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October 19, 2020
Book Therapy: Lorna Crozier’s Through the Garden
“The world is violent and mercurial—it will have its way with you. We are saved only by love--love for each other and the love that we pour into the art we feel compelled to share: being a parent; ...
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May 11, 2021
"Characters are Complicated, Just Like People" Bruce McDougall on How to Build Authentic Characters
Bruce McDougall's writing career has spanned more than three decades and generated more than twenty books of nonfiction, covering biographies, sports, and more. But in 2014, he turned his talents to fiction, ...
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June 30, 2021
Simon Rolston Examines the Complex History and "Fraught Literary Territory" of Prison Life Writing
Prison life writing—personal nonfiction written by imprisoned people—can be considered a unique genre under the larger umbrella of memoir. Complex, politically and emotionally charged, and at times ...
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September 16, 2021
Helen Walsh, Author of Film Festival-Set Mystery Pull Focus, Shares Essential Writing & Publishing Tips & Advice
With TIFF (the Toronto International Film Festival) just having started up for last week, it seems like perfect timing for Helen Walsh's Pull Focus (ECW Press), a brainy and dark mystery novel set against ...
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October 19, 2021
"A Distinctive Voice" Editor Russell Smith on Dundurn Press's New Rare Machines Imprint
Dundurn Press has been a mainstay of the Canadian publishing landscape for almost fifty years, founded in the 1972 by Kirk Howard, who went on to serve as the press's longtime publisher as Dundurn expanded ...
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February 10, 2022
Excerpt Month: Witty, Tough, Flirty, and Wise - Don't Miss a Glimpse of Leon Rooke's Rank Songbirds
As we continue with our February spotlight on excerpts, we would be remiss if we forgot our poetry lovers. Today's excerpt, from CanLit icon Leon Rooke's Rank Songbirds (Porcupine's Quill), will give ...
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February 16, 2022
"I’ve Read What I’ve Wanted... No Regrets" Ayaz Pirani on the Books That Shaped Him, from S.E. Hinton to Kabir
Ayaz Pirani's third poetry collection, How Beautiful People Are (Gordon Hill Press) builds on his reputation as a meditative, skillful, and wise writer rooted in the Indian ginan poetic tradition. Capturing ...
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March 25, 2022
Locked Down and Longing for Community: The Genesis of The Quarantine Review
It started in a pub on the Danforth, the bar filled with older gentlemen dejected at the cancellation of the Dave Mason concert at the Music Hall a half-block away. COVID wasn’t real to them yet, as ...
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March 31, 2022
The Best of Both Worlds
Humber College’s new undergrad in creative and professional writing strives to nurture skilled creative professionals.I always wanted to be a writer. Or maybe it’s that I always wrote. I took the ...
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May 19, 2022
The Stories I Shelve, Part II
In Part I of this blog post, I looked at the importance of physical books in my life, how the books represent more than just the stories within them, that they also hold the stories of their acquisition, ...