January 26th, 2012
But every day is Family Literacy Day!
Harriet and I reading, back in the day
As part of Family Literacy Day, my article “How to read so your kids will listen” is online at Today’s Parent, which I’m quite excited about (though I know I’m not telling any of you people anything that you didn’t know already).
Also check out also a list of expert-curated kids book recommendations up at Canadian Bookshelf.
And even if you caught it first time around, it might be worth revisiting the legendary time I dragged out Family Literacy Day for an entire week back in 2010, because there’s really some excellent stuff up there.
December 18th, 2011
Making the season right
From my Christmas post at Canadian Bookshelf, “Books: Help to Make the Season Right”:
“Pictures of this Christmas book tree have been making the rounds online for the last week or two, representing a tangible link between reading and the spirit of the holidays. Though such a link would come as no surprise to anyone for whom gift-giving is a tradition, because there is no object on earth as easy to wrap as a book is. Even the clumsiest thumbs are capable of a present-worthy wrap job, thanks to compact solidity and right-angled symmetry. Further, once the wrapping is shed, the book is ready for reading straightaway, no batteries required, no plugging in to charge… Books have the potential to make everything that’s wrong with Christmas right, to make gift-giving about more than acquisition and stuff.”
Read the whole thing here.
December 12th, 2011
Speaking of Seth
Speaking of Seth, the latest issue of Canadian Notes & Queries arrived in my mailbox on Friday. It contains my essay “The Not-So-Good Terrorist: Reading Zsuzsi Gartner’s ‘Better Living Through Plastic Explosives’” which I am very proud of, about a story that I love. I’d recommend you pick up the issue when you come across it on news-stands in the coming weeks.
November 16th, 2011
I am in a book!
Today I had the remarkable experience of walking into a bookstore and finding a book with my name on it. The Best Canadian Essays 2011 is out now, featuring my essay “Love is a Let-Down”, along with other essays by writers including Caroline Adderson, Mark Kingwell, Stephen Marche, David Mason and Barbara Stewart*. The Best Canadian Essays series editor is Christopher Doda, issue editor is Ibi Kaslik, and I’m so honoured that they’ve included my work in this collection. Though I must admit that part of the thrill is the idea of being in a book at all. Me! In a book! Which is more than kind of a dream come true.
*We published a great essay “The God Edit” by Barbara Stewart on Canadian Bookshelf this week. See also Caroline Adderson’s book list Imperfect People. And check out Susan Olding’s wonderful article on the essay form, “That Trying Genre”.
October 31st, 2011
Tricks and Treats
Harriet was Tilly Witch for Halloween this year, which was a grand success, except for the blip around 4:30 when she decided that she going to wear her Easter Bunny ears instead of the witch hat, and I had to go upstairs and have a moment to myself in order to avoid murdering her. By the time I’d calmed down, the bunny ears were abandoned, and the rest of the evening was splendid, resulting in a bucketful of treats.
Over at Canadian Bookshelf, I’ve written “I am Not At Peace: Ghosts and Haunting in Canadian Fiction”, exploring the spookier side of CanLit. And if you’re not subscribing to the blog, you should. There’s great new stuff up three days a week.
August 29th, 2011
Swearing in the margins
One of the nicest things that happened to me earlier this summer was receiving the opportunity to write for UofT Magazine (which published my story “Georgia Coffee Star” two years ago). Even better, my assignment required me to read Ray Robertson’s Why Not? Fifteen Reasons to Live, which was so provocative that I kept swearing in the margins first read through. (This proved to be embarrassing when I had to pass the book on to a fact checker). Upon second reading, however, I really understood and admired what Robertson was up to with this book, even though I didn’t always agree with him.
As I wrote, “Never, ever boring, within the wild trajectory of each piece, Robertson backtracks, repeats himself, changes his mind and displays his characteristic ribald humour. Why Not? is intentionally provocative, stirring readers to vehemently agree or disagree. But this is Robertson’s point: to be stirred at all, regardless.”
You can read the whole thing here.
August 6th, 2011
When I was a compulsive parenting expert…
Over at my friend Nathalie‘s parenting blog 4 Mothers, I’ve written a guest post about my career as a compulsive parenting expert:
‘I told them, “And be prepared to feel like a cow. Be prepared to cry, and cry. It’s going to be awful, I’m not going to lie to you. But you’re going to get through it, I promise. I sit here feeding my screaming infant and lecturing you as living-proof that one day everything is going to be okay. Oh, and by the way, I’ve gone through your registry and crossed off all the stuff you don’t need, and made a note about everything you’ve missed.”
It was a compulsion, I will admit, the way I insisted on hunting down women in their third trimesters of pregnancy, and horrifying them with stories of how terrible their lives were about to become. But really, I wasn’t responsible for my behaviour in their presence. The very sight of their burgeoning bellies, their innocent bliss, how they kept talking about looking forward to getting the baby out so they could finally get a good night’s sleep again—it would fill me with overwhelming dread, and I’d start displaying symptoms of PTSD.’
You can read the rest here.
July 25th, 2011
Alas
I was expecting to have a brand new book review for your reading pleasure today, except that in the space of 36 hours this weekend, I gave up on three (3) books. One wasn’t a bad book, but it just wasn’t interesting for me, and you’d wonder why I was reviewing it; the second was a flawed first book that I might have stomached (it had worth) but it wasn’t up my alley; and the third was a very popular book whose author’s prose had me grimacing in the forward and it was only more of the same– I gave it until page 6. So no new book review, but now I am reading Kate Christensen’s The Astral, and I think it’s her best book yet. I hope I’m able to fit in one more book before we leave for vacation on Saturday (when I will disappear off the edge of the internet for a week, by the way).
And do check out what I’ve been cooking up over at Canadian Bookshelf lately: I wrote about the nonfiction writers event at Ben McNally’s last week with Sarah Leavitt and Andrew Westoll; a guide for short story reading novices; and this fabulous guide to 2011 Canadian literature festivals. See also great guest posts by Rebecca Rosenblum, Jessica Westhead and Robert J. Wiersema.
July 6th, 2011
Literary Women: The Womanly Art of Blogging
I’ve written a short essay on women and blogging for the wonderful blog Women Doing Literary Things, in which I write, “I’m not saying there aren’t any male bloggers—I just don’t read many of them. Though I also don’t read a lot of blogs written by women too: craft blogs, parenting blogs, home renovation blogs, fashion blogs, pregnancy blogs, infertility blogs, food blogs, and blogs about vintage rocking chairs. But the blogs that interest me, the literary ones— from the perspectives of common readers, academics, novelists, poets, mothers, book fetishists, illustrators, librarians, literary gossips, and critics alike—almost all of them are written by women.”
You can read the whole thing here, and I’d love it if you did.
June 22nd, 2011
Best Canadian Essays 2011
As one who reveres books as much as the next person who really, really loves them, you can imagine that I’m overjoyed to announce that very soon I will be published in one. I am so honoured that my essay “Love is a Let-Down”, which is the little essay that still hasn’t stopped, will be included in Best Canadian Essays 2011, part of an amazing series published by Tightrope Books. Quite grateful to editors Ibi Kaslik and Christopher Doda, and to the wonderful people at The New Quarterly who gave my piece its first home. And the staff at Peterborough Chapters better order in a whole bunch, because my mom is totally going to buy *all* of them. Looking forward also to my piece appearing, along with other fine writers’, amongst Caroline Adderson’s– speaking of honoured. And so pleased that I’m finally going to know what these guys are talking about.
