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April 30, 2022
Artist's Books
For my last blog post as Open Book’s writer-in-residence and to close out poetry month I want to talk to you about one of my favourite things: Artist’s Books! I’ve shared some of my passion for ...
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January 07, 2020
Book Therapy: Teva Harrison’s Not One of These Poems Is About You
“I am careless in my griefSlip on gravel, send it tumbling down the cliff face.I am careful in my grief.Keep the precious rocks safeAs I climb.”—Teva Harrison, A Pocket Full of Stones There are ...
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March 22, 2021
The Writing Moment with Natasha Ramoutar's Bittersweet
Welcome to “The Writing Moment with . . .”!In this series of craft-focused columns, I will explore a wide range of works, topics, and interests that inspire me with the hope of inspiring you. I will ...
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August 26, 2021
The Writing Moment with SHORT FILMS
As writers, we draw inspiration and learn from other arts, whether painting, music, comics, or videogames. By offering inspiration beyond the written word, these arts can provide new experiences for us ...
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November 07, 2019
Book Therapy: Jessica Westhead’s Worry
"Her brain and her body were still so wobbly then. Nothing about her was behaving the way it was supposed to. The birth had been a traumatic one, and she thought she would never heal.” - Jessica Westhead, ...
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October 20, 2015
How Tarot Can Help You with Your Writing
I was 13 the first time I tried to see the future in a playing card.I’d been at the grocery store with my parents, and in the checkout line was a small rack of books. I was immediately drawn to one ...
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October 18, 2015
The Importance of Creative Rituals
“Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work.”- Chuck CloseFor years now I’ve used a very simple way to mark the moment when it’s time to write: I light a stick of ...
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March 13, 2021
Permission to dream
When I started writing, I didn’t understand the invisible work. The models of labour I was most familiar with—whether in a coffee shop, at a hotel, in a firehall, or at a construction site—were, ...
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March 16, 2021
A love letter (to libraries)
(—and other public places I once wrote to escape violence.)My life is very different from what it was when I began writing. While working on my latest novel, Girl Minus X, I often wrote in public ...
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March 04, 2020
The Dirty Dozen: 'Violet Shrink' Author Christine Baldacchino Talks Anime, Blanket Forts, and Bad Movies
Violet, the title character in author Christine Baldacchino's delightful new picture book Violet Shrink (Groundwood), feels uncomfortable and anxious in large groups. While the rest of her outgoing family ...