literature

Read the North podcast cover (hand holding open book, title above it)

Reading Time: 4 minutesIt’s been two years of virtual celebration for fans of The Word on the Street. Now, they’re finally ready to head back to the Toronto streets, and they’re kicking it off with a special, five-week podcast hosted by The Word On the Street’s own — and University of Ottawa alumni — Rebecca Diem.

Reading Time: 3 minutesIf you’re looking for a fun, breezy way to brush up on your Shakespeare before exams roll around, don’t bother dusting off that old Coles Notes pamphlet that’s stashed under your bed. Margaret Atwood’s Hag-Seed has got you covered.

Reading Time: 2 minutesSabrina Benaim, most well-known for her poem, “Explaining My Depression to My Mother,” which has over 3,000,000 views on YouTube from her performance at the 2014 National Poetry Slam in Toronto, was the featured poet for the night. Benaim performed poems about anxiety, heartbreak, and one of her inspirations, Beyoncé.

Reading Time: 2 minutesEqual Voice uOttawa collaborated with the UESA to have a more relaxed event than they normally do, as well as to reach out to a wider variety of students. The night began with a poetry open mic, where three poets read original poetry to the intimate crowd.

Reading Time: 2 minutesThe real intrigue of Missing Children, lies not in the whereabouts of the protagonist’s daughter, Shawn, who returns home unharmed, but in what caused her disappearance, and whether it’s related to the increasing number of children going missing from Troutstream.

Reading Time: 2 minutesThe narrative style of The Gospel Truth is not its only noteworthy feature. The novel is also unique in its writing style, with the entire novel written in free verse. The poetic style is much more emotional and free flowing than prose, which makes it undoubtedly unique for children’s literature.

Reading Time: 2 minutesAn uncomfortable moral quandary has reared its ugly head at the tail end of the summer movie season with the release of Sin City: A Dame to Kill For being coupled with the knowledge that its creator Frank Miller is a total jerk bag in real life.

Reading Time: 2 minutesThe new novel, titled Dan of the Dumps, looks into the life of Daniel Chester, one of Anne’s great-grandchildren who survived the recession of the late 1980s and started selling nickel stocks in magazine and book clubs.

Reading Time: 2 minutesPhoto by Tina Wallace Local novelist Alan Cumyn has been writing stories since he was 15. From his first novel Waiting for Li Ming, his dark novels Man of Bone and sequel Burridge Unbound, to his most popular children’s book The Secret Life of Owen Skye, he’s come a long way. He’s won the Ottawa …

Reading Time: 2 minutesThe University of Ottawa hosted a variety of literary stars and international scholars at this year’s Children’s Literature Conference from Oct. 12–13.