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May 31, 2019
The Mindful Writer and the Desire To Publish
This is my last post with Open Book. I tried to approach my residency by writing about things that writers might find useful, or at least semi-entertaining. And I find it amusing that just like being ...
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October 27, 2016
The Journey Prize Writers
The 2016 Writers’ Trust / McLelland & Stewart Journey Prize, the winner of which will be announced on November 2, may be slightly overshadowed by the other prizes given out that night: namely, the ...
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July 10, 2018
Did You Really Go Through All That?
I stole the title of this post from a scene late in the film Sideways, but I could’ve taken a similar line from nearly anywhere—for instance, the second of Orhan Pamuk’s Norton Lectures (collected ...
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August 25, 2020
Memoir is Not the Story of Your Life
The funny thing about memoir is that it is not the story of your life.It is true that memoir deals with and includes stories from the author’s life, but therein lies the distinction. For while autobiography ...
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April 05, 2022
Getting to Know KidLit Star Susan Hughes: Apartment Fires, Ravine Nudes, & Happy Dog Tears
In kidlit star Susan Hughes' newest book, young readers can travel all over the world, not to focus on what is different or surprising, but instead to find out the ways in which we are all the same. Same ...
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July 12, 2022
Screenwriter Turned Novelist Claire Ross Dunn on Fire Phobia, Sleeping in a Coffin, & Her Drake Connection
After getting her start as an actor, screenwriter Claire Ross Dunn has written for Degrassi, Little Mosque on the Prairie, and numerous other acclaimed shows. This season, she's brought her witty, smart, ...
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June 09, 2022
"Blood Blooming Like Flowering Tea" Read an Excerpt from Francine Cunningham's Debut Story Collection, God Isn't Here Today
If the eye-catching title of Francine Cunningham's debut short story collection—God Isn't Here Today (Invisible Publishing)—wasn't enough to signal a bold, irreverent, powerful new writer, the stories ...
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June 13, 2023
"It is For and Of Him, All of It" Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer on Writing Her Stunning, Autobiographical New Novel
All families have stories. Whether funny, strange, or sad, the stories we tell about ourselves and to each other—or refuse to tell—irrevocably shape our families.In acclaimed author Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer's ...
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August 24, 2023
Eugenie Fernandes on Breaking Down the Extrovert/Introvert Dichotomy in Her Lovable New Picture Book
In recent years, the idea of introverts (those who may enjoy social interactions but find them draining) and extroverts (those who gain energy from social interactions) has been everywhere, from online ...
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June 21, 2023
Read an Excerpt from Above Discovery, Jennifer Falkner's "Utterly Fresh and Enchanting" Debut Short Story Collection
Above Discovery (Invisible Publishing) is Jennifer Falkner's debut collection, but being a first-timer didn't hold Falkner back in the least: epic, far-ranging, and filled with lavishly imagined tales, the ...