Pióro

I have a “dis-in-waiting” for the next over-zealous Russophile I meet. It’s not a common practice for me—to store up bons/mauvais mots—but sometimes inspiration hits and you think maybe you’ve got a keeper. For example, just yesterday I found the perfect way to translate “shit-tastic” into French: merde-ific. Truly inspired.
I’ve reserved the Russophile dis for [...]

The Globe and Mail has a contest that has caught my attention. They run part of a recent novel for five days and on the last day readers are invited to submit reviews. This routine will go on for six weeks. At the end of each week, ten reviews are drawn and the winners each [...]

Elif called last night to say that Pebbled has been accepted into the Stratford-Upon-Avon International Digital Film Festival. That’s right. Her work is going to the Bard’s hometown. My voice, which is the only part of me in the film, will float into the Stratford air and I’ve still never visited the place. I wonder [...]

An art project can have a life of its own, especially when Elif is behind it.
Two years ago, when Martha and I were marooned in Whitby, Elif called me and said, “Matt, we’re doing something for the Station Gallery.” Out of nowhere, Elif approached the head of the gallery and said that she was a [...]

I got a very gentle rejection letter today, but it still contained a shock. The editor who responded to my query made a language-usage no-no.
Now, I have no intent of needlessly flaming this editor. I am the vengeful type, but she was very conscientious in her reply, leaving me no reason to get snarky. Still, [...]

Dear Scream Literary Festival,
Thank you for wasting my time. I know artsy types are usually late and start times are flexible. That’s why I arrived at the Metalogos reading half an hour after the posted start time of 5pm. The nice lady at the door then said that the performances by Paul Dutton, Nobuo Kubota, [...]