theartisanalwriter

[theartisanalwriter]

Imagine That

Margaret Marcum on the practical art of implementing imagery in poetry “Faces radiant with panic” is how Tracy K. Smith ends her poem “The Weather in Space” (3). This line summons the rather vibrant image of Edvard Munch’s famous painting of “The Scream.” This example illustrates how crucial imagery is for crafting good poetry. Unfortunately, how imagery is fashioned in the poetic moment,…

[theartisanalwriter]

My Thievery of The People

Paul Dhillon talks to Montreal novelist, poet and activist Leila Marshy about her latest story collection. Paul Dhillon (PD): Congratulations on the new collection, My Thievery of The People, opens with the story, “Blink Twice, showcases two characters struggling to connect. In my reading, the piece sets the tone for the whole collection, especially with the story’s last sentence, and the…

[theartisanalwriter]

Finding Home Through Translation

Archana Sridhar reviews a New Translation of Temple Lamp: Ghalib’s Sojourn in the Sacred City of Banaras Driving through Toronto the other night, flipping through radio stations, I happened upon the scratchy sounds of an old qawwali recording. The call and response of the Muslim devotional song reminded me of my parents in the kitchen, singing along to this same music on cassette tapes brought…

[theartisanalwriter]

Object Lessons

Amy L Cornell about the power and importance of objects in our writing. Objects have lives. They are witness to things~Ira Glass, This American Life In college, I shared a living space with a witty engineering student named Luanne. One chilly day Luanne lent me a bright red pullover sweater with a black stripe across the top. It was two sizes too big, and I loved it. I kept it. Returned it.…

[theartisanalwriter]

Talking to Strangers

Sabyasachi Nag talks to Vancouver poet and academic Rhea Tregebov about her latest poetry collection. Sabyasachi Nag (SN) Congratulations on “Talking to Strangers”? Actual conversations with strangers (ten chats, over ten years) form the centrepiece of this title. Can you tell us a bit more about how it came into being? And also, a bit about the praxis – how you remembered the conversations and…

[theartisanalwriter]

Underwater

Candice Louisa Daquin reviews Underwater by Jill Michelle (Riot In Your Throat Press) In rarefied cases, there is a collaborative relationship between poet and publisher, producing a symbiotic creation that is both original to the poet and of the quality one imagines from the publisher. Finding the right fit and quality of writer is a publisher’s most challenging job. The titles by Riot in Your…

[theartisanalwriter]

The Wisdom Project

The Artisanal Writer would like to thank @ontarioartscouncil and the Government of Ontario for their funding support of The Wisdom Project, a fully funded memoir writing workshop for Ontario seniors. This OAC funding allows us to continue promoting new Canadian writers awaiting readers across Ontario, and the country! Apply now using the submissions portal here!

[theartisanalwriter]

When My Ghost Sings

Tena Laing talks to Tara Sidhoo Fraser about her memoir: When My Ghost Sings published by Arsenal Pulp Press (2024). Tena Laing (TL): Congratulations on your beautiful memoir, When My Ghost Sings: A Memoir of Stroke, Recovery & Transformation. I was delighted and surprised by how poetic, literary, lyrical, evocative, and mysterious this story was. Tantalizing details were gradually revealed, and…

[theartisanalwriter]

Nostalgic for a Place Never Seen

Sabyasachi Nag talks to London, Ontario writer, essayist and poet, Bhaswati Ghosh about her debut poetry collection Nostalgic For a Place Never Seen (Copper Coin Press, 2024) Sabyasachi Nag (SN): Congratulations on your first poetry title? How did you arrive at the collection, did you conceive of it first and went about constructing the poems or did the poems coalesce at some point into the…

[theartisanalwriter]

The Rise and Fall of Magic Wolf

Paul Dhillon talks to Vancouver novelist and journalist Timothy Taylor about his new novel, The Rise and Fall of Magic Wolf (Dundurn Press, 2024) Paul Dhillon: Congratulations on your new novel, The Rise and Fall of Magic Wolf. This book is a Künstlerroman, and follows the rise of Teo as a skilled chef. You have spent twenty-plus years writing about the art and food business, and particularly to…

[theartisanalwriter]

Look Who’s Morphing

Shelly Kawaja talks to St. John’s, Ktaqmkuk (“Newfoundland”) writer and editor Tom Cho about his debut story collection Look Who’s Morphing (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2024) Shelly Kawaja (SK): “Someone is stalking Whitney Houston, and I have been hired to be her bodyguard.” That is the opening line for “The Bodyguard,” in your debut short story collection Look Who’s Morphing. This book is flush with…

[theartisanalwriter]

Against Endings

Matthew Gordon on literary and genre fiction tendencies to break down stories into neat segments. “Happy New Year!” It’s 12:00AM on January 1 of whichever year you’re reading this. You’re surrounded by friends, the clink of champagne flutes still ringing in your ears, the chatter on the TV just loud enough to annoy you. You slump back into your chair, your arm brushing against the mangled tiara…

[theartisanalwriter]

Sharp Notions

Tena Laing talks to Marita Dachsel about the book she edited with Nancy Lee: Sharp Notions – Essays From the Stitching Life (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2023). Tena Laing: Congratulations, Marita and Nancy, on your beautiful polyphonic book of essays, Sharp Notions – Essays From the Stitching Life! In this collection, a range of writers “challenge the traditional view of crafting and examine the role,…

[theartisanalwriter]

A Way to Be Happy

Paul Dhillon talks to BC writer Caroline Adderson about her most recent story collection A Way To BE Happy (Biblioasis, 2024) Paul Dhillon: Congratulations on the new book and the Giller Longlist nomination! You present the reader with characters suffering their share of life disappointments. Many characters here are adrift or alienated from those around them until the grace of another shines a…

[theartisanalwriter]

On Moving On

Move the fuck on, Husband jokingly says, when I draw him into yet another circular conversation about the right place. Nomadic as I’ve been, it is a theme for me, and every so often I get completely hijacked by the notion that this isn’t the place. Not here. Not yet. Until I learned how much it unsettled him, I’d often take Husband along on these rhetorical rides of where is the place?! These…

[theartisanalwriter]

Keith Garebian

Guest editor Laurence Hutchman talks to Ontario poet, Keith Garebian about his work, life and craft. Laurence Hutchman: Your trip to Armenia in 2013 to attend the Fifth Conference of Writers brought you an unexpected award—the William Saroyan Medal for your contribution to Armenian literature. The meeting of Armenian writers and people there gave you a deeper connection with Armenia. Could you…

[theartisanalwriter]

echolalia echolalia

Emily Cann talks to Jane Shi, about her second poetry collection echolalia echolalia (Brick Books, 2024) Emily Cann: As the title suggests, this collection involves different kinds of repetition and echoes. In “before you were born,” stanzas are literally layered over top of each other. The collection brings in other voices in the form of epigraphs and integrates the repeating figure of a quiz.…