Writers as ReadersTag
-
September 16, 2020Adan Jerreat-Poole on Comfort Reads, Finding Identity in Fairy Tales, & One Fabulous L'Engle Quote
As readers enter Adan Jerreat-Poole's The Girl of Hawthorn and Glass (Dundurn Press), they sink into a richly rendered fantasy world at war, where witches' assassin are the most deadly of weapons. Like Eli, ...
-
August 11, 2020The lost art of rereading
There was a trail I used to walk when I was broken, decades ago, after I'd scooped my heart from my chest and passed it to a man, who'd winced, shrugged, and said, ummmm, no thanks.We’ve all been there.It ...
-
May 05, 2020Writers As Readers: May 2020 Writer-in-Residence Derek Mascarenhas on His Favourite Books
Told through seventeen linked short stories, Toronto author Derek Mascarenhas' debut Coconut Dreams (Book*hug) traces the lives of a South Asian family through a series of shifting voices and timelines, ...
-
March 25, 2020Writes as Readers: Sherry J. Lee On Her Favourite Books
Sophie, the young protagonist of author Sherry J. Lee's debut picture book, Going Up! (Kids Can Press), lives in a tall apartment building in the city. On the day of her friend Olive's birthday party, ...
-
March 09, 2020On Book Collecting
My favourite place to write is lying on an overstuffed grey sofa, in what was once our attic. My propped-up knees, with a firm cushion over top, form a kind of makeshift desk, on which my notebook perches. ...
-
January 30, 2020February 2020 Writer-in-Residence Nadia Hohn on Recommended Books, Overlooked Gems, and Charming Tropes
Critically-acclaimed Jamaican-Canadian children's author Nadia Hohn has spent her career celebrating Black stories, from her award-winning debut picture book Malaika's Costume (House of Anansi) to her ...
-
August 29, 2019September 2019 Writer-in-Residence Nancy Jo Cullen on Library Love, Recommended Reads, and Bronwen Wallace
Fans of Nancy Jo Cullen know that she is the rare writer who can do it all; her writing is smart, sharp, and memorable in poetry, short fiction, and now, in a novel: Western Alienation Merit Badge (Wolsak ...
-
May 22, 2019Picture Book Author & Paper Artist Thao Lam on the Books that Shaped Her & the Canadian Illustrator Whose Work Taught Her to Draw
When you read the title of My Cat Looks Like My Dad (Owlkids Books), the latest picture book from acclaimed writer/illustrator Thao Lam, you immediately know you're in for something funny, charming, ...
-
January 24, 2019"You Can Live Whole Other Lives" H.B. Hogan on Discovering the Most Important Books in Her Life
H. B. Hogan's debut collection of stories, This Keeps Happening (Invisible Publishing), is sit-up-and-take-notice short fiction. Assured, wonderfully strange, deftly funny, and totally fresh in both ...
-
December 17, 2018"I Learned That Writing Could Be Hilarious" Naseem Hrab on the Books that Shaped Her Writing Life
Acclaimed picture book author (and beloved Open Book columnist!) Naseem Hrab knows a thing or two about friendship, and she captures that magic in her Ira Crumb series, the newest instalment of which ...
