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January 25, 2018"The Writer’s Ability to Fully Inhabit Their Characters Makes for a Much Richer Story": Talking with Susan Marshall, author of NemeSIS
Sisters have a special bond - and sometimes a complicated one, especially when you throw some parental turmoil into the mix. When Nadine and Rachel's Dad leaves, and their mom falls apart, the two sisters ...
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January 23, 2018"What Keeps Me Going is the Element of Discovery": Debut Author Djamila Ibrahim on Building Unforgettable Characters
Djamila Ibrahim's Things are Good Now (House of Anansi) is the kind of debut that can't be ignored. A vibrant, gutsy, thoughtful short fiction collection, it was called "an insightful and imaginative ...
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January 11, 2018"Writing is Like Learning Where to Look for Lost Things": Talking with Debut Author Marc Labriola
In Marc Labriola's Dying Behaviour of Cats (Quattro Books), Theo hasn't set foot outside in seven years. On the night of a violent hurricane, he swears he sees a leopard climb onto his roof. It turns ...
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December 12, 2017Susan Elmslie on the Poetic Power of Kindness and Vulnerability
The title of Susan Elmslie's Museum of Kindness (Brick Books) is instantly intriguing - especially when you know that part of the collection is inspired by the traumatic aftermath of the shooting that ...
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December 08, 2017Books of the Year
The end of the year is predictably a time for reviewing, taking stock, and of course, lots and lots of best of lists. In the world of books, there are some pretty obvious picks—award winners, best sellers, ...
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December 04, 2017A New National Emblem Revisited
I was too hasty the other day. For nice, polite Canadians, the spider icon is just too darn ornery. In true Northern fashion, I apologize. We need something more civil yet found from coast to coast ...
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December 04, 2017Talking to Picture Book Creators - Part Two
Welcome back! I hope you enjoy part 2 of my Q and A with the creators of four super picture books—Nicola Winstanley, author of A Bedtime Yarn, Shauntay Grant, author of The Walking Bathroom, Scot ...
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November 28, 2017Tanya Talaga on the Title and Tragedy of Seven Fallen Feathers
The tragic story of 12-year-old Chanie Wenjack is a rightfully well known one now in Canada - how the young boy froze to death after running away from a residential school. What is less known is that ...
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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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November 23, 2017Catherine Graham's Path Through the Celery Forest: "A Great Book Alters You Physically"
In a world where the impossible has happened, the limitations of everyday logic are suddenly opened. When poet and novelist Catherine Graham was diagnosed with cancer, the world became a topsy-turvy place. ...