Rona Altrows

I’m happy to say that this personal essay recently won the Jon Whyte Memorial Award, an Alberta Literary Award for as-yet unpublished work. “Letter of Intent” will appear in Waiting: An Anthology of Essays (University of Alberta Press) at a…

In honour of Pi Day, here is Ariadne Jensen’s letter to the Chudnovsky brothers. Ariadne is my own creation but the Chudnovskys are very real. This little piece is from a book manuscript under consideration. To Gregory Chudnovsky and David…

In honour of the birthday of Dr. Jonas Salk, born October 28, 1914, here is the short story “Salk and Sabin” from my book, Key in Lock. The narrator is Irene, manager-in-all-but-name of Marjorie’s Lingerie. Salk and Sabin When the…

In doing research for my book-in-process, I have learned that the ancient Greeks opened their letters like this: “Alcibiades to Perictyone, greeting.” Or if the writer perceived the recipient to be of a higher class, the salutation might go “To…

I always find it instructive to move between forms in writing. At the moment I am working on two major creative projects, a book of fictional letters and a one-act play. As of a month ago, I had put the…

Last week I bumped into Dr. D., whom I have known since he was in junior high. It was a particular treat to see him as he now lives in another city. At age 27, he has interrupted a residency…

In a recent application for a grant, I struggled with the section “detailed project description.” Every sentence was a struggle for me. In particular, I had trouble setting out how I adapt and use, in my own first person writing,…

“She can’t act her way out of a paper bag.” So goes the unkind cliché, applied to what is perceived to be an unconvincing job by an actor. Well, sometimes, when I can’t write, I feel as though I am…

A flood was on its way. The mayor asked each family to mark the front door with an X, to show that the house had been vacated. My four-year-old grandson was reluctant to evacuate. “Can we mark the door with…

I am re-reading one of my favourite stories, Herman Melville’s “Bartleby the Scrivener.” I first received this brilliant tale over the radio years ago and have since gone back to read it a number of times, as I return to…