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July 06, 2021The Listener in the Work: How a Sense of Address Can Transform Your Writing
Who is the “speaker” in your poems talking to? Is there a listener within your story? Who is the narrator’s confidante? I’ve been thinking a lot about a sense of address and I’ve come to believe ...
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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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February 23, 2022The Writers' Trust Announces their 2022 Rising Stars, including Trillium Book Award Winner Téa Mutonji
This afternoon, the Writers’ Trust of Canada announced their five 2022 Rising Stars. Each year the programme, which has run since 2019, invites five acclaimed Canadian writers to select, endorse, and ...
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April 22, 2022How I look at a map (part one)
Art is all about process. Community spurs us on and the practice of creation is an active one. There is of course the cliché about art never being finished, merely abandoned, but in my opinion, neither ...
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April 30, 2022Artist's Books
For my last blog post as Open Book’s writer-in-residence and to close out poetry month I want to talk to you about one of my favourite things: Artist’s Books! I’ve shared some of my passion for ...
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June 21, 20226 Reasons Why Your Kids’ Book Was Rejected
After working in children’s publishing, sitting on various book selection committees, and judging writing for kids contests for 15+ years, I’ve read a lot of manuscripts. Here are the six most common ...
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October 25, 2022On Giving Yourself Room to Change (Or, Eros the Bittersweet)
A few months ago, I talked to someone on the phone. I didn’t know this person well and though I’d seen them over Zoom somewhat regularly for our work together, I never really noticed them too much. ...
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February 21, 2024On Writing the Same Book Over and Over
In a 2015 webchat on The Guardian’s site, Kazuo Ishiguro was asked about his varied subject matter. He replied:“My subject matter doesn't vary so much from book to book. Just the surface does. The ...
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March 26, 2025A Greedy Businessman Gets His Comeuppance in ICEMEN by Acclaimed Playwright Vern Thiessen
Governor General Award-winning playwright Vern Thiessen is up there with some of the most prolific artists in his field, with his plays being read and staged all over the world. The reasons for his continued ...
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July 04, 2025More Tips on Writing Book Reviews
One year ago, I wrote a column on getting into writing book reviews. The topic of book reviews remains ever-important, especially in a media climate where outlets to review grow smaller and smaller. In ...
