It’s been a really long time since I’ve written a book review, and this is my first memoir review ever. I’m writing it for Herizons and it is almost done. …
converge
This week, I was asked to read at Converge, an annual event about creativity and queerness held at Ursula Franklin Academy in Toronto. The audience is mostly queer and queer positive …
on mother’s day
Mother’s Day has been a non-event for me for the past 25 years. Not exactly a neutral day, it’s a day I barely acknowledge, and usually criticize as the Hallmark holiday it is …
Book promo a-go-go
Over the last couple of months, I have been experiencing the baby-step beginnings of the transition from “writer” to “author”. I have been writing dozens of e-mails every day, encouraging librarians …
Binging on Atwood
At my last writing group meeting, we talked about the authors who had significantly influenced us as writers. One woman talked about a poet who helped her make the connections between …
Final edits
It’s been a busy couple of weeks. I mailed out the Stealing Nasreen galley, marked up with anxious notes and strikethroughs and last-minute edits, to my publisher this past Monday. It’s been …
why I write fiction
My writing group did a free writing exercise on why we write this week. I like to express myself politically, socially, professionally. But why I write fiction is a little harder …
Shouting out against evil
Did you hear about Toyin Agbetu’s act of heroism? He was the man who disrupted the bicentenary service marking the 1807 act to abolish the slave trade yesterday at Westminster …
An Ode to “HP”
Alright, well, I might reveal myself to be the geek I am this week. And it is all because of my seven-year-old nephew’s love for Harry Potter, or “HP” as …
Browngirlworld
Last night, I went to Browngirlworld 7, a fabulous evening to celebrate IWD. The evening’s headliner, L.A.-based theatre/hiphop/spoken word artist D’Lo (http://chavez.ucla.edu/DLo/bio.htm) showed an incredible range of talent playing her …
Saturday with the in-laws and The Polished Hoe
My girlfriend, her parents, and I have started a tradition of going to Obsidian Theatre (www.obsidian-theatre.com) plays together. After an overstimulating lunch at Richtree (oh, so many choices and the …
Code White
This past week I went to “Get Your Lit Out – Heartbreaker”, a night of post-Valentine’s readings by a variety of gifted queer writers: Marusya Bociurkiw, Rose Cullis, Tara-Michelle Ziniuk, Julia …