Lori Wolf-Heffner's Blog: Lori Straus' Blog, page 3

11+ Top Canadian Book Recommendations

Looking for your next Canadian read? Look no further. I asked members of my publishing team what their top Canadian books recommendations were. Ranging from urban blogger to Canadian classics, children’s literature to adult reads, and including diverse voices, this list will give you lots of Canadian reading pleasure.

Paulette Bourgeois’s Franklin the Turtle

Retired teacher, freelance writer, and my consulting editor Heather Wright loves the Franklin the Turtle series, originally written ...

Queer Representation in Theatre: Improving Visibility in the Performing Arts Through Collaboration

Currently, one million Canadians identify as members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community. Despite the size of this population, there’s still a serious lack of queer and trans representation in countless spaces, including the performing arts. To improve this visibility, some creators, like those involved in the new National Queer & Trans Playwriting Unit managed by Zee Zee Theatre, are trying to increase country-wide collaboration to share ideas, resources, and advice on making more room for queer- and tra...

Returning to Dance Post-Pandemic

“It’s a human need to watch something in a dark space together,” said Nathalie Bonjour, performing arts director at the Toronto Harbourfront Centre, “because it really is about our shared human experience. That moment we spend together in that dark room is pretty magical.”

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic shut down Canada and forced many of us into two years of isolation from each other and our communities. Now, in 2022, the world is ready to start its new normal. But as we return to pre-pandem...

What It Meant to Work in a Waterloo Region Rubber Factory

This article is part of the series The Trials and Jubilations of Working in the Rubber Industry: Rubber Worker Storiesand is supported by the Region of Waterloo Arts Fund.

Do you dream of lifting 450 lbs. every five minutes? Would you enjoy an irregular work schedule that includes night shifts? Do you eagerly await the chance to blow black gunk out of your nose at home every day? I’m guessing not, and yet thousands of people in Waterloo Region took on jobs at rubber factories and tolerated th...

Mixing Rubber in Waterloo Region’s Rubber Factories in the 19th and 20th Centuries

This article is part of the series The Trials and Jubilations of Working in the Rubber Industry: Rubber Worker Storiesand is supported by the Region of Waterloo Arts Fund.

In Between Worlds, Juliana’s grandfather and uncle worked in a rubber factory that made tires from raw rubber. Like many aspects of the series, there is truth in the fiction: In the 19th and 20th centuries, Waterloo Region in Ontario, Canada, had a strong manufacturing industry, and rubber was mixed in several factories. (U...

Building Tires in Waterloo Region

This article is part of the series The Trials and Jubilations of Working in the Rubber Industry: Rubber Worker Storiesand is supported by the Region of Waterloo Arts Fund.

In Between Worlds, Juliana’s grandfather and uncle worked in a factory that made tires from rubber. Like many aspects of the series, there is truth in the fiction: In the 19th and 20th centuries, Waterloo Region in Ontario, Canada, had a strong manufacturing industry, and rubber was turned into lots of different products in...

I Joined Camp Lucas, Because Chris McNally Reminded Me of Colin Firth

After I caught up on all 14 seasons of Heartland, I needed a new easy-watching show. I landed on When Calls the Heart. Easy on the eyes and the brain, so long as you can ignore a lot of inaccurate details, When Calls the Heart is for lovers of Hallmark movies, because it’s a Hallmark series: Clean, sweet, cheesy (sometimes uber cheesy), and you can watch it with anyone in your household. In the last two seasons, though, the series introduced a love triangle, which split its fandom into two, and ...

Absence Seizures in Children: What’s It Like?

I was diagnosed with absence seizures when I was 11. I’m now in my 40s, and although I’ve never actually asked my parents what they thought when they heard the diagnosis, I know that I would be terrified to receive that diagnosis in one of my children if I had no idea about absence seizures to begin with. However, whereas my parents didn’t have the Internet to learn more, you do.

This blog post is for parents who have children with absence seizures and are hoping to get a better idea of what’...

“I Thought I Could Never Make a Living From Art”

Candice Leyland, watercolour artist and art teacher, never imagined she’d be where she is today: making a living from her art. As a writer, I can empathize. One stereotype that still exists is that of the starving artist (or writer). In this blog post, I’ll share with you Candice’s thoughts on art, painting, creativity, and if you should only practise art to earn money from it.

Who Is Candice Leyland?Watercolour artist Candice Leyland

Candice studied history and art in university and h...

2020: The Year of Empathy, My Book List

Ive been trying to figure out a way to encapsulate all of this year in a word that encompasses both the pain that many have felt but perhaps also the hope that was waiting to be uncovered through that pain. Empathy struck me as the right word. It means finding connection with others by trying to put ourselves in their shoes. It requires being open to connecting with people whose lived experience differs from yours.

Ive written several times about how Jean Littles stories affected my life and...