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May 31, 2021June 2021 Writer-in-Residence & Star Debut Novelist Samantha Garner on Skydiving, Kirtles, & Her Spy Passport
In a world where the gift of prophecy can turn you into a second class citizen, Freya loses everything when she has a dream foretelling her mother's death. Not only does she lose her mother when the premonition ...
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June 29, 2021How a Filipino Breakfast Changed My Writing
June is Filipino Heritage Month, and to close out the month and my time here as writer-in-residence, I wanted to talk about Filipino breakfast. Specifically, one that influenced both my novel and my life.The ...
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September 10, 2021What Big Open Spaces Taught Me About Finishing a Draft
Who doesn’t like writing at home, with the comfort of Maltesers, a perfect sound setup, and being able to write naked? Writing outside of your comfy space is much harder than it seems.In June this year, ...
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October 25, 2021WE MOVE
While doing life, Nigerians use the slang “we move” to capture the dogged determination needed to plow through difficult situations. It’s a clarion call for better.Over the years, I have come across ...
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January 31, 2022Meet Our February Writer in Residence, Sifton Tracey Anipare, Author of Yume, Her Knockout Debut Fantasy Novel
Yume (Rare Machines/Dundurn Press), the debut novel from Sifton Tracey Anipare, follows Cybelle, a young woman teaching in a Japanese city. Her love for her adopted culture is apparent, motivating her ...
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March 28, 2022What's Beyond: Writing as an Actor, Part 2
One of the important exercises we do in theatre is called “What’s Beyond.” It’s a Viola Spolin exercise to help actors understand the full, inner life of their characters. Viola Spolin is credited ...
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May 05, 2022
Nothing to do: Boredom and the Death of Imagination
“The World,” Wordsworth wrote, “is too much with us.” That was in the early nineteenth century, before television, before ubiquitous billboards along roadways, before social media. These days, ...
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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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November 02, 2022Do Kids’ Book Awards Matter?
It’s Moira Rose’s favourite season— (book) awards season! It feels like a new list of finalists is posted every day. And while there is lots to celebrate, it can be crushing to watch your book go ...
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November 28, 2022
Why TV is Good for You
If your mother was like my mother, you were told to turn off the television as a child (in my case, Family Ties or Miami Vice or Murder She Wrote or. . .) and pick up a book. Any book. Because everyone ...
