Earlier this spring, I was invited to be part of a keynote panel at the Atlantic Universities Undergraduate English Conference. The panel was directed at a gathering of undergraduate students active in creative writing. We were there to talk about writing in a fractured world. As writers, what gives us hope when so many things seem to be coming apart at the seams? The conversation was lively, full of humour and great stories. 

According to the Chinese zodiac, last month we entered the Year of the Horse. Not just any horse. It's the year of the Fire Horse, a sign that comes along only once every sixty years.