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January 05, 2024An Ode to Writing Research
I have realized that second only to holding a bound book in my hands, my favourite part of writing a book is the research. I love choosing worlds that I don’t know much about—rare books libraries, ...
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August 27, 2018An Open Letter to the Stranger Who Asked Me, “How Did You Write That Book for Children If You Don't Have Children?”
Dear Stranger,I realize that writing a book is kind of a self-important undertaking. When I write, I sometimes imagine that there are people out there who might actually enjoy reading my words and letting ...
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October 23, 2019
An Open Letter To Vickery Bowles
To Vickery Bowles, the chief Librarian at Toronto Public LibraryMy name is Hasan Namir. I moved to Canada in 1998 and during the first week that I arrived here, my parents took me to the Coquitlam Public ...
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March 17, 2023An Unconventional Interview: The Paintings of Jeffery Donaldson's Ode to Art Galleries, Momento, Speak Out
A plain white room with some squares hanging on the walls fills with people, many of whom stay and stare. Maybe some are even weeping, or laughing, or huddled in deep discussion about what they see. An ...
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September 06, 2018Anatomy of a Short Story, or Where I Get (Some of) My Ideas
I’m not one of those writers who makes everything up completely from scratch. And seriously, do those writers even exist? (If they do, I am jealous of them.)In my fiction, almost everything comes from ...
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November 29, 2017
And finally, nouveau noir...
My exploration of noir is coming to an end, with this last post. Thank you very much, Open Book Toronto, for having me as WIR, and a big thanks to all the writers who gave so generously of their time ...
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November 28, 2017
And now it's time for comedic noir!
Lisa: Tonight, in the penultimate post as my lovely stint as WIR here at Open Book, we are chatting with fellow Inanna author, Sky Curtis. Thank you very much for joining us, Sky! I am categorizing Sky's ...
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June 03, 2015And Then They Were upon Her...
If you’ve never heard of Shirley Jackson or read her sensational short story "The Lottery," you should stop doing whatever you’re doing and read it at once.When “The Lottery” was published on ...
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June 14, 2024Andrew Battershill is Ready for Round Two in His New Pugilist-Mystery Novel, Pet, Pet, Slap
Back for Round 2 in novel form, boxer ‘Pillow Fist’ Pete Wilson returns to the page for a big comeback fight in Pet, Pet, Slap (Coach House Books). But has he lost his edge? Will he find the motivation ...
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May 29, 2019Andrew Forbes on Titles Shaping Stories, Finding Ideas in Government Jargon, & His Musical Inspirations
Andrew Forbes' Lands and Forests (Invisible Publishing) is a gift to short fiction lovers - a spare, smart, thoughtful collection that feels like a gritty Alice Munro descendant peeling back the ordinary ...
