Search
-
July 15, 2020The Most Important Books in the World
If you pick up Octavia Butler’s 1998 novel Parable of the Talents for the first time right now, you’ll share a moment with everyone else who’s only read it recently. It happens early in the book. ...
-
April 01, 2016Writing in Public
Harlan Ellison would occasionally set up a typewriter in the front window of a bookshop and crank out a story on public display for anyone who cared to watch him. The point he was making (other than the ...
-
December 21, 2015Poet in Preview: Michael Prior
BT: Michael, in 2014 you released your first chapbook, Swan Dive, with Frog Hollow Press. Of course, before that chapbook was even published you were already a well-known, well-respected poet in the Canadian ...
-
May 27, 2015Agents on TV: Sam Hiyate
Sam Hiyate is president of The Rights Factory, a boutique literary agency in Toronto. In his 24-year publishing career, he has worked at literary magazines, small presses and with New York Times bestselling ...
-
August 12, 2016Pleasant Days … with Stu and Crad
My basement excavations — the chaotic and ecstatic unpacking of dozens of boxes of cryogenically preserved books — recently produced a copy of a chapbook I haven’t thought about in decades. Pleasant ...
-
August 09, 2016Doing My Song and Dance
I sent out my first godawful poem for publication when I was ten or eleven years old. I sent it to the Toronto Daily Star; I obviously hadn’t done my market research, since they didn’t publish poetry. ...
-
June 24, 2015
Why I Read Obituaries
To get out of a dry writing spell several years ago, I had to take drastic measures. To take drastic measures meant calling my writer friend. In Ontario.She was shocked but not surprised when I called ...
-
May 05, 2015Writers on TV Survey: Kathryn Mockler
As part of our Books and TV theme, I invited Toronto authors, editors, agents and others to tell us a bit about their personal reading and viewing habits. First up, poet, screenwriter and The Rusty Toque ...
-
May 04, 2014Guttersnipes: Réal Godbout
TCAF is the Toronto Comic Arts Festival. It is an annual week-long celebration of comics and graphic novels and their creators, featuring readings, interviews, panels, workshops, gallery shows, art installations, ...
-
May 27, 20175 Tips to Stand Out in the Slush Pile
You’ve finished your manuscript. It’s been edited by a critique partner. You’ve assembled a pitch. Now what? The next step is securing literary representation to pitch your project to prospective ...
