What I’m Reading, Vol. 1
I’ve been at this freelance thing long enough that I feel confident in beginning sentences thusly: “My professional writing life…” So, here goes: My professional writing life seems to be characterized by bouts of furious and extreme activity followed by fallow periods of squirmy inactivity. I never get quite comfortable with the latter (Ack! What if nothing ever happens writing-wise again?!) but the longer I do this, the more I see that that is the lot of the nonfiction writer in this world. Unless, of course, s/he is an incredible factory of production, which most of us are not. We are lazy and mean, as Orwell once said. And we like it that way.
Having embraced the fallow periods as much as I can, I have started trying to use them for good — as opposed to, let’s say, using them to watch everything Netflix has on offer that week. I therefore wish to present a new series of blog posts I’m going to attempt (hedging, always hedging, kids…that way you never have to fully commit. See: Orwell), What I’m Reading.
In this, Volume 1 of the series, may I present Pulphead by John Jeremiah Sullivan?
Posted on April 11, 2012 at 4:38 pm
And the award for longest award title goes to…
Oh hey. Hey There.
I’m hanging out, planning my next moves (which so far involves a lot of eating and window shopping…hard life!). But I have an exciting announcement. Drumroll, please…
Fresh at Twenty: The Oral History of Mint Records has been nominated for an award! And not just any award, no. The longest-titled award in the history of awards. Ahem: FAT is nominated for the 2012 Association for Recorded Sound Collections Awards for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research. Seriously! I’m as happy as that title is long. Thanks, ARSC!
Thanks, as well, to ECW Press and especially my lovely editor Jen Hale.
More updates soon. Get out there and enjoy the springtime, kids!
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 7:26 pm
Big Ideas, Big Bookstores
Chapters knows what’s up, guys. (Thanks to the lovely and talented Brit Kwasney of Bright Photo for spotting this, in North Vancouver.) I like that I’m below Zeppelin, and between Aerosmith, Ian and Sylvia, and Neil Young. Somehow, poifect.
You’re also now able to purchase a Kindle version of Fresh at Twenty at Amazon–and yes, the playlist is still intact! Happy reading!
Posted on March 3, 2012 at 5:50 am
National Magazine Awards!
Whew. It would appear that the gods of doing stuff have blessed me thus: “And 2012 shall be a busy year, and all shall be well!”
And it is well, friends, with lots of fun developments on the horizon, some of which I will announce shortly (part of it is temporarily top secret, which is awesome but means I have to keep it under wraps, at least for now).
In the meantime, however, I’d like to take a moment to thank Drew Nelles and the whole crew at Maisonneuve magazine for nominating two of my pieces, “Going Viral,” (Summer 2011) about the ascendance of Halifax comedy group Picnicface to television star status; and “We Will Not Leave this Place” (Winter 2011), an essay about my hometown and the curse which plagues its residents, for National Magazine Awards.
Maisonneuve is an excellent quarterly based out of Montreal and, in my mind, represents the best of what Canadian magazines can achieve: relevance without being slavish to trendiness, and a sense of purpose without an overinflated sense of self-importance. I love this magazine, and I would love it even if I wasn’t in it. You should subscribe to it.
Also, they have awesome online content. And some of my best friends, and the best writers I know, have written amazing pieces for them over the last year (Kim Fu! Andrea Bennett!). They know what’s up over there.
Okay, enough of that! You can only circle jerk a magazine so much before you start to get some wicked papercuts. Amiright, guys?
Stay tuned for those future-secret announcements. And if you’re in Vancouver and feeling bored, sad and snowy tonight, come see me improvise at the Havana Theatre (1212 Commercial Drive) at 8pm. xo
Posted on January 16, 2012 at 8:28 pm
A picture of my childhood, and other thoughts
Happy December, friends! What the galdarn happened to 2011? Can someone fill me in? Drake? You seem particularly insightful this year, sir. What say you?
On a related note, Drake’s Take Care is probably my favourite album this year, nestled closely in with Destroyer’s Kaputt and Anna Calvi’s self-titled album. Go get em, friends. They’re all so great. Maybe I’ll do a more comprehensive 2011 list in the weeks to come; it’s something I used to do a lot in years past as a member of the cultural critic class. Hmm. Then again–being lazy seems like fun, since this year has been batty and December downtime has been pretty lovely.
December: it’s as much about what you might do as what you might not. Ta-da!
Finally, I wanted to share this awesome illustration, by the fabulous Genevieve Simms.
I have an essay about my hometown, childhood and leaving coming out in the Winter issue of Maisonneuve, on newsstands Dec. 16. Genevieve drew the accompanying illustration to the piece (which is a full page in the magazine), and she has managed to beautifully capture the themes as well as surprise me in her interpretation. Please buy the issue, and support Genevieve by purchasing her prints! Thanks, Genevieve.
Posted on December 6, 2011 at 10:58 pm
And a good time was had by all
It’s been a busy few weeks ’round these parts, as fall tends to be for freelance types like me. I finally had a moment to breathe today, and as I was organizing the teetering pile of To Do on my desk, I found the disc of photos from the book launch. The lovely Brit Kwasney at Bright Photo (who also happens to be an old friend) took these awesome shots, and looking through them I was reminded of how completely awesome the launch was. Thanks again to everyone for coming, and enjoy the gallery!
And please check out Brit’s website; she’s a rad photographer and a lovely person and deserves your business.
(Photos below the jump.)
Posted on November 14, 2011 at 11:29 pm