Open Book Toronto “Overlooked Book List”

Thanks to all of you who nominated Stealing Nasreen for the Open Book “Overlooked Book List”! Thanks to you, Stealing Nasreen made it on the list! Go to www.openbooktoronto.com to see the full list. Perhaps you’ll find some great 2008 reading suggestions there.

Solstice

I spent yesterday afternoon skating at Harbourfront with my sister and nephew. It was my first time on a rink this year. I tottered onto the ice, my body having forgotten what to do at first (why does that happen every single year?) and then, after a few minutes, I was almost gliding with the crowd, [...]

holiday thoughts

After today, I will be on vacation for 10 days. It comes at a very good time. The past summer and fall have been busy and exciting for Stealing Nasreen and for the slowly developing new novel (page count 204 today!). I look forward to a break filled with friends, food, and self-care.
I don’t celebrate [...]

For Aqsa

I was very saddened at the news about Aqsa Parvez. I thought about how very vulnerable 16 year old girls can be, especially when they resist their parents, when they try to run away from fathers who frighten them.
You may have noticed that I haven’t mentioned words like “culture clash” yet. Instead I want to speak [...]

The Census and 49.9% of Torontonians

Today’s Toronto Star  front page feature on “The Rainbow City”, its report on this year’s census data, was of huge interest to me. It’s pretty amazing that just under half of our city’s population was born outside of Canada. 
 Of course, this is something most of us experience every day. Each time we walk along a downtown [...]

Ottawa Reading and the Open Book “Overlooked Books” list

I was in Ottawa yesterday for a lovely reading at the Collected Works Bookstore. What a great audience! I was asked some really interesting questions that made me think more about my writing process. For example, one woman asked me what it was like to edit out pieces I worried would not be well received, [...]