Matthew Firth was born and
raised in Hamilton, Ontario and has lived in Ottawa since 2000. He is the
author of four full-length short story collections, most recently Shag Carpet Action, published by Anvil
Press. Some stories from these four collections were translated into French and
published by 13E Note Editions in Paris in 2013 under the title Made in Canada. He has run the micro
press Black Bile Press since 1993. From 1998-2017 he was co-editor of the
literary magazine Front&Centre.
He works by day for a national trade union.
Q:
How did Front&Centre first start?
A:
Front&Centre evolved or emerged
from an older zine I published in the 90s: Black
Cat 115. That was more of a scrambly, chaotic thing with poetry, fiction,
rants, grocery lists, old weather reports, graffiti-style art, etc. Front&Centre represented a move
toward something more distilled and focused: short fiction, author features,
book reviews. But I tried to keep the same edge by publishing salty short
fiction with an urban vibe. Logistically, F&C
started about 1997-98. It was co-published in Hamilton and in Scotland. In
March 1998 I moved to Scotland for a couple years, as my wife had a job in St
Andrews. So the first few issues were a blend of writers from Canada and the
United Kingdom, although there was a guy from Finland who somehow heard about
us and was in the first issue. The first 5 issues were designed by Jason Copple
in Hamilton, an old friend of mine. The mags were printed there too; he used to
ship me a box while I was in the UK. In 2000, we moved back to Canada; Hamilton
for a bit and then moved to Ottawa. Front&Centre
followed me around.
Q:
How was work gathered for each issue? Were you purely soliciting, or had you a
call for submissions out anywhere?
A:
Work was always
gathered via call for submissions. I listed the mag in newsletters, mags,
online, put posters up in bookstores, etc. We did not solicit submissions. It
was an open process.
Q:
Had the shift from a journal that included poetry to one that focused on
fiction something that came from a shift in your own writing, or were they
simultaneous? What do you think Black Cat
115 taught you about putting a magazine together that you were able to
bring to Front&Centre?
A:
The shift to fiction-only was more just part of an overall notion to streamline
Front&Centre, compared to Black Cat 115. BC115 was more this “anything goes” sort of zine. F&C tried to put more order to the
chaos. And part of that was its preference (more than preference, really –
mandate, more like) to only have salty, urban (mostly), realistic fiction in
the Carver/Bukowski/Selby et al tradition. Nothing obscure, contrived or
flowery. Tell readers a story and don’t fuck around doing it, sort of approach.
Yeah, that does reflect a bias, as that’s the sort of fiction I wrote and
preferred to read. We (Jason, Leona and I at the start, and later Harold Hoefle
and then Bill Brown for many years) all preferred the immediacy of fiction.
Well, one thing BC115 taught me – and
this was reinforced over the many years of doing F&C – was not to get too excited about the whole thing. By that
I mean: keep expectations in check. And do the thing on our own damned terms.
So, we didn’t sell advertising, didn’t search out grants or any form of
financial support, didn’t set firm publishing schedules, etc. We took a more
organic approach: the fucking thing will be read by those few dedicated souls
who really want to read it and we will publish it when we have enough decent
work to comprise an issue, simple as that. And no ass kissing, asking for this
or that writer to send stuff. The only time we asked someone if they’d be in
the mag was for the author features, which were interview based, so obviously
you have to ask writer X if he/she would speak with us. The reviews were all
small and micro press books, 95 per cent of it fiction. We knew we weren’t
going to get rich, famous; that no one was quitting their day job; that this
would be a labour of love, a passion toiled on when the time was right around
the regular rigours of our day-to-day lives (jobs, kids, commitments, etc.).
So, we made a concerted effort to have no illusions about the enterprise. Some
writers/readers loved it and supported us for years. Others surely gave nary a
shit about us. I always appreciated the support and interest from someone I’d
never met in Calgary, Kamloops, Stoney Creek, or Omaha. I didn’t lose sleep over
the billions of people who never heard of Front&Centre
or the few snobby writers who likely turned their noses up at what we did. In
the end – and it is the end now – the only thing that mattered was that a few
dozen writers were heartened by having their fiction published by us and a few
dozen more readers were perhaps gleeful momentarily to read what we deemed to
be good shit. End of story.
Q:
How were issues distributed? How did you get copies out into the world?
A:
The usual, old-fashioned way: in the mail, handled and delivered by unionized
workers. Way back, we sold a few on consignment at bookstores that would have
us, but that’s never very effective. Word of mouth. Online listings. Reviews
here and there. Black Bile Press website, etc. There was a loyal but small
bunch of subscribers. I offered to buy them each a beer now that the thing has
gone under but, so far, no one has shown up at my door.
Q:
What was the response to the journal? Were there any surprises?
A:
I guess it’s best to say the response “met expectations,” recalling what I
wrote earlier. There was a time, way back, when I was doing BC115 where I expected more: submissions
and orders to jam my mailbox every day. I gradually tempered by expectations
and realized that F&C was a niche
thing, a bit cultish. Those who loved it, loved it a lot. Those who were
indifferent or underwhelmed or pissed off that they were rejected – we never
heard from again. But there were enough repeat offenders and enough occasional
surprises (a beauty story that dropped out of the blue from a completely
unknown writer in Moose Jaw or whatever) to sustain our faith in the endeavour.
It did garner respect and praise from some parties, which was gratifying. And
whenever someone said something nice and sent a $12 cheque; that perks you up
at the end of a work day. But it was never going to last forever, I suppose.
And my interests and commitments began to change, so things literary were
pushed to the back burner.
Q:
Part of my question about surprises was in terms of authors who you might not
have known about, had it not been for the journal. What authors did Front&Centre introduce you to? Who
were the authors submitting that startled your sense of prose, if at all?
A:
I did not know the work of the vast majority of the writers who were published
in Front&Centre. I’d say, 90 per
cent were unknown to me until I tore open their envelopes and read their stuff.
There were a few carry overs from BC115
and my days on the zine scene early on but that dissipated quickly. Honestly,
right through to the final issue I was mostly publishing writers I’d never
heard of before and not by design, that’s just the way it went. Plus I was
never one to read university journals or too many other mags at all; never had
the inclination or time for it – so I had (and have) no idea who the up-and-comers
were/are or whatever.
Writers
who startled me via F&C:
David
Rose, Salvatore Difalco, Raymond Soltysek, Iain Bahlaj, Harold Hoefle,
Christina Decarie, Zsolt Alapi, Virginia Ashberry, Donald Avery, Joel Williams,
Martin West, Jeffrey Griffiths.
Q:
What kind of print runs were you doing for the journal?
A:
Varied depending on our level of optimism. But generally highs around 200-250.
Then steady around 100 the last ten years or so when all copies went to
subscribers and contributors.
Q:
I’m curious as to if and how your own writing might have been affected through
editing Front&Centre. Did the
journal cause any shifts in the ways in which you approached short fiction?
A:
No, I honestly don’t think editing Front&Centre
had much impact on my own writing. Like most things in my life, I sorta
compartmentalized/separated the two. There was time for editing the mag and
reading submissions and then other times for writing. Now, there are
similarities between what I wrote and what I published but I also didn’t want F&C to be this circle jerk type of
thing where there was no nuance, no variety. So we (me and other editors)
looked for and appreciated writing that came at us from different angles, while
having a certain saltiness to it.
Q:
You managed to keep Front&Centre afloat
for an impressively long time, especially for a journal without distribution,
marketing or funding. What was behind the decision to stop?
A:
The thrill was gone. After nearly 20 years, it started to become too much like
work and not the gratifying/job-well-done type of work. More like having to
grind it out. And my life got in the way. I have other commitments and passions
that usurped Front&Centre’s place
in my daily life. Hitting issue #30 seemed like the perfect place to pull the
bus over and tell everyone to get out; the ride was over. You do also start to
get a bit cynical after a while. I did start to wonder why I kept at it all
those issues, publishing literally hundreds of stories, while losing money,
losing sleep, losing time. But basically the spark went out so we snuffed it.
Front&Centre
bibliography:
#1
(1999) Editors: Matthew Firth, Jason Copple, Leona MacCharles
Feature:
Daniel Jones & 1978.
Fiction:
Eric Ellul “Girl found hanging”; Catherine Smith “House Hunting”; John Swan
“Snare”; David Rose “Biedermeir”; Sari Pauloma “Bloody Love”; Jim Ferguson “A
Fried Egg”; Jonathan Goldstein “Horse’s Ass”; Simon Skinner “Flatmate”; Tom
Schmidt “The Wrong Lois”; Michelle Berry “A Course in Miracles” Mark Jarman
“Skin a Flea for Hide and Tallow”; Julie Roorda “Advent”
Reviews
written by: Matthew Firth, Jason Copple, Leona MacCharles
Photography
by: Jason Copple
#2
(1999) Editors: Matthew Firth, Jason Copple, Leona MacCharles
Feature:
Maxim Jakubowski & The State of
Montana.
Fiction:
Jennifer Footman “Sisters”; Dan Buck “Better Hard”; Gregory Santo Arena “A
Language by Itself”; Colin Mackay “Sniper’s Bridge”; Heath Carra
“Indestructible”; Rob Payne “Shit Night”’ David Williamson “First Sex”; Michael
Bryson “Crow teaches City Boy a new lesson”; Alex Zelenyj “Poppy, the girl of
my dreams, and the alien invasion I can detect like radar through my braces”;
Patricia Cleveland-Peck “The Silence between the Sounds”; Elizabeth di Mariaffi
“I am Happy”
Reviews
written by: Matthew Firth, Jason Copple, Anya Wassenberg, Steve Shikaze, Andrew
Hook
#3
(2000) Editors: Matthew Firth, Jason Copple, Leona MacCharles
Feature:
Laura Hird & Nail and other storeis & Born Free.
Fiction:
Daithidh MacEochaidh “Just the Essentials”; Philip Quinn “Holes”; Kenneth J.
Harvey “Last”; Sam Difalco “Stones”; Susannah Rickards “Cots”; Shirley Kitchen
“Vacation for Sandy”; David Rose “Gravel”; Ian C. Smith “Listen to me”; Raymond
Soltysek “Twitchy”; Arcey Hamilton “Effluvie”
Reviews
written by: Matthew Firth, Jason Copple, Steve Shikaze, Andrew Hook
#4
(2001) Editors: Matthew Firth, Jason Copple, Leona MacCharles
Feature:
Kenneth J. Harvey Skinhound (there are no
words)
Fiction:
Jason Copple “Whale River”; Allen Ashley “Swim to Daddy”; Stan Rogal “Tell him
you’re married”; Ian Bahlaj “This is not Los Angeles”; Ken Sparling
“Threatening Coherence”; Kaith Murphy “Crossing India”; Frederick Lightfoot
“The Death of Dona Herrera”; Lindsay Tipping “Loving Courtney”; John Swan
“Buying the Farm”; Tom Murray “Dreaming of sunshine”
Reviews
written by: Matthew Firth, Jason Copple, T. Anders Carson, Kerry Schooley
Photography
by: Jason Copple
#5
(2002) Editors: Matthew Firth, Jason Copple, Leona MacCharles, T. Anders Carson
Feature:
Alexandra Leggat & Pull Gently, Tear
Here
Fiction:
Andrew Hook “The Summer of Hate”; Hal Niedzviecki “Breathe”; Katia Grubisic
“Kissing Lindsay”; Matthew Firth “Minimum Wage”; Andy Brown “Reunited”;
Kathleen Whelan “Hush Puppies”; Stephen Wade “An Open Heart”
Reviews
written by: Matthew Firth, Jason Copple, Joy Hewitt Man
Photography
by: Jason Copple, Andrea Firth
#6
(2003) Editor: Matthew Firth
Fiction:
Todd Besant “I really liked it and you liked it too”; Andrea Samuelsson “Don’t”;
Alan Ram “Puncture”; Rick Taylor “Box 4335”; Laura Hird “The Happening”: Harold
Hoefle “Czechs”
Reviews
written by: Matthew Firth, Bill Brown
#7
(2003) Editors: Matthew Firth, Harold Hoefle
Fiction:
Jodi Lundgren “Sexual Relations”; Lowell Blood “Small Favours”; Steven Manners
“Mirror”; Nathaniel G. Moore “Heel Turn”; Jon Boilard “The Moon, Wherever”;
Nichole McGill “Number Ten”
Reviews
written by: Matthew Firth, Lorie Boucher, Philip Alexander, Harold Hoefle
Art
by: Sam Firth
#8
(2004) Editors: Matthew Firth, Harold Hoefle
Fiction:
Philip Alexander “Housesitting”; Graham Baron “Business”; Philip Quinn
“NightClub Dream”; Helen Kitson “The Jubilee Café”; John Swan “Thin Line”; Vern
Smith “Beckman’s Whore”
Reviews
written by: Matthew Firth, Bill Brown, Lorie Boucher, Harold Hoefle, Chris
Robinson
#9
(2004) Editors: Matthew Firth, Harold Hoefle
Fiction:
Marcie McCauley “Notes for a Working Draft”; Mark McCawley “Screaming my Face
Off”; Mark Anthony Jarman “Your Very Own Personal All-Canadian Marxist Hockey
League”; Clint Wastling “Obligato for one”; Christina Decarie “Lite and Brite”;
PG Tarr “King Shivers”; Brian Ray “Saturday Night Live”
Reviews
written by: Matthew Firth, Philip Alexander, Bill Brown, Frances, Ward
#10
(2004) Editors: Matthew Firth, Harold Hoefle
Fiction:
Tony D’Souza “The Hard Life”; Thea Atkinson “Green Means Gone”; Jason Heroux
“Kingston”; Anya Wassenberg “Little Finger”; Bill Brown “When Jupiter’s Aligned
with Mars”; Zsolt Alapi “Eva”
Reviews
written by: Nathaniel G. Moore, Matthew Firth, Chris Robinson, Harold Hoefle,
Barry Doyle
#11
(2004) Editors: Matthew Firth, Harold Hoefle
Fiction:
Hannah Holborn “World’s Greatest”; Daithidh MacEochaidh “More than an Angel”;
Len Gasparini “A Day in June”; Bilbo Poynter “The Parade”; Philip Quinn “One
Summer She was Beautiful”; Cathleen Kirkwood “Grangran Warmfeather’s Sitting on
a hot bingo”
Reviews
written by: Mark McCawley, Richard Van Camp, Zachary Houle, Bill Brown, Matthew
Firth, Megan Butcher
#12
(2005) Editors: Matthew Firth, Harold Hoefle
Fiction:
Robert Osburn “Photos”; Thelma Wheatley “The Looney Bin”; Dave McIntyre
“Gridlocked”; Shannon Campbell “Caryatid”; James R. Cooley “Born on the Fourth
of July”
Reviews
written by: Len Gasparini, Matthew Firth, Bill Brown
Art
by: Willem Firth
#13
(2005) Editors: Matthew Firth, Harold Hoefle
Fiction:
Len Gasparini “Ghosts”; Shelagh Rowan-Legg “Take Me There”; Kara Sievewright
“The Golden Egg”; David Rose “Back to Descartes”; Virginia Ashberry “Gnomes”;
Alan Ram “Make sure there’s something in the freezer”
Reviews
written by: Lorie Boucher, Matthew Firth, Bill Brown, Christina Decarie, Chris
Robinson
#14
(2006) Editors: Matthew Firth, Bill Brown
Fiction:
Michael Bryson “Hercules”; Randall Brown “The Bone Orchard”; Salvatore Difalco
“Proportion”; Lucy Policelli “Reinventing Love”; Gerald Locklin
“Insignificance”; Susan Raby-Dunne “Denny and Me”
Reviews
written by: Philip David Alexander, Matthew Firth, Bill Brown, Lorie Boucher,
Megan Butcher, Mark McCawley
#15
(2006) Editors: Matthew Firth, Bill Brown
Fiction:
Virginia Ashberry “Passages”; Peter Martinez “Oh Uncle”; Tania Hershman
“Exchange Rates”; Richard Milward “Cotton Wool”; Jon Boilard “Capp Street
Incident”; Nathan Graziano “Pissing on my own leg, or how I found fiction”
Reviews
written by: Matthew Firth, Bill Brown, Salvatore Difalco
Art
by: Nathan Graziano
#16
(2007) Editors: Matthew Firth, Bill Brown
Fiction:
Tony O’Neill “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas”; Ian Colford “The Cure”;
Carrie-May Siggins “Lately”; Jeffrey Griffiths “Living on Easy Street”; Tom
Leins “Paigton Noir”
Reviews
written by: Lorie Boucher, Matthew Firth, Bill Brown, Salvatore Difalco
Photography
by: Bill Brown
#17
(2007) Editors: Matthew Firth, Bill Brown
Fiction:
Steven Mayoff “The Same Machine”; Philip Quinn “Street Images”; Amanda Earl
“Caught in the Rain”; John Swan “Christie”; David Burke “Maria”; Dennis E.
Bolen “Fractionacting”
Reviews
written by: Matthew Firth, Bill Brown
Photography
by: Bill Brown
#18
(2007) Editors: Matthew Firth, Bill Brown
Fiction:
Mark Fleming “Kola”; Katherine Coldiron “Fucked”; Parker Dorris “The Courier”;
Tom Johns “Bar Fly”; Donald Avery “Window”; David Rose “Empire”; Blas Ulibarri
“The Way a Road can Lead You”
Reviews
written by: Lorie Boucher, Matthew Firth, Bill Brown, Salvatore Difalco
Photography
by: Bill Brown
#19
(2008) Editors: Matthew Firth, Bill Brown
Fiction:
Matt Peake “Record Stores”; Cynthia Watson “Golden Shower”; Craig Barron “The
Annex”; Don McLellan “Horse”; Claudia Labin “Romania”
Reviews
written by: Matthew Firth, Jeffrey Griffiths, Bill Brown
Photography
by: Jason Copple
#20
(2008) Editors: Matthew Firth, Bill Brown
Fiction:
Bill Brown “Opera Quiz”; Laura Caigle “Contraction”; Tom Lane “Out for the
Night”; Janset Berkok Shami “The Devil”; Drew McDowell “Four on the Floor”;
Jeffrey Griffiths “Little Man”; Christina Decarie “Hot Ketchup and Vinegar”
Reviews
written by: Virginia Ashberry, Matthew Firth, Bill Brown, Mark McCawley
Photography
by: Bill Brown
#21
(2009) Editors: Matthew Firth, Bill Brown
Fiction:
Catherine A. O’Toole “Maddalena”; Salvatore Difaclo “Four shorts”; Len
Gasparini “Forbidden Fruit”; Jim Christy “A Free Bindle Stiff”; Tyler Keevil
“Retribution”; Ryan Turner “The Bear”; Ben Hart “Intersection”
Reviews
written by: Matthew Firth, Bill Brown, Lorie Boucher, Jeffrey Griffiths
Photography
by: Bill Brown
#22
(2009) Editors: Matthew Firth, Bill Brown
Fiction:
Julie McArthur “20 Grit”; Victor Sakalauskas “Flowers of Despair”; Drew Gates “The
Oracle”; Lisa Foley “The Hitch”; Joel Williams “Tyrannosaurus Sex”; Zdravka
Evtimova “Banno”; Gregory K. Betts “Before you were born”
Reviews
written by: Matthew Firth, Bill Brown
Photography
by: Bill Brown
#23
(2010) Editors: Matthew Firth, Bill Brown
Fiction:
Corrine Wasilewski “Five”; Elaine McCluskey “A Great Nation”; Kathy Meagher “I
want to me a man like Raymond Carver”; Dave Newman “This has to be better than
that”; J.R. Helton “The Good Stuff”
Reviews
written by: Matthew Firth, Lisa Foley
Photography
by: Bill Brown
#24
(2010) Editors: Matthew Firth, Bill Brown
Fiction:
Grant Flint “A Mouthharp in the Shadows”; Kathryn Sussman “Dirty Old Motel
Room”; Gary F. Iorio “The Academic”; Peter Stockland “Orange and Peel”;
Salvatore Difaclo “Five shorts”
Reviews
written by: Matthew Firth, Bill Brown
Photography
by: Bill Brown
#25
(2011) Editors: Matthew Firth, Bill Brown
Feature:
Salvatore Difalco
Fiction:
Zsolt Alapi “The Balcony”; David Burdett “The Road to Happy Destiny”; Christine
Catalano “Fuck the Mets”; Julie McArthur “Orchestrated Disaster”; David Rose
“Like It”; Daniel MacIsaac “Old Christmas”; Chelsea Novak “Smashed”; Jeremy
Hanson-Finger “Grandmother Two Tongue”; Stacey Madden “Mammary Man”; Zachery
Alapi “Gap-Toothed Genevieve
Reviews
written by: Matthew Firth, Bill Brown
Photography
by: Matthew Firth
#26
(2011) Editors: Matthew Firth, Bill Brown
Feature:
Zsolt Alapi & Zachery Alapi and
Siren Song Publishing
Fiction:
Raymond Soltysek “A Gathering of the Clan”; Elaine McCluskey “Victor”’ M.L.
West “Dog Breath”; Christina Decarie “Lipsmackers”; Michael Cuglietta “My Wife
and My Two Kids”; Jim Read “The Librarians
Reviews
written by: Matthew Firth, Bill Brown
Photography
by: Bill Brown
#27
(2012) Editors: Matthew Firth, Bill Brown
Column:
Joel Williams “Writing is my Bitch”
Feature:
Liz Worth & Treat Me Like Dirt
Fiction:
Heather Babcock “Half Off”; Ivano Stacco “Loose Tendons”; Kit Jenkin “Love
Letter #6”; Lisa Foley “Skinny and Unavailable”; Tyler Keevil “The Silver Grin
of the Glass Eater”; S.C. Armstrong “Monson Crescent”; J.T. Siemens “Scar me
for Love”
Reviews
written by: Matthew Firth, Bill Brown
Photography
by: Bill Brown
#28
(2013) Editors: Matthew Firth, Bill Brown
Column:
Joel Williams “Inside Insights”
Feature:
Christine Catalano’s photography
Fiction:
Steven Manners “Eclipse”; Becky Blake “Make Believe”; Chris Walter “Devil’s
Elbow Bridge”; Michael Laverty “Divination Hour in Valhalla”; Philip Quinn “The
Quarry”; Catherine Owen “Things You Don’t want to Hear”, “Johnny” & “Pow”;
James P. Hanley “The Realtor” Madison Glover “The Becker’s Bum”
Reviews
written by: Matthew Firth
Photography
by: Christine Catalano
#29
(2014) Editors: Matthew Firth, Bill Brown
Feature:
Chris Walter & Gofuckyerself Press
Fiction:
David Haggerty “Waiting on the Stress Boxes”; Keith Ebsary “Packer”; Isabel
Wolfe-Frischman “If only I Lived in the Next Universe Over”; Stan Rogal “The
Criminal’s Tale”; Tomek Dzido “Going Out”; Donald Avery “Hindenburg”; Mark
Sampson “In the Middle”
Reviews
written by: Matthew Firth, Bill Brown, Lisa Foley
Photography
by: Jen Dodds, Darren Lulka
#30
(2016) Editors: Matthew Firth, Bill Brown
Feature:
Salvatore Difalco & Mean Season
Fiction:
Duncan Kluwak “Tangiers”; Skylar Radojdovic “Radiator”; Brian Kaufman “Cruel
Cargo”; Virginia Ashberry “Jan Webster”; Zsolt Alapi “The Session”; Martin West
“Hours in Between”; Lynda Zamkotwich “Rough Trade”; S.C. Armstrong “The Golden
Years”; Jeffrey Griffiths “Lake Bashkung”; Stacey Madden “The Funny Game”
Reviews
written by: Matthew Firth, Bill Brown, Zsolt Alapi
Photography
by: Bill Brown
No comments:
Post a Comment