writing | The Walrus

Rear view of a man wearing white shirt and holding an umbrella and a briefcase, standing waist-deep in the water on a rainy day

Arts & Culture

Hope Is Good. Disappointment Is Better

November 19, 2020November 20, 2020 - by Steven Heighton

What the best novels teach us about the virtues of disillusionment

Illustration of alternating segments of a fountain pen and a white cane, against a dark blue background.

Arts & Culture

The Author Who Shaped the Way We Represent Disability

October 23, 2020October 23, 2020 - by Meagan Gillmore

Mainstream entertainment rarely allows people with disabilities to exist as we are. Jean Little’s work taught me there’s no shame in writing about our experiences

Illustration of a woman on a couch playing guitar. In front of her is an open laptop on a coffee table; behind her is an easel with a painting of a sun. Scattered books and vases are around and beneath the table.

If a Book Is Published in a Pandemic, Will Anyone Read It?

May 21, 2020August 14, 2020 - by Katrina Onstad

We already undervalue our artists. COVID-19 has only made it worse

A man stands at the front of a classroom wearing a dark t-shirt and lecturing. The photo focuses on his hands and torso.

Books

When Male Writers Confront Toxic Masculinity

January 22, 2020January 23, 2020 - by Philip Sayers

It’s easier than ever for men to speak the language of feminism. It’s harder to act like they mean it

Arts & Culture

The Decade in Arts & Culture

December 12, 2019February 21, 2020 - by The Walrus Staff

From Leonard Cohen’s darker legacy to art’s obsession with dead young women, here are the culture conversations that helped define Canada

Six cassettes with unspooling tape coloured in pink, red and orange

Arts & Culture / Music

When Sexism Makes for a Catchy Song

November 11, 2019 - by Tariq Hussain

My songwriting students pen misogynistic lyrics. But the music industry tells them that’s okay

Language

The Power of a Good Sentence

July 13, 2019July 17, 2019 - by Douglas Glover

Why writing one isn’t as easy as you think

child's room containing bunk bed and dozens of toys

Books / Fiction / October 2018

The Arithmetic of Common Ground

October 12, 2018March 31, 2020 - by Scott Randall

A short story about the remarkable unlikelihood that anyone finds a mate

A group of people walking on top of a giant ear

Arts & Culture / June 2018

The Future of Biography

July 13, 2018March 27, 2020 - by Charlotte Gray

Social media is breathing new life into an esteemed literary genre

Illustration of an Old Woman Contemplating a Sculpture

First Person / May 2018

Why I Made Up the Role Model of My Dreams

May 13, 2018March 27, 2020 - by Heidi Sopinka

In 2009, I left my children with their father and flew to Mexico City to hunt down the last living Surrealist