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January 02, 2019Best Canadian Stories Editor Russell Smith on Short Fiction & the Importance of Variety
For more than 45 years, the most interesting, innovative, and memorable short stories of the year have been collected in Best Canadian Stories, with a list of past contributors that includes the likes ...
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December 14, 2018Earthrise Author James Gladstone on The Good, Bad, & Surprising Moments in Writing Picture Books
December 21, 2018 will mark the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 8 mission, the first manned mission to fully orbit the moon and return safely. During the mission, on Christmas Eve, astronaut William Anders ...
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December 13, 2018David Goutor on Mining Family History to Write an Extraordinary Winnipeg Man's Fight Against Fascism
In 1936, a German man living in Winnipeg was following the inexorable march of Franco's armies towards Madrid. Hans Ibing recognized the significance of the Spanish Civil War in the struggle against ...
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December 10, 2018"I Need to be Deep Inside Their Hearts and Minds" Fran Kimmel on Building the Fascinating Characters in No Good Asking
Moving with family to an idyllic farmhouse sounds like a charming idea, but in practice, behind the scenes, Ellie and Eric Nyland's family is unravelling.Fran Kimmel's No Good Asking (ECW Press) opens ...
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December 06, 2018D. Nandi Odhiambo on Writing Violence, Authentic Choices, & Radical Doubt in His New Novel
In D. Nandi Odhiambo's Smells Like Stars (Book*hug), a diverse and vibrant cast of characters struggles with change, each in their own way. Journalist Kerstin Ostheim and freelance photographer P.J. ...
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December 05, 2018Robin Blackburn McBride on the Child Protagonist of Her Novel: "He Said Take My Hand, Which I Did, and He Led Me"
Robin Blackburn McBride's debut novel The Shining Fragments (Guernica Editions) explores late 19th century and turn of the century Toronto through the eyes of Joseph Conlon, a young orphan abandoned ...
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November 20, 2018Mike Barnes on Choosing a Deceptively Simple Title for His Book of Letters to Caregivers
Sometimes deft simplicity is where we find the greatest impact when it comes to writing. That proves true in the title of Mike Barnes' Be With: Letters to a Caregiver (Biblioasis). The title Be With ...
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November 08, 2018Karl Kessler & Sunshine Chen Honour Waterloo's Vanishing Trades with Stunning Portraits in Overtime
From shoemakers to sign painters, felt workers to glove cutters, there are countless skilled, traditional trades and jobs that are slowing disappearing from our increasingly mechanized existence. With ...
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November 07, 2018"We Hunger for the Real" The 2018 Weston Prize Finalists on the Power of Non-Fiction
The Writers' Trust of Canada has been going from strength to strength in recent years, with their prizes and programs increasing in impact and profile every year (the 2018 Writers' Trust Awards ceremony, ...
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October 31, 2018
We've always been here
My time here is drawing to a close and I’d like to express great thanks to the Open Book team for inviting me to this space for the past month. It’s been a real pleasure and an immense honour to have ...