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June 21, 2021Playwright Makambe K Simamba on Fearlessly Exploring "How Far Characters are Willing to Go in Order to Live Their Truths"
CW: discussion of anti-Black violenceIt's a gutting image: a seventeen-year old Black boy, a child in a hoodie, dead far too soon because of hateful and unchecked anti-Black racism. Makambe K Simamba's Our ...
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March 22, 2023"Raw and Real and Blunt" Hannah Green on Getting Sober & Her Semi-Autobiographical Long Poem, Xanax Cowboy
The long poem that is Hannah Green's electric Xanax Cowboy (forthcoming from House of Anansi Press in April) is like nothing most poetry readers have encountered. When an early version of the poem was ...
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March 14, 2018
How to hold a launch.
There comes a time in a writer’s life when, if you are very lucky, you will be published (frequently but not always a book) and you may feel the need to draw attention to it with some kind of hoohah. ...
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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 14, 2020Colleen Nelson on Bringing Playfulness to Picture Books, Her Favourite Canadian Kids' Books, & More
Whether you're a parent or just remembering your own school days, everyone can relate to the jangling nerves that come with starting a new school or new stage as a student. In Colleen Nelson's loveable ...
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May 25, 2023Liem, McDonald, & Hernández-Ramdwar: 3 WOTS Guest Authors on What They're Reading at the Festival & Why
This weekend, The Word on the Street will take over Queen's Park in Toronto to bring together over 100 writers and creators for two full days of literary celebrations. There will be panel discussions, ...
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June 20, 2023Frieda Wishinsky Uses the Hidden Secrets of Gardens to Explore Community in Her New Picture Book
Plenty of people enjoy the beauty of a flower in a garden, but when was the last time you asked yourself what a flower was actually doing? In Frieda Wishinsky's A Flower is a Friend (Pajama Press, illustrated ...
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June 05, 2019Cheryl Thompson on the Complicated History of the Black Beauty Industry in Canada
The politics of Black hair can be deeply complex, and the industry surrounding Black beauty intersects with the cultural and personal experiencing of Black people, especially women. From the struggles ...
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April 29, 2022May Writer in Residence Mark David Smith on His Macbeth Inspired Witch-Detective Series for Kids
If you read Macbeth and thought (like us) "less political scheming and more of those fabulous witches, please", you're in luck because teacher and writer Mark David Smith's The Weird Sisters: A Note, ...
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September 28, 2016Most Anticipated Books of 2017, Part 2
Hi Open Book Readers,Following on from Part 1 of this series, I’m also incredibly excited about new books by Richard Rosenbaum (he has two coming out in 2017) and Chris Benjamin. I had a chance to interview ...
