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October 25, 2023
Excerpt: Get Spooky with Chris Kuriata's Dark Wishing-Grant Tale, Sacrifice of the Sisters Lot
Every kid who ever made a wish while blowing out their birthday candles would assume that having your every wish granted would be, well, spectacular. But in Chris Kuriata's deliciously creepy new novel, Sacrifice ...
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March 02, 2022
Carl Watts on Why Poetry's So-Called Shortcomings Might Be Its Greatest Strengths
It's easy to imagine the scene: at a poetry reading (pre-pandemic), an open mic-er ascends to the stage, taps the microphone, and announces with aplomb, "I just wrote this five minutes ago." Cue the ...
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September 26, 2014
On Pseudonyms: Q&A with Writer "X"
On pseudonyms a.k.a. aliases a.k.a. handles a.k.a. avatars a.k.a. monikers a.k.a. sobriquets ak.a. epithets a.k.a. pen names a.k.a. nicknames a.k.a. noms de guerres, a.k.a. anon.:Q&A with Writer “X”, ...
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October 01, 2020
The sweet spot
First off, it’s an honor to be here. Thank you to Graham and Grace and all the good folks at Open Book for inviting me to sit in this month. I thought I’d start by telling you how I came to writing, ...
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September 19, 2016
The In Character Interview With Leon Rooke
Leon Rooke has been called "a national treasure" by the Globe and Mail with good reason — his contributions to CanLit over an astounding 50 years of work have been hugely influential. And he's not slowing ...
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March 05, 2021
Writing Time
When it comes to writing, I have a hard time wrapping my head around some of the basics—namely space and time. I find it easy to imagine myself into a character’s head—to project myself into a character’s ...
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December 03, 2020
Travel Back to Toronto in 1949 with an Excerpt from Caro Soles' Dancing with Chairs in the Music House
In Caro Soles's Dancing with Chairs in the Music House (Inanna Publications), a family's life in late 1940s Toronto takes a tragic turn. Ten-year-old Vanessa lives in a rooming house on Jarvis Street ...
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February 23, 2021
Excerpt: Don't Miss this Powerful Glimpse into the Lives of Country Vets in Gillian Wigmore's Night Watch: The Vet Suite
In Nightwatch: The Vet Suite (Invisible Publishing), acclaimed poet and novelist Gillian Wigmore takes readers into the unique lives of rural veterinarians. Wigmore comes by the incredibly in-depth ...
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May 18, 2023
D.M. Bradford on Translating Nicholas Dawson's Stunning Poetry Collection, House Within a House
Nicholas Dawson's Désormais, ma demeure (Triptyque, 2020) was received as a powerful and authentic exploration of depression when it was published, and it became one of the most decorated French-language ...
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July 27, 2020
The Erotic and the Prophetic: A Lesson Across Centuries
I’m loathe to admit that I only became intimately familiar with the works of celebrated Black feminist theorist and poet Audre Lorde a little over a year ago, when my partner gave me a copy of Sister ...