Danila BothaTag

Painting a Story: Danila Botha on Writing and Painting

Since I was a kid, I’ve always painted. I’ve painted through every age of my life, through every possible emotion. I’ve painted when I was ecstatic and needed to share the feeling, I’ve painted ...

How The Guernica Prize Became One of CanLit's Most Unique Literary Awards

For many emerging writers, winning a literary prize is a dream that is perhaps only second is holding a copy of one's own, published book. In Canada, there's a young but exciting prize that offers a two-for-one ...

Final Post

Hi Open Book Readers,I’ve had such a wonderful time being your Writer in Residence this month.It feels like perfect timing that I’m writing my last Writer in Residence post immediately after doing ...

Interviews With Three Up and Coming Writers

Hi Open Book Readers,I feel very fortunate to be doing my MFA for the Masters of Creative Writing at Guelph University. I have some incredibly talented classmates, and I want to share three interviews ...

Interview With Martha Sharpe and Michelle Berry

Hi Open Book Readers,I’ve always had a fantasy about opening a bookstore. Aside from writing, it seems like the most perfect job in the world. Two amazing new bookstores have opened recently, Flying ...

Interview With Vivek Shraya

Vivek Shraya is one of the most inspiring writers I’ve ever met. I was lucky enough to share the stage with her last year. She read from her beautiful novel, She of the Mountains, and I was moved by ...

Interview With Owain Nicholson

Owain Nicholson is a poet whose debut collection, Digsite will be published by Nightwood Editions next month. We had a chance to talk about his writing process, inspirations and literary influences.DB:  ...

Interview With Lisa de Nikolits

Lisa de Nikolits is the award winning author of six novels, including The Hungry Mirror, West of Wawa, and most recently, Between the Cracks She Fell.She has a new novel, called The Nearly Girl, that ...

Most Anticipated Books of 2017, Part 2

Hi Open Book Readers,Following on from Part 1 of this series, I’m also incredibly excited about new books by Richard Rosenbaum (he has two coming out in 2017) and Chris Benjamin. I had a chance to interview ...

Most Anticipated Books of 2017, Part 1

Some of my favourite writers have new books coming out next year, and I’m so incredibly excited to read them. I had a chance this week to interview Rebecca Rosenblum, about her new novel, So Much Love, ...