A Poet’s Nanaimo

The authors of Lytton: Climate Change, Colonialism and Life Before the Fire (Penguin Random House, 2024) have written a beautifully readable history of the town that holds many fond memories for them. There are probably many who didn’t know of British Columbia’s hot...

In one of her essays, “Virginia Woolf’s Commas” in the “Late” section of A Life in Pieces (Thistledown Press, 2024), Jo-Ann Wallace writes of typing Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway “from beginning to end.”“There is something surprisingly intimate about entering text in this...

Barbara Black’s new book, Little Fortified Stories (Caitlin Press, 2024) has won a 2024 Firebird Book Award in the "Short Story" category as well as in the new "Weird Book Genre" category. How cool is that!In fact, Barbara’s short fiction included in Little Fortified...

I offered a summer pop-up women’s Writing Life women’s writing circle recently on the theme of “Inside the Treasure House.” It’s a theme I’ve used before, and thought it a good time to revisit and acknowledge our gifts.In the circle, we are honoured for who we are and...

Lynda Barry’s What It Is published in hard cover in 2008 is now out in soft cover (Drawn & Quarterly, 2024). The first edition won the comic industry’s 2009 Eisner Award for Best Reality-Based Work.What It Is is a wonderful combination of a graphic novel, memoir,...

In the photograph taken by my friend Wendy Morisseau, I'm sitting in my living room in Nanaimo where I usually lead women's writing circles called Writing Life. After many years, I'll be offering some writing circles again, open to everyone, at Bethlehem Centre in...