Marion Agnew

Last month, Making Up the Gods and I received an Arts and Heritage Award from the City of Thunder Bay. You can read more about it here.   A frozen river? Nah, just light snow on a rock surface between moss clumps. The awardees in the two categories ahead of me chose not to make comments, so when my time came, I opted to follow their "less is more" approach and start near the end of what I thought I might say. (Though of course I didn't give up the chance for a microphone, when invited.) But I've been thinking since of ways I wish I'd spoken more into that evening as part of an ongoing conversation about art. So anyway, here's a mildly revised version of what I might have said a month ago. Thank you so much, I’m surprised and grateful. We all know how funders and government people talk about arts and artists, right? “The arts contributes X million to the economy. Our ticket sales are up by blah blah percent. Eleventy thousand people participated in the arts in ...

For  several months, I've been keeping track of five things  I'd like to remember from that month. Here's what came up in October. The award was created especially for the 2025 ceremony by artists Callen Retter and Robin Gathercole, drawing inspiration from Thunder Bay’s unique cultural and natural landscape, blending contemporary style with a strong sense of place. The layers are amazing.  One. It takes a village. Not very original, I know. Earlier this year, a local writing buddy nominated me for an award, based on MAKING UP THE GODS. The award wasn’t even on my radar, and her gesture was so kind. In those occasional 3 AMs when sleep is elusive and your writing projects all seem stupid, I remembered the kind act of this nomination.   Two. I can do my part. The awards program let me know how to proceed if I wanted to. And I decided I wanted to. Sometimes my mother was right when she’d say, “you have to put yourself out there.” There’s room between being passive an...

One of the best parts of participating in the world of publishing is that you can talk with readers and writers about reading and writing.  I guess that's always available, but since publishing MAKING UP THE GODS, I've had many opportunities to talk with people, both formally and informally. The interviews are always fun and always different. Recently, I spoke with Jonathan Pinto at CBC Sudbury on their afternoon show, Up North. (You can find it here .) It's been several months since my book was released and I'm grateful people are still interested in it--and it's so nice to be able to express my gratitude and my belief in the importance of stories to represent the world around us. Also, many interviewers ask "what's next?" and to make sure I'm not lying when I say "I'm working on another novel," I've been working on another novel. I do ENJOY writing, when I DO it instead of circling it or despairing the value of the writing I hav...

Last weekend, the Northwestern Ontario Writers Workshop honoured me with the Kouhi Award. LitFest offered two days of writerly events, including the Saturday banquet with excellent food! Thank you! Flowers are always welcome Here's how they choose people for this award: " The Kouhi Award was established by NOWW in 1999 to recognize 'outstanding contributions to the literature of Northwestern Ontario.' It is named in honour of poet Elizabeth Kouhi." My husband, Roy Blomstrom, was honoured last year. Given the range and quality of his writing--plays, poems, short prose, now three novels, various contest wins and shortlistings--I was especially surprised to be recognized. I'm so grateful. It's humbling to feel seen in this way.  One of the weirdest parts of writing something to share is that feeling of exposure. Yes, you sent your writing out into the publishing world, and you knew that meant it might be published--shared on a platform larger than yours alon...

Just a quick reminder: I'll be at the OLA Superconference on Thursday, tomorrow! I'll sign copies of MAKING UP THE GODS at the Ontario Book Publishers Organization Pavilion at 1 PM.  The conference is in the Metro Toronto Conference Centre. It would be fun to see you there!

Hello, everyone! My novel, MAKING UP THE GODS, is launching at Entershine Bookshop (196 Algoma Street S, Thunder Bay, Ontario) on Sunday, October 15, from 1 to 3. A recent glorious morning, with the birch tree's golden leaves lit by the rising sun Here's what you can expect:  Doors open at 12:30 There will likely be cookies and coffee You could also buy a copy of the book The event proper will get underway about 1 Someone will introduce me I'll thank everybody I ever met and some I haven't (kidding but also not) I'll read from my new novel (exciting!!) I'll answer questions (ask me about the cover!) I'll be available to sign books until 3 but you don't have to stay that long At some point I'll draw a name to receive the gift basket of Entershine goodies (items appropriate to this novel and also in general to stories from the north!) We all go to our homes, individually, and read.  I am so incredibly grateful for the official support I've received...

I posted the below over on Instagram. You're welcome to follow me there; I'm @marionagnew.  Sometimes I just post stuff I see from the window, but lately I've been "more thoughtful," which is to say, "procrastinating work on our taxes."   Patterns from yesterday and today. Patterns from yesterday and today.  Patterns in me, too. Every year I put our tax info together. It’s one of those accordion projects: more complicated than I anticipated at some points in the process, and less complicated at others. More. Less. More. Less. Every year. I’m grateful for the resources to deal with it: physical and emotional energy and time, plus (eventually) money. On the “more complicated” days, I try to remember the pattern, and keep moving till it’s less complicated again. And, eventually, done. I wonder if Earth feels that way about the changing seasons. All she can do is keep turning, and some days she must feel that nothing is really happening. Yet here we are: mel...

The Ontario Library Service - North announced yesterday that REVERBERATIONS: A DAUGHTER'S MEDITATIONS ON ALZHEIMER'S is shortlisted for their Louise de Kiriline Lawrence Award for Nonfiction. Ontario libraries have not received much support (neither rah rah NOR financial) in the past eighteen months, and are again scrambling to meet community needs during this pandemic. I'm so grateful that OLS-N is giving out this award this year, and that they've chosen to recognize REVERBERATIONS in this way. As always, I'm grateful to the team at Signature Editions for their support.  Read books, y'all. If you can, leave reviews or comments in public places. And check out books from your library, whether that means investigating online options or scheduling a curbside pickup. Your future self will be grateful to you!

My author copies have arrived! Surely it will appear in stores soon. When it does, I'll share that information here and through other social media. I'm feeling lots of feels, as apparently one does when one's book appears in the world. Gratitude, mostly--for all the support along the way. Not only from friends, writer colleagues, and other individuals. Also, support from public funding through the Ontario Arts Council , and from the private company, Signature Editions , that is my publisher.* I'm also feeling hope. Hope that perhaps somewhere another daughter who wrestles with guilt and fear might find she's not alone, and that life after the most difficult transitions can bring gifts. * Just pointing out that Signature is also supported with public funding, as are all private companies that take advantages of "incentives" and "rebates" or information provided by governments, or perhaps use roads and public utilities, or whose owners e...

As I mentioned in July , my essay collection is coming out this fall! The first copies of Reverberations: A Daughter's Meditations on Alzheimer's are due to arrive later this month. Here's the cover. That young woman is my mother, Jeanne Starrett LeCaine (later Agnew), in her days as a mathematics student. Kind people near and far have been helpful all along in making my semi-coherent thoughts into words into essays and now into a collection. I'm especially grateful to that apparently limitless font of encouragement and good judgment known as Susan Olding , author of the essay collection  Pathologies (and much more!). Many thanks also to Winnipeg's Signature Editions for plucking my manuscript from their slush pile and working diligently to slot it into this autumn's releases. It feels fitting that this book finds its place in the world at the harvest season, when the birch and mountain ash are especially golden and glorious. P.S. Part of me wo...

See? Here's what my most recent set of revisions looks like. I'm currently revising the manuscript of my essay collection, Reverberations , coming this October from Winnipeg publisher Signature Editions. Yes! A book! I'll share more details about it later. I've got manuscripts to take apart! Which means I may not post much in August. Happy rest of summer, everyone.

I learned today that my essay "Hours of Daylight," originally published in Prairie Fire , was recognized in the Personal Journalism category of the National Magazine Awards . Here's a picture of a blue sky on a sunny day. Because it's May! 

The most recent issue of Prairie Fire arrived! It includes my essay, "Hours of Daylight," another from the collection about my mother and her illness and our family. I'm so pleased that Betsy Warland recognized it and I'm honoured that it appears in this company.  Managing journals and contests is a lot of work, and I appreciate the effort that groups across Canada put in to make our work available to readers. Thanks so much, Prairie Fire !

"One recent morning, I went for a walk and saw a dog." My essay "Entanglement" has appeared at Atticus Review , a daily online journal that provides "a platform, not a pulpit." You can check out my essay  at this link . I'm thrilled to have work in this publication! The Nonfiction page alone has many gems, though given my stubborn streak about relating quantum physics to love and to dogs, I'm especially drawn to Infrared, by Morgan Conyer . Many thanks to the folks at Atticus. All publications, whether print or online, require time and dedication as well as a strong commitment to public discourse. Again, thank you.

My essay, "Let d Be the Distance Between Us," is currently available at The Grief Diaries , "a magazine of art and writing about loss." It's part of their Volume 4, Issue 1 Anniversary Issue.  I invite you to read it ! While you're there, check out the other writing and art--lots of crackerjack intergenerational nonfiction as well as moving fiction, translations, poetry, art, and a photo essay. Beautiful work in this current issue as well as in the archives! It's exciting to have work in part of a larger conversation about mothers, daughters, love, and grief. I'm grateful.

Issue #146 of The New Quarterly is now available in print in bookstores and by order from their website.  Because "Atomic Tangerine" appears in that issue, my "writing space" post also appears on their blog this month. You can see it--an example of judicious photo cropping-- at this link . They make selections of their current issue available for free to non-subscribers for brief periods online; you can read all the back issues by subscribing to their newsletter. Thanks, TNQ, for taking such great care of my piece and ensuring that people are able to read it.

I recently received word that my essay, "Let d Be the Distance Between Us," will appear in the June issue of The Grief Diaries . I very much appreciated their interest in providing feedback on an earlier version, and my piece is stronger for it. Also, I'm eagerly anticipating the chance to get together with other Creative Nonfiction folks in Toronto at this weekend's annual conference of the Creative Nonfiction Collective . The Friday master classes are sold out and conference registration itself has closed, but there are still several events for which you can just buy a ticket and hear an awesome speaker or several. This year's conference program is here . These "new beginning" events mean a  lot to me. This time of year is difficult. My mother's birthday is tomorrow--she would have been 101 this year--and her death anniversary is early next week. Of course, Mother's Day is also looming. Although I think of my mother every day, even 18 years...

I had wonderful news recently: my essay, "Hours of Daylight," won third prize in the creative nonfiction division of the 2017 Prairie Fire writing contest . It will appear in their summer issue, along with all the other fabulous contest winners. The judge was Betsy Warland , and I'm thrilled that she even read my work, to say nothing of choosing it as worthy of recognition. (A quiet squee: squee !) Excerpts from winning entries in all three categories are available here . It's such an honour to appear in the company of these writers! I'm looking forward to reading this issue.

In the spring, my essay " Bypass Instructions " appeared in Compose literary journal. Compose has been a going concern for at least five years--it's set to publish its 10th issue soon--and nominates its content for prizes. I learned today that Compose nominated "Bypass Instructions" for a Pushcart Prize ! You can read all their nominees at the announcement in the link. I so appreciate this vote of confidence from the journal--as well as the positive responses from readers. Thank you, Compose !

I have some really exciting and humbling news to share! * My essay "Atomic Tangerine" was shortlisted by The New Quarterly for its Edna Staebler Personal Essay contest and will appear in the journal in 2018. Also, the essay by Susan Olding, who mentored me this past year, won! I can't wait to read it. The full announcement , for their poetry, fiction, and nonfiction contests, is here . It will be a treat to work with the TNQ editors on my essay. * Another essay, "Entanglement," was shortlisted for EVENT's 2017 Non-Fiction contest! That announcement is here . I appreciate the recognition. * My peek behind the scenes is also live at the blog for  Compose . In it, I share a little about how I came to write (and rewrite and continue to revise) "Bypass Instructions," which was published in their Spring 2017 issue. ( The original essay is here .) It was very valuable to me to reflect a little on my writing process, especially about an event (my hu...