Bookstore of the Future

Mmm, my ideal home library

Now, I know the title may sound a little Jetsony or Matrixy, but hear me out on this: what will the bookstore of the future look like in this quickly changing book model? Will physical books be there at all, or will we be browsing book covers like we browse empty DVD containers? Will there be a bar type area where you bring your eReader and purchase digital books to upload them on the spot? Will there be a huge influx of small boutique bookstores tailored to fit niche genres, or on an even smaller scale - in kiosk form? Will the book Megastore ala the Chain evolve into having giant screens showing book trailers, eBook selections, and so much more? Will there be a loss in the sense of community that can only be found at your local bookstore, or will it become the focus? Will the only physical books we hold be the result of Print on Demand Espresso machines, available on a wide scale and replacing big printers as we know it?

Who knows. The point is simply that we don't know. The point is that the world of books is going through such an evolution that all we can do as readers, publishers, and even writers, is change with it. We need to clearly see it all for its limitations as well as its benefits, and work together to make it all harmonize. It is going to suck for the first while. Everyone is feeling out the new model, the new platform, the new production...everything is new. This is a time to create and to innovate like we haven't since Guttenburg created the cultural artifact of the book as we know it.

All of this was the topic of the Bookstore of the Future panel discussion this evening at the Arts and Letters club off of Dundas. The panel was moderated by Steven Beattie, editor of the Quill and Quire, and the debate launched in many different directions by Dan Aronchick, Mark Lefebvre, Sarah Sheard and Becky Toyne. Ideas flew, sparks ignited, books were just as exciting as they always were and more! Though the panel was only an hour and a half and there wasn't enough time for what could have been another awesome organic discussion, it was good. There was a lot of reiteration of the stuff I've heard from lectures, Book Camp, and other events, but the format was pretty refreshing.

Sarah Sheard, providing the point of view of the novelist discussed how we really need to move with optimism towards eBooks from Tree Books, and noted that the benefit of the author without the 'middle man' would be a substantial increase from the usual 15% royalty. She also touched on the importance of closing the gap between readers and writers, and embracing an elegant process of creation that would come out of this.

However, I kind of personally took fault with her distaste for the publishing aspect of getting books out. The publisher, in the scheme of things, is constantly sandwiched in the middle of this kind of situation. Yes, the price of books is an inherent reflection of costs of production, marketing, publicity and printing - all important aspects to getting the book to the reader. On the other side, what must be understood is that publishing is the only industry still operating on a consignment basis - when books do not get sold, they get shipped back to the publisher on a credit, further shaving down the already small 3.5% profit margin that the publisher makes. Sheard proposed that with the permanent implementation of eBooks, the writer would get more of that cut and the publisher wouldn't be able to use the book as a cash-cow profit maker. Yes there are successful grassroots campaigns for authors trying to get their own work out without the 'middle man', but I think it is groundless to suggest that publishers are in it for the money. Really. WHAT money?! The publisher takes a risk on a work that may or may not succeed simply because they believe in it. They pay authors advances that they may never pay out with their royalty agreements. If those books don't sell, they are pulped - the hardest thing for a publisher to even comprehend after all the work that has gone into making that book from start to finish.

Personally, I am not trying to get into this business for the money. I don't think anyone really is there now, or going into it, for that reason. We all love books to death. We want to put out new voices, new work, and innovating webs of words. We want to build relationships with Canadian authors and idea makers. We want to continue to cultivate the rich culture of reading that is inherent and unique to the Canadian market.

I have to say that out of all the panelists, Mark Lefebvre was the most passionate, willing to do ANYTHING to satisfy those he sold books to, and calling the day that bookstores can fill any reader's unique need his 'personal wet dream'. Be it for the audio, digital, or print version of the book, he would love to be the one to put it in the hands of that unique reader. His optimism is really brilliant, and very Literary Eden-esque, and I really fed off his energy for his career. That is something I would definitely love to emulate in my future for sure.

Plus, he has a Print on Demand machine, and he brought in some books that were 'hot off the presses'. I got a copy of Chaucer's Prose! The production values may not be the best, the paperstock a little iffy and the print edgy in some places, but for something printed in 10 minutes, it is an amazing little thing! I can totally see the day coming when books will be able to be customized by paper, cover, and so on in a really short period of time! Really awesome

All in all a really neat evening. I wish I had the energy to go to Stroll Book Launch featuring Shawn Micallef's new book: Psychogeographic Walking Tours of Toronto. If you're on Dundas West, you really should drop in at the Lula lounge to check it out!

All right bookies, I am le tired. Time to hunker down and start reading Fox by Margaret Sweatman like I've been intending to!

Lumiere!

Give my hands something to hold

The Crafty World of Books
Wherein the sparrow picks up shiny things for show and tell

Yesterday, I briefly attended the Toronto Book Camp, a series of conferences that went on from 9-5, dealing a lot with emerging technology with books, and using an open floor discussion type format. Ideas, fears, and excitement were passed around like sweet sweet currency, and with the advent of the eBook/eReader, the conference had all three things in abundance.

Personally, I am kind of excited about the eReader. I know that, considering I want to get into the book industry - and, most ironically, the production side of it - that supporting a type of media that is 'doomed to destroy the book' seems not the smartest. On the contrary. The final presentation I went
to was called Unleashing Your Inner Reader, and was about how we read and who is reading what. All very intriguing. After only being at the conference for 3 hours, the emerging trend was everyone's total hatred and purist view about eBooks, and the majority voice in this room was no exception.

Believe me, I used to hate them too. I was vehemently infuriated by them. For someone who has a gigantic library, I was outraged at the idea that my entire collection would be an obsolete artifact within ten years - maybe even 5. I loathed the notion of losing the tangibility of my reading experience. I was also not impressed with the pricing war going on as soon as the Kindle came out, knowing that book prices are already compressed enough and publishers are having a hard enough time making ends meat as it is. Typography/photo heavy books would never be able to translate the same either. The medium is way too new to even consider investing in it now, and there are so many typeface fuck ups with the ePub format that the product seems more unappealing the longer I talk.

And so on, and so on.

But here is the flip side: the presenter of the Unleash Your Inner Reader, Marichka Melnyk of CBC Radio, started off by showing us the things she puts in her purse for the long commute to work - Phone, iPod, magazine, book, and finally eReader. This encompasses my point of view entirely; there will always be a desire for that tangibility of the book, of the magazine, of having things on hand in print simply because it is our preference. A book or magazine's battery never runs out - ...because there ISN'T one - and the interface is so easy to understand: words on pages! Yay! However, the eReader was still present. What if there are 5 books you are reading at one time, and you really, REALLY don't want to carry them around with you all day? This is where the eReader comes in. And though yes I am not an iPad fan, imagine what can be done to create the Enhanced Book with that kind of emerging technology.

My point is this: the two are totally different things. I think everyone's reaction is that the eBook is trying to replace the Real Book. I think they are completely separate products that fill different needs (tangibility vs. portability), and the point is that you can choose to have one or the other, or both. I am a book nerd, book collector, book fanatic, book-a-holic. If anything, this entire shift is extremely fascinating, especially hearing all of the varying opinions from people in the industry. What everyone also has to understand is that the eBook is here. It isn't going anywhere. We are all going to have to be flexible and see it for its possibilities, because crying about how you want to hold a book and flip pages isn't going to make it go away. The medium is not the message - but it can take the message further than we thought possible. Human beings began their writing experience on tablets anyway. Now it's all come full circle, oddly enough.

Now that I've expressed that, here's a totally different perspective/topic: the curious crafty things people are doing in the book/writing world which will never be emulated electronically ever, because human beings are epic like that. Enjoy!





Ten Amazing Sculptures Made Out of Type Writers






Hyperactivity Typography! (though digital, I want this in a printed edition)













The epic and fabulous post office art of Bianca Jagoe at Goodnight Little Spoon!




Is this not enough to quench your tangibility thirst? You actually want something in your hands that is a superbly crafted harmony of production values and fine words?

Then you should DEFINITELY attend the Toronto Small Press Book Fair on June 15th! Be there and show your love for the care still taken with books in this face paced digital age!

Lumiere!

Run and get me some of them big sunglasses!

Freakin' Comics Friday!
Wherein the Sparrow Makes a Nest with Ideas


From the amazing Paul Griffiths!

I'm kind of taking a shaky cue from a bunch of bloggers I admire, and am trying to uphold some kind of weekly traditions in order to keep me on track with updating! Today will be me testing the waters a bit with a medium I have become freshly re-inspired by (see my last entry): comic art/graphic novels.

I'd like to devote the end of my week to some cool comics - either coming out, just released, or old favourites. I'll probably also include stuff I'm reading, or even artists that I adore, in addition to things I am ogling at and saving my pennies for! I'm going to restrict my list to 4 for now, but we'll see where it takes me. I hope that, when someone eventually reads my never ending rantables, these Fridays will encourage people to delve into a really epic medium that has been close to my heart since I first started collecting comics. I still have all my original Sailor Moons and Dragonball Z's!

I think to some extent, we all start out being passionate about art media with comics, whether it is instilled with your usual syndicated newspaper weeklies or the stuff your older brother keeps laying around. You know, the usual Batman, Spiderman, even those wonky Simpsons comics they were putting out for a while! All of these took visual storytelling to a completely different level - one people imagined would go the way of the dodo with cinema and animation. On the contrary - the medium has survived and thrived like a bromeliad on the rainforest floor. For that I am happier than I could have believed.

After having a really hard couple of years holding up a semi-full time job in conjunction with school, I lost the time and the energy to pursue the things I was passionate about. I didn't read as much as I could, I didn't produce as much art as I was inspired to do. My writing took the back burner in the wake of term papers and exams as it has for the last three years. All of my creative seemed to fold up and tuck itself into some dark cranny for safe keeping. After arriving here, that little prism of ideas seems to have shaken itself awake. I am constantly distracted with a sudden influx of new thoughts and ideas. I am consumed with this need to create, my hands quaking without a pencil in them. I went out and picked up some pencils/pens so I could just throw some stuff into my dusty sketchbook. I am inspired to write new material, and especially to draw again. I have become rusty, let me tell you! But I think the excitement will carry me through.

Anyway - comics. Like I said, I picked up quite a few, and it got me to thinking - how awesome would it be to work in production, design, editorial, or even marketing for the Canadian graphic novel scene? There aren't very many here, but our home talent has so much promise. Kate Beaton, Hope Larson, Chester Brown - it goes on. To be able to work with and give a hand up to many artists and writers out there with yet-to-be-heard voices gives me goosebumps the likes of which I have not yet experienced. So for every Friday, I just want to get down with some comics and see how the scene is doing as fresh material rolls off of the godly presses I imagine these tomes are printed with!

This week's Fab Four Alert

#4

Therefore Repent!
by Jim Munroe (Salgood Sam)

Status: read

Not only was this a really well produced piece of artwork, the story was gripping, edgy and tough without taking itself too seriously. The story follows the world post-rapture, after over a hundred thousand 'believers' ascend to heaven, and the world continues as normal - except the people left behind find themselves able to perform magic. From an aloof talking dog to a raven girl who can make blackbirds from ash, to a mummy with a third eye, this is a remarkable story of what happens when religion gets the better of us, and we remember to just believe in ourselves. The style was very sketchy, yet had a particular depth and volume that really moved the action and characters with a tremendous fluidity. Salgood Sam also drew a sassy dog for me on the inside cover which I now covet! He was a very sweet, charming guy to be sure. I'd love to pick up Sea of Red next, which features his art once again.

#3

Louis Riel: A Comic Biography
by Chester Brown

Status: read

A friend that I met up with at the convention passed by the table where this was proudly displayed, and demanded I get it and love it simply because I am from Winnipeg. Back home, we consider Riel somewhat of a pop icon and hero, what with his various statues, tributes, and t-shirt campaigns.
At any rate, my friend was right. I had heard of and seen this particular work around and I knew it was necessary for me to eat it up ASAP. I read this the next day and thoroughly enjoyed it. Although it is a blatant support of what some have called a mad prophet, Brown sticks really well to historical truth, and makes an endearing case for one of Canada's unsung heroes. Without this man Metis issues would never have been brought to the forefront, nor would there have been action to deal with them. Though controversial, he was an important man to the fabric of Canada's crazy cultural quilt (alliteration much?) Though very dialogue/fact heavy, the art supported the subject matter with frank simplicity, and did not distract from the issues this comprehensive biography embodies.

#2

Mercury
by Hope Larson

Status: just released

I actually came across this today during class when I was zipping around the internets. I stumbled on Hope Larson, a name I had heard after reading one of her first works, Salamander Dream. (For some reason I thought it was Kean Soo's...he corrected me when I asked him about it!) This looks like a really neat book, with clean lines and an interesting story taking place in present day and 150 years past Halifax. It revolves around a mysterious family house, now burned, and the story that involves its fiery past. I am really intrigued by this and I hope you are too! You can purchase the book here, like I will sometime soon. I think I've been buying up too many books of late; I need to read what I have before I buy more!

#1

Flight Volume 1
By Kazu Kibuishi

Status: do want

The Flight series, now on its 7th volume (#2 and #6 have been nominated for Eisner awards) are beautiful graphic-novel anthologies that bring together some of the best artists and writers around, flashing their personal flavours for epic scenery and gorgeous stories. I have been longing for these volumes since I first found out about them, and apart from seeing them very briefly in the graphic novel section of Chapters, I have not had the spare change to procure them til now (I anxiously await mine in da mail!). Each story is about flying, a theme I hold pretty close to my heart in terms of my writing and artwork. Many of the artists in here are my absolute favourites, and I am very excited to see the work which has been hailed by fans and critics alike as a breathtaking journey of the theme of flight in its various incarnations. Some names here include Erika Moen, Hope Larson, Kean Soo and of course Kazu Kibuishi - it was through his site that I found out about this series, and yearned for it ever since. I can't wait to discover more awesome names and talents through these collections :)

That brings us to the end of the inaugural Freaking Comics Friday! I leave you with a little extra somethin-somethin for all the Beatonites out tha'!

Kate Beaton's Hark! A Vagrant!- Case of the Two Watsons from Squadron B on Vimeo.

Lumiere!

The Whirlwind Part 4

"Comic books helped me to define myself and my world in a way that made both far less frightening. I honestly cannot imagine how I would have navigated my way through childhood without them." - BRADFORD W. WRIGHT

This little slice of adventure was probably the best part of my weekend. Of my week no less. I did not know it was even going on until the night before, and I had just seen Yann Martel at the same location only a couple of days prior. When I went in, it was a comic book nerd's pallas, intense, transformed and ridiculous. Ladies and gentleman, I give you the TCAF.

May 8, 2010

The Toronto Comic Art's Festival 2010 @ The Toronto Reference Library

This is the first legitimate comic fest/con I have been to, excluding the poor excuse for a con in the Winnipeg Anime Convention. The best part of this convention were the artists, writers, and publishers all clamouring for the attention of the crowd with their epic wares - and getting in was free! I got to talk to a lot of really amazing and enthusiastic people, and I have to say that I was overwhelmed by the amount of material packed into the space they had taken up. I didn't get a chance to see everything in a lot of detail, even though I got there early and lingered for four and a half hours. It filled up quick and became a chaotic sea of demanding, drooling comic fans. And I can't blame them. I was one of them.

The focus of the convention was not necessarily comics per se, but graphic novels and the epic art featured. I got to talk to Michael Cho, Eric Vedder, Salgood Sam, and a whole bunch of others who I have been inspired by for years. After reading a sample of Sam's Therefore Repent! I just had to pick it up (and it was so cheap!) as I made my rounds on the ground floor. OWL books were there, as well as Scholastic with Raina Telgemeier's Smile which I got from her (as well as a gracious amount of change and a custom drawing) and read while I wandered. It was really great! I then stumbled across Kean Soo's table. He is so sweet and generous, and gave me my hardcover copy of Jellaby for a couple of dollars off plus a very cute doodle. I think one of the highlights of this convention was how many new artists/authors I discovered and got to chat to after admiring them from afar. Which brings me to the second level!

It absolutely topped my day - the Web Comics room! When I went up there at around 10 am, it was quite empty, which gave me a chance to talk to the super delightful Becky Dreistadt and Frank Gibson about their experiences at varying comic cons, colourful currency, their adventures with Emmy Cicierega, and just how nice the con planners had been to them. All the webcomic people got to have their tables for free! I picked up a copy of their Tigerbuttah book, which is a beautifully bound emulation of the nostalgic Golden Books for kids.

I took a few pictures of the Templar, AZ artist/author, but I was swept away too quickly to talk to her. I chatted at the table that Rosemary Travale and Craig Arndt shared (I got some free buttons!) and moved over to Meredith Gran's table to pre-order the new Octopus Pie compilation. Though Erika Moen was busy at the time, but I really wanted to pick up a copy of DAR (didn't get around to it) on my way back from Evan Dahm's table, where I nabbed a copy of The City of Shells from Order of Tales and talked to him briefly about the original print of Rice Boy and what he uses for his comic works. From Chris North's Dinosaur Comics to Joey Comeau of A Softer World, I basked in all that is webcomics. The cherry was getting in the extensive line up to get to Kate Beaton of Hark! A Vagrant. She was the definite star of the floor, and I grabbed a copy of her Poe/Verne vignette as I already own her stunning Never Learn Anything from History. She also drew me a little angry Poe at the bottom corner and signed it.

I met up with a couple of friends towards the end, exploring the ground floor and making my final purchase - Chester Brown's Louis Riel. It was well worth the extra time, and I finished it in about three hours in the comfort of my uncle's home the following Sunday. The publisher's room was amazing too, and Daniel Clowes, the author of Ghost World was hidden somewhere amongst the stacks. All in all, I spent a lot of money to support some amazing artists, and the entire experience was well worth it! I wish I had stayed for the Doug Wright awards for sure, but maybe next year! And more panels next year as well.

Make sure to check out all of the artists/titles I've mentioned here. They represent the core of my comic tastes, and you should really experience them as I have!

The Whirlwind Part 3

"Those who know nothing of foreign cultures knows nothing of their own." - Goethe

After blasting through books, social outings and school, I decided to suck up some culture from a place I have yearned to see in my few years. I have been to the British Museum of Art, the MIA, and a few other places here and here, but the ROM will always hold a special place in my learned little heart of hearts! It also gave Laura and James (the fancy couple I am staying with) a chance to finally go themselves, even though they've been living here for nearly two years.

May 7, 2010

The Royal Ontario Museum on Bloor


A sea of trilobites trapped in time

It was a rainy evening - as has become the norm in the last several days - and through ankle deep urban water we waded to the ROM. First of all, what a beautiful building. I thought the museum of modern art installation in Minneapolis was crazy (it's a towering bastion fabricated entirely out of sheet metal), but this is just beautiful. The interior was absolutely stunning as well, and the stark contrast of the modern vs. the traditional worked to this building's advantage.

So in short this place was epic. We were there for three and a half hours and didn't even get to see it all. We stopped short of Egypt, just in time for my batteries to cruelly run out. I did not even get a chance with Rome or any of the other civilizations on the last floor! But here is a quick peek at the ROM's highlights:

Asia - featuring fantastic art from China to Japan, the ROM's collection of ancient Asian art and artifacts was absolutely out of this world. Though I was exposed to a lot via MIA, this was a really extensive and varied collection, ranging from snuff bottles to twelve foot high thousand year old wall murals, to golden Buddhas in the Gandaran style, Boddhisattvas in the Cambodian motif, to a fully restored rickshaw, burial mound and full front facade of a temple. After having taken Indian Religious Art and Architecture (and studying it for a few years), wandering these vast rooms of cultural boons was a nice refresher to a really fascinating Ancient World.

Paleontology - this room was totally out of this world. Oh man. I have never wanted dinosaurs to be real more in my life. Although yes, we all saw how that turned out in Jurassic Park - it is still mind blowing the advances and discoveries we have made! Most of these brilliant bones are over a million years old! Like holy. I cannot even comprehend that much time. This floor was extensive and I stayed here for about an hour just gawking at the ridiculous size of many of the specimens featured here. From your basic raptor, the nearly 1 km spine of a brontosaur, the skeletal pterodactyl overhead, the stone encased leoplurdon, to wasp eggs the size of my thumb, a mammoth incisor the size of James' head, ad nauseum, this room was JUST AMAZING. I could gush and gush, really. I took about a bazillion pictures to demonstrate my urgent joy. It's stuff like this that makes you wonder why you didn't become an adventuresome archaeologist, paleontologist, biologist or just plain historical hero. In my next alternate reality life we'll see what I can come up with. I beg you to come to the ROM for dem bonez!

Animal Kingdom - Okay, I'm going to just be brief with this one. So many animals. So beautiful. The bird portion was my absolute favourite - that albatross was gigantic! Laura freaked out a little because she hates birds, but that is OKAY! The mammals, sea life and especially the bat cave were all incredibly nice touches (the bat cave was immense in scale, scope, and sheer volume of bats in there). More than once James and I were down on the floor trying to look at these animals at all angles (especially the giant amphibian-mudpuppy-thing!), and the tropical insect portion made me want to visit the Butterfly Sanctuary more than ever. Again, needless to say, why was I not a vet! Like...a safari vet! Haha. Anyway!

And so it went on. All the way through Medieval Europe to present day modernism, until we hit Ancient Civilizations and my heart was dashed by the museum closing time. I will probably return in July when Keith comes to visit, mark my words! Until then, the ROM is one of my all time favourite hang outs in Toronto thus far (though hey, I haven't had time to pass judgment on all of them) and I can't wait to return. Though the journey home was extremely cold and wet, the struggle was well worth it.

About half of my pictures can be seen here since I don't have a full account, haha. If you want to see more, just email moi.

The Whirlwind Part 2

"When the music should be coming out of every car, there is a silence all over downtown. Where a community of celebration should abound, I walk the sterile gardens where life is on pause." - Eugene Hutz, Gogol Bordello

The week carried on and carried me with it! I feel like the first week was hard to get through, still feeling out people and the courses, unable to detect where I'd be taken. Most, if not all, of my teachers are employed in the publishing industry, and working at Penguin. We examined almost all of the multiplicitous facets of publishing - editorial, contracts, rights, production, business, marketing, psychology - it goes on. Though the weather made an ill turn from sunny metropolis to dowager-dull, I still went out and explored, fell in a few puddles, and took as many pictures as my SD card could manage. There is still so much I have yet to see!

Many long streetcar and subway rides later, racing through the underground and clattering past the bountiful Lake Ontario, I fell into two really cool events at the end of the week.

May 6, 2010 The Young Publishers of Canada @ The Artful Dodger

First of all, what an apt place for people who have invested their lives in the business of books. Second, it was a really sweet pub filled with some amazing people I am glad I had the chance to meet. I went with my friend Andrea, who I met through Humber, and we ambitiously forayed into a world of putting yourself out there. I listened with a somewhat embarrassingly doe-eyed awe as grilled a couple of people from University of Toronto Press about their jobs, and all star struck I admitted they inspired me. And though kind of corny, it's true. I'm still a supa-youngin', and I have so much to learn in this wide wide world. Toronto is the nano-tip of an iceberg I can scarce imagine, and just being able to talk to people in production, rights, or even the assistant editor of Random House made me all starstruck with awe. Not because of the celebrity status (because as I'm learning, you are only a celeb to your peers and clients!), but because it all seems so attainable, especially when you get to hang out with people who have been where you are. And where am I? I'm at the 'working hard and dreaming of a career you are in love with' phase, and maybe it's the small-town in me talking, but I am unabashed! I am so excited to get started in publishing, do an internship and maybe - God/epic loans willing - one day start up my own press. Getting to meet up with the YPC was a fun way of getting that little step closer.

You can look these lovely people up on Facebook for future events if you are interested/want to support them! If you are in the Toronto area, you should try to make it to a meet next time :) However, Andrea and I did not stay very long, for down the street was another extremely important event.

May 6, 2010 - an hour later

The Toronto Reference Library w/ Yann Martel

Although the buzz about Yann Martel's Beatrice & Virgil had literally just kicked into gear when I arrived in Toronto, I was really interested to hear him read and defend the mixed reviews the book has received. Although I had read Life of Pi many years ago in school, I had forgotten the free-flowing wave of his prose and was very thrilled to go to this event. He also discussed his What is Stephen Harper Reading project, which is a very interesting movement that I wish was having the desired effect. To know that my PM isn't a very well read person, or isn't even vaguely interested in replying to a literary outreach like this, kind of makes me a little nervous! For more information on that project, you can go here: http://www.whatisstephenharperreading.ca/

After the reading followed a discussion moderated by CBC's Carol Off. It was a very frank discussion addressing the criticisms the new book has received, his feelings and struggle about trying to create a fragmented allegory about the holocaust, if he's gotten a response to taxidermists about it, and his recent letter from Obama and his daughter. It was a very fascinating discussion and debate, and I wish it had gone on longer! However, I did get him to sign my copy of Life of Pi, and also asked him his opinion on eBooks. After discussing it all week ad infinitum from the publisher's point of view, it was refreshing to chat candidly to the author about it - after all, it is his work changing shape. PS - he loves them!

More to come!

The Whirlwind Part 1

I have been so busy lately it is hard to believe. I am going to split my recent adventures into several parts (entries) so I can get it all out and it can all have equal description!

May 3, 2010

The Gladstone

Book Launch for Keith Oatley's Therefore Choose, as part of the Toronto based THIS IS NOT A READING SERIES. This was my first day of classes, and it was a hell of a ride. I got to meet and hang out with a lot of really awesome people, and dive right into what is already a psychotic and epic program! Everyone is so fun and like minded, and I've already gone on a few outings with my little crew of school chums. I honestly can't believe that 2 weeks have gone by! Although that's a half truth -I have been doing so much in this short period of time it feels like I've been here for 2 months!

Anyway, book launch! I found out about it through my program director (Cynthia Good, former president of Penguin Books Canada - she is very rad!). Most of the class went to the event because at orientation we were encouraged to go out of our comfort zone and attend a lot of these kind of things in order to meet people and network. None of us were very sure what so expect with this reading however; the novel is written by one of my program teachers Keith Oatley, who conducts our very fascinating Psychology of Creativity class. The main part about the THIS IS NOT A READING SERIES is simply that - there is no reading involved from the book per se, more a discussion on thematic threads between the author and someone who they have a strong working relationship with. In this case it was Maja Djikic, one of Keith's peers, who posited a lot of psychological questions in regards to the novel. I picked up a copy, and I have yet to read it simply because I have bought so many books since I arrived! I have a huge list to go through.

All in all it was a very interesting event! I'd never been to anything like it - just your regular reading was all I'd encountered. This was just a neat little social event, and at a really interesting venue. It's not exactly in the best part of town, and it has evolved from what was once a ridiculously ill maintained flop house to a major art venue! The ballroom, double bar and performance room are all really well established, and apparently all of the rooms have been designed by a band of super unique artists. If you would like more information about the Gladstone Hotel, check out their website! http://www.gladstonehotel.com/ Also, there is a really awesome documentary I had watched about it before I came here called Last Call at the Gladstone Hotel by Neil Graham and Derrek Roemer. It is very gritty, very moving and very human take on how this ramshackle living space transformed into an accessible art space...but at what cost? Check out this article http://docspace.ca/film/Last_Call_at_the_Gladstone_Hotel for more info, as well as the trailer below which really encompasses the duality that the film embodies.



Tell me what you think about this issue. Though it's been 3 years since this documentary debuted, do you think it is still relevant, especially if you are a Torontonian yourself?