ARTICLES AND ESSAYS
Everything I know about the creative process I learned by asking questions
I've always been curious, and that's fuel for journalism. Larger writing projects like digital storytelling and books are my centre stage, but on the side I've taken numerous fun forays into finding out more and sharing what I've learned. I started in journalism with arts coverage for the university newspaper. Later I wrote for community newspapers and indie magazines like Broken Pencil. From 2005 to 2008 I reviewed books for The Toronto Star. From 2012 to 2014 I wrote about art for OCAD U, and then from 2015 to 2019, when I started teaching, I interviewed hundreds of artists, authors and musicians.
What I learned is that everyone carves their own path in their own way; you're never alone in the creative community; and success is a long game of devotion and dedication.
Read samples:
Profiles | Features | Essays | Editing
NEW:
How to Heal from Rejection (Without Getting Down on Yourself Tiny Buddha, August 22, 2023
PROFILES
AUTHORS
Identity is so inconsistent: An interview with Jenny Heijun Wills, author of Older Sister. Not Necessarily Related Hazlitt, October 3, 2019
Cover story: Double Impact: How Alex Ohlin's lifelong passion for literature inspires her teaching and fuels her new novel, Dual Citizens. Quill & Quire, June 2019 (print version)
Online version: Alix Ohlin, the chair of creative writing at UBC, on the complex female relationships in her novel Dual Citizens
Cover story: How Aminder Dhaliwal found her voice through her deliciously satirical comic Woman World. Quill & Quire, July/August 2018 (online version is shorter).
Terese Marie Mailhot wants to liberate Indigenous people through writing NOW magazine, March 14, 2018
Chris Eng’s HoodieRipper Press books riff on relationships, identity, and acceptance Quill & Quire, July 20, 2017
Katherena Vermette profile (as part of How three indigenous authors cut through the noise of social media to become online activists, with Sue Carter) Quill & Quire, March 2017
The Faces of Poetry: Melanie Janisse-Barlow’s Poets Series Taddle Creek, Winter 2016-2017 (No. 38)
Marianne Apostolides’s intimate memoir combines aquatic imagery and words to examine themes that are now more relevant than ever Quill & Quire, December 14, 2016
MUSICIANS
Triumph, Canada's Walk of Fame commemorative magazine, December, 2019
Andy Kim, Canada's Walk of Fame commemorative magazine, December, 2018
Leonard Cohen (posthumous tribute), Canada's Walk of Fame commemorative magazine, December, 2018
Nyssa sings the untold stories of women in rock NOW magazine, May 16, 2018
Young Galaxy are happy to no longer be on a record label NOW magazine, April 19, 2018
Yamantaka // Sonic Titan are tired of the "maelstrom of confusion" that follows them NOW magazine, March 23, 2018
Frankie Rose warms up ahead of the release of her redemption record NOW magazine, June 13, 2017
Corey Hart, Canada's Walk of Fame commemorative magazine, September, 2016
Musicians to Watch, Canada's Walk of Fame commemorative magazine, December, 2016
ARTISTS AND TRAILBLAZERS
Cindy Klassen, Canada's Walk of Fame commemorative magazine, December, 2019
Will Arnett, Canada's Walk of Fame commemorative magazine, December, 2019
Frank Gehry, Canada's Walk of Fame commemorative magazine, December, 2019
Jim Treliving, Canada's Walk of Fame commemorative magazine, December, 2019
Andrea Martin, Canada's Walk of Fame commemorative magazine, December, 2018
Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, Canada's Walk of Fame commemorative magazine, December, 2018
Chris Hadfield, Canada's Walk of Fame commemorative magazine, December, 2018
Jimmy Pattison, Canada's Walk of Fame commemorative magazine, December, 2018
Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, Canada's Walk of Fame commemorative magazine, December, 2018
Jason Priestley, Canada's Walk of Fame commemorative magazine, December, 2016
Al Waxman (posthumous tribute), Canada's Walk of Fame commemorative magazine, December, 2016
FEATURES
How editors Sue Goyette, Jen Sookfong Lee, and Stacey May Fowles created an inclusive environment for working with sexual-assault survivors Quill & Quire, May, 2019
Lighting Fires: Powerful, diverse writers strike a literary reckoning. Quill & Quire, November, 2018
Canadian art-book publishers reach out to galleries and authors after U.K.’s Black Dog Publishing declares bankruptcy Quill & Quire, March 19, 2018
Second Growing Room festival focused on the craft of writing in a “safe, supportive, feminist environment” Quill & Quire, March 12, 2018
Where Toronto’s nerds are making noise NOW magazine, March 14, 2018
Monstrous Women comic creators overcome the haters NOW magazine, February 28, 2018
Is Toronto a harsh city for opening bands? NOW magazine, February 16, 2018
Q&A: Heavy Bell on their musical adaptation of Elizabeth Smart’s novel By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept Quill & Quire, January 29, 2018
Could there ever be another Massey Hall? NOW magazine, November 22, 2017
Q&A: John Zeppetelli, curator of Musee d’art contemporain de Montreal’s Leonard Cohen exhibit Quill & Quire, November 13, 2017
The Hustle: How indie creators are making it work right now Broken Pencil, Winter, 2017
Five sci-fi books from Toronto authors that we’re excited to read NOW magazine, October 2, 2017
Toronto’s only poetry shop is looking for a new home – and financial support NOW magazine, September 6, 2017
Pow Pow Press expands, with a mission of bringing Quebec comics to the world Quill & Quire, August 30, 2017
Metatron forges a beautiful path for emerging poetry and fiction Quill & Quire, August 30, 2017
Can a Spadina Walk of Fame boost Toronto’s music scene? NOW magazine, July 13, 2017
Toronto publisher Book Thug launches a record label NOW magazine, August 25, 2017
The Toronto Comics anthology series showcases rising talent Quill & Quire, May 1, 2017
Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize winners and their editors share memories of working together Quill & Quire, November 2, 2016 (with Sue Carter)
Inaugural Canadian Writers’ Summit brings authors together Quill & Quire, June 20, 2016
The Afterword Reading Society: Ask the Author for Circle of Stones The National Post, May 2015
Messes and Meltdowns in the City: Books that inspired Circle of Stones May 2015
World of Imaginationcraft: Game design and incubation at OCAD U Sketch magazine, Volume 25, Issue 2, Winter 2014
ESSAYS
How to Heal from Rejection (Without Getting Down on Yourself) Tiny Buddha, August 22, 2023
"Four Sighs" in Music Men Ruined For Me (zine anthology edited by Alison Lang), December, 2018
Social Media, Online Accountability, and the Meaning of an Apology The Walrus, November 23, 2018
Why I Pulled My Winning Story From a Literary Magazine The Walrus, January 31, 2018
Can You Really Marie-Kondo an Art Practice? Canadian Art, November 16, 2016
The Shadow Side of Success (collaborative feature with Heidi Reimer, Maria Meindl, and Carrie Snyder The New Quarterly, Issue 141, Winter 2017
REVIEWS
Tori Amos covered the Tragically Hip at Massey Hall NOW magazine, October 31, 2017
Drab Majesty turned the Baby G into a post-punk church service NOW magazine, September 28, 2017
From the archive
From 2005 to 2008 I reviewed books for The Toronto Star, including:
ReadyMade: How to Make (Almost) Everything
Strange Ghosts by Darren Greer
The Breakdown So Far by M.A.C. Farrant
Escape From Special by Miss Lasko-Gross
White Rapids by Pascal Blanchet
Fear of Fighting by Stacey May Fowles and Marlena Zuber
Skim by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki
Eagles and Angels by Juli Zeh
The Hole Show by Maya Merrick
Cities of Weather by Matthew Fox
Paul Moves Out by Michel Rabagliati
Sextant by Maya Merrick
Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures: Stories by Vincent Lam
Cherry by Chandra Mayor
Venous Hum by Suzette Mayr
I Shithead, a Life in Punk by Joe Keithley
EDITING
Freelance writing and editing projects
See an overview of some of the award-winning projects I worked on in two decades as a story director, producer, writer editor and strategist, including cross-platform film and TV co-productions:
Other recent projects of note:
Writing from a state of calm Sarah Selecky Writing School guest blog post, August 2019.
Burnout prevention for artists, musicians and writers. Mentorly guest blog post, May 2019.
Sell Your Book: An Author's Guide to Publicity and Promotion e-book for the Writers' Union
OCADU Ignite Imagination profile series: interviews with 26 students, faculty members and alumni (2018)
Magazine and fiction editing
Taddle Creek magazine contributing editor June 2019 to present
Taddle Creek magazine associate editor 2015 to June 2019
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Summer 2019 (No. 43)
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Winter 2018-2019 (No. 42)
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Summer 2018 (No. 41)
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Winter 2017-2018 (No. 40)
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Summer 2017 (No. 39)
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Winter 2016-2017 (No. 38)
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Summer 2016 (No. 37)
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Winter 2015-2016 (No. 36)
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Summer 2015 (No. 35)
The Writers’ Union of Canada Short Prose Competition for Emerging Writers 2019: Second round reader.
Canada’s Walk of Fame commemorative magazine editor and lead writer 2018 and 2016
OCAD University managing editor 2012 to 2014
Broken Pencil books section editor 2003 to 2006