Ontario book news, interviews and more

Cool-down Time

There’s a third part to the poetry tour series. This post doesn’t have resources or logistical advice, but rather on how to survive the way a book tour suddenly occupies huge parts of your life.In ...

Andrew F. Sullivan Explores a Literally Toxic Future Toronto in His Crackling New Horror Novel, The Marigold

One could arguably already describe Toronto's housing market as dystopian, but in Andrew F. Sullivan's wickedly dark new novel The Marigold (ECW Press), Sullivan takes our metaphorical horror-scape ...

I Just Got Published - So, Why Don't I Feel Great?

When I was 18, I resolved to be a published writer one day. It was something I’d dreamed of even before then. As a younger teenager I wrote simple books inspired in varying degrees by The Outsiders. ...

I Just Got Published - So, Why Don't I Feel Great?

When I was 18, I resolved to be a published writer one day. It was something I’d dreamed of even before then. As a younger teenager I wrote simple books inspired in varying degrees by The Outsiders. ...

Poetry Tours: Funding

Last time on the WIR blog, I talked about tips for planning a poetry tour, including tips on building a tour from existing events. In this post, I hope to share some resources on funding a poetry tour, ...

Read an Excerpt from Richard Sanger's Final Poetry Collection, Way to Go

Facing a terminal diagnosis, poet, playwright, and translator Richard Sanger had to decide how to use his final days – and how he felt about the end. In time, he decided to do what he'd been doing ...

Vera Constantineau on the Haibun Form & Finding Poetry in Buddhism's 108 Defilements

While Catholicism has its seven deadly sins, Buddhism gets a lot more specific, with a whopping 108 temptations that practitioners seek to avoid. Alternatively translated as impurities, vexations, or ...

Poetry Month Starts Strong with a Massive Increase for the Newly Renamed Latner Griffin Writers’ Trust Poetry Prize

A surprise announcement from the Writers' Trust of Canada today contained some good news for Canadian poets, just in time for National Poetry Month: The former Latner Writers’ Trust Poetry Prize, awarded ...

Poetry Tours: Planning

Planning a book tour is a lot of work, and it’s the kind of work I dread the most. Events are unpredictable. You can plan and plan, but factors like weather, health, money, and so many others can come ...

Erum Shazia Hasan on Exploring the Complex Moral & Emotional Landscape of International Aid Work in Her Brilliant Debut

It may be a universal truth that phone calls that come in the middle of the night never bring good news, and for Maya, a mother, aid worker, and the main character in Erum Shazia Hasan's We Meant Well (ECW ...