Going online to improve your ability to tell true stories with style
So the guy in the shades is giving this course two thumbs up. Here at University of Toronto, we’ve dubbed it The Art of Fact: An Introduction to Writing Nonfiction. It’s online, so you can work it into your schedule any time, and get active from any where. The course is all about craft, and…
Read MoreSaying goodbye to my friend Victor Ramraj
Earlier this month at King’s College in Nova Scotia, one of my grad-student writers, a woman who had spent some years in Kenya, pointed to a passage in one of my Arctic books and said: “Did you study postcolonial theory?” I took a beat and said, “No, but you’re right. The influence is there. My…
Read MoreCreative Nonfiction: University of Toronto takes it online
He’s back! In response to a raucous clamor for stand-alone treatment, the Dr. Jekyll in me has beat his way free to announce an online course in Creative Nonfiction. It’s called The Art of Fact: An Introduction to Writing Nonfiction, and it’s available through the University of Toronto. We launch one month from now on…
Read MoreOur Hero contends that the wicked need no rest
Wow! Just back from Nova Scotia. And, yes, I am reeling from an extraordinary couple of weeks at University of King’s College in Halifax, teaching in the new master’s program in Creative Nonfiction. All the best stuff has been placed under a Cone of Silence. But if you were not there, here’s the good news…
Read MoreCreative Nonfiction micro-readings underway at King’s College MFA
Micro-readings are the only way to go. We saw that again tonight at University of King’s College in Halifax. Writers involved in Canada’s only MFA program in Creative Nonfiction took the stage at the University Club. All right, it was in the pub downstairs. Five minutes each, that was the rule. And it worked. Ten…
Read MoreSaying goodbye to Chapters in downtown Montreal
So here, in a single image, is what we’re losing. OK, fair enough: here is what, as a Canadian writer, I’m losing. Sheena took this shot of Our Hero at Chapters in downtown Montreal last November. Faithful readers will recall the VIA-Rail, Cross-Canada, Ocean-to-Ocean, Book-Tour Extravaganza? Montreal provided highlights, notably a fantastic books-and-breakfast event organized…
Read MoreArctic Explorer John Rae nears Westminster Abbey
A recent flurry of newspaper reports made it official. They appeared in The Scotsman, The Orcadian, The Glasgow Sunday Herald, and The Times (Scottish edition). Arctic explorer John Rae is soon to be recognized in Westminster Abbey. David Ross, Highland Correspondent for the Herald, produced a quote from the Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverand…
Read MoreJames Joyce turns up in Dublin to celebrate Bloomsday
James Joyce is alive and well today in Dublin. He has surfaced in multiple incarnations and numerous places to celebrate the 110th anniversary of Bloomsday. That’s the day — June 16, 1904 – during which the action of Ulysses unfolds in what Joyce called “dear, dirty Dublin.” Rambling around the city today, everywhere we went,…
Read MoreThree reasons why I hate Oslo
For a Torontonian, Oslo is easy to hate. Already, I have several reasons, but I will confine myself to three. Number one is Bygdoy, the “Museum Island of Oslo.” In a previous post, I mentioned the Fram Museum, which houses both the Fram and the Gjoa, two ships that played major roles in the exploration…
Read MoreOur Hero hangs with the Last of the Vikings
I’m a Roald Amundsen man myself. But Fridtjof Nansen was also quite the explorer. We got to touch base today with both, here at the Fram Museum in Oslo. That’s Our Hero aboard the Fram, with which Nansen made polar history. Yes, you can actually go aboard and wander around. Here you see me shaking…
Read More