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March 31, 2022The Best of Both Worlds
Humber College’s new undergrad in creative and professional writing strives to nurture skilled creative professionals.I always wanted to be a writer. Or maybe it’s that I always wrote. I took the ...
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May 19, 2022
The Stories I Shelve, Part II
In Part I of this blog post, I looked at the importance of physical books in my life, how the books represent more than just the stories within them, that they also hold the stories of their acquisition, ...
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September 22, 2022"Not Only Landmarks, But Vibration" Tanya Turton on Her Love Letter to Her Toronto Neighbourhood and Black Queer Womanhood
To lose a sibling as a young adult is a brutal experience. For Jade Brown, the protagonist of debut novelist Tanya Turton's Jade is a Twisted Green (Rare Machines/Dundurn Press), the tragedy is made ...
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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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October 03, 2022Excerpt: Gwynne Dyer's The Shortest History of War Details the Two Surprising Conditions that Predict a Species' Likelihood to Wage War
Historian and military expert Gwynne Dyer has written about the Iraq war, climate change, and the very invention of war as we now understand it. His acclaimed television series have won awards, and his ...
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October 04, 2022Playwright Natasha Adiyana Morris on The Plays that Shaped Her & Why She Won't Remove Local Culture from Her Work
Playwright Natasha Adiyana Morris' The Negroes Are Congregating (forthcoming from Playwrights Canada Press later this month) became a sensation during its 2020 run at Theatre Passe Muraille. Morris, ...
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December 20, 2022Cary Fagan on Learning to Write Freely as His Atmospheric New Novel Unleashes Wild Animals in Unexpected Places
In Cary Fagan's The Animals (Book*hug Press), the facade of Dorn's village is peaceful and perfect, making it a popular, quaint tourist destination. But for Dorn, the cheerful exterior hides torment. ...
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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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January 19, 2023Antanas Sileika on the Murderous Children's Poet Who Inspired His Captivating New Historical Novel
Antanas Sileika is one of the quiet stars of CanLit, creating memorable, complex, and entralling stories in his five novels and his memoir. The erstwhile director of the Humber School for Writers (prior ...
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February 27, 2023Book Therapy: Workday Warrior
“Your work likely presents you with one challenge after another. Your personal life, no doubt, does the same. All are sources of stress. And then there are other big-picture stressors—the pandemic, ...