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March 21, 2019Writer at Work: A Book Is A Community
Yesterday, my first book of poems, Port of Being, was shortlisted for the 2019 BC and Yukon Book Prizes (BCBP), for the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize. I expected to feel happy but I feel disbelief. The ...
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March 11, 2019Writer at Work: Journaling, Instinct, and Self-care
Before last week, it had been months since I cried. This is unusual for me. I cry often when I’m alone, especially when I’m writing. Last week, I opened the Word doc that is my journal. Counterintuitively, ...
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March 24, 2019Writer at Work: Speaking with the Dead
A couple of weeks ago, I had the honour of speaking on panels at Room Magazine’s Growing Room Festival. During a Q&A session with the audience after the intersectionality, diaspora, and Asian-Canadian ...
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March 30, 2019Writer at Work: The Steadfastness of Beauty
Last fall, a few days after my book, Port of Being, was sent to the printer, I met with Juliane Okot Bitek, whom I had asked for a blurb. During that rainy day at a pub, Juliane and I shared our parallel ...
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March 19, 2019Writer at Work: Where I’m Writing From (On Dionne Brand, Black Earth Rising, and Writing with “Love”)
Books that change us challenge us and console us. They break our hearts, they make us think, but most of all, they make us see people as people. Aside from being a generalized and sentimental statement ...
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February 10, 2014Writer's Block Does Not Exist (Part 1)
Or it does. But for the sake of this blog it does not. What is writer's block? I don't know, because it does not exist. Here's the thing, whether you are a professional creative writer, a skilled hobbyist, ...
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February 11, 2014
Writer's Block Does Not Exist (Part 2)
The internet is awesome. How many arguments have I won simply by using a Google search? Seriously, use the internet properly! Apparently this is a lost art. If you are a more serious writer, or you are ...
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February 12, 2014
Writer's Block Does Not Exist (Part 3)
Step three: writing your draftsFirst draft (punctuation optional)."Have you ever rolled down your windows to smell the aroma of an organic orange plantation on a summer night? Dreaming the ecstasy of ...
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February 13, 2014
Writer's Block Does Not Exist (Part 4 Final)
Step four: Editing and final draftDo you know the difference between a creative writer and a hobbyist? Editing. Can you handle criticism? Can you give good criticism? Can you critique your own work?So ...
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September 05, 2017Writers and Money
I’ve been a professional writer for about eight years now, that is, writing has been my full-time occupation. That wasn’t always the case of course, and I’ve tried to be forthright with people about ...
