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October 18, 2019Novelist Brenda Brooks on Smoking Like Woolf, Setting Fire to Her Publisher's House, & the Inevitability of Mom Wisdom
In Brenda Brooks' new novel Honey (ECW Press), it's been six long years since the titular Honey disappeared from Nicole's life. When her vanished best friend returns unexpectedly, Nicole is forced to ...
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May 27, 2024Li Charmaine Anne's Characters Carve Asphalt and a Place For Themselves in the World in Crash Landing
When you're a teenager, finding your own place is more than just a matter of comfort – it can feel more like a matter of survival. For Jay Wong, the waning days of the summer before senior year mean ...
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April 23, 2020
Who Do You Think YOU Are?: A Shady Love Letter
I think that, perhaps, my last post here was a bit too hard on universities. Don’t get me wrong; I’m still angry as all hell at the larger structures of the academy. In these pandemic times, the academy ...
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March 16, 2021"Our Shared Past and Future" James Gladstone's Halley's Comet Picture Book Offers Historical Perspective
Halley's Comet, possibly the most famous celestial event in existence, and one which happens just once every 75 years, is a unique phenomenon. It has been dazzling onlookers for centuries, and its story ...
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September 20, 2016
The Word On The Street Interview Series: Mayank Bhatt
It's nearly time to gather at the Harbourfront Centre in Toronto and celebrate Canada's amazing writing culture! The Word on the Street is this Sunday, September 25, and will feature book and magazine ...
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April 12, 2014
Poet for Hire
I heard a few days ago that a colleague did a major job of editing that took the better part of a year to complete for a mere five-hundred dollars. I happen to mention this to a friend who works as a ...
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February 10, 2014Writer's Block Does Not Exist (Part 1)
Or it does. But for the sake of this blog it does not. What is writer's block? I don't know, because it does not exist. Here's the thing, whether you are a professional creative writer, a skilled hobbyist, ...
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December 14, 2016Madeleine Thien on Language, Music, and Asking the Unaskable
2016 has been Madeleine Thien's year. It's not often that the world of writing and publishing can agree so enthusiastically on a writer's achievements, but Thien's breathtaking Do Not Say We Have Nothing (Knopf ...
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July 28, 2023"We Neglect the Arts and Stress the Sciences at Our Peril" Max Wyman on Why Arts Education is Both Beneficial & Necessary
When education is viewed as simply a pipeline to creating a skilled labour force, governments often find excuses to hack and slash at anything that could be considered a "frill", including (or at times, ...
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May 20, 2019Stay Healthy, My (Writer) Friends...
Writing can be an actual pain in the butt. I suffer from random attacks of spasming glutes and when they flare, it’s downright debilitating. Like, my husband has to carry me up and down the stairs, ...
