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January 10, 2019
Daylighting Chedoke Author John Terpstra on Scattering Seeds for a Great Title
Hamilton is well known for its natural beauty, from waterfalls to parks. However, one natural feature in the city is more hidden than the rest: Chedoke Creek runs through Hamilton but is mostly covered ...
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August 31, 2018
On the future of Canlit
You guys, this is my last Open Book column.I have been writing this column for a year now and I’ll admit I didn’t know what I was going to write about when Holly Kent and Kevin Hardcastle asked me ...
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March 12, 2020
On Family Secrets
Why does my writing tend to focus on family secrets? In particular, on children trying to unearth secrets tied to their parents’ pasts? I’m often asked these questions during interviews. The first ...
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May 27, 2017
5 Tips to Stand Out in the Slush Pile
You’ve finished your manuscript. It’s been edited by a critique partner. You’ve assembled a pitch. Now what? The next step is securing literary representation to pitch your project to prospective ...
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May 04, 2021
Governor General's Literary Award Shortlists Announced, Including Another Nomination for The Dyzgraphxst by Canisia Lubrin
This morning, the Canada Council for the Arts announced the Governor General's Literary Award shortlists. It's an exciting set of lists, with strong representation for independent publishers, including ...
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June 19, 2021
On Writing Essentials
Much as I admire highly regimented and disciplined writers, that's simply not me. Believe me, I've tried! However, no matter how unstructured my writing day might be, there are five essentials that I ...
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April 26, 2019
"Inclusion Means More Than Just Checking a Box" FOLD Authors Ferguson, Foster & Rice on CanLit, How They Write & What They're Reading
It's hard to think of a literary event that has grown and expanded as quickly and with as much excitement around it as the The Festival of Literary Diversity (aka the FOLD). In just a few short years, ...
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July 22, 2020
Poets in Profile: Elana Wolff on Alice Oswald, Perfect Couplets, and Glorious Misunderstandings
Toronto-based poet Elana Wolff should be no stranger to the Canadian poetry community. Her previous five books of poetry, all published through Toronto-via-Montreal mainstay Guernica Editions, have garnered ...
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September 14, 2015
I’D Prefer to Describe My Recent past Using the Genre of Horror Fiction
The above title probably makes it sound like I’ve been unhappy, but that isn’t at all the case. I’ve been through a major life change, though, and it’s hard to describe what that has felt like. ...
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June 20, 2017
On Writing, with Darryl Whetter
Darryl Whetter's Search Box Bed (Palimpsest Press) brings together poetry, with all its historical associations of love and romance, and new media, with its accompanying online realities of sexual connection ...