Search
-
July 10, 2018
Did You Really Go Through All That?
I stole the title of this post from a scene late in the film Sideways, but I could’ve taken a similar line from nearly anywhere—for instance, the second of Orhan Pamuk’s Norton Lectures (collected ...
-
October 29, 2019Governor General's Literary Award Winners Announced, including Honours for Book*hug, Playwrights Canada, & Groundwood Books
From a poetic exploration of Indigenous trans identity to the keenly imagined story of a brave young girl and her eagle friend, the 2019 winners of the Governor General's Literary Awards span numerous ...
-
June 30, 2020Alex Pugsley Gets to the Heart of Halifax in His Debut Novel
In certain stories, the setting itself becomes a character, containing all the rich history and moody dynamics of the people who occupy it. Such is the case with Alex Pugsley's debut novel Aubrey McKee ...
-
April 20, 2016Kid Lit Can, with Susan Hughes: the Magic, the Wonder - Chatting with Ya Fantasy Authors (Part 1)
In my capacity as freelance story coach and manuscript critiquer, I receive many inquiries and, interestingly, I’ve realized that a disproportionately high number of them are from writers working on ...
-
February 07, 2017
Kid Lit Can: Spotlight on Middle Grade Fiction - Part 1
Happy 2017! This month and next, I’m spotlighting middle-grade (MG) novels -- stories written for readers who are generally within the 7 to 12-year-old age range. I’ve written one MG novel (Island ...
-
September 13, 20172018 Kobzar Literary Award shortlist celebrates Ukrainian-Canadian Stories
The Shevchenko Foundation has announced the shortlist for the biennial $25,000 Kobzar Literary Award, which celebrates Ukrainian-Canadian writers and writing. The winner will be announced in March 2018 ...
-
October 02, 2024Toronto artist Sam Chaiton Explores How Profound Trauma Shapes a Famiy in his new Memoir, We Used to Dream of Freedom
Our featured author today is no stranger to the trials and tribulations of oppressed peoples, and his actions throughout a long and varied artistic career bear that out clearly. Perhaps most known for ...
-
February 28, 2023March Writer in Residence Eden Boudreau Talks About Battling Rape Culture in Her Searing Memoir, Crying Wolf
It's a grim reality that women who experience sexual violence still face massive hurdles being believed and supported. When a woman deviates from the expectations of a "perfect victim"—whether in terms ...
-
September 20, 2019When History and Fiction Collide: On the Necessity of Irreverence
A week before I attended my first writing residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity last month, a historian in Vancouver gave me an envelope containing a strip of negatives. I developed them ...
-
January 06, 2023Read an Funny, Gentle Excerpt from Veterinarian David Waltner-Toews's Memoir of Backyard Chickens
When we think about the relationships between humans and animals that have changed the course of history, it's easy to default to the obvious: the horse, the dog, the ox. But there is a more humble animal ...
