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October 13, 2022
The Legend of Howard Stroud
Sometimes when I’m feeling sad or needing inspiration I think of Howard. I met Howard in 2016 when I travelled out west to research the family homestead and to walk the same land my mother did as ...
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September 27, 2017Tanya Lloyd Kyi on Guard Bears, Transitioning to Fiction, and Books that Break Your Heart
Isaac is just like any other teen - falling in love for the first time, hanging out with his best pal, and trying to get through his last year of high school. Except for his one big secret: his parents ...
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February 17, 2022"Sometimes People Think Children Just Bounce Back" Sarah Howden on Her Thoughtful New Picture Book Helping Kids Navigate Loss
Talking to kids about tough subjects, including grief and loss, is one of the most disorienting parts of being a parent or caregiver. Children need a way to navigate sadness, but the language and concepts ...
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May 02, 2025Locking In, Letting Go
I’ve thought of myself as a writer who loves revision. I rewrote large chunks of my two poetry collections between the ‘final’ version submitted to my publisher, and the version that ended up being ...
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April 06, 2018Angela Ahn on Exploring Identity and Culture Through Food in Her Debut Middle Grade Novel
In Angela Ahn's Krista Kim-Bap (Second Story Press), Krista and Jason have been best friends since they were in diapers. Their differences never seemed like a big deal - but when their teacher asks ...
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November 13, 2015On Navigating the Literary Landscape - Part 1
Over the past few years, in order to buy peanut butter and bread and pay rent, I’ve taken on a number of manuscript assessments for various readers. I was first put on to them by my friend Michelle ...
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November 20, 2015Taking Your Medicine in the Editing Room
In previous posts I’ve talked about the hard road to getting a book published, and even a bit about the effort that goes into just getting those first few stories done. I’ve talked about submitting ...
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April 26, 2021Red Light, Green Light: how to actually listen to your body while writing
It’s the last week of Careful Inventory! I’m very grateful to Open Book for all the time they have afforded to me in this residency. Today is the penultimate post, building on last Friday’s piece, ...
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March 31, 2022"That’s You Sharing a Moment With Someone " Introducing April Writer in Residence Matthew James Weigel
To explore something complex and painful, that weaves through long history, a writer must take an approach as nuanced and shifting as their subject matter. We see that kind of creativity on display in Matthew ...
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March 13, 2021
Permission to dream
When I started writing, I didn’t understand the invisible work. The models of labour I was most familiar with—whether in a coffee shop, at a hotel, in a firehall, or at a construction site—were, ...