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September 27, 2022The Joy of Literary Festivals – And Dreams Coming True
It’s hard to believe we’ve come to the end of September and that the time I have been privileged to spend with you on this Open Book platform is almost over. Looking back at what I have shared with ...
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April 20, 2023"Conflict is the Engine that Drives Fiction" Leanne Lieberman on the Magic of Writing for Teens
When her dad hits rock bottom—again—Jess finds herself determined to change her stars and avoid going down the same dark path. She takes a job cleaning a beautiful country house, where part of her ...
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February 11, 2021"I Like Inhabiting One Character": Philipp Schott on Telling Family Stories, Building Character, & "Invisible Scaffolding"
Philipp Schott's The Willow Wren (ECW Press) follows the complex and harrowing story of Ludwig, a child growing up in Hilter's Germany. Sent against his will to a Hitler Youth Camp, shy and gentle Ludwig ...
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October 11, 2023Vulnerability is a Writing Tool
My most reflexive apology is, “I went to theatre school.” Usually delivered with a shrug or a knowing smirk as if to say I can’t help it, it gets a laugh from the creative set about 82 percent of ...
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January 30, 2024Christina Cooke Explores the Power of Family and Home in Broughtupsy
Through the complicated happenings of our lives, people are often faced with challenges that make them consider how far they are willing to go for family, and to preserve a sense of home. In Christina ...
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April 30, 2024Acclaimed Poet Cassidy McFadzean Explores Multiplicity of Meaning in Crying Dress
Already established as one of Canada's most promising young poets, Cassidy McFadzean has built a stellar early catalogue while studying at some of the most prestigious writing schools in North America. In ...
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November 28, 2016
The Art of the Novel: Interview with Daniel Marchildon
By Bianca Lakoseljac: OB Writer in Residence At Read Local in Midland, back in September, Daniel Marchildon, the winner of the Trillium Award for children’s literature, and I were among the local authors ...
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April 13, 2016In the House of Saucer: an Interview with Jesse Locke on His Upcoming Simply Saucer Biography, Heavy Metalloid Music
Jesse Locke is one of the great unsung heroes of Canadian music journalism. Through his years of work as a writer and editor for Weird Canada and AUX he has helped to expose countless bands and artists ...
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June 01, 2022Excerpt: Merilyn Simonds Explores the Spectacular Life of Louise de Kiriline Lawrence, a Woman Ahead of Her Time, in a Meditative New Biography
There are some lives that are so fantastical, so packed with passion and strange turns and reinventions, that they are hard to summarize. Such is the life of Louise de Kiriline Lawrence, a Swedish aristocrat ...
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October 03, 2017Writers & Money - Part Two
This is the second in a series of surveys that I posted in order to get an idea of how different writers manage to make ends meet. You can read the first response here: http://open-book.ca/News/Writers-and-Money ...