Little Tokyo in the Industrial Playground

Great night at the Little Tokyo in the Industrial Playground opening at the Firehall Arts Centre — Go see Jeremy Isao Speier’s installation, it looks amazing in that space. Thanks to everyone for the discourse on the Rolf Knight extracts I read. I really enjoyed thinking about our city’s industrial playgrounds and their eradication. I hope some kind of collaborative essay series may emerge out of our discussion.

Now it’s time to cook a frozen curry.

Nifty plugs for Malarky II: Modern Tonic choose Malarky as May Book Pick

I was particularly delighted to learn this week that my novel Malarky has been selected as a May Book Pick by Modern Tonic (Gay approved pop culture gems before they’ve been co-opted by everyone else)

Here’s what Modern Tonic had to say about Malarky

“We’re all for quirky, character-driven novels, and this insightful and sharply funny book delivers in spades. The protagonist, “Our Woman,” leads a working class Irish farm life, but after seeing her Afghanistan-bound son engage in hanky-panky with another man in the fields, and learning that her deceased husband may not have been the man she thought, goes on a truth-seeking odyssey of self-discovery.”

I was especially thrilled to find Malarky on a list that contained the wonderful Alison Becdel’s new book!

Nifty plugs for Malarky I

Malarky has received a nifty plug/review at this Something Daily blog: (click on the text for the complete review)

The end result is one of the most memorable voices in recent years in CanLit, and a very distinctive book. Schofield spent ten years crafting this character, and it’s evident she has. “Our Woman,” as she’s called in most of the book, feels perfectly rendered and we root for her with an uncommon compassion. She accomplishes this largely through the use of an atypical narrative structure.

“Malarky is like nothing else, and what everything should be,” Kerry Clare reviews Malarky

When I wrote Malarky I chose a rotating point of view, I wanted that 360 degree circle, in close up, on one woman. I wanted one ordinary woman to matter, so I committed to her in my prose in an unremitting, relentless manner. I called her Our Woman to complete that sense of rotation as I wanted the reader to feel ownership over her or to possess her. To be engaged in her life like you might follow a favourite sports team (to cheer for her, to despair for her) or something you’re passionate about and long to have intimate knowledge of. (I should say that I learn so much about this book from readers, their responses make me aware of things I’d no notion of — the book forms new or unnoticed shadows.)

I never anticipated my novel would be embraced and understood with this same 360 degree wholeness. It is a great privilege to be understood, that’s all I can say about Kerry Clare’s careful and engaged reading of Malarky. Please click on this extract to read the entire review.

Malarky is a journey beyond the limits of love, an equally sad and hilarious portrait of motherhood.

“Malarky is like nothing else, and what everything should be,” is something I wrote down this weekend. First, because it’s as funny as it’s dark, and also because it dares readers to be brave enough to follow along an unconventional narrative. Though the winding path is only deceptively tricky– Our Woman’s voice is instantly familiar, and the shifting perspectives remain so intimate and immediate that the reader follows. Consenting to be led, of course, which is the magic of Malarky. This is a book that will leave you demanding more of everything else you read.

Snaps

During the past 48 hours I have possibly had more photos taken of me than in the previous 41 years. (I grew up in the instamatic era…I still remember flash cubes on cameras)

Yesterday’s photoshoot involved a great deal of weather and building contemplation. I was most fortunate to work with a lovely photographer named David who introduced me to a whole series of streets and areas in Richmond I’d never encountered before. I also learned, how many buildings locally are painted the identical tan colour because we were looking for buildings with solid bright colours. It was a rainy day yesterday, but a great deal of fun was had and I now have a micro-geography (as Tony Judt might say) of odd buildings that are brightly coloured dotted here and there in distant Richmond, along with a whole new appreciation of industrial landscapes and what they offer the eye and the ear.

Today’s photo adventure was more local and the photographer was easily persuaded of the merits of an industrial pipe that I’d admired wandering past in recent days and today got to stand inside. We had a very nice chat walking to and from my suggested spots. I even learnt about broga. (Brotherly yoga aka yoga for blokes)

Visual journeys both. I was lucky to work with such nifty and inspired dudes.

Mighty Malarky review in mighty New Brunswick

Click on the image to enlarge and read this mighty review for Malarky written by Chad Pelley published in the Telegraph Journal Newspaper (New Brunswick) last Saturday. Thank you for reading and reviewing my book New Brunswick!

It was a sunny …

It was a sunny Friday which allowed the cherry blossoms some respite from their chronic bathing latterly. They stick to the bottom of shoes in an unflattering manner and, for that matter, a flattening manner. I sometimes feel a bit disraught at that beautiful canopy being trampled and mushed underfoot.

Yesterday co-incidentally I encountered a Canada goose who initially seemed distraught. He wandered over to my car window and honked at me and then ambled around staring. I worried he/she might be injured so returned on foot to have a chat with him. What a beautiful creature! He was occupying the road unconcerned by the threat of traffic, preening himself. They have such agile necks and if troubled by an itch they do a loop, invert their heads upside down and scratch the back of their neck/heads. Finally he/she lifted his back plummage out, umbrella-ish, in demonstration mode before settling on a patch of grass and continuing to ignore the urban passings. I was very struck by the way this goose occupied public space and was undeterred by the noise or systems.

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There have been some wonderful reviews of Malarky this week that I will post tomorrow once the sun has risen.

Sunburnt with cherry blossoms.

On the nose, unrelated to cherry blossoms.

Sunny with cherry blossoms

Take your guitars and headaches out into the sunshine, the cherry blossoms are waving….

Honestly this blast of sunshine has awakened the roots of my teeth.

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I was very interested to learn this morning that the word for socks in Quebecois is “bas” as in “va-cherches tes bas?” (this is a mangled likely mis-spelled attempt to say go and get your socks). There’s something very geographic or GPS about the word, which could only prove a problem if people started wearing sock on their heads.

Happy Days: Malarky Vancouver Launch

People’s Co-op Bookshop launch for Malarky April 1, 2012

Thank you to the great crowd of warm people who came out over the three hours and bought every single copy in the shop! It was so wonderful to see you all. Thanks to my son and Cameron Wilson for playing great fiddle music and laments and to Lori W. who made her debut on ukelele singing one my fave songs Miss Otis Regrets so beautifully. Thank you to Grandma Suzu and Toni for the fine food and thanks to Lindsay Brown and Siobhan Airey for these pics. Happy Days!