For this week’s Writing Space, we present… George Elliott Clarke! Issue 133 features an interview regarding his “Criminal” Justice Literature.
What I write with: coffee, sake, ink.
Read more
In the past few years, TNQ’s supporter and submission base has grown. (Which is great!) However, this means that our slush pile has as well, particularly the non-fiction portion. (Which is less great.) This is because the non-fiction pieces you’ll find in the magazine have either been solicited, or have been chosen from finalists in our annual Edna Staebler Personal Essay Contest.
In general, we don’t accept unsolicited non-fiction (which is why you won’t see an option for it on our submission cover sheet). Unless we’re running a special issue, most of our non-fiction is focused on the craft of writing and the writing life. These are subjects we obsess about, and would love to see more of. You too? Great, then we should talk, especially if you’d like to contribute to one of our regular features:
· Day Jobs
· In Conversation (interviews with other Canadian writers)
· Mag as Muse
· On Writing
· Word and Image
Enjoy our Writer-at-Large features? Chances are those pieces also came to our attention via the contest, which is why we recommend that non-fiction manuscripts be submitted directly to the contest.
The best way to know if your work is a fit is to read the magazine and contact our editor directly (editor@tnq.ca) if you have an idea to pitch on one of the above topics, rather than going through our regular submissions process – this will save both you and us a lot of time! (Not sure? Email us anyway. We’re always open to suggestions and questions!)
We also welcome guest bloggers for our blog, The Literary Type. Did you go to a literary event? Do you have something to say about CanLit in a less formal setting? Say, for instance, you get a crack at speaking with writers at their favourite diner. You take a photo with your smartphone, or do a short video of your hero(es) waxing eloquent over grilled cheese (the best food on Earth).
Would we feature that? Try us.
We’re interested in all ideas that promote intimate, lively conversations between readers and writers, and especially those that deepen mutual understanding and appreciation… not to mention those that are just plain fun!
As I mentioned in my last post, I believe it my duty as a spy to experience as many facets of TNQ as possible—and through TNQ, to become part of the wider CanLit community. Even though I’ve only been working here for two months (and how the time has flown!) I’ve had many opportunities to attend literary gatherings that I’ve discovered through the various social media channels I monitor. (Although I must ask: why, Toronto publishers and authors, must you always hold events on Tuesdays and Wednesdays? My spying opportunities are greatly reduced…)
This past Sunday, I had the chance to attend a fascinating reading and panel discussion in honor of International Women’s Day organized by Room magazine. During the break between the reading and the discussion, while other people socialized, my boyfriend (who, through me, is slowly being incorporated into the worlds of literature and feminism…poor boy) and I debated whether or not the wine we’d been given had alcohol in it (I was right; it did) and stared at the rest of the crowd, trying to figure out how they were connected. Do those two people, leaning into each other so intently, know each other? Does that man, holding an issue of Room, know the woman he is seated beside?
Most importantly, we wondered: are we the only people here who don’t know anyone?
This isn’t the only time I’ve felt this way at a reading. As a newcomer to the CanLit scene, I frequently feel as though there is some secret literary community to which I (despite my spy abilities) have not been initiated…and I can’t imagine I’m the only one who feels this way. Reading, and writing too, are solitary pursuits; those of us who are fascinated by the literary arts thus often seem to be unsociable, preferring the company of books to that of people. Working at TNQ has, in fact, made me less shy; I can hide behind the veil of my job and speak professionally, pretending to actually know what I’m talking about rather than introducing myself simply as an interested reader, a more intimidating prospect. What am I supposed to talk about? How do I learn what to say? Do I simply have to keep spying on these events until I learn the lingo? Pretending to be a spy might be a disadvantage here: I feel as though I should remain in the background, unobserved.
These questions beget another, more important: what can we, as literary supporters (if you’re on TNQ’s website, reading this blog post, you most definitely fall into this category) do to increase the openness of events? Is it possible to make attending literary events such as readings and panels more accessible, both to the shy and to the general public who are still learning how to discuss authors and their works, if not with aplomb than at least with enthusiastic interest?
Despite my initial reluctance to attend events, however, my experience has been very positive. The speakers I have heard and the overall experience has always been stellar—particularly when free wine is provided—and I will most certainly continue to attend such events in the future.
However, as a shy literature novice, I also believe that CanLit could be a more welcoming community for the inexperienced, and that in order to maintain growth in interest and readership, it’s important to be approachable. To me, this also plays into the idea of diversity: in order to foster a variety of voices within CanLit, the community must be open, welcoming and willing to translate its secret language for anyone who’s interested. In fact, the event I attended on Sunday was an example of this: it combined both feminism in the arts as well as a reading, allowing those who knew about or were interested in one subject or the other to be slowly included into the discussion of the other.
Could I make more of an effort to socialize? Definitely, and when I attend my next event, I will be. I’ll also try to be more welcoming myself, by which I mean talking to everyone I know about TNQ and CanLit until they’re willing to come to an event with me. Will this be a slow process? Definitely, as most changes are…but CanLit and I are in it for the long haul, and I look forward to seeing us change together.
Read more
This week we asked Suzanne Nussey, author of “Telling the Truth: Some Thoughts on Memoir Writing” in Issue 133, to share her Writing Space with us. Here’s what she had to share!
“Although I inevitably edit on screen at my desk in the corner of our basement, most of my writing begins on my bed, propped up by pillows, next to a stack of books, usually in the evening and often in the middle of the night when the muse visits. I don’t go to the computer until I have filled several pages and have a sense of the piece’s structure.
Three things that help me write:
· The company of favourite authors, visibly represented by hard copies of their work.
· A deadline!”
Read more
