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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 ...
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September 15, 2021Waiting for the bumper year
What cicadas can teach us about embracing the murk This year, millions of cicadas emerged from the ground and took to the trees in deafening chorus across North America. During the hottest days of summer, ...
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April 30, 2022Artist's Books
For my last blog post as Open Book’s writer-in-residence and to close out poetry month I want to talk to you about one of my favourite things: Artist’s Books! I’ve shared some of my passion for ...
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June 30, 2022Remembering Steven Heighton and the Vancouver 125 Poetry Conference
One of the jokes I have with myself is that my first exposure to the public world of poetry was so traumatizing that I had no choice but to accommodate what I saw, however subconsciously. Ten years ago, ...
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July 20, 2022To Rhyme or Not to Rhyme
Nothing is as divisive as rhyme in children’s picture books. When it works, it sings, but when it doesn’t, it can turn readers (and editors) right off. Many people have fond memories of their favourite ...
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October 31, 2022November Writer in Residence Helen Walsh on Gardening, Edinburgh, & Eating Dinner with Hans Gruber
Helen Walsh's Pull Focus (ECW Press) has something for everyone: thrilling intrigue, social commentary, film industry glamour, and a tough protagonist facing crises both personal and professional. The ...
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January 31, 2023Writing Goals for 2023
I love the clean slate of a new year—the new, unsullied notebooks, the expanse of the year stretching out full of potential, and how everything feels possible. As I was thinking about what I wanted ...
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February 16, 2023Mudlarking, Unexpected TV Appearances, & More: Getting to Know Children's Writer Nancy Cooper
Meeting new people isn't easy. For Amik the beaver, the character at the heart of Nancy Cooper's picture book Biindigen! Amik Says Welcome (Owlkids Books, illustrated by Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley) ...
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April 21, 2023Things you didn’t know you could get funding for
There really is a huge world of funding out there beyond grants for individual writing projects. These professional development grants offer anywhere between $1000 to $12,000 (or even more) for numerous ...
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May 24, 2023SJ Okemow on Her Heartwarming Debut Picture Book's Unconventional Path to Publication
The humble dandelion rarely gets much love, often cited as a nuisance weed that spreads easily and takes over. But the hardy little plant has many lessons to teach us, and in SJ Okemow's Âmî Osâwâpikones (Annick ...
