Authors, Ping Pong, & Drinks for First Book Canada: It's Pongapalooza!

Andrew Pyper
Lawrence Hill
Cathy Marie Buchanan
Nino Ricci
Miranda Hill

… and some 30 more big names in the Canadian Literary world all have something in common. They’re all going to be playing ping pong together a week from now on Tuesday, May 14th.

Yes. That’s right. Ping pong. It’s time for the second iteration of Pongapalooza.


Tom Best, Executive Director of First Book Canada, spoke with me about the history of the event and what we can look forward to this year.

Pongapalooza is a fundraiser for First Book Canada. When I asked about how the fundraiser was conceived, Tom laughed. “Wayne Cochrane, Director of Operations at First Book Canada heard about this bar, Spin, a ping pong bar, where Susan Sarandon was a part owner.” Tom says that they were looking for a different sort of fundraiser. Not your typical fancy dinner with silent auction, but something that would be more approachable for younger people who might be in junior positions and still interested in donating to FBC.

Tom’s right; this is right at my price point. At $25 for a spectator ticket, I get competitive (amateur) ping pong, opportunities to network with the literary community, and a night at a really cool bar. All to raise money for a good cause: funds raised at Pongapalooza will all be distributed locally at FBC’s upcoming book drives. CLICK HERE to buy your ticket now.


I asked Tom to tell me what we might expect this year, and he gave me a great run-down.

Doors are at 6pm, and the competitive play starts at 7pm. There will be free tables for casual play, food provided by Spin, drinks (and more drinks), and a good ol’ fashioned raffle. Music, starting with “O Canada,” of course, will be provided by your favourite non-profit DJs David Leonard and Teva Harrison. There are 32 teams that are each "mentored" by a literary leader, and you're encouraged to bet on the outcome!

The best part? Once the formal event is over at around 9:15pm, you’re invited to stay and play and, let me tell you, it’s worth the wait: at 11pm there’s some blue light action and you can play in the dark!




Tom mentioned how the sponsors have been really fantastic, especially Scotiabank, who have this year signed on to be the title sponsor of the event. New sponsors have also come on board this year, like Hop City, who are well-known for their bright and hoppy Barking Squirrel Lager (which I suggest enjoying on the dock at your favourite Ontario lake). Also vital to the event preparation have been the Pongapalooza committee and Ryan Fisher at Spin who Tom calls “a godsend” (so if you see Ryan, thank him and maybe buy him a drink!).

To close, I asked Tom who he thinks we should watch out for on the ping pong tables. “Last year the winning team was from KPMG,” he said. “It was tough for the folks in publishing because the KPMG team didn’t drink a drop last year until after the competition! They felt like they were at a huge disadvantage.” And as for the authors? Tom assured me that we should place bets on Lawrence Hill and Dave Chilton.

So there you have it, folks. Get excited for this year’s competition! I can’t wait, and I would love it if you could join me. To enter to win a pair of spectator tickets to the event, tweet the following:

“Yes, @ayoungvoice: I want to win tickets to @Pongapalooza to raise money for @FirstBookCanada!”

Winner will be chosen at random at 3:59pm today, Tuesday, May 7th, 2013.

The Miracle of a Not-So-Ordinary Woman

Bill Gaston describes Amanda Leduc's THE MIRACLES OF ORDINARY MEN as "A novel with infinite heart." The title of the novel is full of beauty and depth, and so is the novel itself. But first, let me tell you about Amanda.





This, is Amanda Leduc. You may know her from that photo where we were both kind of naked, or maybe from twitter, where she tweets about #CanLit and has a quietly eager, dry wit that cracks me up throughout the day. She's a freelance writer, working days (sometimes very early mornings or very late nights) at a hospital, and now, she's a published novelist.

One of my favourite quotes from Amanda's bio that exemplifies her slightly self-deprecating yet comedic tone is:

"Amanda holds a BFA in Writing and Philosophy from the University of Victoria, and a Masters degree in Creative Writing from the University of St. Andrews. This makes her pretty much unemployable, but in her working life thus far she has held down jobs as an admin assistant, bookseller, support worker, strawberry picker, waitress, fundraiser, hospital admissions clerk and — perhaps most exotically — a dogwalker along a misty Edinburgh beach."

Amanda is also my other half when it comes to all things Bare It For Books. She has been absolutely fabulous to work with. Amanda is persistent, creative, dedicated and very hardworking. We've had a blast working on this project together, and the fact that she has her first published book coming out in the same year we're attempting to raise $20,000 and get 12 Canadian authors naked is, well, crazy. Crazy and admirable.

Amanda recently wrote a post about receiving the final copy of her book in the mail. I suggest you read the post - it's a quick, charming read on the monumental moment of holding your own published work in your hands for the first time. I've seen the book. It is truly gorgeous. The cover is, as Amanda describes it, silky to the touch, and so representative of the dark, magical story that awaits the reader. The rear of the book provides haunting, mysterious review quotes from well-known Canadian writers:

"The Miracles of Ordinary Men is fantastic realism...like a waking dream it has the capacity to seduce and surprise." - Andrew Pyper

"Amanda Leduc's writing is both divine and earthy. Humour and grace illuminate this smart novel about the complexities of human and not-so-human nature. It shines." - Emily Schultz

"Amanda Leduc has written a dark and ambitious novel, a story of tortured magic and transformation." - Deborah Willis

"Amanda Leduc's daring debut tackles big questions about family, God, and the intersection between suffering and spirituality. In her search for answers, she looks unflinchingly toward the darkness as well as the light."
- Trevor Cole

"Amanda Leduc possesses a confident and mature voice, her sentences sparkling with intellect and wisdom. This is a brave book." - Angie Abdou

How could you not want to read this book? Read more about the book on the ECW site AND pre-order it by clicking here. Better yet, buy yourself a copy at the launch in Toronto at Ben McNally Books and get Amanda to sign it herself!

Where: Ben McNally Books, 366 Bay Street
When: May 8th, 2013, 6:00pm
For more information: Contact Jenna Illies
While you're waiting for the official launch, you can add MIRACLES to your TBR list on Goodreads by clicking here. Looking forward to seeing you on May 8th!

On Bare it For Books Press: The Good, the Bad and the Interesting

TO PRE-ORDER THE CALENDAR, CLICK HERE.

So, the Bare it For Books launch has happened. It happened on February 19th, with me waking up every 30 minutes between 4am and 6am convinced that I had already gotten up, gone to get the National Post, and not found an article on the campaign. Clearly I was trying, even unconsciously, not to get my hopes up. When the clock struck 7am, however, I found the fabulous article on the campaign written by Mark Medley online: Prose in the nude: Canadian authors get naked for Bare It For Books calendar.(Tip: if you want to maintain your sanity, do not read the comments.)

During the rest of the day there were other news outlets that picked up the story but it was mainly to share the facts. In the following days, Amanda was interviewed on NewsTalk 1010′s Bookends, and I was up bright and early for an interview with Matt Galloway on CBC's Metro Morning. By the end of the week, Bare it For Books had made it into the news in 41 different media outlets. And that's not counting the heartwarming support by our twitter followers!



Now that the initial media coverage has died down a bit, it was only fitting that the Globe and Mail have their say. Russel Smith wrote quite a long piece on the campaign but, get this - he wants our authors to lose all the clothes. Russel's article touches on something we've been hearing a lot; this isn't a new idea. Since that was the main message, it would seem that the article was "bad press." Neither Amanda or I thought so, however.

a) There's no such thing as bad press, (especially when we have TWO photos, in colour, in the country's national newspaper).
b) Russel's article continued the conversation.

After an initial burst of publicity about the facts of the Bare It For Books project, Amanda and I knew it would be tough to keep the conversation going and keep the enthusiasm for the project rolling until our launch in October. It makes me smile to think that people are debating about whether or not Bare It For Books is a good idea.

What do I think? Well, of course I think it's a good idea. Do I think it's an original idea? Absolutely not. The whole "nearly-nude, tasteful calendar to raise money for charity x" has become a popular, fun way for organizations to raise money. Amanda and I never claimed that we had come up with a brand new idea - we chose the calendar model because it embodies the spirit of Canadian Literature that we both believe many Canadians don't see. (Okay, so maybe they don't see those late nights with authors doing tequila shots either, but maybe that's for the best...) I would like to see someone say "oh, another charity 5K for cancer? What a silly idea. That's been done before." The reason that these fundraisers keep happening is because they work, and sometimes it's okay not to reinvent the wheel.

We've also had some similar comments to Russel's in emails, in passing and on twitter and we both think that it's best to embrace these comments and open the conversation so people can engage and debate. When it comes down to it, that's really what Bare It For Books is about - that, and of course the ultimate goal to raise money for PEN Canada. We're currently in the process of organizing a panel of sorts (location and date are still being confirmed) where we're hoping to have a few people from both sides of the conversation get together and discuss Bare It For Books. We're hoping to have one of the authors from the calendar there as well to add their voice to the conversation. (This will of course also serve the purpose of entertaining you: if you get bored, just picture them naked.)



The main focus now, is to fundraise our $20,000 so the calendar can actually be made. Currently, on March 10th, we're 12% funded. Not bad, but this campaign through Indiegogo is only active for another 41 days so we need your help.

We offer perks for all levels of contribution from $5 (a digital thank you card, a BIFB digital badge and listed as contributor on our site) to $1,000 which offers, among other things, a dinner for you and five friends from Amanda on her book tour and a hand-knitted item of your choice from yours truly! We have t-shirts, tote bags, e-books from the calendar authors and, wait for it... CALENDARS! If you want to buy the calendar, why not just pre-order it by contributing now through our Indiegogo page? At the $35 level, you get the calendar and other goodies!

To pre-order the calendar and donate to our indiegogo campaign, CLICK HERE.

Thank YOU, above all, for your support already in this campaign. If you've made it to the end of this post, then thank you for your time reading about Bare It For Books and remember - reading has always been sexy.

My Interview with Charlotte Gray

"But I do not fabricate. I imagine, but I do not invent. I do not make up characters, events or dialogue – anything in quotation marks comes from a written source."

- Charlotte Gray

Last week, I was lucky enough to get to sit down with my favourite creative non-fiction author. Too specific? Let me explain.

Those of you who know me well are aware that in recent years, I haven't been able to get enough of Canada's history. When the CBC Books team asked me to create a list of my top five "True Stories" for their Canada Reads 2012, one of my recommended reads was Sisters in the Wilderness by Charlotte Gray.

When I saw that Charlotte was the Canadian celebrity chosen to champion one of the top five books at this year's Canada Reads: Turf Wars, I knew I had to interview her. I introduced myself briefly after the Canada Reads press conference and she was kind enough to give me her business card. We got to emailing a few weeks later, and I sent her some interview questions. Not only did she send me back some very thoughtful answers, but she also agreed to meet me for coffee the next time she was in Toronto!

I suggested we meet at Bannock on Queen West for a coffee as I've heard such good things about it. (Plus, I couldn't resist the fact that it's described as "Canadian comfort food" - too fitting!). We chatted for close to two hours about her writing, her process, her plans for the Canada Reads debates, and books in general. It's so wonderful when you can drop the names of different Canadian books multiple times in a conversation and have someone say they've read them each time.

First, let me share the written questions and answers and I'll share some of our conversation over coffee at the end of the post.

Born in England, what drew you to write about the history of Canada?

I was a magazine journalist in London before I arrived in Canada in 1979, so I quickly began writing for magazines here after my arrival. I was living in Ottawa, and the only articles that any Toronto editor wanted from an Ottawa-based writer were on political issues. So I was on a steep learning curve, as I knew nothing about Canadian politics when I arrived! It was a great way to learn about my new country, and I flourished. But I became increasingly unsatisfied with my shallow understanding of the country as a whole, and how the Canada of the late twentieth century had evolved. I looked around for books to inform me, particularly biographies and social histories, and there were so few. There was almost nothing about the roles that women had played in our pasty. So I decided to write one...

Why Creative Non-Fiction?

Because that is what I love to read. My role model was Sandra Gwyn, who was my predecessor as Ottawa editor of Saturday Night magazine, and who then wrote a marvellous book about the early days of Ottawa called Private Capital. I love it when my readers say to me, "I just read one of your books and I enjoyed it because it read like a novel but I learned so much." I've thought a lot about Creative Non-Fiction, and how to engage readers in Canadian history, and I work hard always to stick to the facts, but to make them throb with life. There is an essay on my website, entitled What I Write about this.

Tell me about receiving the Pierre Berton Award for distinguished achievement in popularizing Canadian history. What did it mean to you?

It meant a huge amount to me, as did the awards of the Order of Canada and five honorary degrees. I see them all as recognition of the importance of Canadian history, and a popular understanding of its importance -- and of my small role in enlarging that understanding. When Canadians realise that many of the issues that we face today have characterised Canada from the start, and that the (largely peaceful) political and social evolution of our country is an extraordinary achievement, we can see that there is a sturdy resilience to this country that we can rely on, even if we cannot take it for granted.

I'm currently reading Canada: A portrait in letters (and adoring it). What led you to the format of a collection of letters? Can you speak to the process of researching for this collection?

That book was fun to jigsaw together! I read literally thousands of letters, then linked them with a narrative that placed individual experiences within the larger context of national development. It is the only book for which I used a research assistant, a really smart historian called Deborah Van Seters. We decided which regions/events/individuals we should try and include, and then she went out and scoured library stacks for published collections. In addition, I put out the word within the history and archive communities, and wrote articles in local and national newspapers, appealing for contributions. It was frustrating that we didn't find enough contributions from First Nations, new immigrants, marginalized peoples, survivors of cataclysmic events like the Newfoundland resettlement project -- but I still think we disinterred many voices from the past that would have otherwise gone unheard.

You've chose to champion Away by Jane Urquhart for the Canada Reads debates. Why do you think it's so important for Canadians to read this book?

Away is an extraordinary novel, that recreates within lyrical fictional form one of the great experiences of Canadian peoples -- immigration. Urquhart writes about one Irish family forced out of its beloved homeland by colonialism and famine, and its traumatic arrival in the bleak but beautiful wilderness of Upper Canada in the 1840s. Overlaid on this timeless story of land, loss and survival is the intriguing tale of Mary/Moira, who carries within her the mythology of her homeland. Away is not a character-driven novel, like 3 of the other 4 novels we'll discuss, so much as a plot-driven poetic exploration of how immigrants adapt to a New World. You can tell how much this theme resonates with readers by the fact that Away stayed so long on bestseller lists when it was published 20 years ago, that it remains in print in Canada and more than a dozen other countries, and that individuals from so many different countries (India, Bulgaria, China) have embraced it.

Describe one of your favourite trips/places you have been in Canada.

Too hard to pick one! I loved spending time in Cape Breton, where I researched my biography of Alexander Graham Bell, Reluctant Genius. And my three months in Dawson City, Yukon, where I researched Gold Diggers, Striking it Rich in the Klondike, were heaven -- I made great friends, and had life-changing experiences in a menacingly beautiful landscape. And then of course there is our family cottage on an island in an Ontario Lake. Tranquillity and privacy...

Where do you like to write?

I'm pretty structured about the writing process when I'm working on a book, because I always need a ton of research materials around me. I have two writing places. The first is my third floor study in our house in Ottawa. It is usually a mess of research piles strategically ringing my chair, plus a pile of practical stuff (bills, letters) carefully out of reach where I can ignore it. In the summer, my husband and I have a sleeping cabin away from the main cottage where I have a dedicated writing space, with a wonderful view of water, white pines and chipmunks.

Any upcoming projects you're able to tell me about?

This year is so busy! In late March, Scott Free Productions starts filming a television mini-series, based on Gold Diggers. I am hoping to visit the set in Northern Manitoba. In September, my next book is published by Harper Collins. The working title at the moment is The Massey Murder: The Shocking Case of Carrie Davies. I have various magazine commissions I'm working on, including a profile of Tom Mulcair for Walrus. And I have several ideas for what my next -- and tenth -- book will be...

There were many things that Charlotte and I talked about, but there are two particular quotes I wrote down that I'd like to share with you.

We were talking about the end of "Away" and Charlotte said, "...it's the idea of being in history but not realizing it." This really got me thinking about how we rarely appreciate the present, but constantly look backwards and nostalgically think about "the good old days." In "Away," Eileen hears Thomas D'Arcy McGee speak and though at the time she knows he's an important man, and was to her father, it's clear to the reader that she's part of a history that we will remember for generations to come, and she cannot possibly see this.

We also talked about Canada Reads, and how she's preparing to discuss the different books. I promised I wouldn't give anything away, but I will say that we spent some time talking about February and how much we both enjoyed it. One of the things Charlotte said she loved about that book was that she rarely knew how a sentence was going to end. It's such a valid point, because when I started thinking about why I didn't connect with another of the Canada Reads books, I realized that it was because I felt that I always knew how a sentence would end. Not only that, but when reading "February", I trusted Lisa Moore, and even though I didn't know where she was taking me, I knew that I would enjoy myself. It's how I felt when I read Too Much Happiness by Alice Munro. I would start a story and feel unsure; who were these new characters? Where were my old friends from the last story? How could Munro possibly end this story as well as she did the last one? With each story my trust grew. Quickly I grew to understand that when I started a new story, I was in for a treat and I put myself in Munro's hands, sure that I would enjoy the story she would tell. And I did.

Having met Charlotte, I have a lot of respect for her as a writer. She came to Canada, couldn't find the material she was looking for, so took on the genre herself. Now, as she reiterated, she was already a professional writer coming from England, but nonetheless, it's a daunting task to write creative non-fiction. I imagine you must be extremely passionate and interested in your subject and the research process in general. There's something that I read in her Why I Write essay I mentioned above that totally stunned me. Charlotte writes:

"But I do not fabricate. I imagine, but I do not invent. I do not make up characters, events or dialogue – anything in quotation marks comes from a written source."

The most extraordinary thing for me about this sentence was that when reading her work, I didn't even notice! For her to seamlessly write a compelling story about Canadian history of all things (my grade 10 self would be astounded) without fabricating any dialogue is no easy task. This, among many reasons, is why I look up to her so much as a writer.

As she mentioned, her upcoming book about the murder of Charles "Bert" Massey will be coming out with Harper Collins in the near future. We talked a fair bit about that as my grandmother grew up in Dentonia Park House where the brother of Bert Massey lived, my grandmother's grandfather! (Confusing, I know.) Really looking forward to reading this book!

It was, clearly, such a treat to chat with Charlotte and I have total faith in her for the Canada Reads debates. I think that there are other books and people who will steal the spotlight for the first couple of debates (Indian Horse, Ron MacLean) and she'll be able to fly under the radar until she has the space to clearly, strongly make her case for "Away." I'll be attending on the first and last days. Should be a fabulous time, and I wish her luck!

An average week: Saturday

It's over! (My posts, at least. It's Tuesday, so I suppose my "average week" has been over for a while.) In the next couple of days, I'll write a bit about how the week looked, but for now, here's my VERY exciting Saturday. Should have taken more photos of food in the evening because it was so fabulous and hey -- it's not everyday I eat haggis.

9:00am - 10:45am Despite going to bed on the later side and it being a Saturday morning, I have a lot of trouble with sleeping in, so a 9:00am wake up was actually quite impressive for me. Got up, cleaned a bit and puttered around and started making brunch as my brother was planning on coming over!

Whole wheat and flax waffles with my waffle maker that I ended up with in the boyfriend's family Christmas auction. I've never owned a waffle maker, so this was quite exciting. Especially to also find a recipe that's healthy!

My brother was later than expected as his bus T-BONED another bus in the station on the way to picking him up (?) so we didn't eat until about 11:30am.

11:30am - 1:00pmThe waffles were delicious. With ground flax seeds, bran, and whole wheat flour, they were on the more "healthy tasting" side, but with some maple syrup and berries I think they tasted great. (And a piece of ham on the side, of course. You should always have some protein with your meal!)

1:00pm - 1:30pm Showered and got ready to head over to my parents' place to borrow the car so I could drive Jeremy back to Niagara on the Lake.
2:00pm - 2:30pm Scrounge around the house for my floor length gown I wore at my final recital at McGill to wear later (!) and picked up the car and headed back.
2:30pm - 3:00pm Loaded the car and ran some errands with Jeremy before hitting the road! Grabbed some light Babybel, a pack of mixed nuts and fruit and a coffee from Tim's for the car ride.
3:00pm - 4:15pm ROAD TRIP! Jeremy and I had lovely chats about all things social media (as I'm trying to get him to use twitter! Give the guy a follow: @jcarverjames I've driven to Niagara on the Lake with my mum before, but never been the one to do the driving. It was nice! I'm so used to heading east on the 401 that it was a pleasant change of scenery to go west of Oakville. Plus, driving past all those wineries just makes me so. excited. to head back in May for some tours!
4:20pm - 5:45pm I literally helped Jeremy carry one suitcase into his new place, used the washroom, and pulled back out on to the open road. I had been invited to Emma Jenkin's family's Robbie Burns dinner that night and since it started at 7:00pm, I wanted time to get all gussied up! I listed to an audiobook on the way home and it was quite relaxing.
6:00pm - 7:00pm Came home to the boyfriend and Emma's smoking cigars on the porch and having some pre-dinner drinks. Got into my dress again and couldn't be happier to be wearing it! (Though it could use a dry clean now... sad for me.) Emma came over after her very first day as a mentor with Ladies Learning Code (I strongly recommend their HTML and CSS class!) and we got our glam on.

7:30pm - 12:30am Robbie Burns dinner! Yes, there were bagpipes to pipe in the haggis (okay, okay - someone pretended to be bagpipes #allthechampagne) and then there was a reading of "Ode to a Haggis" where Scottish accents were rampant.

The first course was cock-a-leekie soup with a prune (light, compared to the food that awaited). Then once the haggis was in, it was accompanied by a thick, creamy smoked fish stew, mashed turnip and cabbage with bacon. Hello. I've never had haggis before, but of course I've heard all the nightmares about how awful it is. Now, Emma says that this year's haggis (homemade, I might add) was maybe the best they'd ever had, so I was lucky! It was fabulous. Just tasted like spiced lamb sausgage!

The star of the dessert for me was Atholl Brose, which is essentially a bowl of heavy cream with whiskey and oats. I ate it all. Then, of course, more food comes around! Emma's grandmother had made shortbread, gingerbread loaf and some tiny shortbread-esque cookies with a candied cherry. Like, make it stop. Of course what better way to enjoy the desserts than with an after dinner drink or two? The selection was only okay...

Oh, and what comes after dessert, you ask? Why, a cheese plate, of course. If you haven't tried blue brie I strongly recommend it.

The night was fabulous. It was so refreshing to have different flavours of food for a change and it was really nice to spend some time out of work with Emma and her husband. Luckily, we just live around the corner from her grandparents so we just stumbled home (trains of our dresses in hand; high heels in a plastic bag) and had a big sleep over.

1:00am BED. I have choir on Sunday mornings at 9:30am so the sleep was looking to be short. What a fabulous day.