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July 28, 2017August writer-in-residence Naseem Hrab on a Cake that Became a Boy & Her First Picture Book
In Ira Crumb Makes a Pretty Good Friend (OwlKids), the debut picture book by Naseem Hrab (illustrated by Josh Holinaty), Ira is the new kid in town. When he realizes that could mean a lonely time at ...
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March 31, 2022The Best of Both Worlds
Humber College’s new undergrad in creative and professional writing strives to nurture skilled creative professionals.I always wanted to be a writer. Or maybe it’s that I always wrote. I took the ...
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March 16, 2018
An Interview with Justin Million, host/star of KEYBOARDS!
For the last few years, Peterborough poet Justin Million has been hosting (starring in? living? breathing?) a weird interpretation of the poetry reading called KEYBOARDS! As with any reading, poems are ...
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July 20, 2018On Literary Festivals and Crossed Boundaries
As a writer of creative nonfiction—in particular, one who draws very heavily from my own life and experiences—I’ve learned it’s important to determine whether something I want to write about is ...
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October 31, 2017
The Writer in the World: Coda
When I became that book all those years ago, the effects of art in my life were not definable. I only knew that I enjoyed storytelling and later I would appreciate that my relationship to story has everything ...
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August 31, 2018On the future of Canlit
You guys, this is my last Open Book column.I have been writing this column for a year now and I’ll admit I didn’t know what I was going to write about when Holly Kent and Kevin Hardcastle asked me ...
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March 26, 2019CBC Canada Reads 2019: Diverging Votes at the Halfway Mark
Today was Day Two (of four) at CBC Canada Reads and the debates were intense but marked by a generosity amongst the panelists towards each other's chosen books.Joe Zee was the competition's first free ...
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March 12, 2020On Family Secrets
Why does my writing tend to focus on family secrets? In particular, on children trying to unearth secrets tied to their parents’ pasts? I’m often asked these questions during interviews. The first ...
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March 23, 2020On Road Maps
Before beginning a project, is it worthwhile to do a detailed outline? Or is it preferable just to dive in? I’ve tried both approaches. In writing my first novel, After the Bloom, I outlined extensively. ...
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October 21, 2015Festival like a Pro at Toronto’s Great Big Literary Party
It’s October, the month when pumpkin fills our bellies, ghouls parade our streets and writers from around the globe flock like moths to the literary-festival flame. In Toronto (and many Ontario locations ...
