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April 12, 2021Practice in the mirror: "I don't answer that question," and other helpful phrases for poets
Welcome to week two of Careful Inventory, poets and friends! Thanks so much for coming back or tuning in. As promised, today’s post is an opportunity for you to practice setting some boundaries that ...
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September 02, 2018Show Me the (Writing-Grant) Money!
Hello, and Happy September! Thanks to the excellent folks at Open Book for inviting me here, and thanks to you for tuning in, lovely readers-who-I’m-guessing-are-mostly-also-writers.All right, let’s ...
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July 17, 2025Read an Excerpt From A Phial of Passing Memories by James Yékú
Poet and scholar James Yékú’ has written in a variety of forms, but he returns this month with a second poetry collection that is deep and evocative, and that firmly grounds the reader in particular ...
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December 10, 2025Celebrated Poet Ronna Bloom Breathes Life into the Poignant Verse of IN A RIPTIDE
In a brand new collection of poetry, Ronna Bloom brings her singular wit and emotional acuity to bear in every word and line. In a Riptide (Brick Books) thrives in creating a space where humour, darkness, ...
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September 21, 2018Read an Exclusive Excerpt from A Skeletal Wand by Ruth Roach Pierson
Governor General's Literary Award nominated poet Ruth Roach Pierson's newest collection, A Skeletal Wand (Palimpsest Press), is a gorgeous book, full of poems that are uneasy and arresting, sketched ...
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October 18, 2023Getting to Know Aley Waterman, the Newfoundland Author Whose Debut Novel is Destined to Become a Toronto Classic
In Aley Waterman's debut novel Mudflowers (Rare Machines/Dundurn Press), Sophie's life seems like an indie movie dream from the outside – in her cramped but cool apartment in Toronto's west end, she ...
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April 23, 2021Unstuck: what writers can learn from artists in other disciplines
What can writers learn from burlesque performers, chefs, choreographers, and designers? What advice do established artists in other disciplines have for emerging writers? Let's find out. I'm so excited ...
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September 19, 2022"All Language is Your Playground" Poet Otoniya J. Okot Bitek on Chance Encounters and the Power of Poetry
In her new collection, decorated poet Otoniya J. Okot Bitek plays with form and expectation, rewriting history both colonial and literary. A Is for Acholi (Wolsak & Wynn) sees Okot Bitek rewriting ...
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September 14, 2018"I Could Only Find the Answer as I Wrote" Mina Athanassious on His Collection of Coptic Egyptian Coming of Age Stories
Mina Athanassious's A Face Like the Moon (Mosaic Press) gathers eight deeply personal stories of Coptic children growing up in Egypt, including a story set in the largely-Coptic neighbourhood where the ...
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March 08, 2022"As He Watched, Envy Stirred in His Heart" Read an Excerpt from A Bend in the Breeze by Valerie Sherrard
After decades of prophecy, the residents of a remote island have finally found what has been foretold: the Long Awaited, who will tell them their fate 17 days after appearing, has arrived in a boat drifting ...