-
On Influence
I’m going to be part of a poetry reading and panel discussion on “poetic influence” tomorrow. If you’re in Edmonton, this will be a great chance to listen to local poets read from their own work and discuss influences. A Calm Conversation–Poetry Reading and Panel on Poetic Influences Edmonton poets – Bert Almon, Douglas Barbour, […]
-
What it says
March, march, march–how do you do it? Just as the daffodils poke their noses through the soil, a return to winter, heavy snow. Not that it isn’t beautiful–bright crystals shining on the roof, crystals on the back deck so intricately lit by morning sun I don’t want the dog to walk on them (but walk […]
-
“The story will tell you”
Another phrase of mine has come back to me, recently, from an unexpected angle. When I read to J. (unsurprisingly, this is one of my favourite child-minding activities), she is full of questions. Sometimes, I stop to answer her questions. Sometimes, I answer in more detail than she is looking for (though just as often […]
-
On Structure and Purpose
Last semester, I taught a creative non-fiction writing workshop. All semester, I repeated this phrase like a mantra to my students: structure and purpose, structure and purpose. I meant their essays. But I’m coming to see this as a mantra for life, especially a writing life. If I want something to fit in my life, […]
-
International Women’s Day
Today is International Women’s Day—a day to celebrate women, but also to call attention to the fact that women are still “poorer and less powerful than men in every country in the world” (UN report, “Progress of the World’s Women 2011: In Pursuit of Justice”). So it’s a good day to think about this, and […]
-
On focus and concentration
I wanted this post to be about focus, mostly because I’ve set myself a goal of completing a draft of the novel by the end of August (yikes), and I want to spend March finishing up the planning work I’m doing so in April I can return to rewriting and drafting new material. So I […]
-
Happy (belated) Leap Day
Yesterday was my daughter’s first Leap Day. I tried to explain the concept to her, but got a bit hung up in the details. I had the vague sense this extra day existed to correct for some kind of basic imperfection in the fit between the earth’s orbit around the sun and the system we […]
-
“Old friends”
I wake up on this morning each year thinking of my childhood friend, also named Lisa, remembering that it’s her birthday. Even though I haven’t seen her since 1988, I wake up thinking of her simply because when I was 8 years old I tried really hard to remember this–to attach this date to her. […]
-
Call for submissions
The deadline for The New Quarterly’s Nick Blatchford Occasional Verse Contest is tomorrow, February 28! Poets, consider entering something if you haven’t already. TNQ is an excellent literary journal with truly wonderful, humane editors to work with. They are great supporters of their writers. You get a subscription just by entering the contest. The journal […]
-
Ode to particularity
Have you read Zadie Smith’s essay, “Fail Better”? I find it deeply heartening. The essay borrows its title from Samuel Beckett’s lines (famous among writers): “Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” Some highlights: “For writers have only one duty, as I see it: the duty to express accurately their way of being in the world” […]