Ossington Ave.
Saturday, June 27th, 2009In today’s National Post, Adam McDowell, photographer Brett Gundlock and myself spend a night on Ossington Avenue.
Michael Jackson dies
Thursday, June 25th, 2009Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, passed away today at the age of 50. Instead of drinking beer on the couch and watching the NBA Draft, I was busy blogging about his death, here and here.
Rock Plaza Central
Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009In today’s National Post, I talk to Chris Eaton of Rock Plaza Central about the band’s latest album, at the Moment of our First Needing.
Joe Orton’s Loot
Monday, June 22nd, 2009In today’s National Post, I examine the life of the late playwright Joe Orton. Orton wrote Loot, which is currently being staged in Toronto, though he may be just as famous for his pranks, one of which involved defacing dozens and dozens of books in the collection of the Islington Library.
Trillium Book Prize
Wednesday, June 17th, 2009In today’s paper, I report on the winners of the Trillium Book Prize. I’ve profiled both of the English-language winners: Pasha Malla and Jeramy Dodds.
Polaris Music Prize; Kontent Publishing; Worldwide Short Film Festival
Tuesday, June 16th, 2009In today’s National Post I take a brief look at the longlist for the 2009 Polaris Music Prize, and talk to Geoffrey Dawe and Jeanne Beker about the fate of Toronto-based magazine publishers, Kontent. I also review some of the Midnight Madness films playing this year’s Worldwide Short Film festival.
BookCamp Toronto
Saturday, June 13th, 2009Last week I attended BookCamp Toronto. In today’s National Post, I try to make sense of it all you can read my notes from the publishing “unconference.” I also make a talking head appearance in this story about Toronto’s east end versus the west end.
Three Wolf Moon
Thursday, June 11th, 2009So, yesterday I came across this post on Buzzfeed. I’d heard about Three Wolf Moon, and read some of the reviews, but didn’t realize the vast quantities of “intense” t-shirts out there. So I quickly posted something on The Ampersand asking which t-shirt was, in fact, the most intense shirt in the universe. A little while later my editor wandered by my desk and asked if I could turn it into something for the paper. You can read all about how three wolves took over the American t-shirt scene right here.
Terry Griggs
Wednesday, June 10th, 2009In today’s paper, we have a quick look at Terry Griggs, author of Thought You Were Dead.
Granta
Tuesday, June 9th, 2009Granta magazine, one of my favourite literary journals, recently changed editors: Alex Clark is out, John Freeman is in. The magazine launched its new fiction issue last Friday in Toronto, and I had already scheduled an interview with senior editor Rosalind Porter when the news broke. I was told John would be in town, and would I like an interview? At the time, no one else had profiled him, so I jumped at the chance. Since then, the New York Observer published a fine feature, but still…
You can find with acting Granta editor John Freeman and senior editor Rosalind Porter over on The Afterword.