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April 25, 2018
On respectable narratives and why diversity on the page matters
Growing up, I was very particular kind of Chinese girl. I attended Chinese school on Saturdays. I took piano lessons. My report cards were always the best in my class. I played first clarinet in my school ...
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June 21, 2022
6 Reasons Why Your Kids’ Book Was Rejected
After working in children’s publishing, sitting on various book selection committees, and judging writing for kids contests for 15+ years, I’ve read a lot of manuscripts. Here are the six most common ...
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July 28, 2021
Claudine Crangle's Fantastic, Wes Anderson-esque Artwork is a Perfect Backdrop to Her Story of How to Welcome Change
The more closely you look at the artwork Claudine Crangle creates for her children's books, the more amazed you will be. Her newest offering is The House Next Door (Groundwood Books), a gentle, witty ...
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April 20, 2023
"Conflict is the Engine that Drives Fiction" Leanne Lieberman on the Magic of Writing for Teens
When her dad hits rock bottom—again—Jess finds herself determined to change her stars and avoid going down the same dark path. She takes a job cleaning a beautiful country house, where part of her ...
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August 08, 2019
Ontario's Biggest Small Town Festival: How Eden Mills Became One of the Most Unique Literary Destinations in the Province
The Eden Mills Writers' Festival is a unique experience in the busy CanLit event calendar - pastoral, open and supportive, and tucked into the heart of the countryside outside of Guelph, it's the only ...
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June 28, 2023
The Benefits of Being an Imposter
Like most writers, I’ve had a lot of rent jobs. When I was lucky, I worked in my chosen fields of editing and education. When I wasn’t so lucky, I worked in an institutional kitchen, as an ad mail ...
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July 15, 2019
"The More Fun I am Having, the Better the Writing" Novelist Susan Swan on Finding Joy in the Writing Process
In Susan Swan's newest novel, The Dead Celebrities Club (Cormorant Books), readers meet charismatic, high-flying financial conman Dale Paul. When Paul's empire is revealed to be an exploitative sham, ...
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June 14, 2022
"Even Staring Out the Window Has Changed" The 2022 Griffin Prize Poets Speak in Depth on Their Writing Lives
This year, there are ten writers and translators nominated for the Griffin Poetry Prizes. The two prizes—one open to collections authored by Canadian poets and one open to any international collection ...
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June 06, 2018
"What's Your Story?" Read the Winning Texts of the 2018 OBPO Writing Contest Winners! Part Two: North York
What's better than reading brand new stories from talented Toronto authors? How about reading them for free? We're excited to present, exclusive on Open Book, the second set of winning texts from the Ontario ...
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June 18, 2022
I Love it When a Plan Comes Together
I don't know what other writers' process is so I've no idea if this will be unique or interesting, but this would be mine. It's evolved over the years because I like to imagine that I've grown as an individual ...