A short story by Ken Gray From a distance, the amber box on the shelf before me tells no story whatsoever. A beautifully crafted box of coloured strips is no mere bookend. Someone had taken a lot of time to assemble something beautiful for . . . God? Possibly hollow, I have no idea what... Continue Reading →
Just for fun, and for a break from the savage political and ecological non-fiction swirling around me right now, I have turned my hand to fiction, and to short stories in particular. Here is my first story. See what you think. Truth disguised Truth be told, sometimes distractions are the main thing. Recently graduated from... Continue Reading →
It seems that most people meet online these days, not just in bars or through family connections or through friends. Norma Hill and I met online, not on a dating site as we are both happily married, though not to each other. One early email exchange is dated November 8, 2023 though our relationship feels... Continue Reading →
[Ken Gray] I have long admired the writing of Barbara Kingsolver. From her debut novels The Bean Trees and Pigs in Heaven, her early non-fiction essay collection High Tide in Tucson, her novel The Poisonwood Bible, and most recently the epic Pulitzer and Women’s prize winning Demon Copperhead I have enjoyed her intelligent and insightful... Continue Reading →
Photo by Daan Huttinga on Unsplash [Ken Gray] With thanks to Jesse Zink for this book review I thought something completely different from the geopolitics of the past few days was in order. I really enjoyed the book and would love to see the movie if ever produced. Highly recommended. [Jesse Zink] How do you... Continue Reading →
I am so pleased to help my writer colleague, Norma Hill launch her new book A Summerland Stories Scrapbook at a special event on Sunday night, May the 4th at 6 p.m. in the “Stone” Church on Prairie Valley Rd in Summerland. Years in the making, Norma has assembled, transcribed, edited, and arranged literally hundreds... Continue Reading →
PREAMBLE This blog, takenote.ca, features a wide variety of topics. Recently, many daily posts have responded seriously to national and global politics, and rightly so. There is, however, a limit to what we and our readers can tolerate. Sometimes we need a break from politics and the serious matters which swirl around us. So today,... Continue Reading →
Cónal Creedon is a critically acclaimed novelist, playwright and documentary filmmaker. Many readers will already be familiar with him. I was not, until a writer friend, Norma, shared with me a CBC Radio Ideas special event from McGill University in Montreal. Writing in USA Review Of Books, Kate Robinson describes Creedon’s work this way: “Creedon’s... Continue Reading →
A review of Close to Home, by Michael Magee // Guest blog by Norm Sigurdson Now in retirement and living in Calgary, voluminous reader Norm Sigurdson shares book reviews on Facebook which we are pleased to re-publish here, with permission and encouragement, on this blog. Enjoy. I just read Irish writer Michael Magee’s bleak semi-autobiographical... Continue Reading →
Take Note - Reflections on life, music, politics, retirement and more by Ken Gray 