First look at Douglas Coupland’s fashion line for Roots

Author and visual artist Douglas Coupland announced via Twitter today that he is teaming up with Canadian clothing and leather goods company Roots to design a limited-edition clothing and accessories line. On the video promo for said collaboration, Coupland expounds on his thoughts about Canadian culture and identity, a theme he has explored in visual art and non-fiction books for over a decade.

The Roots press release names Coupland’s collection Canada Goes Electric. A visual example:

Irony alert: no word yet on if this clothing line celebrating the meaning of Canada will actually be manufactured in Canada. The Roots website is dodgy on the physical locations of its factories abroad, though goes to great pains to feign being down with ethical labour practices.

Event photos: K.V. Johansen in Macedonia, Ian McEwan in Toronto, and Watch This Space at the Wychwood Barns

Canadian YA fantasy writer K.V. Johansen was recently a guest of the 22nd International Book Fair held in Skopje, Macedonia. Over a period of three days, beginning April 12, Johansen launched the Macedonian translation of her 2007 novel Torrie and the Snake-Prince (Annick Press), received the Anna Frank Literary Award, participated in a panel discussion on fantasy literature in Canada and Macedonia as part of a Day of Canadian Culture organized by the Canadian Embassy in Belgrade, and addressed a literature class at a Skopje university that had been studying one of her short stories. Above: Johansen at the University American College Skopje. (Photo by Chris Paul)

“Quick: name four things you know about Canada!” On April 18, Ian McEwan (left) was interviewed onstage by author and broadcaster Ian Brown at the Toronto Public Library’s Appel Salon. McEwan got stranded in Toronto for a few days, thanks to Iceland’s volcano, and may even use the experience as the narrative hook in a new novel. Too bad the title Mostly Harmless is already taken. (Photo by Dona Acheson/Courtesy of the TPL)

On April 25, the Small Print series hosted the launch of Marc Ngui and Hadley Dyer’s Watch this Space: Designing, Defending and Sharing Public Spaces (Kids Can Press). The event – which, though kid-friendly, had the potential Google minefield title of “Doing It In Public” – was held at Toronto’s Wychwood Barns, and featured a chalk-drawing contest as well as a panel discussion featuring Dyer and Ngui, along with city trustee Josh Matlow, city councillor Joe Mihevc, and Spacing magazine’s Matthew Blackett. Above: Small Print’s Chris Reed introduces the panel. (Photo courtesy of Kids Can Press)

Michael Geist’s covert ties to Amazon

[This post has been updated]

The debate surrounding Amazon’s planned Canadian expansion has produced many arguments both for (the editorial boards at The Globe and Mail and National Post) and against (the Canadian Booksellers Association, the Association of Canadian Publishers). While such polarized opinions are to be expected, one of the most surprising voices to come out in support of Amazon is copyright activist and University of Ottawa academic Michael Geist, known for his anti-corporate stance on many copyright issues in the digital age.

In Monday’s Toronto Star, Geist went after the Canadian Booksellers Association, arguing that the “CBA’s attempt to cloak the issue as a matter of Canadian culture is unsurprising, but [Heritage Minister James] Moore should recognize this for what it is – a transparent attempt to hamstring a tough competitor that ultimately hurts the Canadian culture sector.” Geist went on to suggest that Amazon’s (theoretically) unlimited selection of books is a good thing for Canadian culture and that the “scarcity of space in brick-and-mortar stores has long been a key concern for Canadian authors and publishers, who fear that their titles might get squeezed off the shelves.”

In the wake of Geist’s op-ed, U.S. blogger Christian L. Castle, described on his blog as a Los Angeles–based journalist, has unearthed ties between Amazon and an Internet think tank headed co-created by Geist:

First of all, it should not be overlooked that Geist’s U.S.-backed Samuelson-Glushko Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic, the Alcan of IP with its almost 100% American board, “was established in 2003 with the aid of a start-up grant from an Amazon.com Cy Pres fund, received by Prof. Michael Geist.” Now I’m sure that Geist would deny that he personally received any money, but if that’s true, they might want to revise that sentence on the SG-CIPPIC website.

It’s entirely possible that Geist, in his ignorance of book retailing and the publishing sector, truly believes that independent booksellers are a threat to Canadian culture. If that’s the case, however, he should have been above-board about his past dealings with Amazon.

[Update] Michael Geist responds: “The Amazon grant was money that came via a court order through a class action settlement. It was used to establish the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic in 2003. Being part of a Cy Pres Fund, Amazon did not oversee or make the award. A court did. There is no conflict and nothing hidden. In fact, look back at my earlier columns criticizing them for the Kindle to see how much influence they have over what I say. None.”

“Brooding on Muskoka chairs”: Brit Giller judge on Canadian literature

In the Sept. 12 edition of the Financial Times, British critic and novelist Victoria Glendinning, who sits on this year’s Scotiabank Giller Prize jury (which announced its longlist yesterday), generously shared her thoughts on Canadian literature.

Following the claim that reading 100 works of Canadian literature was a “life enhancing experience,” Glendinning dives into a scathing critique of Canadian culture, publishing, and literature.

Some highlights from the article, via the Globe Books Blog:

The Canadian for gutter is “eavestrough” which is picturesque. Everyone is wearing a “tuque” or “toque” which in English-English suggests the lofty headgear worn by Queen Mary but is actually a little woolly hat. And in the holiday cottages among Ontario’s northern lakes and forests–evidently, the prime setting for emotional turmoil–they sit, brooding, on Muskoka chairs. (Look those up on the net.)

…

Apart from brilliant Giller contestants, there are … “unbelievably dreadful” ones. It seems in Canada that you only have to write a novel to get grants from the Canada Council for the Arts and from your provincial Arts Council, who are also thanked. Complaints were once voiced that most shortlisted Giller novels emanated from just three big-name publishers, all owned by Bertelsmann, and that virtually every winner lived in the Toronto area. Now, many of the submitted authors, and their rugged subject matter, hail from Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland. That’s maybe because small publishers too are now subsidised, and they proliferate. If you want to get your novel published, be Canadian. 

Now, tell us what you really think, Glendinning! 

Dion promises to restore public diplomacy funding

Liberal party leader Stephane Dion met with a few Canadian writers last week at the Drake Hotel in Toronto and promised that a Liberal government would restore the $11.8-million in public diplomacy funding cut from the Foreign Affairs budget by the Conservative government last fall, an article in The Globe and Mail reports.

The Writers’ Union of Canada has staged protests and sponsored a petition against the cuts, which have drastically limited the capacity of Canadian embassies to host events and assist with the promotion of Canadian culture and artists abroad.

“The meeting with Dion was a huge relief,” said Susan Swan, chair of the Writers Union of Canada. “We got a feeling of being on the same page with a politician after months of trying to have a dialogue with the Harper government.”
The Liberal leader is on a charm offensive with Canadian artists and arts leaders and has had face time with artists and leaders from the music industry, theatre, museums and dance in Montreal, Winnipeg and Toronto. He is gambling that culture matters to urban voters. Whether or not that’s true, “it’s a weak spot for this Conservative government,” says Peter C. Newman, one of the writers at the Drake. “With globalization, we’ve lost the battle for economic independence, but cultural nationalism is our saving grace.”

So, that should score some points with artists, but Stephen Harper is currently back at the ranch flipping burgers at the Calgary Stampede. How’s your barbequing, Stephane?