In Grade 12, at 17, my French teacher assigned us a new kind of homework: translation. I’d had plenty of experience with my little Harrap’s English-French dictionary – as an Anglophone kid in a French (not immersion, mind you) school, when things got tough on the assignment side of things, my teacher dad got me started getting my ideas down in English and make them happen in French. It had never occurred to me that I’d use the French-English side of the dictionary.
Read MoreWe're doing it again! carte blanche and the Creative Nonfiction Collective Society (CNFC) have teamed up to bring you a Canada-wide creative nonfiction contest sponsored by the University of King's College.The winner will receive $750 and her/his text will be published in carte blanche. The winner will be announced in April 2016 at the CNFC 12th Annual Conference in Banff, AB.
Read MoreEvery once in a while, I lose my ability to read. It's not that I can't make out the words on the page, or understand the sentences they form. It's a kind of restlessness that comes over me, a dissatisfaction with the books on my shelves, a not knowing what I want to read (perhaps there's too much choice?) and then, somehow, I can't read anything.
Read MoreAs a wispy reader of 9 or so I spied a copy on the shelf built into my mother’s headboard, tucked among several books by Iyanla Vanzant and a John Grisham paperback or two. Its location on that shelf alone made it seductive; one of a collection so very unsuitable for my self. But prying into Adult Things while unsupervised was a favourite pastime of mine so...
Read MoreI remember my enthusiasm at decoding the black scratches that turned into words when my parents picked up books; I remember reading in a circle with my class, each of us sounding out a few lines. Especially I remember being confused when my turn came, because I had read on ahead and didn’t know what page the class was on.
Read MoreIf you’ve never read the NYRB, you've never read anything like it. It is profoundly, purposefully earnest, rigorous with itself, and in the best sense of the term, naive.
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Read Morecarte blanche and the Creative Nonfiction Collective Society are pleased to announce the shortlist for our 2014-15 creative nonfiction competition.The winner of the competition will be announced on Saturday, April 25th at the 11th Annual CNFC Conference in Victoria.
Read Morecarte blanche and the Creative Nonfiction Collective Society are pleased to announce the long list for our 2014-15 creative nonfiction competition.Congratulations to everyone who made the long list and a big thank you to everyone who participated!
Read MoreWhen I was seventeen, living in Edmonton, I knew a boy named Mitch who, unlike the rest of us suburban softies, already lived on his own and had to pay his way through life. Mitch was violent, and routinely beat up his friends for perceived transgressions against him. He had a heroic scar on his face from the time he pissed off a drug gang and they went after him with a hatchet.
Read MoreThis past fall, carte blanche celebrated its 10th anniversary, and it has been 10 years that I have been involved in the magazine, first as a co-founder, then as editor. The time has come for me to move on.Stepping down as editor feels a little like how I imagine parents feel when sending a first child off to college...
Read MoreCharlotte Gill is the author Eating Dirt, a tree-planting memoir nominated for the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize, the Charles Taylor Prize, and two BC Book Prizes. It was the 2012 winner of the BC National Award for Canadian Nonfiction.
Read MoreMichael Robotham tells the story of how an email exchange with a reader turns into a standoff in a hotel corridor. He told his story live at WordFest 2014, which was held at The Banff Centre in October 2014.
Read MoreCheck out our photos of This Really Happened at WordFest 2014 on Facebook.
Read MoreMonique Polak tells the story of how teaching her husband the "niceties of life" led to a case of mistaken identity. She told her story live at This Really Happened at Blue Metropolis in April 2014.
Read MoreGiller-prize winner Sean Michaels on moments of real connection with Russians he met online on couchsurfing.com. He told his story live at the Blue Metropolis Montreal International Literary Festival in April 2014.
Read MoreThank you to everyone who joined us at the QWF Gala last night!And the winner of the 2104 3Macs carte blanche Prize is...
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