My guest on this episode is Chelene Knight. Chelene is the author of the collection Braided Skin, the memoir Dear Current Occupant, which won the Vancouver Book Award, the novel Junie, which also won the Vancouver Book Award, and the self-help memoir Let It Go. Chelene’s most recent book is Safekeeping: A Writer’s Guided Journal for Launching a Book with Love, published by House of Anansi in early 2025. Author Kai Thomas called it “current, comprehensive, and full of care.”

Chelene and I talk about the expectations she had about the life of a writer when she published her first book, about how she has learned to be intentional in her decision-making and not chase every opportunity that comes her way as a writer, and about the ideas that may end up driving her next book, a potential novel.

This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock, in partnership with The Walrus.

Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky. Used with permission.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.