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February 03, 2022Robert Earl Stewart on the Power of Nonfiction to Turn Our Most Broken Parts into Connection and Comfort
Blaise Pascal once wrote that humans were born with an "infinite abyss" that can only be filled by "God himself", originating a theory that spawned the idea of "a God-shaped hole" in the human psyche. With ...
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August 29, 2023Read an Excerpt from South by Babak Lakghomi, a Disorienting, Dazzling Tale of Totalitarianism & Truth
Babak Lakghomi's new novel South (Rare Machines/Dundurn Press) is set against a bleak totalitarian landscape, following B, a journalist on a search for truth. A dazzling, disorienting addition to Dundurn's ...
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January 03, 2017Where Are the Classmates Now?
I met Rebecca Rosenblum in the Advanced Fiction Writing class during my undergrad in Creative Writing - at Concordia University, in Montreal. But Rebecca did not go to Concordia - she went to McGill - ...
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September 18, 2019"My Belief in Fate and Destiny Got the Best of Me" Read an Exclusive Excerpt from Nur Abdi's The Somali Camel Boy
Nur Abdi's debut novel The Somali Camel Boy (Mawenzi House) follows Ali, a young boy who has lost everything to a violent clan targeting his family. Tough and determined, he walks from his empty home ...
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March 13, 2017My final two columns: Part One
After nearly a decade, my time as a columnist for Open Book comes to a close. According to my email folder, it was May 2009 when Amy Logan Holmes first approached me with the idea of submitting pieces ...
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November 23, 2020"The Conditions That Foster Creativity": Catherine Bush and Sheung-King Discuss Guelph's MFA in Creative Writing
Imagine having a year or two totally devoted to your writing, surrounded by fellow-minded emerging writers with whom to discuss work and craft, and experienced teachers on hand to guide you and offer ...
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September 23, 2021"It’s All About Having a Laugh and Experimenting" Poet MLA Chernoff on Affect Apocalypses, the Meaning of Squelch, and More
MLA Chernoff's debut full length poetry collection, the delightfully titled [SQUELCH PROCEDURES] (Gordon Hill Press) explores childhood and identity, touching on gender norms, trauma, poverty, and more ...
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May 12, 2022"Maybe Writing is Outside of Time" Lisa Moore on What She Learns from Every Book She Writes
Despite the input of well meaning people (and sometimes even ourselves), we cannot always choose who we love. The nature of love, whether you consider it a feeling, an act, an experience, or otherwise, ...
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May 04, 2023Emily Osborne on Weaving Together Translations of Old Norse Skaldic Poetry with Personal Lyrics in Her Bold Debut
Sometimes in discussing poetry, there is an idea that a collection must swing towards either the personal and emotive, creating powerful connections with readers in that vein, or towards a more form-focused ...
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December 05, 2023Mike Barnes on the Big Books in His Life, Including One Important "Thundering Masterpiece"
Mike Barnes is one of those rare writers who can do it all – in poetry, short fiction, novels, and memoir, he takes readers on nuanced, brainy, powerfully moving journeys. Fiercely intelligent yet consistently ...
