Interview Sessions: Volume 4.5

Meet Napatsi Folger.

When Napatsi Folger sent us the picture you see beside this sentence, she wrote (and we quote): "It is ridiculous. Like me." Now, we wouldn't necessarily call her "ridiculous," but that should give you a little hint as to her personality.

Napatsi is quicker to laugh than just about anyone we've ever met. It's a hearty, genuine guffaw, generally accompanied by a mischievous grin that instantly puts you at ease in her company. Her generous, amiable nature, however, is often at odds with her writing -- a contradiction that can catch those unfamiliar with her work off guard.

Napatsi comes from Iqaluit, in Canada's northern province of Nunavut, and her stories often bring a reader there. As she puts it in our interview, her work is "...honest and hard," covering "complicated issues." Napatsi never shies away from difficult realities in her fiction, instead choosing to meet the darker sides of life head-on: substance abuse, complicated relationships, and the struggles that come with living in some Northern communities are all dealt with in their turn. Her writing style, which often leans towards a stark realism, lends itself perfectly to the stories she tells. We are often left with raw portraits of raw people; real situations without easy answers. And yet, at the heart of it all, we find a celebration of the North, and of Inuit culture itself.

Survival, she says, is one of the most remarkable elements of Inuit culture. Not in a "noble kind of lame way the way people might think," she continues, "but really raw survival in the face of horrible shit." This resilience is on display in her stories, and readers can find themselves humbled by the struggles Napatsi's characters go through when they realize that her writing captures "what life is like in Iqaluit, for many of the people anyway."

In 2011, Napatsi published her first novel, Joy of Apex, a young adult novel about growing up in Nunavut, and in 2013, she has forthcoming pieces in both Matrix and The Walrus. Currently finishing her bachelor of arts at the University of Toronto at Scarborough, Napatsi's writing has nowhere to go but up from here. Read her answers to our interview questions below, and come see her at the reading this Sunday.

-----

An Interview with Napatsi Folger: A Question of Survival.

THE BIG QUESTIONS:
1) To get the ball rolling: For any audience members who have never had the chance to read your work before, how would you describe it? (For bonus points: on this month’s theme of ‘natural forces,’ what would the weather forecast be on the day your work is being read?) 
I would describe my work as... honest and hard. I have been working really hard to make it reflect what life is like in Iqaluit, for many of the people anyway, and I have never really been able to get away from that sort of stark style. It's simple I guess, but covers complicated issues. And the weather for the day my work is being read would be cold and windy - my favourite. :)

2) Can you remember the first time a writer's work really reached out and grabbed you? If so, who were they, and what about their writing caught your attention? Are there any elements of it that you still find yourself chasing, in some way?
Yes, aside from the usual kind of growing up, kids stuff or high school classics like "Catcher in the Rye" the first author who really hit me was Eden Robinson. I read her novel "Monkey Beach" in a first year English Lit class in 2002. I was so shocked because it was the first time anyone had captured something I could relate to so fully. She wrote about her native community and life and struggles there which is why I guess it resonated with me. I had always (naively) assumed that I was alone in my struggles growing up, but she put it all down in one book so succinctly. I was blown away.

I was also impressed with how well she integrated gothic themes throughout her very realistic story. I have not been successful with that yet, I am very much a realist, and trying to delve into more fantastic ideas in my stories, especially short stories.

3) In your own work, are there any themes, images, or characters (etc.) that you find yourself drawn to, intentionally or otherwise? What are they? Why do you think they resonate with you? 

Yes, I didn't realize it really until you asked this question, but I think, and this is going to sound so corny, but my major theme that keeps cropping up is survival. It's one of the elements about Inuit culture that I've always respected, and one of the few things that I think is still really a strong aspect of Inuit culture. And I don't mean in a noble kind of lame way the way people might think, but really raw survival in the face of horrible shit. That's what I love about the north, is that you really see what humanity is capable of and how resilient people can be. I mean, it's not necessarily good, but I feel like my characters bring to life that constant battle of "cope or die" which so many Inuit and people around the world in general face everyday.

4) If there's one thing that you'd like people to feel when they read what you’ve written, or something that you’d like them to take away from your writing, what is it? 

 I always hope that people get a sense of the little things that keep my characters going despite the bad things that happen. I want people to enjoy the subtle humor or joy that punctuates (sometimes very little or rare moments in my stories I know) my writing. I hope that the darker parts of my subject matter don't overwhelm the sense in the story that life goes on and can still be joyous sometimes. That's my biggest concern when people read my stories.

5) Just for fun, give me a pairing: one of your favourite works/authors and one of your favourite beverages (alcoholic or not). Why do they go together? How do they complement one another?
Toni Morrison's Beloved and a hot cup of Earl Grey tea. I used to wake up early to read it before class and sit and sip tea. It's important to note that I never, ever, wake up early to do anything except when forced to travel.

6) Last question: give us a short (less than 75 words) third-person bio blurb about yourself which covers any awards/distinctions you're proud of and what you're tackling right now.
Napatsi Folger is in her last semester of a B.A.Degree at the University of Toronto which is making work on her short story collection very slow going. She's looking forward to this fall because she has two pieces of writing being published: a fiction story in Matrix Magazine, and a very brief memoir in The Walrus Magazine. In 2011 Napatsi published her first young adult novel, "Joy of Apex" about growing up in Nunavut.

THE LIGHTNING ROUND:

1) What’s your desert island book/album/film?

Stephen T. Asma's "On Monsters: An Unnatural History of Our Greatest Fears"/Paul Simon's Graceland/ Woody Allen's Deconstructing Harry

2) Which artist, living or dead, would you meet for lunch? 
Preston Sturges.

3) Which Toronto restaurant would you take them to?
Oh jeeze. Not knowing any good places besided sushi even though he would probably hate it I would take him to New Generation Sushi on Bloor @ Spadina. Mostly because I love sushi and I want to go there now.

4) Most underappreciated novel/short story out there, in your opinion?
Twilight... just kidding. I honestly have no answer for this. I have no gauge for how popular things are... I'm very out of touch and I have no problem with that.

5) Any chance you'll give us a little hint at what you'll be reading on the 29th?

Hmmm it's part of my short story collection about Iqaluit. It's got the word fire in it. Also, raven. Annnnd there's an angry man in it. Several in fact.

Interview Sessions: Volume 4.4

Meet Mike Sauve.

To kick off this post, an apology: 

Dear Mike, 

We are sorry that we keep trying to put down your name as "Suave." In our defense, you do seem charming, glib, and urbane. Speaking from experience as a man whose name has been written out correctly on the first try by strangers maybe six times since 1994, I know your pain. We sincerely apologize.

In solidarity, 

Kris "Yes, I am aware that it's normally spelled with a 'ch'" Bone

With that little bit of business out of the way, let's cut to the chase here: Just who is Mike Sauve? What does he write? How many horses does he own? (All the important questions we know you're demanding answers to.)

Having started in writing as a journalist, Mike now lets his artistic sensibilities run wild. He has a remarkably impressive portfolio of both fiction and non-fiction, a huge sampling of which is available on his website, Scorpion of Scofflaw. Let us warn you, though: if you have things written down in your agenda for the afternoon, you may want to delay clicking the link — Mike's writing will suck you in and refuse to let you go (or, at least if it did, you would refuse to leave). In fact, this post would have been up a while ago had this dedicated blogger (normally so impervious to distraction) not stumbled into the cave of wonders that is Mike's "Fiction" tab. 

Mike's work has something for everyone: we legitimately guffawed at his Memo: Considering a Face Tattoo, a pitch-perfect bit up on The Feathertale Review's website, and his An Open Letter to the Family Counseling Student Expelled for Lacking Empathy, published on the "Open Letters to People or Entities who are Unlikely to Respond" portion of McSweeneys.net; we find ourselves haunted by his Everything you Can Think of is True, from the 24th issue of M-Brane; and we are both haunted by and guffawing at his piece My New Gang from Theaker's Quarterly Fiction #39. 

Mike's remarkable creative range, in both subject matter and imagery, is simply striking. In our interview, he describes his writing as "a reaction to all the rigidly-enforced clarity and simplicity expected of low-level journalists," and we don't doubt that his writing benefits from that instinct — we can't help but wonder, however, if that journalistic foundation is where Mike's incredible ability to corral tangible, solid details in his fictional worlds comes from.  Just try reading "Everything you Can Think of is True" without wanting to shower away all the grit from 'the unraveling' afterwards. (We've showered twice, to no avail.) 

His website also features samples of his journalism, should you be interested to study the other side of Mike's writing. Certainly a strange experience after his fiction, he writes movie and music reviews, as well as features about diverse subjects like Baptist congregations, or the infamous Comfort Zone. Whatever the subject, whatever the medium, Mike's writing remains fascinating.

Mike was kind enough to answer some questions for us, which we have posted below. And once you've read those, you can check out Mike's website (if, for whatever reason, you haven't already). And then, we'll see you on Sunday. Have a safe and happy Friday/Saturday, all you wild people. 

(Oh — for the record, he owns a whopping six horses. And now you know.)

-----

An Interview with Mike Sauve: Call Centres and a Mayorally-issued Smog Alert

1) To get the ball rolling: For any audience members who have never had the chance to read your work before, how would you describe it? (For bonus points: on this month’s theme of ‘natural forces,’ what would the weather forecast be on the day your work is being read?) 

My work ranges from speculative fiction, to zany maximalism, to elegiac ‘bad feels’ over lost youth. I started in journalism, so I think a lot of my fiction is a reaction to all the rigidly-enforced clarity and simplicity expected of low-level journalists.


Weather: Humid and unpleasant, 33 degrees at noon, a mayorally-issued smog alert, citizens angry and hostile on buses and LRT lines—then a downpour. Some remove shirts and run in rainstorm ecstasy, and that’s redemptive for them, but most just get drenched and are worse off than when it was just the humidity, and then they go home and eat a high-sodium frozen entrée and think about the better times.

2) Can you remember the first time a writer's work really reached out and grabbed you? If so, who were they, and what about their writing caught your attention? Are there any elements of it that you still find yourself chasing, in some way? 

I was an avid young reader, so it would have been Stephen King when I was in the 4th grade. During the tumult of pre-pubescence, after enduring some social catastrophe, I took smug satisfaction knowing my rivals would go through life without the intimate pleasure of getting lost in a fictional world. History bore me out. I keep close tabs on those people and they are slack-jawed reality show enthusiasts to a one.

Recently, I loved The Spectacular Now. Both my novels feature precocious teen protagonists, so I appreciate the difficulty of writing the precocious teen. (Ever notice there are never unprecocious teens in novels? If so it would be all “Jamie talked on Facebook for three hours, heated a pizza pocket, masturbated.”) 

3) In your own work, are there any themes, images, or characters (etc.) that you find yourself drawn to, intentionally or otherwise? What are they? Why do you think they resonate with you? 

I often write about faded friendship and how memories of old friends can haunt a person, as seen in The Dispossessed Person and several of my other short pieces. I’m plagued by memories of adolescent glory and can’t stop dreaming about people I haven’t seen in over a decade, even after I’ve deleted all those individuals off Facebook. The people I grew up with don’t exist anymore; they’re new people who wear Ed Hardy shirts and boast about having a man-cave. A couple stories I’m sending out now continue to dwell on this theme, but after those I hope to move the heck on. This stuff isn’t healthy.

I also write often about demoralizing and meaningless work environments. I’ve worked a lifetime total of 12 days in three different call centres, but have written ten+ call centre-related stories. Similar to how George Saunders’ few days working in a slaughterhouse led to his brilliant workplace fiction, except mine is orders of magnitude less brilliant.

4) If there's one thing that you'd like people to feel when they read what you’ve written, or something that you’d like them to take away from your writing, what is it? 

I don’t have a good answer here. I’m happy if even a few people relate, find the jokes funny, and find the sad parts sad. To quote Jonathan Lethem from a recent Paris Review interview, “That’s all I have to offer, what Philip K. Dick had to offer me, solidarity.” 

5) Just for fun, give me a pairing: one of your favourite works/authors and one of your favourite beverages (alcoholic or not). Why do they go together? How do they complement one another?

I’m going to say Bob Dylan and Kamikazes because Bob Dylan is my favourite artist, and during the 80s he used to down four of these incredibly sweet, acidic cocktails before each performance and then berate the audience, which was hilarious. And please email if you’d like to be directed to bootlegs of these performances and added to my Bob Dylan email list to receive emails like every second day with Bob Dylan-related original content. 

6) Last question: give us a short (less than 75 words) third-person bio blurb about yourself which covers any awards/distinctions you're proud of and what you're tackling right now.

Mike Sauve has written non-fiction for The National Post, Variety, Exclaim! Magazine and other publications. His online fiction has appeared everywhere from Feathertale, Pif Magazine, Monkeybicycle, Dragnet Magazine and McSweeney’s to university journals of moderate renown. Stories have also appeared in print in M-Brane, Criminal Class Review, Filling Station, and elsewhere. 


THE LIGHTNING ROUND:

1) What’s your desert island book/album/film? 

Got to go with Infinite Jest because it’s so long and so good and you could read it over and over no problem. Another option might be Adam Levin’s The Instructions. For a film I’ll say The Bicycle Thief because if there were no people around to depress me, I’d need something to depress me, right? 

2) Which artist, living or dead, would you meet for lunch? 

I already mentioned Dylan, so I’ll say David Lynch. My earliest fiction was very Lynch-influenced. I think I watched Mulholland Drive about 30 times when I was in OAC, and I was always striving for that type of irrealism. Because of Lynch, I was writing slipstream before I knew there was such a term. 

3) Which Toronto restaurant would you take them to?

I eat out a lot, mostly at cheap diners around Esplanade and Jarvis, so probably one of those places. Times Square Fish and Chips let’s say.

4) Most underappreciated novel/short story out there, in your opinion?

Youth in Revolt by C.D. Payne. It’s already a minor cult classic, but it should be on the Confederacy of Dunces level.

5) Any chance you'll give us a little hint at what you'll be reading on the 25th

The Dispossessed Person, which is my dubious tribute to the David Foster Wallace story The Depressed Person, except dealing with the above-stated themes of friendship loss instead of depression. 

Interview Sessions: Volume 4.3

Meet Spencer Gordon.

Should you ever cross paths with writer/editor Spencer Gordon during your travels around Toronto, the first thing you'll notice is that the man is sharp. He is intelligent, he is well-read, and he takes pride in his work — no matter what the subject matter is. 

Speaking as someone who has had a scintillating, if brief, conversation with the man on the topic of Hilary Duff (yep, really), I can say with confidence that it is a pleasure to engage with Spencer, whether you're chatting about professional wrestling or David Foster Wallace. In fact, one of Spencer's most admirable talents is his ability to craft heart-wrenching stories out of such unlikely sources as beauty pageants, celebrity culture, or dinosaur porn (here again, we are entirely serious). 

Spencer's highly-lauded collection of short stories, Cosmo, is like reading Brief Interviews with Hideous Men scrawled into the margins of People magazine. His technical ability is never in question while you read through the tales, and there's a palpable delight evident on the page as he cuts to the unlikely emotional hearts of situations and characters you may never have considered in the same way. 

Operation Smile, the collection's opening story, crafts a compelling portrait of the woman behind the Miss USA sash, exploring the immense pressures and considerations of chasing perfection in the public eye. Lonely Planet is an incredibly sad story, which is impressive, given that it deals with an aging porn star filming a dinosaur-themed scene in full costume. Journey to the Centre of Something is quite probably the most fantastic story starring Matthew McConaughey that you'll ever read, drawing easily on magical, dream-like elements which come together to create a narrative as unusual and riveting as Spencer's take on McConaughey himself. Spencer also sets aside a few stories to flex his sheer writerly muscle: This Is Not an Ending is a bleak, slow-burning fictionalization of the OC Transpo shootings in 1999; Jobbers is a crushing story about wrestling and family that was our personal favourite in the collection, and one that will stick with readers for years.

It's not for nothing that Cosmo was awarded CBC's Overlookie Bookie Award for "Most Underrated Canadian Book" in 2013: the collection is as energetic and fun as it is tragic and moving. Also, there is a story about Leonard Cohen resorting to writing jingles for Subway restaurants as a means of solving lingering money problems. So, yeah —it's perfect.

[If you're interested in picking up Cosmo — and you should be — it can be found here.]

A man of diverse talents, Spencer has his creative fingers in lots of different literary pies around Toronto, and odds are you've heard of at least one of his projects before. He is co-founder and co-editor of The Puritan, the online journal that just released a new issue. He is also co-founder and co-editor of the Ferno House micro-press, which has published anthologies and chapbooks from Andrew Faulkener, Mat Laporte, and Shannon Maguire, among others (including himself — his poetry chapbook Look Good, Feel Great, Have a Blast! was released last year, and was nominated for the 2012 bpNichol Chapbook Award). He teaches at both Humber and OCAD. Plus, he's been published in journals like CV2, Broken Pencil, and Joyland.

He kindly answered a few questions for the blog, even though we broke his fifth rule of interviewing authors. (Sorry, Spencer!) To his credit, his answer to question number four is basically the single best description of how readers would ideally feel ever. We're going to get it framed and put it up on our wall. Check it out below.

-----

Spencer Gordon: A Cult of Personality, and Making the Giller Longlist.

1) To get the ball rolling: For any audience members who have never had the chance to read your work before, how would you describe it? (For bonus points: on this month’s theme of ‘natural forces,’  what would the weather forecast be on the day your work is being read?)

I try to write differently in each story, poem, or longer piece that I’m working on, making a succinct summary of “what it’s like to read my writing” difficult, at least for me. I’ll summarize what other people have had to say, in a series of arbitrary adjectives from positive reviews of Cosmo: “spritely,” “affecting familial realism,” “absurd vision quests in celebrity,” “experimental palate cleansers,” “brave,” “Mariah Carey-esque range,” “vigorous,” “charming,” “media-besotted,” “deliri[ous],” “refreshing,” “startling,” “rare.” High energy? Depressing? Funny? All over the place, right? I guess the weather would be similarly changeable, from annoying sleet to glad sunshine, muggy humidity to frigid cold. In other words, wake up!

2) Can you remember the first time a writer's work really reached out and grabbed you? If so, who were they, and what about their writing caught your attention? Are there any elements of it that you still find yourself chasing, in some way?

Everything I read as a child reached out and grabbed me, as you put it. I had no filter! So I was probably reading The Chronicles of Narnia or The Lord of the Rings or something. As for chasing these writers and works, not really. Dungeons & Dragons is always available.

3) In your own work, are there any themes, images, or characters (etc.) that you find yourself drawn to, intentionally or otherwise? What are they? Why do you think they resonate with you?

It’s all intention! Don’t let them tell you otherwise. I am drawn to extremely lonely people with incommunicable interior worlds. I am drawn to the contrasts between surface and reality, outward masks and personal pain. I am drawn toward the zeitgeist. Obviously this means pop culture, celebrity, wealth and fame and beauty, resolving the pulls of mass culture and supposedly nobler pursuits. I also like to play with scaffolding, the assumed frameworks of narrative, as much as I like to write traditional pieces. To explain why these things resonate me would involve many hours of psychological profiling.

4) If there's one thing that you'd like people to feel when they read what you’ve written, or something that you’d like them to take away from your writing, what is it?  

Here’s the basic rundown: first, I’d like people to weep and wail in joy and sorrow over how heartbreakingly affective my work is. Then I’d like them to swell with such immense and obsessive sexual and emotional desire for me that they beg to become my slaves, living for my occasional attention, my passing interest, my spanks. Then I’d like them to go out into the world to recruit more disciples to my cult of personality. Their lives changed, utterly. Then I’d maybe make the Giller longlist.

5) Just for fun, give me a pairing: one of your favourite works/authors and one of your favourite beverages (alcoholic or not). Why do they go together? How do they complement one another?

My favourite descriptions of drinking can be found in various Hemingway novels. First it was the ‘giant killer’ (absinthe) in For Whom the Bell Tolls. Then I came to love the way the partying Spanish villagers squirt the bags of warm red wine down their throats in lustful exuberance and delirium in the streets. Inebriation and poor decisions and rosy glows (isn’t it pretty to think so?) are very important to Hem (there are whole academic essays on the subject), so I suppose both getting fucked up and reading Hemingway go hand in hand.


Note: I also believe you should be over 25 to read Hemingway because you will appreciate the better things in his work and avoid being a total asshole in your Romantic Youth.

6) Last question: give us a short (less than 75 words) third-person bio blurb about yourself which covers any awards/distinctions you're proud of and what you're tackling right now.

Spencer Gordon is the author of Cosmo (Coach House Books, 2012), winner of CBC Books’ “Underlookie Bookie Award” for Most Underrated Canadian Book and noted as one of CBC’s “Writers to Watch” for 2013. He is the author of the poetry chapbooks Feel Good! Look Great! Have a Blast! (Ferno House, 2011), shortlisted for the bpNichol Chapbook Award, and Conservative Majority (Apt. 9 Press, 2013). He’s the co-editor of the online magazine The Puritan and of the Toronto micro-press Ferno House. Look at his shit at www.spencer-gordon.com.

Lightning Round

1) What’s your desert island book/album/film?

I don’t really have a desert island book/album/film. Maybe the Bible, the Psalms? TheTao Te Ching? As for a film, I’d probably say Backdoor Barbecue Part IX or the much-rumoured sequel to Dinosaur Porn, Dinosaur Porn II: Reptile Dysfunction.

2) Which artist, living or dead, would you meet for lunch?

Taylor Swift.

3) Which Toronto restaurant would you take them to?

I’d take her anywhere she wanted—I’d even eat meat! But being realistic, I’d probably decorate my apartment as a restaurant and tell her it was a really trendy wine bar. (Hi, Steph!).

4) Most underappreciated novel/short story out there, in your opinion?

Let’s stick to Canada. In a Canadian context, the works/short stories of Douglas Glover and the novels of Tony Burgess. They are largely underappreciated. Not saying they aren’t appreciated in some way, but I am saying that they deserve more than what they’re given, especially by our absurd prize culture and lame-ass Conservative Majority Critical Culture. Lynn Crosbie wrote the best novel/memoir in 2012, so where is her medal? In Canadian poetry, I would throw in my friend Nathaniel G. Moore because his poetry collection Let’s Pretend We Never Met is fantastic and wasn’t reviewed or covered near enough (his new novel, Savage, appears this fall). I’d also say the books of Jim Smith, who is a dynamo. Also: my whole new world order stable of Ferno House poets: Mat Laporte, Liz Howard, Fenn Stewart, Shannon Maguire (also a BookThug poet!), Jimmy McInnes, Ben Ladouceur, Andrew Faulkner (author of Need Machine from Coach House), David Brock (upcoming Wolsak & Wynn poet!), etc. These are all young and up-and-coming poets who will make you dance.

5) Any chance you’ll give us a little hint at what you’ll be reading on the 25^th?

I’ll probably be reading poetry. My poems get small gratifying pops and my fiction is big and hard to perform in short amounts of time, leaving me feeling like no one has had a good time. I’ve also got a new chapbook of poems coming out soon from Ottawa’s fantastic Apt. 9 Press and I’d like to share it with you dinguses.

-----

Spencer Gordon is a Toronto writer, editor, and educator. He holds an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Toronto, and he has a great haircut. His second chapbook, Conservative Majority, will be released this fall with Apt. 9 Press (and we can't wait). Should you wish to help him start that cult of personality he mentioned, you can tweet him (@Spencergordon), or visit www.spencer-gordon.com. 

Interview Sessions: Volume 4.2

Meet Winter Rowan.

You may not know Toronto folk musician Winter Boyer-Bivins, a.k.a Winter Rowan, a.k.a nope actually those are the only two things that she goes by so far as we are aware, but here are 3 reasons why you definitely, certainly, most assuredly should:

1) She has an album called Sexual Tension in the Cereal Aisle.

2) She does ukulele covers (and sometimes takes requests!), including this cover of "Zombie" by The Cranberries.

3) She is, in her own words, "very Canadian."

Continuing on the trend of "young musicians whose talent makes us feel bad about ourselves" which we started with the handsome Robot Feels, Winter is only 19, though you wouldn't guess it if you were listening to her music. An acoustic artist, who works as often with the guitar as with its miniature cousin, the ukulele, Winter's delicate, somewhat wistful voice suits her music to a tee. Drawing inspiration from artists like Sarah Slean, Regina Spektor, and Hawksley Workman, among others, Winter's music has a real heart to it, something at once raw and fragile that tugs at your ears the way a breeze tugs at long grass. She's not one to fence herself in to one genre or a select stable of artists, though.

"i love the canadian music scene and listen to a lot of cbc," she says, "but i have one direction on my ipod too, so i kind of just listen to whatever catches my eye--ear."

One thing that caught our eye about Winter's work is the variety she shows in both subject matter and references. With a Winter Rowan album, you never quite know what to expect. Sometimes it's musical theatre (as with her album titled Enjolras and Grantaire Die Holding Hands), sometimes it's unexpected appearances by other bands (a cover of the Rolling Stones' "Wild Horses" being one of our favourites) and 

sometimes it's a little more socially minded. 

As she mentions in our interview, she "like[s] throwing in random bits of activism. i'm feminist, queer, and have a mental illness, so it's important for me to draw from these experiences--being a woman and having depression. it's important to look at these things and make light of them even when shit just seems pretty bad."

Either way, her output alone is staggering: if you check out her Bandcamp, you'll see that she has four albums available (for listening to or downloading by donation), and that's just a fraction of her catalog. She's always producing new songs, new covers, and new material from other disciplines as well (the odd drawing or bit of writing may very well sneak under the radar).

She can't wait for you to hear a sample of her music this Sunday at The Only, and neither can we. And if you find yourself wanting to chat with Winter after the show, a hint: try asking her about musical theatre (and especially Les Miz). You can thank us later.

We've got an interview with Winter below, but if you want to learn/read/hear more, you can find her on Twitter, Tumblr, or at one of her websites.

-----


THE BIG QUESTIONS: 

1) To get the ball rolling: For any audience members who have never had the chance to hear your work before, how would you describe it? (For bonus points: on this month’s theme of ‘natural forces,’ what would the weather forecast be on the day your work is being performed?): 

cute and depressing. hopefully chilly--think october or california on the beach. gotta have wind yo.

2) Can you remember the first time an artist's work really reached out and grabbed you? If so, who were they, and what about them caught your attention? Are there any elements that you still find yourself chasing, in some way?: 

i'm not sure i remember exactly when...but the first artist that really really got to me is sarah slean. at first, i didn't really like her music. they played her on cbc all the time and i never really got into it, but something happened (i dunno) and suddenly she was my absolute favourite musician. her music is just a really important part of my life and my writing process. she puts me in a good mood, a relaxed mood, and really helps me get the creative juices flowing.

well, i'd like to be able to play piano well, which i think would help me get more of an ambiance i want around certain songs, but for now i feel pretty good with my stuff. i'm still experimenting and finding exactly where my niche is in the music world.


3) In your own work, are there any themes, images, or melodies (etc.) that you find yourself drawn to, intentionally or otherwise? What are they? Why do you think they resonate with you?: 

i'm originally from northern ontario, so nature is pretty important to me. i find myself drawing metaphors with water and forest and wind...definitely got some four elements stuff going on. i always feel pretty close to nature, it's something i'd like to channel more than i do. i like throwing in random bits of activism. i'm feminist, queer, and have a mental illness, so it's important for me to draw from these experiences--being a woman and having depression. it's important to look at these things and make light of them even when shit just seems pretty bad. i'm all about alienation effect, sounding really happy when the lyrics might be like "i am so depressed i hate everything where the frick is my whiskey". also tv shows and books...writing about real life is much harder than it seems.


4) If there's one thing that you'd like people to feel when they read what you’ve produced, or something that you’d like them to take away from your music, what is it?: 

i'd hope people feel inspired to do whatever they want. my music's about letting go and saying "fuck the system" in a way it's got a punk definition even if it doesn't really sound that way. i just want people to feel free. and cry.


5) Just for fun, give me a pairing: one of your favourite albums and one of your favourite beverages (alcoholic or not). Why do they go together? How do they complement one another?: 

(last night we were) the delicious wolves by hawksley workman and apple cider (throw some booze in there if you want). they've both got a sort of edge, a tang if you will. there's something super cozy about both hawksley's music and apple cider where you want to snuggle into bed and just chill but also makes you want to get up and dance or sway and let go. it's a very "autumn" feeling i suppose--bundle up in sweaters and scarves and fall like leaves.


6) Last question: give us a short (less than 75 words) third-person bio blurb about yourself which covers any awards/distinctions you're proud of and what you're tackling right now. 

Winter Rowan's only real proud moments have to do with her work in musical theatre in high school, but she is very proud of her bandcamp and her clever album names. Right now, she's working as what she likes to call a "freelance musician" and taking song commissions online, hoping to make enough money to pay for her application on Ontario Colleges. She continues to try and fail at piano playing.



THE LIGHTNING ROUND:

1) What’s your desert island book/album/film?: hapsgood translation of les mis.


2) Which artist, living or dead, would you meet for lunch?: liza minnelli


3) Which Toronto restaurant would you take them to?: the spaghetti factory (that's the fanciest place i can think of oh my gosh i never go to restaurants except like subway)


4) Most underappreciated album out there, in your opinion?: 11:11 by regina spektor


5) Any chance you'll give us a little hint at what you'll be reading on the 25th?: think ukulele

Interview Sessions: Volume 4.1

Meet Ben Ladouceur.

Ben Ladouceur describes himself as a "die-hard man about town," which is something that very few people involved in Toronto's literary scene would be inclined to disagree with. After all, it's not uncommon to find Ben gracing the stage at one of Toronto's many readings, or to stumble across his poetry in your favourite journals. He's all over town, and not just this town, either -- his work has appeared in some of Canada's best titles, from coast to coast: Winnipeg's Contemporary Verse 2 and Victoria's The Malahat Review, as well as Toronto mainstays like The Puritan and Dragnet. [It is worth mentioning here that Dragnet has just launched their first anthology, in which Ben's work appears, and which you can order on their website.]

It doesn't take a long time to understand why Ben is in such high demand. His poetry, lyric though it is, also often shares the funny, instantly relatable nature of a good bar story. His poems are well measured and emotionally complex, with a solid, energetic core to them that makes reading them a genuine pleasure. When we first heard some of Ben's work, we were blown away by the balance they demonstrated, especially when you're lucky enough to hear them read in person. When he reads them aloud, the poetry takes on a new dimension: his delivery is straightforward and unpretentious, but very self-aware and with a clear understanding of how he wants his poems to function. The overall effect shares a lot with watching a comedian at the top of their game, in that you feel like you're in on a great joke, or that the poem you're listening to could only be understood by you and the people listening around you. It's a remarkable feeling.

Most recently awarded PRISM international's Earle Birney Prize for his poem "Gran Vals," Ben has also been nominated for a plethora of other poetry awards, including the John Lent Poetry Prize and The Pushcart Prize. And as if those weren't flattering enough, one of Ben's poems was even selected for inclusion in this year's Best Canadian Poetry 2013. 

Originally from Ottawa, where he achieved both an undergraduate degree in English Literature, and a Master of Arts degree in Canadian Studies, Ben has settled in Toronto for the moment (suck it, other Canadian cities!), and his reputation is going nowhere but up. We managed to harass Ben into answering a few questions for us before the reading on the 29th, which you can read below.

[Reply to this post with your favourite RL Stine Goosebumps book, and we'll give you a shout-out on Facebook and Twitter! We're calling Say Cheese and Die, though.]

-----

An Interview with Ben Ladouceur: Goosebumps, Making Pizza with Anne Carson, and Two Years of Dogs.

1) To get the ball rolling: For any audience members who have never had the chance to read your work before, how would you describe it? (For bonus points: on this month’s theme of ‘natural forces,’  what would the weather forecast be on the day your work is being read?)

The boring way to describe my work, I guess, would be to call it lyric poetry, often personal/confessional, and usually dwelling on queer themes. The weather forecast? It would be raining actual cats and dogs.

2) Can you remember the first time a writer's work really reached out and grabbed you? If so, who were they, and what about their writing caught your attention? Are there any elements of it that you still find yourself chasing, in some way?

The very, very first books to reach out and grab me? I am not ashamed to cite R. L. Stine’s “Give Yourself Goosebumps” (choose your own adventure) series, which were first published in 1995, when I was eight years old. I ate those books up. I can see why literary fiction and CYOA books have not, to my knowledge, done much commingling. However, I think the CYOA genre and lyric poetry have some common ground – most prominently, the use of the second person singular. It helps me to think of the beloved (the “you”) as a particular person – a reader who is following my instructions, taking my characterizations to heart, and enjoying the journey from point A to point B.

3) In your own work, are there any themes, images, or characters (etc.) that you find yourself drawn to, intentionally or otherwise? What are they? Why do you think they resonate with you?

There was a two-year period during which I mostly wrote about dogs. The other night I did a reading (the Dragnet Anthology 1 launch, which was a great time) and a friend from Ottawa, who hadn’t seen me read for years, came up to me after and was like, “What happened to the dogs, Ben??” I don’t know what happened to the dogs. These days, most of my work happens to focus on relationships of all sorts between males. I do not know precisely why this has become a theme of mine, but it has.

4) If there's one thing that you'd like people to feel when they read what you’ve written, or something that you’d like them to take away from your writing, what is it?  

I don’t know. There are no inappropriate responses. The best possible feeling I could instill in people, I guess, would be an urge to go home and make art. That’s the dream, right?

5) Just for fun, give me a pairing: one of your favourite works/authors and one of your favourite beverages (alcoholic or not). Why do they go together? How do they complement one another?

Lorrie Moore and pinot grigio. I know, first hand, that they go well together.

6) Last question: give us a short (less than 75 words) third-person bio blurb about yourself which covers any awards/distinctions you're proud of and what you're tackling right now.

Ben Ladouceur is a die-hard man about town. He was recently awarded the Earle Birney Poetry Prize. His work has been featured in magazines such as The Malahat Review, The Steel Chisel, The Puritan, Dragnet, Ryga: a journal of provocations, CV2, Prism International, Echolocation, and Arc, and in the anthology Best Canadian Poetry 2013. His website is benladouceur.wordpress.com.

THE LIGHTNING ROUND:

1) What’s your desert island book/album/film?
Book: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.
Album: Music in Twelve Parts by Philip Glass.
Film: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

2) Which artist, living or dead, would you meet for lunch?
Anne Carson.

3) Which Toronto restaurant would you take them to?
We’d make pizza at my apartment together and it would be adorable.

4) Most underappreciated novel/short story out there, in your opinion?
“The Torontonians” by Phyllis Brett Young.

5) Any chance you’ll give us a little hint at what you’ll be reading on the 25^th?
Think road trips.


-----

Ben Ladouceur currently serves as a contributing editor for Arc Poetry Magazine, and his work can be found online in The Puritan, Dragnet, and Ryga, as well as at his personal website. His published works include the chapbooks Alert, Mutt, and the forthcoming Impossibly Handsome. Should you care to tweet him to tell him about how much you love his work or how your day is going or something, you can find him under the handle @ItsBenLadouceur. 


Photo credit: Charles Earl.