Search
-
June 30, 2022
Remembering Steven Heighton and the Vancouver 125 Poetry Conference
One of the jokes I have with myself is that my first exposure to the public world of poetry was so traumatizing that I had no choice but to accommodate what I saw, however subconsciously. Ten years ago, ...
-
December 29, 2017
The Canlit Year in Review: 2017 Can Suck It
I remember the moment when I realized that 2017 was going to irrevocably change Canlit. It was early in June, and I was sitting on a stage, speaking at a panel on diversity and the appropriation of voice. ...
-
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 ...
-
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 ...
-
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 ...
-
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 ...
-
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, ...
-
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 ...
-
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 ...
-
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 ...