Tag: learning

December 26, 2020

A New Tool for Story-Writing

A review of The Story Engine by Peter Chiykowski By Derek Newman-Stille Earlier this year, I came across a kickstarter that I just had to support. In addition to my work on Speculating Canada, I teach writing classes, so I am always on the lookout for new and exciting ways to teach. I have a particular interest in teaching through...

Categories Fiction Book Reviews Comments: 0

March 30, 2016

Why should we put aside our childish things? They were our first teachers 

A review of Playground of Lost Toys edited by Ursula Pflug and Colleen Anderson (Exile, 2015) By Derek Newman-Stille    Playground of Lost Toys leads us up those creaking attic stairs to a toy trunk of abandoned memories, lost experiences, and secrets shared in a language we only knew how to speak when we were children. It is an anthology...

Categories Fiction Book Reviews Comments: 0

March 27, 2016

What Makes Fairy Tales So Brilliant?

What Makes Fairy Tales So Brilliant? By Derek Newman-Stille Fairy tales always exist in multiplicity, in versions. There is never one TRUE version, but rather a fluid polyphonic group with multiple voices sharing different takes on the same tale. Fairy tales possess the magic of changeability. Born in oral narratives, they have the power to shift and change with each...

Categories Editorials Comments: 0

April 23, 2015

Quote – Stories Have Quests and They Answer Questions

“Story doesn’t mean fiction – it just indicates form. It has a beginning, a middle, and an end. It has tension and struggle and resolution. Stories have quests and they answer questions. They can be historically true, and they can be allegorically true. Stories are easier to share. You can pass on a story to a child…. They leave impressions...

Categories Quotes Comments: 0

April 9, 2015

Speculating Canada on Trent Radio Episode 34: An Interview with Helen Marshall

At the International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts, I was able to take a few moments of Helen Marshall’s time to do an interview. In this interview on Speculating Canada, we talk about the relationship between bodies and text, aging, changes, open endings, the power of fiction to open up new ideas and new possibilities, writing as an...

Categories Interviews/On Air Comments: 0

October 12, 2014

Fluid

A review of Jay Odjick and Patrick Tenascon’s Kagagi: The Raven (Arcana, 2010) By Derek Newman-Stille Portrayals of aboriginal people in comics are often tokenistic, two dimensional, and stereotypical. Aboriginal women in comics are sexualized, with costumes that are reduced to a few bands of leather and tassels. Aboriginal men are made into stoic figures. Aboriginal groups are often invented...

Categories Fiction Book Reviews Comments: 0

May 26, 2014

Quote – Truth is a Nasty Drug

“Truth. Truth is a nasty drug… Might seem like what you want, until you’ve swallowed it. By then it’s too late – you can’t unlearn it. Ignorance is a lot less painful.” -DD Barant, Dying Bites (St Martin’s, 2009)

Categories Quotes Comments: 0

June 15, 2013

Quote- Knowing Yourself Through A Life-changing Decision

“You really get to know yourself, to understand what it is you really want when you have to work through a …  life-changing decision.” – Robert Runte – Split Decision (Tesseracts Fifteen: A Case of Quite Curious Tales)

Categories Quotes Comments: 0

April 15, 2013

300th Post and The Story of Speculating Canada

Dear readers, Today will be Speculating Canada’s 300th post!! Thank you for all of your support. I thought I would publish a bit about the story of Speculating Canada itself and reveal some of my hopes and dreams about where Speculating Canada is going. Speculating Canada grew out of my current research for my PhD in Canadian Studies at Trent...

Categories Editorials Comment: 1

February 28, 2013

Interview With Julie Czerneda

An interview with Julie Czerneda By Derek Newman-Stille I want to thank Julie Czerneda for being willing to do this interview and for her enthusiasm for these questions. I am truly honoured that she took the time to participate in this interview. Ms. Czerneda’s work was an incredible source of inspiration to a friend and colleague of mine at Trent...

Categories Interviews Comments: 11