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June 27, 2017The Gods of Promise
Speaking of Cyril Connolly. Even though he isn’t read much anymore, we still remember more than his “pram in the hall” aphorism. But are any of them true?“Whom the Gods wish to destroy, they first ...
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October 21, 2015Festival like a Pro at Toronto’s Great Big Literary Party
It’s October, the month when pumpkin fills our bellies, ghouls parade our streets and writers from around the globe flock like moths to the literary-festival flame. In Toronto (and many Ontario locations ...
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January 15, 2019On Re-Fusing CanLit--Or Why We Need Integrity, Community, and Roses
In a lot of the trauma memoirs I’ve been reading lately, I see the same metaphor used to describe the process of healing. You’ve likely heard it too. It compares healing from trauma to the Japanese ...
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February 13, 2017A few minutes with ... Pamela Mordecai
During my month here, I am presenting a series of interviews with various members of the literary community. Today I'm thrilled to share my conversation with Pamela Mordecai. You can find Pamela's past ...
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January 16, 2017This Was the Countryside
In Buttermere, the land hugs the lakes. Some of the lakes contain islands. Some of these islands are so small, they lack roots. They bounce from point to point, as slowly as fingernails grow. To make ...
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April 19, 2017In Praise of Those Who Publish Nothing
Like many of my time zone, I spent the night of November 9th with my smartphone on the same pillow as my head, awakening every now and again to check, and get my mind around, the news. I also had very ...
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October 17, 2024How I’m Adjusting My Writing Routine for Autumn & Winter
Many of us in the Northern Hemisphere are now well into autumn coolness. As I write this I have all the windows open and I actually feel chilly—an unfamiliar, almost exciting feeling.To me, fall feels ...
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August 13, 2014Pioneer Fashion Strikes Gold
Post-Victorian pioneer style is in. Big beards and work boots (boys); peasant skirts and sensible-heeled ankle booties (girls); huddling in old timey, barn-board-clad bars around old-timey-branded craft ...
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June 26, 2017The Pram in the Hall
There is no more sombre enemy of good art than the pram in the hall. – Cyril ConnollyMy son Gabe and his wonderful partner Anna got married on the weekend. It was a joyous wedding, a moving ceremony ...
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June 04, 2017Finding Your Material -- and This Time, Billie Holiday
The question is, how does a writer recognize what is uniquely her material? Save herself from wrong turns, dead ends, dead writing?The subject has always been central to me—an obsession—and years ...
