Straight Talk about Race

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So now you get to see what my Cover Girl experience was all about. The CBC officially launched Real Talk on Race today. For the next two weeks, CBC Montreal’s radio, television and social media platforms will be discussing and encouraging people to talk about race and racial identity. Ten Montrealers,  including me, contributed personal stories which you can read on their web site. My story will roll out on Wednesday, but you can have a sneak peek here.

Listen to CBC radio’s Daybreak and Radio Noon. You can join the conversation by texting or calling into the show. You can also like them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/CBCMontreal/ or follow them on Twitter and Instagram: @CBCMontreal.

 

 

 

TD Awards 2015

NaNoWriMo: Getting Inspiration from the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Awards

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I took the night off from NaNoWriMo last night to go to the annual TD awards for Canadian Children’s Literature published in French. Five books were up for the $30,000 top prize. The event at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts was an opportunity to mingle and meet writers and publishers in the French community.  It’s so inspiring to see writers and illustrators being feted and recognized for their work.

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World Teachers Day

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When my first book, The Fragrant Garden, was published, I got a phone call that I will never forget. My fifth grade teacher, Miss Rubin, had called to congratulate me and to tell me she was proud of me. She had read the article about me that had appeared in The Montreal Gazette that week.

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John Barrowman at Montreal Comiccon

Montreal Comiccon 2015

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Yes folks, that is a picture of John Barrowman in Lieutenant Uhura’s dress and black size 13 pumps. Barrowman (Torchwood, Doctor Who and Arrow) was a Guest of Honour at this year’s Montreal Comiccon. He was wildly improper and funny, especially when telling stories of outrageous pranks he played on set. The audience loved him.

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Remembering Our history: The Ancestral Ceremony

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As a writer, I’m constantly on the lookout for ideas especially anything that might help me discover more about my father’s history as a head tax payer. So a few years ago, when a friend mentioned that he was on a committee called The Ancestral Ceremony, it piqued my interest.

I remember my father used to say he “walked the mountain” with friends. Considering his advanced age, I knew he didn’t mean that he went hiking. When I questioned him about it, he said it was something the men in Chinatown did once a year. It turns out that he along Continue reading →

Q&A with Suana Verelst, Illustrator of Razia’s Ray of Hope

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Montreal has a terrific writing community and there is no doubt that its members have helped me grow as a writer. I met Suana Verelst, an award winning illustrator, several years ago at a get-together for writers and illustrators of children’s and young adult books.  (She also makes great home-made soup which I tasted at our last Christmas pot luck.) Her latest, Razia’s Ray of Hope, is an award winning book based on the true story of a girl in Afghanistan who desperately wants an education Continue reading →

Writers Writing and Reading Really, Really Fast

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Day's Lee

This is me doing my two minute reading.

Thursday evening, I was invited to participate in a really fun event with the Quebec Writers’ Federation. Twenty-five writers were challenged to do a reading lasting no more than two minutes. Then each writer was to contribute a sentence or two to a short story which would be read out loud at the end of the evening. Welcome to “Rapid-Fire Readings, Ricochet Writing: 25 Montreal Writers Write Before Your Very Eyes”. Continue reading →