Workshop Dynamics in the Home

By Anne Chudobiak

"All done," I say from my seat at the computer.

"Your personal essay?” says my husband. “I’m busy right now. Could you print it out and I’ll have a look later? Maybe on the weekend.”

“You don’t have to,” I say as I log off. “I already have a couple of readers lined up.”

"You don’t want me to read it?" he asks.

“I don’t want you to get upset again,” I say.

“Tell me,” he says.

“It’s not you, per se. It’s us. I portray our relationship as very childish. Kind of competitive. And I compare you to a woman. With flab.”

“You really don’t want me to read it?”

“Let me see if I can’t make it more tender. Better illustrate the love between us. Maybe I could add a scene."

"Tender isn't very funny," he says.

"No, not really.”

"Childish and competitive is a lot better."

"Yeah," I say. "Hey, you know, maybe you could go ahead and read it. If you want.”

"You wouldn't mind?"

"Nah. Not so much."

***

Coup de coeur/pick of the week: Montreal writer Neil Smith’s Bang Crunch. This book is attracting a lot of attention for a short-story collection. Some of the buzz has to do with the publisher: Knopf Canada. The company’s New Face of Fiction program is best known for having launched Yann Martel. Before you give in to writerly jealousy (“A debut hardcover?”), you should know that the book is deserving, and the author, equally so. To see him read is to wish him every success. Watch out, David Adams Richards! There’s a new Nice Guy in CanLit.

Public service announcement: If you plan to attend a literary event, please take your camera. That way you can share your photos with the Quill and Quire flickr pool, an interesting project that could use a little help. As it stands, there are too many pictures of books and not enough of authors. (And check out the blog, where you can watch the 3-Day Novel trailer. You won’t be disappointed. Was that the former MuchMusic VJ Kim Clarke Champniss?)