An Essay about my Essay

The New Quarterly has a great on-line blog section where writers share information on their writing spaces, what they’re reading, or their writing process. I was invited to write a blog on how I wrote “Anomalies,” the creative non-fiction piece that was published in the Winter 2020 issue of The New Quarterly. The essay centres around the still born birth of my baby back in 2014, but what sparked me to write about it was this quilt made by my students. CLICK HERE to read about the story and my writing process.

Check out my drawing in the Robert McLaughlin’s Virtual Art Exhibition

A 6 foot charcoal drawing I did in way back in 1992 is now part of a virtual art exhibition called “Looking Out, Looking In,” curated by Sonja Jones. What a great idea to show art this way since the art  galleries and museums are closed due to the Covid -19. Someone bought the drawing from a show way back and donated it to the Robert McLaughlin Gallery’s permanent collection. CLICK HERE to see the show.

Next Essay to be Published in the Antigonish Review

I just received an email informing me that my piece, “Standing on my Head Naked,” will be published in the Antigonish Review. The essay is about my first year of teaching blunders , and is centred around a drawing I completed in university: a full sized nude self-portrait of myself standing on my head… you guessed it…. naked! The drawing makes an appearance both literally and metaphorically. I’m not sure yet what issue it will appear in.

Anomalies is published in The New Quarterly!

It’s an honour to have my essay published in the same issue as Karen Connelly, who wrote one of my favourite books, The Lizard Cage, and Melinda Burns, who has taught me so much about writing in her workshops. It was also a  thrill to have my worked edited by the renowned Susan Scott. If you are interested, “Anomalies” is posted on The New Quarterly’s website under, Featured Reads.   CLICK HERE for the link (you have to sign-up but it’s free.

It’s Here! Thank You Grain Magazine

 

 

I took a photo of just the first page since there’s probably copyright laws preventing me from posting the whole story. It’s an honour to be published in grain, one of the top Canadian literary magazines. Also, a big thanks to Terry Jordan for his impeccable editing.

 

Honourable Mention in the Edna Staebler Personal Essay Contest

I can’t express how excited I am to make it to the finals of the Essay Staebler Essay Contest. When I first started writing about ten years ago, I used to print out the winning essays and study the sentence structure and writing techniques. I remember being blown away by Emily Gibbons’ essay Latencies in the 2014 issue of The New Quarterly. The best part of this award is that the essay will be published in the Winter issue of The New Quarterly, an award winning literary journal.

CBC KW: The Morning Edition (Radio Interview)

I was lucky enough to be on “The Morning Edition,” CBC News Kitchener/Washington with DJ Craig Morris. Here’s a coincidence: I teach Craig’s daughter Abby! Although my heart was pounding before the interview, it was a lot of fun. The staff were welcoming and down to Earth.

CLICK HERE to hear the 5 min. interview — it’s at the bottom of the article.