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July 06, 2023
Colleen Nelson on Setting Her New Kids' Novel in One of New York's Most Unique Historical Properties
Umbrella House in New York City is a unique urban phenomenon. Abandoned in the late 70s, it was sealed up with cinderblocks and cement until several years later when a group of squatters moved in. Over ...
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November 21, 2023
Excerpt from Nights Too Short to Dance by the Late French Canadian Literary Icon Marie-Claire Blais
Marie-Claire Blais was known for her fiery writing, her passionate representation of the French Canadian experience, and her fearless literary voice. Over 70 years, she became an icon of Quebec, Canadian, ...
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October 13, 2021
Read an Excerpt from Hannah Moscovitch, Maev Beaty & Ann-Marie Kerr's Painful & Beautiful Exploration of Motherhood for Modern Artists
We're continuing our week-long spotlight on excerpts at Open Book, bringing you delicious free samples of some of the most exciting Canadian books out this year. Today we've got something special: our ...
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November 21, 2017
Geoff Berner on Unforgettable Characters: "My Favourite Characters are the Fabulists"
DD has disappeared. The mysterious, charming, mercurial (and fictional) musician is gone and no one knows where, leaving novelist Geoff Berner to search for her and put together everything he can through ...
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April 30, 2018
Robert Chafe on Writing a Play About a Man Who Spent His Life Freeing Things Only to Become Trapped Himself
Governor General's Literary Award winning playwright and author Robert Chafe has made a name for himself with both his acclaimed original plays and fiction and his stunning stage adaptations of works ...
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February 06, 2017
Featured Video: Max Eisen on his Taylor Prize Nominated Book By Chance Alone
Max Eisen is the author of By Chance Alone: A Remarkable True Story of Courage and Survival at Auschwitz (HarperCollins Canada), nominated for the 2017 RBC Taylor Prize for Non-Fiction. The harrowing ...
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December 20, 2023
The Transition to Short Stories (as a poet)
I’ve spent years now honing my craft as a poet. I know how to edit individual poems, as well as to approach and rewrite entire manuscripts. Why did the need to do the same in fiction seem so daunting ...
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March 05, 2019
Writer at Work: Reading Tarot for Story
You do not have to believe there is a divine order to read the Tarot. You do not have to believe that your future can be read to read the Tarot. You do not have to be spiritual to read the Tarot. You ...
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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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May 15, 2022
The Stories I Shelve, Part I
With the advent of the Kindle, the refrain among publishing analysts was that the book’s days were numbered; the e-book would change accessibility for stories as the printing press had all those centuries ...