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February 08, 2017
A few minutes with ... Michael Fraser
Throughout the month I'll be interviewing various authors. Today I share my conversation with Michael Fraser. Michael has been published in numerous national and international anthologies and journals. ...
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February 10, 2017
The absurdity of literary prizes part 2 of 2
“ I saw a highway of diamonds with nobody on it.”For my most recent book, I had a reviewer who skewered me for quoting Shakespeare, and then citing it in my end notes. Because, everyone who reads ...
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February 01, 2017
Introduction, Academic Language & my dislike of genre
Greetings,My name is Dane Swan and I'll be your Writer in Residence for February. I'm sure that it's just coincidence that I'm the Writer in Residence for February, but since it is Black History month ...
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February 15, 2017
Publishing vs Self-publishing
In many ways the current publishing structure for literature is obsolete. If you have a fan base of over 100 people willing to purchase your work, and if you can negotiate with graphic designers and editors, ...
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November 16, 2020
Things I Love About Readings: In-Person vs. Virtual
In-Person ReadingsPutting on my lipstick (burgundy), earrings (fake gold), and favourite clothes (burgundy again).Listening to music on public transit on the way over.Seeing familiar faces and hearing ...
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November 27, 2020
Some Ways To Deal With Writer's Block
I used to think that writer’s block just meant not having any inspiration or ideas. If only it was just that! Now I know it’s many things - and for me, it’s mostly anxiety caused by both lack of ...
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March 01, 2021
Writing violence (again)
On violence and trauma and repetition...When I was nineteen, I went to dinner at a friend’s, and afterwards, her father invited us all upstairs to see his attic art studio.There were so many canvasses ...
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March 09, 2021
A love letter (to books)
The first quote-unquote serious novel I read was One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexandr Solzhenitsyn. My eighth grade teacher set down a box at the front of the classroom and, in a seemingly ...
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March 13, 2021
Permission to dream
When I started writing, I didn’t understand the invisible work. The models of labour I was most familiar with—whether in a coffee shop, at a hotel, in a firehall, or at a construction site—were, ...
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March 16, 2021
A love letter (to libraries)
(—and other public places I once wrote to escape violence.)My life is very different from what it was when I began writing. While working on my latest novel, Girl Minus X, I often wrote in public ...