Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Where in Canada: Camping in the Prairie Grasslands
Naturalist Trevor Herriot and nature photographer Branimir Gjetvag join forces in Islands of Grass (Coteau Books) to paint a picture of the majestic Prairie Grasslands that while once rivalled the African savannah for wildlife are now vanishing to our footprint. Publisher John Agnew of Coteau Books recounts his memorable camping trip to the Grasslands National…
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This Week in Lit Events: January 29-February 4th
After running this weekly column since our opening in 2014, This Week in Lit Events is retiring in favour of a sleek new events calendar! The best part: you get to submit literary happenings in your area.Are you hosting an event featuring an author whose titles are available on All Lit Up? Use our new events form to…
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In Review: The Week of January 22nd
This week we continued the discussion around ableism with a fierce essay from author and disability activist Dorothy Ellen Palmer and got silly with a book about culture and creativity.
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Top 10 – Read-Together Books for Family Literacy Day
Saturday’s Family Literacy Day, so why not cozy up with your munchkins tomorrow morning with one of these 10 read-together wonders?
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When Buildings Do the Dirty Work, CanLit Hands Aren’t Clean
Like all those of its vintage, my old elementary school in Toronto’s west end had separate “Boys” and “Girls” entrances chiseled in stone. Historically, many Canadian buildings have regulated, or denied, entrance to women, Indigenous people, people of colour, targeted nationalities, and faith groups. But by the time I reached Grade Three, all students used…
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Writer’s Block: Mark Wagstaff
In today’s Writers’ Block, we talk with author and winner of the 3-Day Novel Writing Contest for Attack of the Lonely Hearts (Anvil Press), Mark Wagstaff – he tells us about writing jealousy, laments the loss of “olden times,” and explains how a snarky protagonist can keep you writing confidently (even on a three-day deadline).
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Under the Cover: Culture and Creativity in But It’s So Silly
Award-winning author JonArno Lawson spent a decade researching fun and games. In his new book But It’s So Silly (Wolsak and Wynn Publishers), JonArno looks at how culture and creativity meet, where imagination comes from, and how children around the world play. In this edition of Under the Cover, he tells us how this project…
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This Week in Lit Events: January 22-28th
Lots of reading series to hit this week, plus our first festival of the year: the SPARKS Literary Festival in St. John’s Newfoundland!Are you hosting an event featuring an author whose titles are available on All Lit Up? Send the event details, including author, book, date, time, and address to hello@alllitup.ca to be included in our listings.
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In Review: The Week of January 15th
This week we gave ableism a hard stare in the ism with an insightful essay from poet and physician Shane Neilson, served up five books for more intersectionally feminist reading, and made Books and Bingo a thing.
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Do-Lit-Yourself: Indie Literary Bingo to Keep Your Reading Goals on Track
Contrary to some, we think it’s super-important to read widely (it’s also FUN, and interesting, and makes you a better person, but we could go on all day). Introducing All Lit Up Indie Literary Bingo cards for Fiction, Poetry, and dealer’s choice: 24-48 reading suggestions to challenge you to keep your TBR pile fresh for 2018.
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Let’s Not Have a Drink: Ableism, Alcohol, and Dysphoria
ALU note: Last year, we ran a Chappy Hour column about Shane Neilson’s Dysphoria that was insensitive to the very serious themes about disability and mental health in his collection. (It has since been removed from ALU.) We were wrong, and Shane was kind enough to call us in and let us know why. We invited him…
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Jules’ Tools for Social Change: Feminist Reading Resolutions
Welcome to this New Year, new you edition of Jules’ Tools for Social Change: Julia’s serving up five books that’ll help you be a more intersectionally feminist reader this year. As she puts it: “Won’t you join me in reading books from more Indigenous writers, more writers of colour, more trans and non-binary writers, more…
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Where in Canada: Toronto Love
Julie Roorda’s A Thousand Consolations (Brindle & Glass Publishing) is a literary rom-com that walks the eclectic streets of Toronto from Roncesvalles Village to Dupont Street to York University following Paula, a candle-making widow and Hector, a three-fingered pianist on the run from Mexican drug lords.
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This Week in Lit Events: January 15-21st
If you live in southern Ontario or Victoria and love reading series, you’re in luck! Check out our literary listings for this week and get your January poetry and fiction on.Are you hosting an event featuring an author whose titles are available on All Lit Up? Send the event details, including author, book, date, time, and address to hello@alllitup.ca to…
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In Review: The Week of January 8th
The week we cheered about the Canada Reads longlist, learned more about book-binding a la publisher Biblioasis, and tried two cocktail recipes.
Got any book recommendations?