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May 01, 2017
How to go on
It’s Monday. First of May. It’s foggy outside (in Toronto) but not in that lovely misty way that feels like a spa—no, this is a cold, cold fog that is more like a damp basement. Everyone seems ...
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April 04, 2018
Dream Space: an introduction to online obsessions for National Poetry Month
I’m writing this post in the middle of a sick day, in the middle of a sick week. I’ve been couchbound for what feels like a decade – my brain is foggy, my voice is shredded, and I’ve watched so ...
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June 30, 2022Remembering Steven Heighton and the Vancouver 125 Poetry Conference
One of the jokes I have with myself is that my first exposure to the public world of poetry was so traumatizing that I had no choice but to accommodate what I saw, however subconsciously. Ten years ago, ...
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January 31, 2023Writing Goals for 2023
I love the clean slate of a new year—the new, unsullied notebooks, the expanse of the year stretching out full of potential, and how everything feels possible. As I was thinking about what I wanted ...
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April 25, 2023Building an Author Website
You don’t need an author website, but it has helped me to have one. The more you start to publish, the more people will want to contact you for interviews, solicitations, and event invitations—and ...
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November 18, 2020"As If You Were a Bird, Too" Read an Excerpt from Nina Berkhout's Stunning Novel Why Birds Sing
In poet and novelist Nina Berkhout's Why Birds Sing (ECW Press), opera singer Dawn Woodward has had a pretty tough week. First she melted down completely on stage, her voice failing her and her career ...
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June 17, 2016The Dirty Dozen, with Iain Reid
Iain Reid's debut novel I'm Thinking of Ending Things (Simon & Schuster Canada) is already gathering rave reviews. Known for his non-fiction, Reid is dipping into long form fiction for the first time ...
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June 30, 2014
A Month in the Life of the Launching Author
Today marks one month since May 31, the official publication date of my new novel The Oakdale Dinner Club, and one month since I started my residency here at Open Book Toronto.Within the month of June, ...
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January 06, 2020The Need for More Non-Traditional Mentorship in Canadian Publishing
When I was in school, the act of reading books was just that, reading books. I wasn’t categorizing them. I wasn’t thinking about publishing, editors, marketability, or whether or not a book was considered ...
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January 29, 2017Prizewinner / Prizefighter
I don't know how many people you personally know that have won more than one Governor General's Literary Award, but I know only one. His name is Lazer Lederhendler. A celebrated and much sought after ...