Off the Page
A blog on Canadian writing, reading, and everything in between

A Record of Literary History: Best Canadian Poetry 2020
An excerpt from Marilyn Dumont's introduction to BEST CANADIAN POETRY 2020.

The Donair: Canada's Official Food?
Excerpt from BOOK OF DONAIR explores how a bitter rivalry between Halifax and Edmonton helped propel the donair to be de …

Notes From a Children's Librarian: Questions, Questions
Great picture books that engage with questions and encourage readers to think about answers.

Most Anticipated: Our 2021 Spring Fiction Preview
Exciting debuts, and new releases by Christy Ann Conlin, Pasha Malla, Eva Stachniak, Jael Richardson, and more.

Patriarchy Lies: Women Are Funny
A funny woman reading list by the author of new novel Better Luck Next Time.

The Chat with Eve Lazarus
Eve Lazarus has drawn back the curtain on some of Vancouver’s secret places. Vancouver Exposed: Searching for the City …

Canadian Books of the Year: Chosen by Educators and Librarians
We asked educators and librarians to share their favourite Canadian books of 2020.

The Chat with David Bateman
Acclaimed writer David Bateman has just released his fabulous debut novel, DR SAD (University of Calgary Press). It foll …

Have you Entered Our Books of the Year Giveaway Yet?
All the titles on our 2020 Fiction: Books of the Year list are up for giveaway! Don't miss your chance to win.
Results for keyword: “libraries”
Books and Ghosts: Tomes of Terror
Books and ghosts: how could we not feature Mark Leslie's new book, Tomes of Terror: Haunted Bookstores and Libraries, on 49th Shelf during the week leading up to Halloween? It's a collection of true tales about spooky places rife with books and ghosts, and even some less spooky places where you'd least expect a ghostly encounter—like a Smithbooks located in a suburban shopping mall. We're pleased to share that story with you here, as well as another about a library reportedly haunted by a young woman whose face has been glimpsed peering out from the tower window.
*****
Goosebumps at Smithbooks
Smithbooks, Sherway Gardens
Etobicoke, Ontario
The ghostly residents of many beloved bookstore locations that are now closed continue to haunt the hearts and minds of both patrons and staff members. These spirits are all the more memorable if, like any good customer, they display a penchant for a particular author’s books.
I was intrigued to chat with an old bookseller colleague about an experience that she had when she worked at a bookstore than has been closed now for about 14 years. Even though Shannon left the store back in 1998, she kept with her a fond and deep love for the bookstore, her fellow staff members, and the customers of the Smithbooks at Sherway Gardens.
Continue reading >
The Chat: Trevor Corkum Interviews Lisa Moore
This week on The Chat, we turn our attention to YA fiction. We’re in conversation with novelist Lisa Moore, author of the acclaimed new YA novel Flannery. The novel tells the story of Flannery Malone, a precocious, headstrong, 16-year-old living and loving in contemporary St. John’s, Newfoundland.
The National Post says "Flannery is a fully realized and nuanced protagonist, contradictory in all the most consistent ways." Publishers Weekly calls "Flannery ... precocious and independent, a pragmatic heroine with a fierce attitude, quiet patience, and indomitable survival instinct."
Lisa Moore is the acclaimed author of February, which was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize and selected as one of The New Yorker’s Best Books of the Year. Her novel Alligator was a finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and won the Commonwealth Fiction Prize (Canada and the Caribbean). She is a three-time finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, most recently for her novel Caught, which was a national bestseller. Lisa has written for Elle and The Guardian, and her …
Continue reading >
Notes from a Children's Librarian: What I Miss About the Library
Our Children's Librarian columnist, Julie Booker, brings us a new view from the stacks every month. This month she, like many of us, is working from home—and missing the library.
*****
“My” library, where I spend each morning, is a long room with bookshelves all around the perimeter, beneath sky blue walls. Meeting tables are hexagonal and fit together like a beehive. A spinning holder of graphic novels stands as a leaning tower. Someone, long ago, built castle turret bookshelves, which punctuate the picture book area. They house popular series such as Arthur, and Elephant and Piggie, with small stuffies as clues to favourite authors. Various tiny Franklins cluster near Paulette Bourgeois’ books. A jumbo-sized Madeline slumps next to an ever-smiling Curious George, cotton poking through his midriff. A grey and white chickadee is perched near Frank Glew’s That Chickadee Feeling. More characters used to live here but I came in one morning to find Captain Underpants without underpants, Angelina Ballerina disrobed and Stuart Little with his tail between his legs.
In the corner is a den—a set of three carpeted stairs and a sloppy green couch donated by a family that couldn’t bear to set it out for garbage. Read-alouds are performed smack in the middle of t …
Continue reading >
Books and Ghosts: Tomes of Terror
Books and ghosts: how could we not feature Mark Leslie's new book, Tomes of Terror: Haunted Bookstores and Libraries, on 49th Shelf during the week leading up to Halloween? It's a collection of true tales about spooky places rife with books and ghosts, and even some less spooky places where you'd least expect a ghostly encounter—like a Smithbooks located in a suburban shopping mall. We're pleased to share that story with you here, as well as another about a library reportedly haunted by a young woman whose face has been glimpsed peering out from the tower window.
*****
Goosebumps at Smithbooks
Smithbooks, Sherway Gardens
Etobicoke, Ontario
The ghostly residents of many beloved bookstore locations that are now closed continue to haunt the hearts and minds of both patrons and staff members. These spirits are all the more memorable if, like any good customer, they display a penchant for a particular author’s books.
I was intrigued to chat with an old bookseller colleague about an experience that she had when she worked at a bookstore than has been closed now for about 14 years. Even though Shannon left the store back in 1998, she kept with her a fond and deep love for the bookstore, her fellow staff members, and the customers of the Smithbooks at Sherway Gardens.
The Chat: Trevor Corkum Interviews Lisa Moore
This week on The Chat, we turn our attention to YA fiction. We’re in conversation with novelist Lisa Moore, author of the acclaimed new YA novel Flannery. The novel tells the story of Flannery Malone, a precocious, headstrong, 16-year-old living and loving in contemporary St. John’s, Newfoundland.
The National Post says "Flannery is a fully realized and nuanced protagonist, contradictory in all the most consistent ways." Publishers Weekly calls "Flannery ... precocious and independent, a pragmatic heroine with a fierce attitude, quiet patience, and indomitable survival instinct."
Lisa Moore is the acclaimed author of February, which was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize and selected as one of The New Yorker’s Best Books of the Year. Her novel Alligator was a finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and won the Commonwealth Fiction Prize (Canada and the Caribbean). She is a three-time finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, most recently for her novel Caught, which was a national bestseller. Lisa has written for Elle and The Guardian, and her …
Notes from a Children's Librarian: What I Miss About the Library
Our Children's Librarian columnist, Julie Booker, brings us a new view from the stacks every month. This month she, like many of us, is working from home—and missing the library.
*****
“My” library, where I spend each morning, is a long room with bookshelves all around the perimeter, beneath sky blue walls. Meeting tables are hexagonal and fit together like a beehive. A spinning holder of graphic novels stands as a leaning tower. Someone, long ago, built castle turret bookshelves, which punctuate the picture book area. They house popular series such as Arthur, and Elephant and Piggie, with small stuffies as clues to favourite authors. Various tiny Franklins cluster near Paulette Bourgeois’ books. A jumbo-sized Madeline slumps next to an ever-smiling Curious George, cotton poking through his midriff. A grey and white chickadee is perched near Frank Glew’s That Chickadee Feeling. More characters used to live here but I came in one morning to find Captain Underpants without underpants, Angelina Ballerina disrobed and Stuart Little with his tail between his legs.
In the corner is a den—a set of three carpeted stairs and a sloppy green couch donated by a family that couldn’t bear to set it out for garbage. Read-alouds are performed smack in the middle of t …