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February 13, 2019"I Put My Faith in Those Three Main Characters" Oakland Ross on His Intriguing New Novel Swimming with Horses
Sometimes the people who leave the biggest impression on you are the most surprising. In Oakland Ross's Swimming with Horses (Dundurn Press), Sam Mitchell is an average teen when he meets Hilary Anson, ...
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March 13, 2017My final two columns: Part One
After nearly a decade, my time as a columnist for Open Book comes to a close. According to my email folder, it was May 2009 when Amy Logan Holmes first approached me with the idea of submitting pieces ...
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July 20, 2014Craving a Talent Not My Own
Those who work in London are all either going down with flu, recovering from flu or in the grip of flu—even though most of the people going down with flu, recovering from flu or in the grip of flu don’t ...
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September 14, 2021Read an Excerpt from The Shaytan Bride, Sumaiya Matin's Powerful True Story of Escaping Forced Marriage
As a small child, Sumaiya Matin had heard about the Shaytan Bride. A woman with something wrong with her. Maybe she was crazy, or defiant. Or maybe she was possessed, trapped or seduced by an evil spirit ...
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March 05, 2018"Loss and Absence Challenge Us to Become Who We Are": Kathleen Venema on Her Unique Mother-Daughter Memoir
The impact of mother-daughter relationships is hard to overstate. In Kathleen Venema's Bird-Bent Grass: A Memoir, in Pieces (Wilfrid Laurier University) the extraordinary influence of the mother-daughter ...
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July 13, 2014Modest Portraits of My Mother
So perhaps my mother doesn’t need to be my queen; simply being my mother is already a lot, even if the rare kisses I place on her cheeks aren’t so majestic. —Kim Thúy, Ru**As a statue:Bootprints ...
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March 25, 2023Was It Worth It?
Was it worth it? I get asked this a lot.I think they are asking if putting in all the time, effort and emotional labour to write a vulnerable and raw memoir about trauma, is worth it. Like, if I say yes, ...
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May 26, 2020Read an Excerpt from Anita Lahey's Touching New Memoir 'The Last Goldfish'
When a teenage Anita Lahey met her best friend Louisa in high school, their connection was immediate and powerful. From that day on, the two girls would spend their formative days navigating the pains ...
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March 13, 2019Antanas Sileika on Writing the "James Bond of Lithuania" in his Compelling New Historical Novel, Provisionally Yours
At the opening of Antanas Sileika's Provisionally Yours (Biblioasis), Justas Adamonis is returning to his hometown. It's not a simple and happy homecoming though - Justas is a former counterintelligence ...
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November 19, 2016
The Art of the Novel: Interview with Amanda Hale
By Bianca Lakoseljac: OB Writer in ResidenceI have been fortunate to work with Amanda Hale at various writers’ events. In April, at Authors for Indies, we volunteered as book-sellers at Another Story ...
