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August 11, 2022"Never Patronize or Hide Things" Nancy Vo Shares Her Philosophy of Writing for Kids & Her New Picture Book, Boobies
Why are we still so uptight about boobs? Long after Canadian women won the right by precedent (if not technically by law) to be topless in public anywhere men can be, we've still got debates raging about ...
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September 07, 2022Dr. Blair Bigham Explores "The Death Dilemma" that Emerges as Technology Blurs the Line Between Life and Death
The common idiom that there's "nothing certain except death and taxes" is beginning to feel a little less reliable in the current era, as we consider technologies existing, emerging, and imagined that ...
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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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July 04, 2025A High-School Teacher Goes into Labour During a Fraught Lockdown in Heather Birrell's Debut Novel
Acclaimed short story author Heather Birrell has made a name for herself in the CanLit scene with a raft of short fiction published in journals far and wide, and her first two impressive collections ...
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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 ...
