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March 12, 2020
On Family Secrets
Why does my writing tend to focus on family secrets? In particular, on children trying to unearth secrets tied to their parents’ pasts? I’m often asked these questions during interviews. The first ...
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October 11, 2017
On Pseudoscience, Wrestling, and Finding Storytelling in the Unconventional
When I was in university I had to take a science course to complete my undergraduate degree. I decided on “Science and Pseudoscience” – mostly because the title reminded me of the sort of conspiracy ...
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June 17, 2020
On Reclaiming Brokenness and Refusing the Violence of ‘Recovery Narratives’
I’m working on this essay when a friend texts me. His therapist suggested he write a list of things that he likes about himself but the picture that shows up on my phone is just a blank page.“Having ...
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June 16, 2020
On Stage: Jordi Mand on the Freedom of Playwriting and What To Do When The Work's Not Working
Brontë sisters Emily, Charlotte, and Anne have come to a crossroads. While they've long enjoyed writing as a hobby, with a father gravely ill and a brother struggling with addiction, it's up to them ...
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July 31, 2018
On writers, politics, and when to just stop talking
Once upon a time, before the age of social media, Canlit was inclusive and kind, and political differences were settled amicably over whisky in private festival hospitality suites and the kind of dark ...
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January 31, 2014
On Writing, with Dane Swan
By Open Book and Dane SwanDane Swan is Open Book's February 2014 Writer in Residence. In his On Writing interview, he tells us about his latest book, Bending the Continuum, his next project and his ideal ...
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June 20, 2017
On Writing, with Darryl Whetter
Darryl Whetter's Search Box Bed (Palimpsest Press) brings together poetry, with all its historical associations of love and romance, and new media, with its accompanying online realities of sexual connection ...
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June 02, 2016
On Writing, with Nadia Bozak
Nadia Bozak's gorgeous collection of linked short stories, Thirteen Shells (House of Anansi), is drawing tons of praise, including comparisons to Alice Munro, for its deft rendering of a young girl coming ...
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June 06, 2017
On Writing, with paulo da costa
The idiom "small is beautiful" is often true in fiction - from short stories to microfiction, sometimes the briefest glimpses into an imagined world are the most arresting. The Midwife of Torment & ...
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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 ...