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Tajja Isen

Tajja Isen is the editor-in-chief for Catapult magazine and the former digital editor for The Walrus. She is the coeditor of the essay anthology The World As We Knew It: Dispatches from a Changing Climate. Some of My Best Friends is her debut essay collection.
An illustration of a blue backpack covered in patches—including a Canadian maple leaf—left in a waiting area.
Arts & Culture

Why Success in Canada Means Moving to America

May 10, 2022May 30, 2022 - by Tajja Isen

Canada’s modest institutions have lowered the ceiling on creative professionals. Is leaving the answer?

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Illustration of four people sitting in a row and reading books. The three white readers stare into their books. The brown reader looks up away from the book. Behind them is a shelf full of other books.
Arts & Culture / July/August 2020

How Not to Write a Book about a Minority Experience

June 4, 2020August 10, 2020 - by Tajja Isen

Publishers increasingly lean on outside experts to vet books for cultural insensitivity. Is it working?

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An illustration of the writer, Margaret Atwood, in profile. She is facing the right and has a halo of wild, curly hair.
Arts & Culture / December 2019

The Making of Margaret Atwood

November 18, 2019October 8, 2021 - by Tajja Isen

An oral history of the writer’s journey from student poet to cultural prophet

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A close-up of a rabbit's ears
Books

What If MFA Programs Turn Good Writers Into Bad Ones?

July 10, 2019July 16, 2019 - by Tajja Isen

In Mona Awad’s new book, Bunny, one university campus is rife with murder, magic, and terrible authors

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Several people sitting on rocks holding books and pencils
Arts & Culture / Books / May 2019

Multiculturalism Is Not the Real Story of Canada

April 17, 2019May 7, 2020 - by Tajja Isen

Two new novels explore what it means to be Black in a country that prides itself on tolerance

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The Walrus' January/February issue featuring a cover image of dark room with a desk and window looking out at a snowy night with someone looking up at the stars January/February 2023
How the Conservative leader is harnessing the growing tide of authoritarianism in Canada

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