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March 17, 2022A Great Kids' Book is "a Kind of Graffiti": Sara Cassidy on Why Wonder, Not Instruction, is at the Centre of Her Writing
A little girl tosses a snack to some birds at a bus stop. It's a small gesture, but in Sara Cassidy's Flock (Groundwood Books, illustrated by Geraldo Valério), it becomes the jumping off point for a ...
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March 21, 2022"Canadian Stories in Conversation with the Wider World" Publisher Leigh Nash on Taking Up the Iconic Anansi Mantle
House of Anansi Press is, undoubtedly, a main character in the long and fascinating novel that is Canadian literature. Based in Toronto and founded in 1967 by Dennis Lee and Dave Godfrey during a time ...
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January 19, 2023Antanas Sileika on the Murderous Children's Poet Who Inspired His Captivating New Historical Novel
Antanas Sileika is one of the quiet stars of CanLit, creating memorable, complex, and entralling stories in his five novels and his memoir. The erstwhile director of the Humber School for Writers (prior ...
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February 10, 2023Co-writers & Couple of 38 Years Richard Adam and France Desmarais Help Kids Love & Explore Urban Spaces
How many times have you read a book set against a city backdrop and felt, by the end, that the city itself served as a character? A city can be a living and breathing thing – or as kids' books co-creators ...
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February 27, 2023Stuart Ross Creates a Place for a Weirder, Wilder, More Innovative CanLit with 1366 Books
The rules for what a novel or short story can—or must—be have been in flux since the forms first began. And yet, truly out-of-the-box fiction and successful formal experimentation is hard to find. ...
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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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August 18, 2023Picture Book Trends
Picture books, like all art forms, are subject to trends and shifts in theme, style and format. I don’t necessarily recommend writing to trend, but it’s always good to be familiar with what’s working ...
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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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November 24, 2023Arts in Evolution: The Word on the Street's New Leadership Team on Their Innovative Lateral Model
The Word on the Street is one of Toronto's biggest, oldest, and most beloved literary festivals, and it has recently undergone big changes on the staff side. Festival Director David Alexander announced ...
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April 03, 2024"Try to Enjoy the Small Moments of Magic" - Kate Hilton and Elizabeth Renzetti Talk About a Writing Life and Their New Mystery Novel, Bury the Lead
In Bury the Lead (House of Anansi Press), mystery abounds when big city journalist Cat Conway moves to a small town in cottage country, and begins to uncover secrets lurking below the surface in the ...
