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January 24, 2017Teaching Teens to Write
Nora Ohanjanians is a retired high school English teacher who taught the Grade 12 Writer's Craft course at the school where I teach. One of my favourite people, Nora is a very warm, giving person. She ...
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March 17, 2020Read an Excerpt From the Inspiring Collection 'Releasing Hope'
The transition from incarceration to the free world is incredibly daunting. Challenges such as finding work, a place to live, and a supportive community in which to heal can be extremely difficult and ...
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January 31, 2014
On Writing, with Dane Swan
By Open Book and Dane SwanDane Swan is Open Book's February 2014 Writer in Residence. In his On Writing interview, he tells us about his latest book, Bending the Continuum, his next project and his ideal ...
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October 10, 2016
Poetic Inspiration I
Rather than simply providing a list of books that have inspired me, I want to go into a bit of detail on specific poems or series of poems or poetic innovations that have made my synapses crackle, broadened ...
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October 08, 2016
Early Encounters with Poetry
A couple of interview questions recently posed to me got me thinking about my early encounters with poetry. For though my first book of poems has just been published a couple of decades after my first ...
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April 04, 2018
Dream Space: an introduction to online obsessions for National Poetry Month
I’m writing this post in the middle of a sick day, in the middle of a sick week. I’ve been couchbound for what feels like a decade – my brain is foggy, my voice is shredded, and I’ve watched so ...
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May 08, 2014Words & Curds: Matthew Zapruder, Author of Sun Bear
On April 22, I met with American poet Matthew Zapruder, the poet behind such books as the acclaimed The Pajamaist (Copper Canyon, 2006) and Come On All You Ghosts (Copper Canyon, 2010). In addition ...
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June 04, 2017Finding Your Material -- and This Time, Billie Holiday
The question is, how does a writer recognize what is uniquely her material? Save herself from wrong turns, dead ends, dead writing?The subject has always been central to me—an obsession—and years ...
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March 31, 2023April Writer in Residence Manahil Bandukwala Explores the Woman Behind the Taj Mahal in Her Masterful Debut Poetry Collection
One of the most iconic landmarks in world history, the spectacular Taj Mahal, was famously built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan to house the tomb of his favourite wife. A romantic story; a favourite tourist ...
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April 01, 2024Jody Chan's New Poetry Collection Challenges Systemic Failings in Community Care
Writer and therapist Jody Chan has had plenty of experience with systems of mental health treatment in Canada, and the ongoing shortcomings in care for citizens who are ill and look to these entities ...
