Search
-
November 30, 2017A New National Emblem
Canada is a land of plenty. But it is a state poor in symbols. Our national emblems are few and time-worn. Canada’s plant is the maple tree, which, in an annual strip tease, releases red leaves clogging ...
-
December 04, 2017A New National Emblem Revisited
I was too hasty the other day. For nice, polite Canadians, the spider icon is just too darn ornery. In true Northern fashion, I apologize. We need something more civil yet found from coast to coast ...
-
December 06, 2017The Striped Scrapper
When I was fifteen, Dad moved my sibs and I from the chilly West Coast to the hurricane belt—Grand Cayman Island. We spent six months living by the Caribbean Sea where Dad, bewigged and robed, practiced ...
-
December 10, 2017The Moth
I do not nominate the moth, pallid creature of night, to be any sort of talisman or totem. Moths are vandals, eating your heirloom woolens. These Visigoths deserve summary execution. No last meal of tartan ...
-
April 09, 2017My final two columns: Part Two
As rob has mentioned, this is the second part of his final column for Open Book. The staff at Open Book would like to share our appreciation for a decade of columns, and for rob's contributions to the ...
-
April 30, 2018May 2018 writer-in-residence Mark Sampson on Indoor Life, the Music in His Head, and Cocktailing
Mark Sampson does it all. From poetry to short stories to humour writing, Sampson's literary chameleon quality has garnered him wide acclaim as a versatile, insightful, wickedly witty writer. Now Mark ...
-
January 13, 2017Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Writer
Terri Favro is a literary gadabout in the best sense of the word. Whenever I turn around, she's doing something new: a Broken Pencil short story challenge, contributing to CBC's contest, putting out a ...
-
October 09, 2024Natasha Ramoutar's Collection, Baby Cerebus, Contains Multitudes in its Imagery and Depth of Feeling
Emerging literary star Natasha Ramoutar has already made an impact with her debut poetry collection, Bittersweet (Mawenzi House), which was shortlisted for the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award and established ...
-
November 08, 2024Catherine Black's Debut Novel, Blessed Nowhere, Finds a Way Through Sorrow and Loss with a Grand Road Trip
As a poet, Catherine Black has been nominated for multiple awards, and has challenged savvy readers with inventive, hybrid forms that explore complex themes of motherhood, mental health, addiction ...
-
May 19, 2020The Entitled Interview: Bilal Baig on Getting Shook Up and Connecting with Language
In playwright Bilal Baig's newest work, Acha Bacha (forthcoming from Playwrights Canada), a queer Muslim man must reconcile two parts of his identity over the course of one life-changing day.Zaya is ...
