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March 09, 2018Author & Illustrator team Susan Hughes & Carey Sookocheff on the Ups and Downs of Publishing
Who hasn't had the feeling that they don't fit in? Despite the universality of feeling excluded, odd, and unworthy, we still struggle to find a way to reach kids experiencing those feelings, to curb bullying ...
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January 12, 2024Read an Excerpt from Secret Sex, an Anthology of R-Rated Fiction Written Anonymously by CanLit's Finest
24 stories, all of them firmly NSFW, make up the cheeky new collection Secret Sex, edited by Russell Smith (Dundurn Press/Rare Machines). Smith gathered 24 of the most acclaimed authors in the country, ...
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January 31, 2019A Title Should Be a "Dream in Which the Work Lives": Talking with our February 2019 writer-in-residence Deanna Young
Ottawa poet Deanna Young is the author of four collections of poetry, which have earned her praise and nominations for numerous prizes including the Trillium Book Award for Poetry, the Ottawa Book Award, ...
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September 25, 2021Read an Excerpt from Mahtab Narsimhan's Valley of the Rats, the Story of a Father and Son Lost in a Mysterious Bamboo Forest
Krish has no interest in getting dragged around outside, camping and exploring and muddling in who-knows-what kind of germs. He's much rather stay inside with a good book, but his photographer father ...
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March 14, 2014
The Reading Rulebook
I used to go to a lot of public readings of poetry and fiction. Then I had kids, and rarely went, but recently, due to changing circumstances, I've been out to a few more, and what hasn't changed are ...
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May 20, 2021Read an Excerpt from Philippa Dowding's Firefly, the Story of a Young Girl Finding Herself through Costumes After Family Trauma
Philippa Dowding has a special knack for exploring tough issues in her kids' books without sacrificing storytelling and imagination. She meets kids and teens where they are to tell fascinating and often ...
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October 27, 2018
Characters like family
One of my favourite parts of the writing process is creating and developing characters. I’ve always believed a story is only as strongly crafted as the people in it. Characters are the pillars of and ...
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September 27, 2022The Joy of Literary Festivals – And Dreams Coming True
It’s hard to believe we’ve come to the end of September and that the time I have been privileged to spend with you on this Open Book platform is almost over. Looking back at what I have shared with ...
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October 18, 2022"But I Don’t Sing for Them. Best Believe that, Junie." Read a Gripping Excerpt from Junie by Chelene Knight
In 1930s Vancouver, Junie and Maddie move into Hogan's Alley, a vibrant Black and immigrant community in the East End. Things look hopeful: jazz singer Maddie has talent and ambition and her young daughter ...
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March 28, 2022What's Beyond: Writing as an Actor, Part 2
One of the important exercises we do in theatre is called “What’s Beyond.” It’s a Viola Spolin exercise to help actors understand the full, inner life of their characters. Viola Spolin is credited ...
