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April 26, 2019Poet Ayaz Pirani on Oral Tradition, Literary Gatekeepers, and Writing Faithful Lines
Ayaz Pirani's work has been praised as "wise... surprising [and] sly" and his newest collection, Kabir’s Jacket Has a Thousand Pockets (Mawenzi House), builds on his characteristic insightful, elegant ...
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September 29, 2019
Bookstore Love
This is my final post as September Writer-in-Residence for Open Book. It’s been such a pleasure to spend the month thinking about my writing life and what I’d like to say about it. I’m grateful ...
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October 01, 2019"Sometimes, the Story Isn't Finished Being Told" Drew Hayden Taylor on Spending 20 Years with the Story That Inspired His Newest Novel
In playwright, novelist, and screenwriter Drew Hayden Taylor's new book, Chasing Painted Horses (Cormorant Books), an innocent act of encouragement from a parent has far-reaching consequences. When ...
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September 16, 2019
My Teenaged Reading Secret
When I was six my mom started to take me with her on her weekly visits to the public library. Mom was a fan of Dorothy L. Sayers; I was a fan of Raggedy Ann and Andy books. Around the age of thirteen ...
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December 19, 20195 Great Books to Escape With Over the Holiday Season
As the holidays approach, life can get a bit hectic. Whether you're cooking for large amounts of people, organizing travel plans, or mentally preparing yourself to deal with that one difficult relative, ...
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September 27, 2018Coming to Voice
I worked on this piece while at a residency for BIPOC writers in the fall of 2017. I did not pick it up again when I returned. While workshopping it there, I was not convinced it captured what I was trying ...
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October 03, 2018Governor General's Literary Award Lists Released, Including a Hat Trick for Rawi Hage
"Innovative, troubling, surprising and emotional" -- that dynamic list of qualities is how Simon Brault, Director and CEO of the Canada Council for the Arts, described the 2018 Governor General's Literary ...
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April 18, 2019Brenda Leifso on the "Wonderful Odd Ordinariness" of Poetry & an Act of Kindness that Led Her to Writing
Brenda Leifso's lush new poetry collection Wild Madder (Brick Books) delves into the strange, long process of finding one's way. Leifso is unafraid to let the rawness of disorientation, loss of identity, ...
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April 23, 2019Literary Road Trip Destination: Talking about Prince Edward County's "County Reads" Festival with Barbara Sweet
There's more than wine, bike tours, and golden beaches in Prince Edward County. Fast becoming a centre for the arts in Ontario, one highlight of the County's jam-packed arts calendar is the County Reads ...
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March 28, 2019Writer at Work: “Identity is a pain in the arse” (On Zadie Smith)
Last month, Zadie Smith said: "identity is a pain in the arse." She said this at a festival in the context of a discussion about identity politics and her (white) partner, Nick Laird. Here's a snippet ...