The Bytown Museum was a fun and intimate venue for the Salon of the Refused on December 15, 2025, from 7:00 PM. Wayne Johnston's photos of the evening can be seen here.
Author: Debra Martens
author, editor
Who Did She Know?
When I began to research the case that inspired my current novel in progress, involving one Ella Preston, a psychic charged under the Criminal Code for witchcraft in 1907, in Canada, I found little to go on: no record of the court case, no reliable records for her birth, death, or marriage. So the next… Continue reading Who Did She Know?
May Day Faces
Happy Beltane, Happy International Workers' Day, Happy May Day! On my last day of a weekend trip to Montreal, after looking for the Green Man on various churches and, uh, old buildings (okay, I am no student of architecture), I came across these faces near where I was staying. These variations on the Green Man… Continue reading May Day Faces
Between Worlds in Belleville
O'Hare house, 231 John Street Having decided a slice of pizza would be perfect for a quick lunch before exploring Belleville, we went into a place called La Favorita Trattoria on Front Street. Although the front steam table was empty, there were lots of people at the back. Thus we found ourselves in a bar… Continue reading Between Worlds in Belleville
The Green Man Today
The Green Man made it to Canada at the end of the 19th century, carved into the Parliamentary Library. Then the 20th century brought new life to this leafy medieval face: he moved from sacred sites, inns and pubs, into literature and film. It is surely the modern mind that makes a tree spirit or… Continue reading The Green Man Today
The Green Man
In the United Kingdom and in Europe, those who look at buildings, particularly churches, may come across a stone or wooden face wreathed in leaves, branches, or flowers. Sometimes benign in expression, sometimes as frightening as a Gothic grotesque, these architectural embellishments have been called "foliate heads" or "vegetal carvings" or, in the United Kingdom,… Continue reading The Green Man
What is a Witch?
For two years now, researching a novel that I am working on, I have been grappling with the definition of witch. A great starting point is the University of Edinburgh site, The Survey of Scottish Witchcraft. Witches of Scotland seeks a pardon and apology for those accused under the Witchcraft Act of 1563-1736. The numbers… Continue reading What is a Witch?
Animal Titles
They catch my eye, the repetition of a word in titles across various books. The word "animal," for example, for books not necessarily about the animal kingdom. The Lives of Animals, by J.M. Coetzee (1999). Her Body Among Animals, by Paola Ferrante (2023). The Memory of Animals, by Claire Fuller (2024). Mammals, I Think We… Continue reading Animal Titles
Blue Plaques
A visit to Paultons Square in Chelsea shows that Sara Jeannette Duncan still does not have a blue plaque. English Heritage mounts the commemorative plaques. Duncan’s neighbours are thus honoured. 14 Paultons Square 9 Paultons Square I’m a fan of blue plaques and have noticed some recent changes, such as an apparent increase in plaques… Continue reading Blue Plaques
What inspires?
I’ve seen beautiful scenery. Isle of Arran I’ve tasted wonderful whisky. Rosebank Distillery Walked, talked, ate fun foods. All of these holiday experiences… And what snagged my imagination? Some old stones that some poor buggers were made to stand up. Machrie Moor standing stones. Together with the news that the red altar stone at Stonehenge… Continue reading What inspires?
Writing Place
Can you accurately write fiction set in a place in which you have not lived? People have written about places in which they have never set foot. The arctic, the moon, the past. The question I pose is a privileged one, posed only because I have lived in other places. And have occasionally come across… Continue reading Writing Place
Upcoming
I will be reading my short story, "Not a Bad Man," on December 10 at the Salon of the Refused. https://salonoftherefused.ca/2023/10/01/salon-of-the-refused-ottawa/
War
In 1983, Virago Press published a paperback collection called Over Our Dead Bodies: Women Against the Bomb, edited by Dorothy Thompson. This book has lived among my feminist books, and over the years, has come to seem out of date, and even perhaps unnecessary. Until now. Today when I picked it up, it felt new… Continue reading War
Bright Spot
In the long unspooling of bad news -- virus, climate change -- there are some bright spots. One of my favourites is the reporting of Dr Peter Jüni, Scientific Director of Ontario's COVID-19 Science Advisory Table, on CBC. While he gives us sobering counsel on staying alive through the pandemic, it's the way that he… Continue reading Bright Spot
Interview
Local poet and publisher, rob mclennan, is doing an interview series of writers who live or have lived in Ottawa. Here's the link to my answers to his questions. Here's an excerpt: "Also, public spaces are cleaner here [in Canada] than in some of the countries we’ve lived in – no littering, for example. We… Continue reading Interview
Packing, Unpacking
Last night was my first night sleeping away from home since December 2019. I didn't sleep well. Strange perfumes on the air, wrong lighting, and waking up with "Where am I?" on the brain. I should have passed out with fatigue, not just from the drive (so much traffic on the highway!) but also from… Continue reading Packing, Unpacking
Leaving the Silk Room
Since Friday, March 13, 2020, I have worked and exercised and sometimes slept in the attic of our house, which my beloved calls the Silk Room. It got this name because of my poor French. We were listening to a Radio Canada programme about stream-of-consciousness writers, mainly James Joyce and Virginia Woolf. I was able… Continue reading Leaving the Silk Room
Fishing for Words
I have some books on topics that I know nothing about, which I keep for the style in which they are written. I was about to give away Trout: How to Catch Them by W. A. Adamson, realizing that trout fishing is not in my literal or figurative future, when I found this passage --… Continue reading Fishing for Words
Learning
Many have written about what they've learned during the pandemic, but because I am housebound for the long haul (until the vaccine is readily available), I expect the list to be ongoing. Here is what I've learned so far. Socializing is a skill. After seven months of not going out, I have lost the skill.… Continue reading Learning
Longlist
As editor of Canadian Writers Abroad, I tend to leave off longlist credits when an author has several awards to mention. But I don't have several awards to mention (the Grain Short), so I am telling you here: an essay I wrote this winter made the longlist for the Edna Staebler Personal Essay Contest at… Continue reading Longlist
DEBRA MARTENS 