For Crying Out Loud! reviewed

Guys and ghouls, peep this review of For Crying Out Loud!, a chapbook published by those crazy chaps at crazy micropress Ferno House. The story I have in the chapbook is called 'happily-perverse,' which might be better than 'perversely-happy,' but I'm not sure. The review appears in the latest edition of Broken Pencil. Word on the street is that copies of For Crying Out Loud! are still floating around at The Women's Bookstore and various other places in the city. If you can't find a copy and won't be able to sleep at night without holding it near, head over to the Ferno House website, or send me an email and I'll hook you up.

Anyway, here's the review:

Hand-made chapbooks typically vacillate between the shoddy and the over-ornate – in other words, either photocopied booklets of staple-stitched construction paper or precious little darlings laced with gold thread and pasted feathers. Arnaud Brassard, designer and printer of the new Toronto micro-press Ferno House, manages to avoid either extreme with resounding panache, producing with For Crying Out Loud (Ferno House’s premiere release) a surprisingly beautiful, perfect-bound masterstroke of hand-crafted restraint.

For Crying Out Loud is a collection of poetry and fiction by the students and instructors enrolled in the Masters degree in Creative Writing at the University of Toronto. It boasts a poem fragment by seasoned veteran George Elliott Clarke, written in his audaciously lyrical, overtly musical hand, and a short story by American-born fiction writer Jeff Parker – a pitch-perfect, hilarious send-up of both presumptuous American ex-patriots holidaying in Canada and a somewhat lesser known, home-grown entity – the French Redneck. The rest of the book is divided between the program’s aspiring writers and students. In terms of poetry, one finds the subtle linguistic play and adventurousness of Catriona Wright; the spare, Biblically-inspired verse of Wendy Prieto; the meditative and sickly sensual lines of Alex Grigorescu, and the morbid, keen-eyed histories of Laura Clarke. As for fiction, Jonathan Simpson writes out the affecting, fragmented history of a father’s love; Andrew MacDonald provides a cheeky, happily-perverse look at voyeurism and crime; and Spencer Gordon (the editor of Ferno House) writes a dark reflection on cigarettes, death, and literary ambition, which takes an apt turn for the surreal. If what’s included in this collection is any indication of promise, then we should expect some remarkable work from these bourgeoning, Toronto-based writers.

According to the Ferno House website, the book might still be found at choice locations around the city of Toronto for a reasonable $15. I say go pick it up – it’s a damn fine combination of DIY, entrepreneurial ‘zine-culture, sophisticated and meticulous design craft, and ambitious literary writing.

by Eddie Leslie

From Broken Pencil 45

Daily Goodness Update

The Daily XY, referenced in the previous entry, took home Best Online-Only publication in the Canadian Online Publishing Awards. Props.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/the-tyee-website-wins-big-at-online-awards/article1341204/

Daily Literary Goodness

A short little ditty I wrote for the Daily XY about three of my favourite weekly literary reading event thingies is up. Go here:

http://www.dailyxy.com/daily-xy/arts-culture/read-on-literary-events-in-toronto/

It has a picture of my face on it that I took in my bedroom. One of my cats was there. She likes peanut butter. Is that normal?

Reconnection

I'm sorry I've been neglecting you, little blog. Things have been very busy.

Soon we will reconnect. Soon soon.

Until then, you should go to this launch of The New Quarterly at the end(ish) of the month. Here are the details:

Join The New Quarterly for a celebration of remarkable writing, on Thursday, October 22 at Art|Bar (in Kitchener, Ontario).
Have a drink with your favourite editors, meet some of our noteworthy writers, and hear a preview of our fall issue, Travellers in a Strange Land. View the Facebook Event to invite your friends.

Doors open @ 7pm, readings beginning @ 8. Pay what you can.

We’ve recruited our feature writer from the issue, Carrie Snyder, to talk about her work and read a selection. We’ve also partnered with Biblioasis Press, to bring you two rising stars from our previous issues: Amy Jones (Issue 111) and Rebecca Rosenblum (Issue 107, 110) to read from their newest collections.

Featuring the music of Alexander James.

Here is a link: http://theliterarytype.ca/?p=626#more-626