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March 11, 2018
Escape from reality: Conventions, conferences and expos.
I haven’t spoken about it a whole lot, but just a few months before the The Bone Mother’s release, my mother died. While not unexpected, it was unpleasant, and of course brought a lot of memories ...
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November 26, 2019
Workspace
1. Desk: the desk belongs to my partner, Bradford Werner. He covered it in plastic during his university years. I poke fun of him for it, but the wood is pristine. I cleaned for this photo, but if you ...
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September 28, 2022
Erin Robinsong Discusses Her New Collection, Wet Dream, a Clarion Call of Climate Poetry
As a species, we've been staring down the barrel of the climate crisis for some time, and yet it often feels like little action, or even attention, is being mustered up to address such a cataclysmic disaster. ...
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September 12, 2023
The Infinite Library
A few years ago I led a writing workshop and introduced a prompt I called “The Infinite Library.” I had students imagine they had entered a library containing every possible unwritten novel, and could ...
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September 05, 2023
Writing on the Clock
A common question from the published writer is: will I ever earn out my advance? Recently I wondered: what about my stolen time? If I only ever wrote when I was “supposed to” (in periods of grant ...
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September 18, 2023
The Places I Write, Rated
I’ll write anywhere but not all writeable spaces are equal. My latest novel was written all over the place (see: How to Write a Novel in a Month) and if I learned anything from that experience it’s ...
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September 23, 2023
The Strangest Places I've Sold Books
As a niche (I use the word niche here as a stand-in for what others have described as feminist or bad) Canadian novelist, I try not to have high (or any) expectations for the success of my books. Sales ...
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September 28, 2023
On Motivation
I’m a person who gets called “very prolific” a lot. I won’t get into what I think about that or whether I agree or if I think it’s even remotely good for my mental health or personal relationships. ...
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September 07, 2023
Surviving the Workshop
Blurring the the lines between reader, writer, and critic, the writing workshop has become somewhat of a cultural point of contention, with heated and ongoing debate over whether creative writing degrees ...
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July 28, 2022
"We Make Our Own Meaning" Gurjinder Basran on Her Novel of Loss, Community, and Navigating the Unknown
A brief video nearly tears a small community outside Vancouver apart in award-winning author Gurjinder Basran's new novel, Help! I'm Alive (ECW Press). After footage of teenager Jay's death is posted ...