In this episode, Linda speaks with the award-winning CBC journalist of As it Happens, Carol Off, about her new (and fifth!) book, At a Loss for Words: Conversation in an Age of Rage (Listeners, keep your eye out: A new edition of Off's book will be available in the fall!). Published in 2024, Off wrote the book as a "cautionary tale," as she observe…

In this episode, Linda revisits and revisions the three “Rs” – reading, writing, and arithmetic – to reformulate a new triad. Why? Because, in her interview with Michaela Di Cesare about her play Successions, Linda learns more about Anthony, one of the main characters, and his disorder, known as prosopagnosia. Di Cesare explains that she thought of…

As a result of Zilla Jones’ The World So Wide, slated for publication with Cormorant Books on April 26, 2025, Linda reflects on opera (specifically Verdi’s La Forza Del Destino) – historically an elitist art form, but one that Felicity Alexander, the protagonist of Jones’ novel, in part challenges and overcomes through the very successes of her car…

In this first episode of Season 6 of Getting Lit With Linda, the host – Linda Morra – begins with a few important announcements: GLWL is now being supported by the Canada Council for the Arts! With that support, we have a "special" season that we're calling GETTING LIT GOES GLOBAL. It means we are emphasizing books or topics that take on internatio…

Happy International Women's Day - this is our Teaser for Season 6, in which a special guest joins Linda Morra to share our International Women's Day wishes with you, the listeners of Getting Lit With Linda! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

n this 78th episode and the final one of season 5, Linda offers the “Nine Days of Christmas” with nine different book recommendations for the holidays. Who makes the cut? Well, we could say you need to listen to find out, but we want you to find the books easily, so here they are with their links: Alice Zorn’s Colours in her Hands (Freehand Books),…

Linda writes an open letter to Ivan Coyote, in response to their book, Care Of: Letters, Connections, and Cures (published by McClelland & Stewart during the pandemic). This important volume of letters is extraordinary and, while we're no longer in the throes of a pandemic, it remains as relevant as ever. With references to WB Yeat's poem "The Seco…

In this episode, Linda converses with Jenny Haysom (2.48) about her novel Keep (published by Anansi). Featuring three main characters, the narrative is driven by the conflict that emerges when Harriet, an elderly poet, is diagnosed with the onset of dementia and must face selling her house -- and the two home stagers, Eleanor and Jacob, tasked with…

A bilingual episode/un épisode bilingue. Linda opens with her delight about having won the Women in Podcasting Awards in Education - she effusively thanks her listeners! e What kinds of books haunt us and why? In this episode, Linda considers Eden Robinson's Monkey Beach and Jessica Johns' Bad Cree, but ultimately picks a book that thoroughly haunt…

After a 2-year hiatus, Sarah and Dana are BACK for the Season 4 premiere of P.S. I Love This Podcast. A lot has changed... Dana had another baby, Sarah took up a new hobby and Emily Cooper is moving to Rome! In this episode, they're talking about allllll the things the internet is gushing over lately including Adam Brody in Nobody Wants This and Ma…

Linda opens with a word of thanks to her listeners who voted--because she is now a Finalist for the Women in Podcasting Awards. This episode features an interview, which was live at Word on the Street in Toronto, with the writer of Mi'kmaq and settler descent, who published a novel, The Berry Pickers and, most recently, her short story collection, …

Linda speaks with Corinna Chong about her novel, Bad Land, published by Arsenal Pulp Press and long-listed for the Giller Prize. Chong, originally from Calgary, lives in Kelowna, B.C. where she teaches English and fine arts at Okanagan College. She published her first novel, Belinda's Rings, in 2013. In her opening remarks, Linda explains why she s…

Linda considers the persistence of present-day misogyny, then speaks with Daniela Vlaskalic about her co-written play, The Drowning Girls, which features the women who were victims of a turn-of-the-century serial killer. It was such a famous case, even Agatha Christie mentioned it in one of her novels. To set the stage - pun intended - for this pla…

Linda has been mulling over what an education is, what purposes it serves. She was so curious about it that she begin to reflect on the etymology of the word. The root of “educate” comes from educe, from the Latin, meaning "to lead forth" or "lead out of," which then led her to think, leading out of … what? From where and to where? And who is doing…

Indigenous mothers, Indigenous children, Indigenous parents – Willie Poll sees you – and she wants you to know that you’re enough. In this episode of Getting Lit With Linda, Willie Poll (Metis Nation of Ontario) discusses with Linda why she wrote this children’s book, titled My Little Ogichidaa, and the source of inspiration for its creation – in l…

Linda begins this episode with a brief acknowledgement of the passing of Nobel Prize winner for the short story, Alice Munro – who died a couple of days before this episode was aired. It's a pertinent moment to take pause when the subject of this episode is, in part, about anniversaries - which often include remembering when a beloved person dies o…

In this -- the second live episode of Getting Lit With Linda held at the Blue Metropolis Literary Festival and co-sponsored by the Quebec Writers' Federation -- Linda speaks with Andrew Stobo Sniderman and Douglas Sanderson (Amo Binashi, Beaver Clan, of the Opaskwayak Cree Nation) about their book, Valley of the Birdtail: An Indian Reserve, A White…

What does the work of painter Renoir and his paintings of full-bodied women (2.15; 12.34), and tanning beds (2:30) have to do with the Quebecois author Marie Claire Blais (3:15) and La Belle Bette/Mad Shadows (3:20)? Have a listen to today’s episode to find out … In this episode, Linda looks at Blais’s Mad Shadows and its historical importance to Q…

In this episode, Linda and Bryn Turnbull discuss her new historical novel, The Paris Deception - and what it means to represent women's lives historically when there has been inadequate records or representation for them. Linda considers the Indigo Girls and their song about Virginia Woolf - and listening attentively to the voices of women through …

Michael V. Smith is a deeply loving, insightful poet and performer – who uses intimacy and humour as tools to explore pain. In this interview, Linda chats with him about power dynamics and bullying, as they address his poetry collection, Queers Like Me (published by Book*hug in 2023) Here are some of the subjects we covered: on the nature of creati…

Eloise Marseille is the first guest for Season 5 - yes, season 5! - and, this time, it's English AND French (starting at the 31.55 mark for the French interview). Marseille is a wonderful Quebecoise graphic novelist, whose candid and humorous book, Naked: The Confessions of a Normal Woman / Confessions d'une Femme Normale examines sexuality and sel…

Linda wishes her listeners a very happy holiday - and offers a hint about what to expect for at least the first episode of Season 5! Have a restful, joyful period. Getting Lit With Linda returns on March 1, 2024. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Linda chats with Dr. Katherine McLeod about her role in the SpokenWeb Podcast, particularly Short Cuts. The conversation covers so much ground in such a short period! We discuss the following: The Short Cuts podcast (6.20, 9:21, 14.05, 18:47) Women poets, such as Gwendolyn MacEwan, Phyllis Webb (15:27), Muriel Rukeyser, Maxine Gadd…

Linda is thrilled to have been able to conduct this interview with one of the foremost feminist scholars in Canada right now—Erin Wunker. They speak about her book Notes from a Feminist Killjoy, published by book*hug, and the important work it undertakes in relation to the labour of being a “feminist killjoy.” Don’t know what a feminist killjoy is?…

In this episode -- recorded live in Tiohtià:ke in the DeSeve Cinema at Concordia University -- Linda interviews award-winning authors, Catherine Hernandez and Eva Crocker. Linda begins by thanking celebrated Montreal-based author, Christopher DiRaddo, who is the director of the Violet Hour and who opens the event with a territorial acknowledgement …

In this episode, Linda reflects on Dionne Brand's magnificent A Map to the Door of No Return: Notes to Belonging, reprinted by Vintage (a division of Random House) in 2023 - but initially published over twenty years ago. That's the staying power of this particular volume - the "Door of No Return" is a particularly harrowing metaphor and, as Linda n…

Linda speaks with Métis playwright, actor, and director, Keith Barker about his play, This is How We Got Here (Playwrights Canada Press) It is a moving interview, as Barker explains the origins and shape of this play. Their discussions touch on the following subjects (among others!): current and past productions of the play (3.00; 28.15; 34.10, 36.…

In this episode, Linda begins by speaking about the kinds of assumptions made about her because of her Italian-Canadian immigrant background - and then expands that consideration to show how making such assumptions can actually be harmful. Case in point? The Christie-Pitts riot on August 16, 1933. There have been two graphic novels written about th…

This episode focuses on Amy Jones (2.13), author of Every Little Piece of Me (2.27), We're All in This Together (2.27), What Boys Like (2.37), and Pebble & Dove (2.45), published by McClelland & Stewart -- and the focus of this episode. We also discussed Amy’s appearance at Word on the Street (.39 and 9.08) and her forthcoming appearance at the Ede…

In this episode, Linda first celebrates with her co-producer, Marco Timpano, that the podcast has been named a Finalist for the People's Choice Podcast Awards. Then she chats about the new Barbie movie around which there has been so much hype. She differentiates between change and transformation in relation to gender, and then applies this to the w…

An oldie but goodie...A reluctant, highly budget-conscious husband is not exactly thrilled about the prospect of marriage counseling. But after 12 years, their marriage is strained on its very best days. Will one intense, no-holds-barred session ultimately help heal their union, or will it ultimately tear them apart for good?…

One woman just needed to get some condoms. However, there were a few minor problems with her plan...The main one being she's a high school teacher in a relatively small town. Prying eyes are everywhere! Does she manage to successfully purchase a box of condoms?

Is there such a thing as a typical male midlife crisis? This woman thinks so. She and her husband are heading to therapy to try and figure out the root of their problem--could it perhaps be the twentysomething he's sleeping with?

Erum Shazia Hasan’s We Meant Well (ECW Press) – Linda raves about this debut novel by Erum Shazia Hasan. In this novel, Maya’s colleague, Marc, has been accused of assaulting a local girl in Likanni, and so Maya is called from Los Angeles to deal with the crisis. The pressures are mounting for Maya as she tries to contend with this situation, grapp…

What women talk about when they talk about...sex! Three women, three takes on sex after a certain age. There are some things women definitely enjoy...and then there are other things that, well, we'll just let you listen.

Linda and Lisa Moore converse about her most recent novel, This is How We Love (House of Anansi). Their conversation traverses various subjects, including the formal aspects of the novel, the job of the novelist (5.40), questions of genre (6.40), the use of Audible, the importance of editors (with a nod to Melanie Little, Lisa's editor, 10.30)and t…

Losing the "one" can be a really difficult experience to go through...just ask this woman whose partner of nearly three years just decided he wants to have kids--with another woman!

What would you do if you were confronted by a bear? One couple has some pretty interesting ideas about how to react should you encounter a grizzly in the wild. Hmm--they sure about that?

As a fellow endo-patient, Linda makes herself vulnerable in this episode, talking frankly with the author, Tracey Lindeman, by whom she was so inspired. Lindeman, who authored Bleed: Destroying Myths and Misogyny in Endometriosis Care (published by ECW Press in 2023), uses personal experience, interviews, and research to take a deep dive into the h…

Two sisters are chatting about life, love and all that "other stuff." One of the sisters is experiencing a rough patch in her marriage--should she stay or should she go?

When a particularly intense fight threatens a four-year relationship, one woman does the only thing she can do...she goes running. What she sees in the park that day opens her eyes to some hard truths.

Mothers and daughters don't always agree...especially when it comes to love, dating and marriage. But will these two women find some common ground when it comes to music?

How do you reenergize your marriage--that is, if it needs reenergizing? One woman and her husband embark upon a polyamorous experiment. How will that work out for them?

Some sibling rivalry, a displaced urn and one very hot lifeguard make for a laugh-out-loud story. What will they do with "mom"?

In this episode, in honour of Mother’s Day, Linda considers four different books that feature discussions about mothers, in whatever form they assume. She tackles four different genres -- non-fiction, the short story, poetry, and a novel/thriller -- to consider how loving and caring actions are given and received - or withheld. The four works inclu…

One woman has landed the role of a lifetime: she's going to play Hamlet. And he husband is eager to help. Boy does he help. Maybe it's better if there's only one actor in the family...

A mother and daughter are chatting, about life, friendships, movies, and the fact that the daughter is nowhere even close to getting married. Mm-hmm, it's THAT conversation.

Her guest, Bil Antoniou - Toronto theatre actor and podcast host of Bad Gay Movies and My Criterions - discusses with Linda a series of Canadian and Indigenous novels that have been adapted to the screen, including the most recent Oscar award-winning movie, Women Talking, directed by Sarah Polley (original novel by Miriam Toews). They also discuss …

It's not about living your life in line with other people's plans for you, or their dreams for your future. It's about dreaming your own dreams and following your own path. For one woman this meant being childfree by choice...