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May 30, 2018"I Try to Find the Shape of a Poem" Talking to the Griffin Poetry Prize Finalists about Process & Poetry
When it comes to poetry, it doesn't get any bigger than the Griffin Poetry Prize. The two $75,000 prizes (one for a Canadian collection of poetry, one for an international collection) not only has one ...
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February 02, 2017The Proust Questionnaire, with Paul Benedetti
To paraphrase Tolstoy, it seems fair to say that each funny family is funny in its own way. The Hamilton Spectator's Paul Benedetti runs with that idea in his hilarious portrait of modern family life, You ...
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June 11, 2015
Why I Am in Love with Margaret Atwood
I wanted to do something different, so midway through last term, I wrote a proposal for Mutants and Monsters, a new science fiction course.Since I teach biochemistry for a living and have been reading ...
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May 29, 2015What’s Your Vision: Publish or Perish?
Note to self: forget the zeitgeist. Trends are for dolts. What I mean is that when it comes to some writers and their embrace of social media, e-book culture and new audience development there seems to ...
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June 23, 20215 Tips For a DIY Writing Retreat
Now that we're peeking around the corner at a post-pandemic world, I've been starting to crave a DIY writing retreat. I don't get to do them as often as I'd like, but there's something magical about blocking ...
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July 06, 2022Beyond Flight: Etta Kaner Helps Kids Love Birds with Her Fascinating, Funny, Strange Book of Bird Habits
Anyone who is or knows a bird lover, knows that bird watching can be its own free, endless source of entertainment. In Etta Kaner's Dig, Dance, Dive: How Birds Move to Survive (Owlkids, illustrated ...
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April 07, 2023Poetry Tours: Funding
Last time on the WIR blog, I talked about tips for planning a poetry tour, including tips on building a tour from existing events. In this post, I hope to share some resources on funding a poetry tour, ...
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December 11, 2023Read an Excerpt from Tim Bowling's Raw & Atmospheric Return to the 1970s, The Marvels of Youth
The Vietnam War, hippies, Watergate. The mid-to-late 70s were a time of turmoil and change, and the last days of a pre-Reaganomics, tech-boom world that was lurking around the corner, with Star Wars: ...
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June 24, 2024In Praise of Chapbooks
The first time I heard the word “chapbook” as a new poet, I was pretty sure I misheard things. It was a word that everyone working within poetry seemed to know—and because of that, I felt shy asking ...
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August 20, 2024Promoting Your Book Online: Literary Citizenship
In my last column, I shared tips for promoting your book online without burnout. I covered making a marketing plan ahead of your book launch, defining boundaries around what you share online, and cultivating ...