December 5th, 2011
“Style, I’ll define here, for my selfish purposes, as the verbal/lexical confirmation that I’m in the right relation to my impulses, my so-called material. “The right words in the right order”: style is the outer face of the inner impulse, its realization. It is not a frippery, an adornment, an excess. Style is the how of the what.”
October 19th, 2011
Today I’m the guest blogger at Canadian Bookshelf, the “the one-of-a-kind resource for discovering, discussing, and indulging in Canadian books.”
An excerpt:
Pity the essay—so undervalued that nobody recognizes it. We pass it by without a nod, or imagine we see it in a dozen other faces. “Ah, there you are! I’ve been looking for you! We must catch up,” we say, pumping a hand or slapping a rounded shoulder, all the while checking our watch in anticipation of our next appointment. Nobody wants to read the essay. Nobody wants to buy it. It’s so unpopular that in the 2012 Canada Reads—the first nonfiction edition ever—books of essays are explicitly ruled out.
October 18th, 2011
If you know someone who wants a critique of their writing and would also like to donate to a good cause, please send them to Writers Who Care, a project initiated by Kathy-Diane Leveille.
“Writers who CARE: The 50/50 Project” is a group of published authors donating their time and talent to raise funds for Somalian refugees. Anyone can make a donation to this cause whether you wish to receive a critique or not. Between October 1 and December 31, 2011, we will offer anyone making a $50 donation the opportunity to submit 50 double-spaced pages of a work-in-progress. Within 90 days of receipt, a published author will provide a 1-2 page critique. For specific details and rules on eligibility, submission requirements, and format of critiques visit our blog: http://writerswhocare.blogspot.com Anyone receiving a critique is not eligible for a tax receipt according to CCRA rules since a service is provided.
Our volunteer published Authors come from a wide range of literary and genre fiction: mainstream, romance, paranormal, mystery, thriller, young adult, historical and mainstream; along with literary non-fiction, biography, memoir and journalism. “
October 14th, 2011
What an honour to find Pathologies on Charlotte Gill’s recommended reading list at Canadian Bookshelf. She calls it a “literary antidote” to the lately much-abused memoir. Can’t help but like that!
Charlotte’s most recent book is Eating Dirt: Deep Forests, Big Timber, and Life with the Tree-Planting Tribe, which was recently shortlisted for the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize.
September 23rd, 2011
A few months ago I quoted a short excerpt from Carl H. Klaus’s The Made-Up Self: Impersonation in the Personal Essay. Anyone interested in the essay’s history and vitality should pick up a copy of this thoughtful book. Read my review at the L.A. Review of Books, in the last of their Summer Shorts.
