The second installment of our holiday gift guide focuses on the wannabe writer. From pens and notebooks to lit mag subscriptions and David Duchovny (it fits, swear), here are our picks for that up-and-coming Austen/Rowling/Dickens/Kerouac – insert author here – in your life. 

1. A set of three lightweight, easily transportable Moleskine notebooks for getting down your thoughts the moment inspiration strikes. $24.00 from Indigo.

2. This assorted pack of multicoloured fineliner pens is great for highlighting and making edits… plus writing with coloured ink is totes fun. $12.31 from Staples.

3. A subscription to the ultimate literary magazine, The Paris Review. Interviews with like every writer EVER, plus original fiction, essays and poetry. $45.00 from theparisreview.org.

4. This unisex Envelope Laptop Sleeve will keep your computer safe while en route to wherever you need to go. $78.00 from Roots.

5. Margaret Atwood’s Negotiating with the Dead: A Writer on Writing. The doyenne of Canadian literature explores the writer’s world from an insider’s perspective. $14.56 from amazon.ca.

6. No writer’s collection would be complete without the classic writing manual, Strunk & White’s The Elements of Style. THE writing style bible, hands down. $10.40 from Indigo.

7. A good desk lamp is VERY important when writing away into the late night hours (take care of those eyes!). Cole Task Table Lamps adjust to your liking and come in an antique bronze or silver finish. $195.27 from Pottery Barn.

8. A few seasons of Californication, starring David Duchovny. This addictive tv show about a struggling, fucked up writer with writer’s block is sharp, funny and really cleverly written. If you don’t want to be him after watching a few eps, you’ll certainly want to do him. Trust. $24.99 ea. at amazon.ca

9. A fine scotch malt whisky for the tortured Hemingway-type you know. Assorted prices at the LCBO.

~ Lindsay Tapscott

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