Manahil BandukwalaTag
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September 18, 2025In Defense of Procrastination
The procrastinating author is a time-honoured trope. For me personally, I’m at my most productive with other tasks (vacuuming, crocheting, washing dishes, doing laundry, clearing up clutter) when I ...
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July 04, 2025More Tips on Writing Book Reviews
One year ago, I wrote a column on getting into writing book reviews. The topic of book reviews remains ever-important, especially in a media climate where outlets to review grow smaller and smaller. In ...
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May 23, 2025Unlocking Out of Editing
In my April 2025 column for Open Book, I wrote about the difficulties of locking into editing. Coming back to a manuscript you feel you’ve completed is tricky, especially when you’re at the stage ...
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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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March 24, 2025Finding a Press for Your Poetry Manuscript
In one of my first columns as an Open Book columnist, I shared my process of realizing I had a full-length poetry manuscript. Since then, I’ve written a number of columns about how to go about preparing ...
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January 30, 2025Audiobook Magic
Poetry books rarely come in audio format, and perhaps this is the reason it’s taken me until 2025 to discover the magic of audiobooks. In 2024, I began writing more fiction after several years of focusing ...
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December 20, 2024Bleak Futures & The Sheridan College Creative Writing & Publishing Program
“Heartbroken” is the word I would use to describe my reaction to finding out the Creative Writing & Publishing Program at Sheridan College is one of forty programs being cut. The suspension of ...
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November 21, 2024Preparing a Poetry Manuscript for Submission
In my last column, I wrote about preparing a cover letter for your poetry manuscript submission. Well, what about preparing the actual manuscript?As I mentioned in the last column, most poetry presses ...
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October 01, 2024Writing a Cover Letter for Your Poetry Manuscript
In the world of Canadian publishing, poets rarely have agents. Poetry collections are often published through small presses, and these presses have open submission periods where anyone can submit a manuscript. In ...
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August 23, 2024Breaking Down the Ontario Arts Council’s Literary Creation Projects Grant
For writers in Ontario, this is your reminder that the deadline for Literary Creation Projects (Works for Publication) is just around the corner. This grant gives $12,000 to work on your novel, poetry ...
