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October 20, 2022Gary 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, ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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October 05, 2022Daniel 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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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June 13, 2022Feel the Power of Indigenous Spoken Word in an Excerpt from Slam Coalkan Performance Poetry
Back in 2021, the Festival of the Peripheries (FLUP) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and the Toronto International Festival of Authors (TIFA) came together to stage a spectacular poetry happening: 17 Indigenous ...
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June 08, 2022"I Recall, Reimagine, Contemplate" The Word on the Street Guest Authors Andrew Faulkner, Michael Fraser, D.A. Lockhart, & Shani Mootoo
The Word on the Street is a literary festival that features over 150 writers and speakers participating in readings, interviews, panels, workshops, book signings, and more. With children's programming, ...
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May 31, 2022June Writer in Residence NShannacappo on Rhythm, Flow, and Writing More than 1500 Poems
Ottawa-based Nakawe graphic novelist and poet NShannacappo knows how to tell a story in myriad different forms, using art, verse, and dialogue to weave compelling tales that take in everything from ...
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May 27, 2022Reminders on the Path - Sheniz Janmohamed in Conversation with Natasha Ramoutar
When my first poetry collection Bittersweet was released in 2020, my mentor Sheniz Janmohamed published our conversation about full circles and first books with Open Book.Sheniz has been so instrumental ...
