Search
-
November 28, 2022
Scott Griffin on The Griffin Prize's Evolution into the World's Largest Poetry Prize
In September, the Griffin Trust for Excellence in Poetry announced a major change to the prestigious Griffin Poetry Prizes: the two annual prizes, one awarded to a book of Canadian poetry and the other ...
-
November 15, 2022
Laurence Beaudoin-Masse's YA Debut Thoughtfully Explores the Toxic Pressures of the Influencer Lifestyle
Instagram influencers and thoughtful conversations don't necessarily sound like they'd go hand in hand. But debut young adult writer Laurence Beaudoin-Masse uses the strange, surreal backdrop of the ...
-
November 12, 2022
The Marketing Salsa
You’ve finished a book. Congrats! Now, you’ve got a book deal, decided to self-publish or signed with a hybrid publisher (the ‘pay to play’ option, which provides some editorial and marketing ...
-
October 26, 2022
"The Millennium Scoop is Killing Children" Justene Dion-Glowa's Spectacular Debut Poetry Collection Shines a Light on Injustice
Justene Dion-Glowa's debut full length poetry collection, Trailer Park Shakes (Brick Books), is packed with finely balanced pieces that manage to be playful, dreamy, and even darkly funny at times, while ...
-
October 20, 2022
Gary Barwin on Form, Social Media, and the "Epistemological Hijinks of Poems"
Known for his humour, creativity, and general up-ending of the peskily staid CanLit stereotype, poet and fiction writer Gary Barwin shows no signs of slowing down with 26 books to his name. His newest, ...
-
October 17, 2022
My Abuser Died
Trigger Warning – Sexual Violence, Childhood Sexual Abuse, Trauma.I have pondered the title of this thread for weeks now, wondering if I should lead with a softer opening. Something like, ‘the ...
-
October 06, 2022
"Write Whatever Weird Poems and Books You Think Should Exist" Cameron Anstee on Embracing the Strange in His Genre-Bending Minimalist Poems
Maybe it's a response to how chaotic and unpredictable the world feels at the moment, but there has been a notable increase in our cultural interest in minimalism – from home decor to tossing anything ...
-
October 05, 2022
Daniel McNeil Examines the Figure of the Black Public Intellectual Through the Lives of Armond White and Paul Gilroy
American film and music critic Armond White and British cultural studies scholar Paul Gilroy are two larger than life figures—widely celebrated but also controversial—in the fields in which they've ...
-
September 19, 2022
"All Language is Your Playground" Poet Otoniya J. Okot Bitek on Chance Encounters and the Power of Poetry
In her new collection, decorated poet Otoniya J. Okot Bitek plays with form and expectation, rewriting history both colonial and literary. A Is for Acholi (Wolsak & Wynn) sees Okot Bitek rewriting ...
-
July 13, 2022
"An Act of Freedom and a Precarious Practice" Tanis MacDonald on the Politics and Culture of Taking a Walk
Taking a walk is a deceptively simple thing. To walk around outside can do wonders for our mental and physical health, sense of community, and stress levels. And yet "taking a walk" also exists at a fascinating ...