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September 17, 2020To Pandemic or not to Pandemic
Surely any period of upheaval and uncertainty is a difficult one to start a novel. And here we are, seven months into the pandemic and with no end in sight. Let’s say that you’re a novelist ...
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July 23, 2019Excerpt: Glimpse into Audrée Wilhelmy's Stunning and Mysterious Novel The Body of the Beasts
The strange, dark, and beautiful world of Audrée Wilhelmy's The Body of the Beasts (House of Anansi Press, translated by Susan Ouriou) is an utterly captivating one. In the novel, the Borya family ...
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September 11, 2015
Don’t Think About It All at Once
Here’s something that I’ve been thinking about a lot recently. A friend recently advised me what a friend had advised her: don’t think about it all at once. She was referring to the world after ...
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September 26, 2022“I Choose My Country Over My Personal Needs" Feature Interview with Acclaimed Ukrainian Novelist Ivan Baidak
In just his early thirties, Ivan Baidak has already established himself as a literary superstar in Ukraine, with his novels and short stories winning critical acclaim while at the same time topping bestseller ...
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June 30, 2014
A Month in the Life of the Launching Author
Today marks one month since May 31, the official publication date of my new novel The Oakdale Dinner Club, and one month since I started my residency here at Open Book Toronto.Within the month of June, ...
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March 30, 2019Writer at Work: The Steadfastness of Beauty
Last fall, a few days after my book, Port of Being, was sent to the printer, I met with Juliane Okot Bitek, whom I had asked for a blurb. During that rainy day at a pub, Juliane and I shared our parallel ...
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October 29, 2015
The Problem with Working for Free
When I first started writing, I took any opportunities I could.First, I interned at a magazine for a high co-op program. Later, I wrote CD reviews for free, got a few poems published in some zines, and ...
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February 15, 2023Lorna Schultz Nicholson on Writing a Picture Book That Encourages Kids to Think About What They Most Value
If you had only a few minutes to gather the things you love most from your home before fleeing, what would you take?This difficult decision is at the centre of Lorna Schultz Nicholson's powerful picture ...
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September 07, 2016Interview with Amy Jones: Ideas, Characters and the Importance of Representing Northern Ontario in Literature
Amy Jones’ We’re All In This Together (M&S, 2016) is a remarkable debut novel. Featuring an idiosyncratic family of characters who are vulnerable, at times hilarious, and always completely believable, ...
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June 08, 2014Comfort Food, Comfort Reading, Comfort Movie
My new novel The Oakdale Dinner Club is very food-centric – it’s about a group of suburbanites who get together once a month to eat good food, drink good wine, and do other wicked things.One of the ...