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Books play an important role in developing the love of reading in children, it teaches them valuable lessons and reinforces their understanding of what is right and wrong. Rena Traxel is a librarian and a writer who loves sharing her passion of literature to the world through creating reading challenges, and offering workshops to help avid writers. She writes children’s picture books, and young adult novels. I had the opportunity to interview her as part of my Community Service Learning

                Steven Sandor is an author who got his start with a paper in Morinville, Alta. He also worked with Westlock News, Vue Weekly in Edmonton, and wrote an Oilers Column concerning hockey culture alongside John Turner. His passion for sports intrigued me. Curious, I learnt his sports writing started with his initial column with Vue Weekly, since then inspiring him to write two hockey books, cover World Cup qualifiers, and lobby for a soccer column when Toronto

  An Interview with the lovely Betty Jane Hegerat   Struggling to get your ideas onto paper? Unsure of where to draw inspiration from? Betty Jane Hegerat: writer, creative-writing teacher, and social worker veteran, offers her guidance.   What is your advice for aspiring writers? I always begin my introductory creative writing courses with a quote attributed to the old Greek, Epictutus, as well as a few others:  If you wish to be a writer, WRITE. I teach the Freefall

CSL project: Interview of Carleen Ellis Recently, I have an opportunity to communicate with Carleen Ellis, who is a yoga and meditation teacher and a contemplative writer. Since she has different identities, I am wondering how she is able use these advantages for writing and whether these would make her to have different thoughts than others. Thus, it is a pleasure to interview with her. As a writer, she believes the best way to elucidate your thought from head to heart

  Exploring an Informative Rollercoaster of Emotions with the Courageous Kristal Tuner! This interview undergoes informative questions and answers about Kristal Turner, a Canadian writer who was born in Winnipeg, and lived in Calgary for majority of her life. Kristal is currently striving for her Masters in Education. I delved into research about her, and found that she blogs her experiences about a life altering illness and emotional inner conflicts. I chose to blog about Kristal, as I respect and

CSL Interview Blog Vivian Hansen is an accomplished poet & freelance writer with a wide variety of publications such as A Bitter Mood of Clouds and Leylines of My Flesh. Vivian uses her voice to advocate for societal subjects like gender and racial equality. Throughout the course of her career Vivian has had an outstanding presence within the Writing community. Vivian has dedicated herself to cultivating individuals through her involvement as a Teacher. Vivian has taught Creative Writing at various

  Steven Ross Smith is a Canadian poet and self-taught writer born in Toronto. At Ryerson Polytechnical Institute, Smith obtained a diploma in Radio and Television Arts before eventually settling down in Banff where he is currently the appointed Banff Poet Laureate. Smith is continuing his writing and working on the 7th book in his multi-book poetic series called “Fluttertongue” and continues to do arts journalism for various publications. Smith’s creative exploration with his writing intrigued me right away. Writing

Rona Altrows – Seeing Life Through an Author’s Eyes by Mara Palahniuk It was an honor to interview Rona Altrows.  Upon researching her, I discovered that she is a woman of many talents and passions: fiction writing, editing, essay writing, playwriting, and advocating for human rights.  This Calgarian is extremely accomplished, having published six major works, earned seven awards, and been nominated or a finalist for many others. Even after all these accomplishments, Rona Altrows is surprisingly humble, and one

Mary Graham is a highly experienced former journalist, but as of recently, she is focusing on writing her own book on filmmaking. Born in Quebec, she eventually fled to New Brunswick amidst the FLQ crisis, and now she currently resides in Calgary. She has multiple degrees such as; a Masters degree in Marine law and Policy, a Bachelor’s degree in Twentieth Century Thought, and a graduate degree in journalism.   One of her most influential works has to do with

Blaine Newton is an accomplished Canadian playwright, sketch writer, improviser, as well as, to use his own words, a “sometime engineer”; having received his BSc in civil engineering from the University of Manitoba in 1981. As a member of the Playwrights’ Guild of Canada, past president of both the Writers’ Guild of Alberta and Alberta Playwrights’ Network, and his time as lead writer in Red Deer’s Bull Skit, his work, such as “Bravo”, “The Five Stages of Death”, “Oral Fixations”,

Influences and Changes in Modern Writing; An Interview with Dr. Robert Runté Dr. Robert Runté is a decorated editor, reviewer, presenter, and author with work that spans both education and entertainment. He left his position as a professor of sociology at the University of Lethbridge to pursue freelance editing and writing full time. Dr. Runté has done a variety of work in a plethora of fields, from education to business, and has worked with many successful writers. He uses his

Jared Schapansky is a Canadian writer living in Alberta right now. He has a day job which is digging ditches and filling them in again. In terms of his career as a writer, he essentially have two different writing careers. The first one is that he has been supervising a unit in the provincial Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. He writes and edits briefing notes and correspondence for and on behalf of the Minister and Deputy Minister. Furthermore, He has

Stephen Mackisoc is an emerging Indie writer from Chestermere, Alberta. With a degree in Civil Engineering Technology and a master’s certificate in leadership and management, he mainly works in the Oil and Gas industry; specifically in management and sales. Stephen has taken advantage of the recent downturn in the industry, and has used it as an opportunity to pursue his lifelong passion for writing by taking a more professional step into the literary world. As I considered these two contrasting

Lucyna Ma   Enrich One’s Writing with Personal Experiences (Feat. Kim Mannix) Kim Mannix is a Canadian poet and fiction writer who has lived in seven cities before settling in Sherwood Park. Her work has been featured on a number of literary journals including Soliloquies Anthology, Poetry Is Dead, Gnarled Oak, Ekphrastic and more. Kim’s wealth of knowledge and her multifaceted character intrigues me to learn more about the diversity of experience that shaped her identity.   I learned that

Ken Kroes is an author from Calgary, Alberta. He has a diverse background in agriculture and has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. Ken mostly writes about real-world problems and the critical thinking often required to solve them, mostly focusing on topics such as sustainability, climate change, and environmentalism. Ken has written an eco-fiction series, Percipience, which represents real life concerns through a fictional world, as well as his most recent book, Feasible Planet, which is a guidebook to the implementation of

Ellen Kartz is an active writer who was born and raised in Edmonton. She has a BA from the University of Calgary and an MFA from UBC. Ellen writes mainly poetry and creative notification. Ellen worked with and for the Edmonton Poetry Festival for many years as a volunteer coordinator, funding and board member. Currently, she is the Communications & Partnerships Coordinator for the Writer’s Guild of Alberta.  1. I know that you have been studied at the U of