Mental HealthTag

"We Make Our Own Meaning" Gurjinder Basran on Her Novel of Loss, Community, and Navigating the Unknown

A brief video nearly tears a small community outside Vancouver apart in award-winning author Gurjinder Basran's new novel, Help! I'm Alive (ECW Press). After footage of teenager Jay's death is posted ...

Erin Emily Ann Vance on Earning a "Poetic License" & Her New Collection of Silenced "Mad" Women's Voices

Hysterical. Emotional. Crazy. Words can be weaponized, and have been through history, especially when it comes to the behaviour of women and other groups who threatened a social or political status quo. ...

"Any Good Writing Involves Risk" Stuart Ross on Writing The Reality of Grief & Loss in His Striking New Memoir

One of CanLit's longest serving, most prolific, and most beloved poets, Stuart Ross has also published award winning fiction and creative nonfiction and served as a mainstay of the small press community ...

Bill Richardson on Sharing Writing Space with Irving Layton and Robertson Davies

"In this last week, there are seven days."In Bill Richardson Last Week (Groundwood Books, illustrated by Emilie Leduc), a child knows they've got a week to spend with their grandmother. But unlike ...

Monique Polak on Helping Kids Find Themselves While Exploring Parental Alienation in Her New Middle Grade Book

Everything in Justine's world has changed since her parents got divorced. She and her little sister Bea travel across Montreal from one house to the other, living two lives. But when Justine's mother ...

"Sometimes People Think Children Just Bounce Back" Sarah Howden on Her Thoughtful New Picture Book Helping Kids Navigate Loss

Talking to kids about tough subjects, including grief and loss, is one of the most disorienting parts of being a parent or caregiver. Children need a way to navigate sadness, but the language and concepts ...

Robert Earl Stewart on the Power of Nonfiction to Turn Our Most Broken Parts into Connection and Comfort

Blaise Pascal once wrote that humans were born with an "infinite abyss" that can only be filled by "God himself", originating a theory that spawned the idea of "a God-shaped hole" in the human psyche. With ...

"Are You Sick or Not?" Read an Excerpt from Shayne McGreal's Tense and Honest Debut, Anthony: A Composite Novel

Shayne McGreal's debut novel, Anthony: A Composite Novel (Guernica Editions) takes readers deep into the experience of the titular character and all his complications, weaving in and out of the various ...

"I Don’t Think I’ve Ever Been More Vulnerable in My Life" Brent LaPorte on His Raw, Moving Memoir & His Father's Difficult Legacy

CW: abuse, suicide, substance abuseSometimes, even questions without answers need to be voiced — to be heard and acknowledged, if only as a cry of the heart. Such is Brent LaPorte's wise, difficult, ...

Denise Davy's Her Name Was Margaret is a Heartbreaking and Unflinching Examination of Mental Health & Homelessness

Award-winning journalist Denise Davy was no stranger to investigating tough stories. But when she met Margaret Jacobson, the girl's heartbreaking story stood out to Davy. Once a happy and healthy young ...