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November 15, 2018
The Importance of YA
Now that I’ve talked a lot about how I got to this point in my writing career, it seems important that I focus on why I choose to write young adult fiction. It seems, to me anyway, that despite the ...
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September 12, 2018The Future of WOTS: Maya Baumann of The Word on the Street Takes Us Behind the Scenes of the Festival
It's no secret we're counting down the days to The Word on the Street Toronto (Sunday, September 23!), one of our favourite festivals and a highlight of the Toronto literary calendar. While we wait, we're ...
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May 15, 20192019 Forest of Reading Children's Literary Award Winners, Chosen by Ontario Students
The Giller Prize of the children's lit world, the Ontario Library Association's beloved Forest of Reading Awards honour the best fiction and nonfiction writing for young people in Ontario each year. Today ...
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April 03, 2019Small Victories: How to Keep Writing When the Odds Seem Stacked Against You
Everyone thinks that once you get a book deal it’s all sunshine and rainbows: a beautiful book, great reviews, book launches! … But it’s not. Getting published often introduces you to a host of ...
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July 30, 2020Mom's Turn
While Accretion, my recently published debut, is a collection of poetry, it’s also a narrative closely based on a really transformative moment in my life a few years back. Given that family and tradition ...
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April 23, 2014
More Revision
A friend confesses that he could spend the rest of his life revising a handful of the same poems. One change leads to another. It’s like a glassblower unsure whether to make a swan or a squirrel, the ...
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June 26, 2017The Pram in the Hall
There is no more sombre enemy of good art than the pram in the hall. – Cyril ConnollyMy son Gabe and his wonderful partner Anna got married on the weekend. It was a joyous wedding, a moving ceremony ...
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April 20, 2021"Children are Born as Little Scientists" Erin Alladin's Outside, You Notice Captures the Wonder of Exploring the Natural World
Erin Alladin's Outside, You Notice (Pajama Press, illustrated by Andrea Blinick) is just the sort of book we could all use right now. Thoughtful, joyful, and gentle, its celebration of the outdoors, ...
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April 22, 2021CBC Short Story Prize 5-Writer Shortlist Announced, Including a Second Shortlist Appearance for Brooks McMullin
This morning, CBC Books announced the narrowing of their 33-writer longlist to the final five writers contending for the coveted CBC Short Story Prize. Three nominees from Ontario, one from Saskatchewan, ...
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July 05, 2021The Word on the Street Offers Up Weekly Streaming Literary Events for an At-Home "WOTS" Experience
The pandemic has created a very different landscape for literary events, and a lot of organizations have responded by evolving in creative ways, finding methods of bringing the buzz and connection of ...