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September 09, 2016
6 Reasons to Go to a Canadian Litfest
While kids enjoy the first days of school, September also marks the start of the busiest season on the CanLit calendar. There are book launches and reading series and literary award announcements galore. ...
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November 28, 2016
Six Tips For the Tired Activist
Earlier this year, Quill & Quire referred to me as an activist on the cover of their February 2016 issue. I felt flattered, invigorated. I felt motivated by the call and the work. Today, just nine ...
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July 11, 2016
12 Reasons CanLit's Got Me Feeling so Tired
I sat through and wandered by a lot of literary industry panels at a recent event where the large majority of the industry panelists were white. And while it’s not an unusual experience in the CanLit ...
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March 13, 2017
Six With Lynx Sainte-Marie
Six questions on identity, activism, Afrofuturism, #BlackSpoonieSpeak, and disability justice with Poet and Activist Lynx Sainte-Marie.ONEAs writers, our names and our bios are how we’re introduced ...
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February 14, 2017
It's Black History Month and I'm tired already
A recommendation for a new kind of BHMWhen I was in high school, February was always a busy month. Every January, the black students who were dancers and musicians, writers and performers, would get together ...
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June 06, 2016
All Roads Lead to Brampton
We’ve been tallying up the responses for surveys from last month’s Festival of Literary Diversity and we’re thrilled by all the feedback – the good and the bad. It’s helpful to know what worked ...
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August 12, 2016
Tokenism vs. Inclusion
Last month, I wrote a piece about my frustrations with the lack of diversity in Canada’s publishing industry. In the comments, it was mentioned that while some folks are trying to make improvements, ...
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May 30, 2016
The Burden of Positivity
As a writer, reader and reality TV watcher, Canada Reads masterfully combines some of my favourite practices and past-times in a nation-wide, televised battle of the books. And while I enjoyed the 2016 ...
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June 15, 2017
Combatting Oppression With Community
Two months ago, I attended Fuel for Fire, a professional development conference for writers of colour, organized by the Ontario Arts Council. The event provided a venue for discussions about writing and ...
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March 05, 2018
"Loss and Absence Challenge Us to Become Who We Are": Kathleen Venema on Her Unique Mother-Daughter Memoir
The impact of mother-daughter relationships is hard to overstate. In Kathleen Venema's Bird-Bent Grass: A Memoir, in Pieces (Wilfrid Laurier University) the extraordinary influence of the mother-daughter ...