Online Exclusives
Finding the Form with J.P. Letkemann
A couple of days ago, my sister sent me a link to a recent CBC interview with John Koenig, author of The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows. Koenig’s project, according to host Piya Chattopadhyay, involved coining new words to fill in the “blind spots of our emotional vocabulary.” Describing his rationale, Koenig explains how new words […]
Bruce Geddes Writing Space
Here’s a stat that will surprise no one: The capacity of the average writing space is one. This has nothing to do with square footage or furniture This is about the simple needs of most writers: quiet, solitude, and enough space to stow junk. Most writing spaces are like toilets that way: designed to be […]
A Conversation with Kieran Egan, Winner of the 2021 Nick Blatchford Occasional Verse Contest
Kim Jernigan, former Editor and current Special Projects editor, interviews Kieran Egan whose poem “Latin Classes” won first prize in the 2021 Occasional Verse Contest. Kim Jernigan: “Latin Class” is an elaborate joke, the humour a consequence of the Latin teacher’s pretense of secrecy and of the exaggerated importance given to the pluperfect, a little […]
Finding the Form with Rose Maloukis
I use tools and lessons from my painting life which align well with writing. At one time, I made a splendid piece in black ink on craft paper. A few years later I did the same image in water-color, and again in oil. The latter two were only passable as art but the ink drawing […]
Anthropomorphization Writ Large: An Interview with Sandra Kasturi
One of our Consulting Editors, Barbara Carter, interviews Sandra Kasturi whose poem “Specializing in the Prehistory of Whales” won second prize in the 2021 Nick Blatchford Occasional Verse Contest. Barbara Carter: Sandra, I am one of those who delights in the back story of poems. Would you indulge me and tell me about the backstory […]
Sanchari Sur’s Writing Space
I have taken to writing on the couch. It’s the brightest spot in the house, and not just because of my recent acquisition, the mustard loveseat, something I purchased with earnings from my writing. There is a window looking onto the balcony, and the sky beyond. I find that while writing, when my thoughts begin […]
The Best Wave and the Right Moment: A Conversation with Aaron Schneider
Kim Jernighan, former Editor and current Special Projects editor, interviews Aaron Schneider, the third prize winners in the 2021 Nick Blatchford Occasional Verse contest for his poem “Surfing Near Tofino”. Kim Jernigan: The judges of The New Quarterly’s Occasional Verse Contest work from a fairly loose definition of occasional verse, but your prize-winner, “Surfing Near Tofino”, […]
Alison Stevenson’s Writing Space
I write in various places around the house, but this is my ‘office.’ As well as writing, I keep writing-related stuff here, including notes and papers and some books I find useful and/or inspiring. I also carry out my day job here. It’s a kind of Murphy-bed set-up, in that I can sit on a […]
Covering and Uncovering Masks: An Interview with Terry Watada
One of our Poetry Editors, Roderick Spence, interviews Terry Watada whose poem “Masks” won third prize in the 2021 Occasional Verse Contest. Roderick Spence: Your poem “Masks” incorporates the beauty of Japanese vocabulary, cultural imagery and practices. To someone who doesn’t speak Japanese nor hasn’t experienced something like Obon, the Buddhist Festival of the Dead, […]
Nicole Leona Smith’s Writing Space
I rarely write anywhere but at my desk, which is where I write this from now. I have one desk here, in Cambridge, and one desk at my other home, in St. John’s, Newfoundland. The history of my Newfoundland desk is almost entirely unknown to me, and that’s because I stole it. The little blue […]
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