Ontario book news, interviews and more

Fertile ground

Sometimes story ideas seem to come from out of the blue.“I don't know myself where the ideas really come from, what makes them come, or whether one day they'll stop. I used to tell people the not very ...

Poets Becoming Novelists: On Trusting Leaps and Fragments

I finished the first draft of my novel in mid-March – in the first week of isolation. I hadn’t grasped the gravity of the pandemic then, so I was grateful for the sudden reprieve from the real world. ...

Activist Jamal Saeed's Astonishing Story of a Young Girl Coming of Age in the Arab Spring is Essential Reading

Yara's childhood has been a complicated one: growing up in Aleppo, Syria, as a revolution brewed meant a tense and unpredictable existence. And when the Arab Spring unfurls, it means violence on a scale ...

Vine Awards for Jewish Literature Announce Shortlists in Four Literary Categories

Today the annual Vine Awards for Canadian Jewish Literature announced their shortlists in four different genres of writing, with nominations for decorated writers such as David Bezmozgis, Ayelet Tsabari, ...

Colleen Nelson on Bringing Playfulness to Picture Books, Her Favourite Canadian Kids' Books, & More

Whether you're a parent or just remembering your own school days, everyone can relate to the jangling nerves that come with starting a new school or new stage as a student. In Colleen Nelson's loveable ...

Natasha Ramoutar: On Full Circles and First Books

Less than a month ago, Natasha Ramoutar published Bittersweet, her first book of poems, with Mawenzi House. Less than a month ago, I celebrated the ten year publishing anniversary of my first book, Bleeding ...

"Writing is One Way to Help to Build a More Livable World" A Conversation with the 2020 Dayne Ogilvie Prize Finalists

The Dayne Ogilvie Prize for LGBTQ Emerging Writers was established by Robin Pacific to honour a beloved friend. Ogilvie was a respected editor, writer, and literary manager and his death was devastating ...

Cookin' the books

“It ain’t whatcha write, it’s the way atcha write it.” – Jack KerouacThe desire to write had followed me from my teen years. And many decades later I could ignore it no longer; I had stories ...

On Querying into an Apocalypse

"I feel so cooped up in my house with this smoke and the moths that keep flying by my window. Is a weekend really a weekend in 2020 if it doesn't include plague, pestilence, and Hell fire?" - @a_h_reaumeI ...

Kate Camp on Inspiration, the Beauty of the Ordinary, and Falling Asleep to Robert Frost

One of New Zealand's most treasured poets, Kate Camp's six decorated collections have won her every major domestic literary award and made her a household name in her home country.Now, her seventh collection, ...