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February 18, 2021Small gifts from writers: The power of writerly connections
On one especially sunny day when I was a young girl sitting at my kitchen table scribbling stories on the backs of old receipts my mother left on the table, I closed my eyes, looked into the future, and ...
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November 30, 2021Daniel Scott Tysdal Examines the Darkness, Strangeness, & Flickering Hope of Life in the 21st Century in His Spectacular Debut Story Collection
Daniel Scott Tysdal is a beloved creative writing professor at the University of Toronto Scarborough and a decorated poet. And of course, Tysdal is also an Open Book columnist and the subject of one ...
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June 13, 2022Feel the Power of Indigenous Spoken Word in an Excerpt from Slam Coalkan Performance Poetry
Back in 2021, the Festival of the Peripheries (FLUP) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and the Toronto International Festival of Authors (TIFA) came together to stage a spectacular poetry happening: 17 Indigenous ...
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September 20, 2022Hannah McGregor on the Books That Shaped Her Writing and the One That Helped Her Break Genre Barriers
You can tell a lot about Hannah McGregor from the titles of her acclaimed podcasts, including Witch, Please and Secret Feminist Agenda. A writer and creator unafraid of a bit of cheeky fun with a serious ...
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October 11, 2022
Plain Tired
Part I 4:35 p.m.I’m just plain tired. I don’t usually write exhausted, but I want to be in the ‘best’ space to describe the chronic fatigue that bears on me. Not one spoon left today. (Spoon ...
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January 16, 2023Playwright Debbie Patterson on Why She Will Keep Exploring What It Means to "Die Well"
What does it mean to "die well"? If death is the end, is there anything left, at that point, to learn? These are the kinds of questions that fascinate acclaimed Winnipeg theatre creator Debbie Patterson, and ...
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April 20, 2023"Conflict is the Engine that Drives Fiction" Leanne Lieberman on the Magic of Writing for Teens
When her dad hits rock bottom—again—Jess finds herself determined to change her stars and avoid going down the same dark path. She takes a job cleaning a beautiful country house, where part of her ...
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August 01, 2023For the Love of Dog – Hadley Dyer Creates a Smart, Moving Picture Book to Help Kids Grieve Animal Friends
Veteran children's book editor and writer Hadley Dyer has teamed up with beloved kids book creator Paul Covello (known for his Toronto ABC and Canada ABC, amongst other titles) to create a book ...
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August 18, 2023Picture Book Trends
Picture books, like all art forms, are subject to trends and shifts in theme, style and format. I don’t necessarily recommend writing to trend, but it’s always good to be familiar with what’s working ...
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December 22, 2023Book Therapy: Favourites From My Favourites
“My eclectic reading habits often lead me through various genres, from memoirs and horror novels to young adult fiction and anything else that I happen to grab. However, I have a particular fondness ...
