Niagara

When we think of the people behind the books we love, we generally think of writers. But many people work in a variety of professions to get those books onto your shelves. In our new series, Behind the Books, Open Book speaks with the printers, publicists, book sellers, book bloggers, event programmers and many others who work in the publishing industry.

Kaley Stewart has had a lifetime love affair with books, and it's one she hopes to continue with a career in the book industry. Her passion for reading led to the launch of Books Etc., her popular book review blog, in November 2010. Kaley is working on a publishing certificate from Ryerson University to complement her communications studies degree from Wilfrid Laurier University and her event management diploma from Conestoga College. In her free time, she enjoys playing with her bunny, Tonks, discovering new authors (especially Canadian ones), and meeting other book lovers.

Kaley has recently completed internships with both Random House Canada and Project Bookmark Canada. In her Behind the Books interview, she shares her experiences as an intern at Random House Canada, from envelope stuffing to celebrity sighting. Check back with Open Book in the coming weeks to find out about a different sort of internship with Project Bookmark Canada. In the meantime visit Kaley's blog, Books Etc., for some excellent reviews on a wide variety of books.

The Fish Quill Poetry Boat are paddling their canoes down the Grand River once again, giving poetry readings and musical performances at cafes, farmers' markets and bookstores during the ten days of their adventurous tour from Elora to Six Nations. This year's poets are Linda Besner, Leigh Kotsilidis, David Seymour, Gillian Savigny and Stewart Cole, as well as musician Grey Kingdom. They kicked their tour off with a reading at Toronto's Tranzac Club on Thursday, June 13. Since then, they've read and camped in Elora, West Montrose and Kitchener-Waterloo. You can catch up with them on Wednesday, June 19th in Cambridge. Visit our Events page for details. Later, they'll hit Paris, Brantford and Six Nations of the Grand River Territory.

These intrepid voyageurs have a special perspective on the writing life. To find out more about these paddling poets, we'll follow their lead as they drift down the Grand. Today, Leigh Kotsilidis tells us about her book, Hypotheticals (Coach House Books), which challenges our notions about what we think we know with "a beautiful recklessness."

By Harry Tournemille

The life of a writer, you've got it made. Ever hear that? I get it every once in awhile, usually from people who don't write. The conversation begins with how rough their work week has been, the revelation of a particular bit of drama, and then the comment. I assume they have a romantic notion of what a writer is, what it means to write. Perhaps they think I parade around in my pyjamas all day, staring out the windows at cats and squirrels. That I am insulated from the woes of the world, from real people and their endless pursuits. That I revel in what does not matter. How can I tell them otherwise? The truth is writing can be a painful grind, but it's a truth known only to writers.

Two years ago I moved to St. Catharines with my family. We were living in B.C., tucked into a reasonably welcome bit of Vancouver's suburbia, and going through the motions of commuter living. I was studying Writing and Philosophy while my wife was working as a 3D senior artist for a video game company. Life was crazy. Days bled one into the next, along with a sense of spinning our wheels. We asked ourselves what we were trying to keep up with and discovered we were chasing nothing. Our hectic lifestyle was our own doing. So we moved.

By Phil Miletic

Recently, I've found myself asking others about the length of time they have spent at a particular job. These conversations typically are with friends? parents since I?m at the age (I?m 23) where you can have a chat and a beer with your friends? parents and talk about Life. I am never prepared for their answers: I?m fresh out of grad school, having completed my MA in English this past summer, and am now managing a temporary living as a teaching assistant, which contract lasts until April. So their answers are always incomprehensible to me, not because they are speaking in another dialect; rather, because it?s usually much longer than I have spent being alive, never mind at a job. My response collapses into gibberish, and I end up embarrassing myself, preventing any further conversation. How do you talk about being in the workforce with someone who has 30 years to your 14-week contracts without sounding like a complete idiot, like some young punk who knows nothing of what?s being discussed, yet still talks anyway?

Luckily it was through email when Anne Osborne, Publicity Chair of the Niagara Branch of the Canadian Authors Association (CAA), responded to my request for an interview for Focus On: Niagara. ?You're on! Ask away! I've been here since the branch began in 1983.? That?s 29 (nearly 30) years! Now that?s dedication, and a lot more time than I?ve spent dedicated to finding a permanent job. Allow me to pause for a moment to recollect myself.