11, 2020On Returning to Pen & Paper
The last time I wrote a story in a notebook must have been back in elementary school. I can remember handwriting in the thin cahiers we were given, double spacing my writing as instructed. Because I was ...
-
February 10, 2017The Entitled Interview, with Dawn Green
Teacher, author, and coach Dawn Green's new young adult novel How Samantha Smart Became a Revolutionary (Red Deer Press) is a startling prescient look at a country torn apart by a tight election (sound ...
-
August 24, 2017
Revising Your Vomit Draft
Every time I sit down to revise a new picture book (aka vomit draft), I can’t remember how to do it. How can I turn something terrible into something better? How do I make things actually happen in ...
-
June 25, 2021A daydreamer’s guide to the world outside
How children’s stories can cultivate connection to nature, and why I look wistfully out of windows I’ve spent most spare moments I’ve had during the recent time blob staring out of windows. Between ...
-
October 15, 2021MUSE ON THE LAM
Today’s post is about what to do when your muse goes AWOL. When your muse is a contrarian like mine is, getting them to show up for work often requires lengthy debates. Who has that extra time?The ...