Reading at Project Space

This week I read alongside my fellow (freshly minted) MFA alums over at Project Space. I had lots of fun reading from my novel manuscript, listening to my friends wax poetic, and meeting all the parents who flew or drove in to watch us graduate from UBC.

Thanks to Rhea Tregebov for sponsoring the event, and to organizer Emily Davidson for inviting me to read, even though I am a fiction-writer and not (alas) a poet!

Notes from Borderland in Grain Magazine

Grain’s Winter 2012 issue, which hits newsstands this week, features my personal essay “Notes from Borderland.” In this piece, I examine Borderline Personality Disorder as a diagnostic label, imitating the layout of the DSM in order to analyze the diagnosis one criterion at a time. Combining personal narrative and feminist critique, this essay takes a skeptical approach to what is increasingly being called “a female malady of late modern society.”

While you’re checking out “Notes from Borderland,” be sure to flip to “How festive the ambulance,” a beautiful poem by my fellow UBC MFA Kim Fu. In the same issue, you will also find the winning poems and stories from the 2011 Short Grain Writing Contest. Lots of great stuff!

Vancouver Gentrification in This Magazine

My article on the new condo development in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside appears in the current issue of This Magazine–check it out! Gentrification is a challenging topic to write about, and I hope I was able to do it justice. Many thanks to columns editor Andrea Bennett for her keen editorial eye. Also in the March-April issue is Kim Fu’s take on the centrist claims of the new Coalition Avenir Quebec–definitely worth a read!

thrilLITERATE

Last weekend’s thrilLITERATE reading was a great success–and so much fun! I enjoyed the talented readers, the generous audience, and Rhizome Cafe’s amazing chocolate orange cake. Most importantly, the event raised $1300 for the WISH Learning and Literacy Program in the Downtown Eastside. Thanks to Amber Dawn for hosting such a vibrant reading series for the past 5 years, and for inviting me to be part of it!

Upcoming Readings

Hey, Vancouverites! I’ve got two upcoming readings this month, and I’d love to see you at both.

On February 9 at 7 pm, I’ll be reading at Locution. Fellow readers include Jordan Hall, Laurie Ann Melnychuk, and Susin Nielsen. The event takes place at Project Space (222 E Georgia Street), and admission is free.

On February 25 at 7:30 pm, I’ll be reading at the last ever thrilLITERATE! In case you’re new to it, the thrilLITERATE Reading Series has showcased some of Vancouver’s most acclaimed queer and allied authors to raise funds for the women’s literacy program at WISH, a drop-in centre for female survival sex workers in the Downtown Eastside. After nearly five years, organizer and host Amber Dawn is saddened but ready to retire this community literary event, but not without a final farewell!

The event takes place at Rhizome Café (317 E Broadway). Sliding Scale $5 – $20. 100% of the door goes to the WISH Learning and Literacy Program. The readings will span two evenings.

Friday February 24 readers include: Elizabeth Bachinsky, Afuwa Granger, Shana Myara, Donna Dykeman, Aaron Chan, Cathleen With, Antonette Rea and Tony Correia.

Saturday February 25 readers include: Tash Wolfe, Larissa Lai, Terra Poirier, Sonnet L’Abbe, Crystal Sikma, Sigal Samuel, Michael V. Smith and Amber Dawn.

Humanities 101 in The Walrus

Hey there, magazine lovers. I thought you might be interested to know that my article on Humanities 101, a free liberal arts program for residents of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, appears in the current issue of The Walrus!

Two nights a week, Humanities 101  attracts Downtown Eastside residents–many live in insecure housing; some are homeless–to the UBC campus to study philosophy, art, history, politics, law, literature, gender studies, writing, and more. Since its inception in 1998, Humanities 101 has also inspired 10 sister programs from Victoria to Halifax. The movement is gaining momentum nationwide, and I suspect we’ll be hearing lots more about it in the years to come.

So get yourself a copy of The Walrus, enjoy the article on Humanities 101, and–when you’re done–flip a few more pages and feast your eyes on the latest poetry by (swoon) Leonard Cohen!

Review of Persistence: All Ways Butch and Femme

My review of Persistence (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2011), an anthology about butch and femme identities, is up on PRISM international‘s website! You can check it out here.

Spoiler: I think this anthology is totally excellent.