World of Words

Lise Schonewille, bookbuyer at Mac’s Fireweed Books, pegs Northern books as her biggest sellers, followed by general fiction, sci-fi/fantasy, mystery and crime. Her counterpart, in

For Barb Dunlop and Marcelle Dubé, organizers of Yukon Writers’ Conference, distance and destination were real advantages to attract editors, agents and publishers north for

Why does Snoopy always stop typing after “It was a dark and stormy night”? Lily Gontard, former editor of Yukon, North of Ordinary would suggest

Dawson City is featured in the novel Toronto writer Pasha Malla drafted about cities, this summer, at Berton House. But what the writer-in-residence could not

Eighty-one-year-old Larry Jacobsen, author of Jewel of the Kootenays, presented Yukon Public Libraries with an irresistible offer, a book tour “with all the work done

“If it hadn’t been for the hospital nearby,” says Saskatchewan playwright Kenneth Williams, “I would have been born in residential school.” The year was 1966,

By now, bookworms from Whitehorse to Cape Spear know Trafford Press released numerous copies of Better Than a Cure without notifying the Yukon author, Ramesh

Cam Fenson got his start early; I’ve been reading his fishing column since he was about 14 years old. This month, I interviewed Fenson, now

Anyone who’s sat in an outhouse in the Yukon, has frozen their backside reading the Outdoor Edge. It’s a quarterly magazine for hunters and anglers

Writing for the screen, and writing for children, share a common trait. They both depend on someone else’s creativity to convey ideas. That became apparent

With “publication” of Marcelle Dubé’s novel, On Her Trail, by Carina Press, she became the first e-published author in the Yukon. On Her Trail combines

Connections made at writer’s conferences can be career-changing, said Chris Vogler. The writer who worked on I am Legend, Hancock and 10,000 BC, told San

Writers lament, “Ohmigod, I’m 25 years old and I haven’t published a book yet!” Rubbish! says Antanas Sileika, artistic director of the Humber School for

Thirty-three years ago, Haines Junction English teacher Elayne Hurlburt and a friend started the St. Elias Echo. It’s still published today and Hurlburt is still

Karen Keeley’s first book, TeLLing TaLes, is a collection of short stories that “are not solely Yukon, mystery, romance, coming of age, or any of

Writers, philosophers, activists for social justice, Germans – Whitehorse has plenty. So it was no surprise we filled the Old Fire Hall on May 10

It’s unusual for a writing conference to produce immediate results, but just one month after Northern Writes staged the Yukon Writer’s Conference, delegates were already

“Today’s kids are so fragmented by media, sports, school and hobbies that history is a tough sell,” says Whitehorse author Keith Halliday. Halliday recently discussed

It’s been two years since the last Yukon Writers’ Conference, which launched several local authors. This Thanksgiving is another, thanks to Northern Writes, the partnership

In 1949, writer Joseph Campbell launched the idea of the monomyth, or Hero’s Journey, as the most appealing way to tell a story to mass

On the advice of writing mentor John Reed (www.writerswelcome.com), the Year of the Dragon is the year I face the dragon and stop being afraid

When Yvonne Harris taught at Nunavut Arctic College, or Silattuqsarvik as it’s called in Pangnirtung, an elder guest lecturer told her students a remarkable story

No matter how much rain we get, young readers can climb the Chilkoot Trail at Well-Read Books this summer. The free project, called “Reading over