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March 09, 2021
A love letter (to books)
The first quote-unquote serious novel I read was One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexandr Solzhenitsyn. My eighth grade teacher set down a box at the front of the classroom and, in a seemingly ...
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March 29, 2021
Writing/Not Writing
Some language cracks the shell of a thing open, so we can newly see what’s being described. And some language forms a perfect egg shell around what it aims to describe, obscuring more than it reveals. ...
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November 29, 2021
I am a celebrationist
I am a celebrationist.I celebrate big things and small things, all the things, really—kids getting their final molars, the anniversary of my fella and I meeting, the first day of summer (and fall and ...
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June 27, 2017
Jennifer Lanthier on the Magic of Reading for the First Time
Breaking up with a friend is never easy. But it's especially tough when there is an entire world on the line. Such is the dilemma young Oscar finds himself in as he pens a fiery goodbye to his best friend ...
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April 11, 2017
Alice Burdick on Poetry Exercises
My next few posts as Writer in Residence here at Open Book will feature short interviews with Canadian poets discussing their relationship to poetry prompts and exercises. They'll talk about what they ...
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June 27, 2023
Read an Excerpt from A Hostage by Charlotte Mendel, A Timely Tale of Power, Politics, & Media
When Charlotte is kidnapped by notorious dictator Kassem in Charlotte Mendel's A Hostage (Inanna Publications), she does what she has to in order to maintain sanity, from creating a compartmentalized ...
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March 15, 2022
Why Canada Reads Needs Unhappy Narratives
Each year on Canada Reads, five books of fiction and nonfiction are chosen by Canadian celebrities who advocate for their book of choice as one that “all of Canada should read.” One book is voted ...
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February 10, 2017
At the Desk: Ed O'Loughlin
The doomed Franklin Expedition, which lost its entire crew during an exploration of the Northwest Passage, has long fascinated writers in Canada and around the world, but journalist and Man Booker Prize-nominated ...
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May 22, 2019
Picture Book Author & Paper Artist Thao Lam on the Books that Shaped Her & the Canadian Illustrator Whose Work Taught Her to Draw
When you read the title of My Cat Looks Like My Dad (Owlkids Books), the latest picture book from acclaimed writer/illustrator Thao Lam, you immediately know you're in for something funny, charming, ...
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August 18, 2023
Picture Book Trends
Picture books, like all art forms, are subject to trends and shifts in theme, style and format. I don’t necessarily recommend writing to trend, but it’s always good to be familiar with what’s working ...