Jessica WestheadTag

Jessica Westhead on Balancing Absurdity, Sensitivity, & Insight in Her Exploration of White Privilege

Just last week saw the launch of Avalanche (Invisible Publishing), a new story collection from Jessica Westhead. One of Canada's most innovative short fiction writers, Westhead has long crafted memorable ...

Book Therapy: Jessica Westhead’s Worry

 "Her brain and her body were still so wobbly then. Nothing about her was behaving the way it was supposed to. The birth had been a traumatic one, and she thought she would never heal.” - Jessica Westhead, ...

You’re Going the Right Way. It’s Just a Really, Really Long Way.

I’m often asked by aspiring writers, “How did you become an author?” or “How did you get into the publishing world?”I used to think this was a really tough question. Because of course there’s ...

YOSS in 2018—and Beyond

It amazes and annoys me that short stories don’t get more respect.There is a certain face that too many literary agents and publishing people make when you mention short-story collections.<iframe ...

Talk to Me

My little sunroom office at home (which is also our dining room) faces a fairly busy street, so when the weather’s good and our windows are open, bits and pieces of random conversations drift up to ...

Schmoozing for Introverts

It’s that time of year again, when students return to school, the leaves change colour, and Fall Book Season begins.The brilliant Sarah Selecky has already written this excellent antidote to those icky ...

Notes on My Futile Attempts to Evade the Creeping Tendrils of Inescapable Progress

The other day, my six-year-old daughter told me that I’m on my phone too much.This was right after I’d grinned at a parking attendant and told him how thrilled I was to see a person at the gate instead ...

Anatomy of a Short Story, or Where I Get (Some of) My Ideas

I’m not one of those writers who makes everything up completely from scratch. And seriously, do those writers even exist? (If they do, I am jealous of them.)In my fiction, almost everything comes from ...

Show Me the (Writing-Grant) Money!

Hello, and Happy September! Thanks to the excellent folks at Open Book for inviting me here, and thanks to you for tuning in, lovely readers-who-I’m-guessing-are-mostly-also-writers.All right, let’s ...

Meet our September 2018 writer in residence, short fiction wizard Jessica Westhead!

A Jessica Westhead short story is a magical thing. Her darkly funny, heartfelt stories of misfits, loners, and compelling weirdos have racked up numerous honours, including nominations for the ReLit ...