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November 27, 2017Mariam Pirbhai on Bringing Invisible Characters into the Spotlight
An earthquake survivor, a resort hotel maid, a migrant worker on a chicken farm. These are just a few of the fascinating and diverse characters in Mariam Pirbhai's short story collection Outside People ...
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February 08, 2021
LOVE IN THE TIME OF COVID: The writing process Part 3 of 9
As I stated before, the writing process for me is an intuitive one. Some people are afraid or intimidated by the blank page, but I see all kinds of possibilities in it. I am a visual writer, so I have ...
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October 18, 2018
My friend Richard
In my last post I talked about some of the influential writers and books that inspired me to seriously pursue my own creative writing. My list is much longer than that, and there are many more storytellers ...
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September 08, 2020Picture Book Magic
People are often surprised to learn that a picture book begins with the words. But every children’s book editor I’ve met has preferred to read a picture-book manuscript without any images. A good ...
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September 21, 2020What Timothy Findley Taught Me
Unfortunately, it isn’t often that a major biography of a Canadian writer is published. Such a book takes years to write and costs the author a great deal, not only in work time but also in research ...
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September 10, 2020A Wolf at the Dog Show
If you’re reading this article you are no doubt familiar with the names of major publishers and their imprints—Penguin Random House, Harper Collins, Knopf, Mcclelland and Stewart, etc. You might ...
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February 26, 2021
LOVE IN THE TIME OF COVID: The writing process Part 8 of 9
What happens when the unexpected occurs. As a writer, I like to throw unexpected elements in when things seem to be progressing smoothly. The same way I don’t conceive of a beginning or middle before ...
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October 27, 2016The Journey Prize Writers
The 2016 Writers’ Trust / McLelland & Stewart Journey Prize, the winner of which will be announced on November 2, may be slightly overshadowed by the other prizes given out that night: namely, the ...
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October 05, 2020Between the pages
“When I'm really into a novel, I'm seeing the world differently during that time — not just for the hour or so in the day when I get to read. I'm actually walking around in a haze, spellbound by the ...
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November 26, 2020Children’s Book Gift Guide for Little (and Big) Bookworms
I love buying children’s books for my niece and nephew. They all have such different personalities and interests and it’s so fun for me to find books I think they’ll enjoy. And I also love buying ...