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August 31, 2017September 2017 writer-in-residence Andrew Kaufman on His Favourite Books
Andrew Kaufman's writing is utterly unique. Incorporating humour, magic realism, and his own brand of tight, brainy prose, his books (including acclaimed novels like The Waterproof Bible and All My ...
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July 09, 2020
On Kendrick Lamar's good kid, m.A.A.d city
Music has always been part of my DNA. I consumed it with the same intensity as I did literature, and at no less voracious a rate. Large swaths of my adolescence were spent lying on the floor, eyes closed ...
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November 05, 2017Considering 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 ...
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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, ...
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June 13, 2022Feel 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 ...
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January 19, 2018Ele 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 ...
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November 29, 2022Ann 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 ...
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May 10, 2017The 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 ...
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January 18, 2023Deborah 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 ...
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March 05, 2020Book 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, ...