I’ve spoken a few times about my role as President of the Board of Directors for The Writers’ Guild of Alberta. It’s a volunteer position that I feel very strongly about, and am so proud to have been a part of this board for four years now (going on five!). One of the best parts…
I have a terrible admission to make: I’ve never read a book by Michael Chabon. What is wrong with me? I know he’s a good writer, and I NOW know he’s a nice person, so what is my problem? I need to fix this asap, so I’m on the hunt for a good Chabon book….
Canadian bookworms are generally a shy bunch. We don’t get out much because we’re so busy reading and drinking tea (especially in the winter months) and our book awards are not as numerous as the Americans, so rarely do we get a chance to have national discussions about a book’s merit. That’s why the Canada…
It’s that time of year again! Thanksgiving is almost upon us, which also means Wordfest is right around the corner. Back when I worked for the festival, the falling leaves typically struck fear into my heart because it signalled the beginning of an extremely busy time for me. But now that I can enjoy the…
One of my Presidential duties at the Writers’ Guild of Alberta includes attending very fun events to represent our organization. Last night, the Calgary Awards was a perfect example of this. The WGA partners with the city to present the W.O. Mitchell Book Prize, so we always make an appearance at the event to help…
In honour of the recent Alberta Book Awards being given out, I wanted to highlight another wonderful book I just finished by an award-winning Alberta author Joan Crate. Black Apple follows a young Aboriginal girl named Sinopaki as she is forcefully taken from her family and brought to the residential school of St. Mark’s. Throughout…
If I was an organized reader and blogger, I would have read this book a few months ago in time for the Canada Reads debate that happened in early March. But, I clearly missed that boat, so my apologies; here is my very late review of the second place winner of Canada Reads 2016, The…
The shortlist for the Alberta Book Awards was just announced, which means a couple of exciting things are happening: The nominated writers will begin to trash talk* each other on social media I can announce that fact that yours truly will be hosting the awards. Yes, me. People will begin reading these specific books in…
I recently finished reading Elizabeth Hay‘s new book His Whole Life. And I loved it. Obviously, because Elizabeth Hay is great. I’ve also been helping the wonderful Shelley Youngblut program the 20th anniversary of Wordfest this year. So…they filmed me (nervously) reviewing this book as part of the festival preparations. Should I stick to doing…
Well the Giller Longlist has been announced, and it’s a good one! I may be a bit biased, simply because I’ve read and loved many of the books on the list, but it’s also pointed to a few I need to hurry up and read. You all know by now that I loved Patrick deWitt’s…
I had the good fortune of being a judge for the 2015 Saskatchewan Book Awards that were just handed out this past weekend. I was on the panel that decided the winner of the City of Saskatoon and Public Library of Saskatoon Book Award: Manny’s Memories by Ken and Angela Caron. It’s been awhile since…
“…how can a man be so headstrong about not asking for directions, and such a wimp about pain?” These, and other answers can be found in the collection of essays titled What I Meant to Say: the Private Lives of Men edited by Ian Brown. Although not all my questions about men were answered (which…