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May 11, 2009
Duppy Business?
“Man proposes, God disposes.”The disposition in this case concerns the rear window on the driver’s side of our Civic.We’d said goodbye to our daughter, her husband and our granddaughter five minutes ...
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November 23, 2020
Comparing Myself with May from My Day With Gong Gong
Writing May, the main character in my kids book My Day With Gong Gong, was a joy! It was my first time writing from the perspective of a kid as an adult, and for kids as a main audience. A lot of her ...
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June 07, 2023When Readers Write
Whenever I do a book event, people tell me things. Sometimes they tell me a bit about themselves or their families. At other times, they disclose traumatic experiences. I respond by holding the moment, ...
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May 27, 2009
Ruth the Reckless
reck (rěk)1. to have care, concern, or regard2. to take heed or to have cautionWhat intrigues! What Machiavellian plots! What underhand dealings!Who would have believed that electing a new Professor ...
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October 13, 2016
Inside Reading Gaol
I spent yesterday afternoon in Reading Gaol. If you’re thinking, “The Ballad of,” you’re on the right track. It was an exhibition titled “Inside: Artists and Writers in Reading Prison,” and ...
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October 28, 2016
Poetic Inspiration IV
This is the fourth in a series of posts highlighting inventive poems that have broadened my sense of what poems can be and do, and sparked me to stretch further in my own work. (The previous instalments ...
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October 15, 2016
Literary Tourism
Every time I visit London, I stay in a different area. This time, I’m just a few blocks from Chancery Lane, in the heart of Dickens’ London. I suppose all of London is Dickens’ London given the ...
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October 04, 2016
Reconciling a Double Life: Law and Literature
I’m very happy to be spending the month of October as Writer in Residence at Open Book. I’m also happy that it’s a virtual residency as I was able to skip town on the very first day to attend a ...
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October 07, 2016
Ampersands and
The symposium that I’m attending in Glasgow is part of a larger festival that has poetry popping up all over the city in various forms. Last night, I got to see some glorious visual manifestations in ...
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May 28, 2009
English Grows Up
It appears English is about to undergo some kind of rite on June 10 at 5:22 a.m. ET. An unsupported headline on the front page of today’s GLOBE AND MAIL (you have to go inside for the article) says ...
