Front & Centre (1999-2016): bibliography, and an interview

this interview was conducted over email from August to September 2017 as part of a project to document Ottawa literary publishing. see my bibliography-in-progress of Ottawa literary publications, past and present here

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

Ongoing notes: the Toronto Small Press Fair, spring 2010;

[Nathaniel G. Moore at the TSPF; and then he went to the movies.] I don’t understand why the literary community in Toronto still keeps such a wide berth from the semi-annual Toronto Small Press Fair; I mean, I understand why, but the current organizers didn’t even know about the “troubles” the fair had a few years back (one wasn’t even on the continent at the time, and the other wasn’t much closer to the fair). Those involved on both sides don’t even come near, so what I don’t understand, why does everyone else also stay away? The new Meet the Presses fair is a positive thing, but why this insistence on factions? Why can’t we all just get along? I am not interested in factions; here are a couple of the items I picked up at or around the fair this time around. 

Toronto ON: Since discovering Sarah Pinder’s work at the previous Toronto fair, I’ve been quite taken with these small, graceful poetry and fiction chapbooks produced by her Bits of String, including Garden, Gardener: poems by Sarah Pinder (2008). Her poems are odd, quirky things, and her chapbooks are only two or three dollars; how can one not be charmed?

Half-Price Bed and Breakfast

On pilgrimage, I post,
aim and erect.
Missing cotton, velveteen,
a purple bite, a powder-puff,
I make a mini regatta in
crisp paper and set them a-sail
in the trout stream.

There’s something charming, naïve and then not-so in her pieces (I like this one, shades of Richard Brautigan’s surrealism), and even the back page, writing “I made this in Hamilton, ON, listening to my neighbours set off Victoria Day fireworks.” Check out her website for more information.

Toronto ON: Another little chapbook I picked up was Catherine Paquette’s A Theory of Darkness (the unkindness of ravens press, 2010), what appears to be a little sampler from a “larger cross-genre mystery novel” work-in-progress. Why do you, Pacquette, require an introduction at the beginning instead of little essay at the end? As a reader, I’m less interested in the explanation than the work itself, and wish she would have let her readers experience such without preconception. There are some good lines here, in a series of small straight-prose sections, albeit in need of editing: “Time is a formula to hate. Clocks are laughable containers. Like hearts.”

The Funeral Home of Time

A mug shatters. It is like that – the fragmenting. Something breaks into something else. The sun is rising. Breaking out from the darkness and the moon is fading out with the stars. Her breath regains and loses itself unevenly as she steps over the shards. Yes, she has lost. There are deaths all around her. she is grasping for something, but the temporal grope leaves her empty handed. She sits and watches the dark becoming light. The ruins of the night. Invisibly present and invisibly past, weaving in and out of the shifting moment. Now, she is hungry and takes in, chewing. Changes matter into mush and uses it to fuel her now. An empty plate; a broken cup. No, we do not have time to attend all the little funerals.

Ottawa ON: Produced by Ottawa writer Matthew Firth’s Black Bile Press is Toronto writer Nathaniel G. Moore’s “Sensational” Sherri (2009). Just what is it about professional wrestling, between this and his first novel, Bowlbrawl (Montreal QC: Conundrum Press, 2005) that keeps Moore (who once appeared on City TV’s Ed the Sock in a Mexican wrestling mask and subsequent match), and even Michael Holmes, going? “Never mind Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler…” the back cover tells us.

Ricky’s face filling red, voice evaporating. “Hey,” he said. Not sure if his words could be heard, not that if they mattered, just if he was actually speaking or lying down somewhere thinking this was going on and, “So, hey,” shifting the stool closer to the strangers, “But have you, or Carla, do you know?” He was slipping on and off the stool. “Hi … there.” He was using a bad Elvis voice. “Do you, hold on,” [wobbling his ass on the stool]. “So have you, you …” [focusing on one of them, one girl’s bony bare wrist. “S-s-s-sorry; I’m Rick by the way, must be wondering,” [slurrrr slurrrrr]. “Can you sit sit sit, okay, can you sit on on … a white frost cake. I mean, doesn’t goddabe white frost per say, can you sit on a cake for my birthday; it’s in July?”

Heels don’t turn but stay the same way. Heels are bad guys who work with heroes or baby-faces. When a heel becomes good, it’s called a face turn, or turning face.

Toronto ON: I didn’t get this at the fair, but Brian Fawcett handed me a small stack of his THE NORTHERN B.C. RULES with The Regulations for Snipe Hunting (David Mason Books, 2010), a small booklet of lists including “The General Rules,” “Survival in the Bush,” “Surviving in Town” and “The Snipe Hunting Regulations.” You can take the boy out of Prince George… What I enjoy best of all in this unassuming chap is the space at the end, the “several blank pages for additions to these rules. If you would like them to be considered for subsequent editions, please forward them to the publisher or author,” the inside says. Do you think they really would? As the colophon claims:

These rules are designed for physical survival in the Canadian north, which is an area that starts anywhere 100 kilometers north of a major Canadian city and extends to the geographical point at which all-terrain vehicles and skidoos outnumber normal transport, and government officials outnumber human beings (at which point “north” becomes “North” and only idiots are willing to put up with the cold and bugs).”

Fawcett, currently in Toronto but originally from Prince George, British Columbia, has a long history with the north, and about writing creative non-fiction works that could best be described, I suppose, as suggestions on negotiating various aspects of the world, including his work through the ongoing Dooney’s Café. From the first page, here are the first four, for example, general rules:

1.) In the north, rules only work in optimum conditions. Most of the time the rules are frozen solid or fouled with mud like everything else.

2.) Only things designed in the north work in the north. Everything is now designed south of the north.

3.) The most common natural hazard in the north is other people with beer or hard liquor on their breath. Unless you’re actively looking for trouble, bears are down around 17th in the list of things likely to harm you.

4.) All government and corporate megaprojects not only fail to produce promised benefits, they also produce unexpected side effects that eventually make life worse while exponentially increasing the volume of broken down or abandoned vehicles and other non-rustproofed machinery littering the landscape.

Who can argue with the logic of that?

12 or 20 questions: with Julie McArthur

Julie McArthur grew up in Kanata, Ontario. She now writes and resides in Toronto. Her stories have appeared in Front & Centre and Other Voices. Black Bile Press published her chapbook, Men and the Drink in November.

1 - How did your first chapbook change your life? How does your most recent work compare to your previous? How does it feel different?

It gave me confidence and I now feel less awkward talking about my writing with others.

My work has been described as economical, and remains so. I think the ideas behind my stories have become more complex and imaginative. The stories have grown in length, although I still enjoy writing short shorts. I also play around with points of view and different tenses, where as I originally wrote mostly in first person, present tense.

2 - How did you come to fiction first, as opposed to, say, poetry or non-fiction?

My first writings were in journals and depressing bits of poetry in sketchbooks. I signed up for a short stories class eight years ago. In the first class, the teacher asked us to write one page of dialogue that would be read aloud the next week. I panicked and dropped out. Five years went by, and I signed up again. That time it worked out.

3 - How long does it take to start any particular writing project? Does your writing initially come quickly, or is it a slow process? Do first drafts appear looking close to their final shape, or does your work come out of copious notes?

I do a lot of writing in my head before I put it to paper or the computer. Some ideas develop quickly while others simmer for a long time. My first drafts are often a couple, maybe a few pages with a specific scene or a short version that will expand. I often have trouble reading through the mess of early drafts. There are usually five to ten rewrites. 

4 - Where does fiction usually begin for you? Are you an author of short pieces that end up combining into a larger project, or are you working on a "book" from the very beginning?

A story usually starts with a seed of dialogue or an emotion. Occasionally, I see connections between separate stories and think about the possibilities of a novel.

5 - Are public readings part of or counter to your creative process? Are you the sort of writer who enjoys doing readings?

They are not part of, or counter to my creative process. I have never done an official reading, just some impromptus at bars, to a handful of strangers. That phase seems to have passed. I am interested in doing readings in the future, although I may need to be forced to do the first one.

6 - Do you have any theoretical concerns behind your writing? What kinds of questions are you trying to answer with your work? What do you even think the current questions are?

Not particularly. I try to write honestly.

7 – What do you see the current role of the writer being in larger culture? Does s/he even have one? What do you think the role of the writer should be?

Writers tell stories. I like to think mine evoke emotions, entertain, and inspire.

8 - Do you find the process of working with an outside editor difficult or essential (or both)?

Not difficult. I love editing my own work, but always welcome a fresh pair of eyes.

9 - What is the best piece of advice you've heard (not necessarily given to you directly)?

Hal Niedzviecki said to me, “Don’t be afraid to linger in a scene.” 

10 - What kind of writing routine do you tend to keep, or do you even have one? How does a typical day (for you) begin?

I prefer to work on new or early drafts in the morning. Later drafts can be done almost anywhere, anytime. Most days start with instant coffee and cold oatmeal. If I’m not working that day, I will write, maybe take a trip to the gym. 

11 - When your writing gets stalled, where do you turn or return for (for lack of a better word) inspiration?

When my writing is stalled it is due to a lack of discipline more than anything else. Reading helps get me back to my writer’s mindset. Discussions with other writers can also be inspiring and motivating.

12 - If there was a fire, what's the first thing you'd grab?

My three cats - Annabelle, Harold, and Mona.

13 - David W. McFadden once said that books come from books, but are there any other forms that influence your work, whether nature, music, science or visual art?

The natural environment, animals, and songwriters influence my work. 

14 - What other writers or writings are important for your work, or simply your life outside of your work?

I read a lot of Bukowski and Vonnegut when I was young. I reread Chekhov, Hemingway, Kennedy, Miller, Dickens, Bronte, and Lawrence. Robertson Davies, Cormac McCarthy, and Raymond Carver are more recent inspirations.

15 - What would you like to do that you haven't yet done?

Take my G1 road test. 

16 - If you could pick any other occupation to attempt, what would it be? Or, alternately, what do you think you would have ended up doing had you not been a writer?

I have had many occupations before I came to writing, or thought of myself as a writer. I’ve never been ambitious about careers. Time to myself has always been more important than money. The idea of being a writer was lurking inside me for a long time, but I wasn’t ready to acknowledge it, or get on with it for many reasons.

17 - What made you write, as opposed to doing something else?

When I began taking classes a few years back, I knew it was right. It felt natural. I remember learning to print in Grade 1. It was that same excitement. On my Grade two report card, my teacher, Mrs. Hobbs wrote, “In her stories she writes good sentences and expresses interesting ideas.” So, there may have been an inkling of my future then, but with many things, I took the long roundabout route to get here. 

18 - What was the last great book you read? What was the last great film?

The Deptford Trilogy by Robertson Davies. I don’t see movies often, Harold and Maude is a favourite.

19 - What are you currently working on?

A collection of short stories.

12 or 20 (second series) questions;

fwd – Black Bile Press Media Release –

New From Black Bile Press

One-offs Chapbooks Series Three, featuring:

Tony O’Neill

Julie McArthur

& Nathaniel G. Moore

Black Bile Press is back with its third series of one-off, single story chapbooks by three of the literary underground’s hardest hitters.

Tony O’Neill is an internationally-renowned writer of salty fiction. His novels include Digging the Vein (Contemporary Press) and Down and Out on Murder Mile (Harper Perennial). Now Black Bile Press has the honour of publishing his chapbook Bill Bailey, a hilarious story about a man, a hirsute woman and an unlucky, yappy dog. This is a unique opportunity to own a limited edition O’Neill publication that will sell out quickly and never be reprinted.

Julie McArthur is a rising literary gem from Toronto. Her chapbook Men and the Drink centres on a woman’s survival strategy for dealing with men in her life. Told in McArthur’s deadpan, succinct style, the story blends humour and panache just so.

Nathaniel G. Moore is a well-known and respected writer of irreverent short fiction and the perfect fit for a Black Bile Press chapbook. His book “Sensational Sherri” is a ribald tale that mingles wrestling, pornography, booze, obsession and nostalgia like only Mr. Moore can.

This threesome of writers and their books represent the best of the best when it comes to fierce and fiery short fiction. Each story is published as a limited edition, single story chapbook, carefully assembled but anything but precious.

Order all three books for only $10.00 (plus $2.00 postage), for a ridiculously good final price of $12.00 for all three books. Or order one chapbook (please specify the title) for $6.00 ($5.00 for the book, plus $1.00 postage).

Order by sending a cheque (made payable to M. Firth) to:

Matthew Firth

Black Bile Press

573 Gainsborough Avenue

Ottawa, Ontario

K2A 2Y6

CANADA

Queries: firth@istar.ca

12 or 20 questions: with Bill Brown

Bill Brown’s work has appeared in Boheme Press’s Grunt and Groan: The New Fiction Anthology of Work and Sex, Urban Graffiti X, McGill University’s The Veg, Siren Song Publishing Writing at the Edge. In addition his stories and book reviews have appeared in Front&Centre, which he now co-edits with Matthew Firth. Firth also captains Black Bile Press, which in 2003 published Bill’s chapbook, Folly. Bill’s newest collection of stories, When Jupiter’s Aligned with Mars, has been published by Siren Song Publishing, 2009. It will be launched at the Manx, 5 pm on September 19, 2009. Bill and his husband, John, live in Ottawa.

1 - How did your first book or chapbook change your life? How does your most recent work compare to your previous? How does it feel different?

My chapbook, Folly, (Black Bile Press, 2002) did two things: it gave me some idea of how stories can work together to enliven one another and, after selling out two printings (okay, mostly a hometown crowd) suggested that my stories were striking at least a thin chord. What, until then, had seemed like heightened masturbation, had, surprisingly gathered a crowd without losing the intimacy of scale, the limited scope and the freedom from commercial consideration, that fit so snugly with my intent in writing the stories.
When my husband John was asked to do the layout and design, the book became a family affair. And finally, Matthew Firth's editing, not only honed some of my writing skills, but cemented a new friendship and led to an invitation to co-edit Front&Centre.
Though my most recent collection, When Jupiter’s Aligned with Mars, (Siren Song Publishing, 2009) has a spine (I liked Marcus McCann’s take that, for most, if it’s got no friggin’ spine, it’s not a real book.) working with Zsolt Alapi at Siren Song has been a breeze.
We need some sort of anthem to those who continue to keep small presses going and continue to give many writers a first leg up. Yourself included, rob.
Changes in my work? If I’ve been successful, my most recent work should have a sparer feel to it. I’ve been inspired by others (Levine, Griggs, Metcalf, Carver) who have (more) successfully applied something like the implied line of the visual artist. If done well it serves to both clarify and deepen the experience for both reader and writer.

2 - How did you come to fiction first, as opposed to, say, poetry or non-fiction?

Poetry, though a longtime interest, intimidated me; non-fiction didn’t interest me. I quickly settled on the short story believing it has more in common with poetry than it does with the novel—including its loose boundaries. The short story would allow me to come at poetry through the side door.

3 - How long does it take to start any particular writing project? Does your writing intitially come quickly, or is it a slow process? Do first drafts appear looking close to their final shape, or does your work come out of copious notes?

My writing projects are quickly started. And though the paths followed vary, for the most part my writing slows down almost at once. I’m not a writer with things worked out beforehand; my ideas spring, mingle and speak to each other through the act of writing. This will explain why my initial draft rarely looks anything like the final piece. Occasionally a story comes out in a rush, but it’s rare. My stories tend to be worked, maybe a few at a time, over months or years. Several stories may find themselves, over time, flowing into a single one. And though, from time to time I use notes, for the most part it’s simply a matter of spending time with the stories themselves.

4 - Where does fiction usually begin for you? Are you an author of short pieces that end up combining into a larger project, or are you working on a "book" from the very beginning?

For me, fiction can begin almost anywhere: eavesdropping, a poem, a painting, an anecdote. And though a single “event” may trigger a story, pretty soon other bits of this and that I’ve been gathering (many unknowingly) will muscle in.
I have never set out to write a book. I write stories. It happens that enough of them, at least so far, have enough of a common thread that they work as a book and might catch the eye of a publisher. A few of my completed stories don’t seem to work at all with the others; but then, that’s not why I wrote them.

5 - Are public readings part of or counter to your creative process? Are you the sort of writer who enjoys doing readings?

Though it happens rarely, I like being read to. And since I read my stories aloud to myself, doing the same for others isn’t much of a stretch. Being relaxed with the cadence and intent of my stories I would much rather read them than talk about them.

6 - Do you have any theoretical concerns behind your writing? What kinds of questions are you trying to answer with your work? What do you even think the current questions are?

My theoretical concerns don’t go much beyond taking the scraps of ideas, experiences, concerns, and puzzles that I have gathered over my life and refashioning them in ways that try to make some sense to me. I want to explore: how they might, like pieces of a puzzle fit together; how they might inform one another; how one facet might shed light on another; how I might draw the universal from the particular; or even how to shed my own light on a certain historical period. Given all this, it’s inevitable that you’ll find a gay thread through most of my stories: I am, in some of these, exploring the movement from deep inside the closet to being as out there as I wish. And yes, it’s an old story, but I hope it’s told with a new voice that might connect with the experiences of someone—anyone—who has found themselves marginalized, paralyzed, or doing stupid things.

7 – What do you see the current role of the writer being in larger culture? Does s/he even have one? What do you think the role of the writer should be?

Speaking the truth(s) isn’t going out of style any time soon. Writers provide readers with the opportunity to step aside from the hubbub of their lives and through the experience of reading examine a truth that might otherwise have been passed by in the rush and noise. Having said this, I don’t see fiction writers as activists. Our stories need not directly protest anything; the very act of writing them is protest enough. And need I state the obvious: such writing is only rarely synonymous with commercial success.

8 - Do you find the process of working with an outside editor difficult or essential (or both)?

I consider someone with the skill, interest and time to comment on my work, to be a blessing. Such people (my friend Liz, my husband John, my teacher Rita, my editor and friend Matthew) have all helped me with everything from digging deeper for the core of the story to stylistic changes that enliven or refine.

9 - What is the best piece of advice you've heard (not necessarily given to you directly)?

If you want to be a writer, then write. Only from that can the rest, in time, flow.

10 - What kind of writing routine do you tend to keep, or do you even have one? How does a typical day (for you) begin?

Most days my writing routine is the same: I rise around 5 am and after my first cup of tea, write for the next three hours or so. I might come back to it later in the day, but most often I don’t. I might use some of the afternoon to work on related tasks: reading manuscripts for Front&Centre, sending out my own work, reviewing books, administering Black Bile Press’s website and reading.

11 - When your writing gets stalled, where do you turn or return for (for lack of a better word) inspiration?

My first stop is poetry. But there are a few short story writers that I also turn to: Norman Levine, Charles Bukowski, Mavis Gallant, Raymond Carver, Terry Griggs, Elise Levine, Leon Rooke, Sherwood Anderson, John Metcalf. Though an eclectic list, I find something in each one whenever I go back.

12 - What did your favourite teacher teach you?

Rita Donovan, Ottawa’s most underrated novelist, through her astute comments and observations, taught me to have confidence in my work. She was the one who said: “Write, write, write.”

13 - David W. McFadden once said that books come from books, but are there any other forms that influence your work, whether nature, music, science or visual art?

The visual arts: with John and I collecting art for three decades, our apartment is awash in paintings, photos, drawings, and sculpture, providing a trove of material to reflect on. Alberto Manguel, in his excellent book, Reading Pictures: A History of Love and Hate, encourages us to “read” the visual world (including architecture—a longtime, untutored passion of mine) for its hidden stories and riddles. This sort of reading has occasionally broken one of my many logjams.

14 - What other writers or writings are important for your work, or simply your life outside of your work?

I’ve already mentioned many of these. But at Humber School for Writers, Wayson Choy’s encouragement came at the right moment to keep me moving towards my chapbook, Folly, which came out in 2002. Working on the chapbook with Matthew Firth not only ended with us being friends, but my being introduced into a constellation of edgy writers: Sal Difalco, Mark SaFranko, Zsolt Alapi, Laura Hird, Matthew Firth, Tony O’Neil, Harold Hoeffle.

15 - What would you like to do that you haven't yet done?

Write poetry.

16 - If you could pick any other occupation to attempt, what would it be? Or, alternately, what do you think you would have ended up doing had you not been a writer?

I spent 31 years teaching. And though teaching provided me with both stimulation and pleasure, in balance these were eventually overwhelmed by the strict regime of timetables, bells, clocks, paperwork, reports, and routines that for me sapped much of teaching’s joy.
Even though, as a young man, I chose the closet as both a queer and a writer, I’ve stopped beating myself up about it and now use that period to inform my life as both an out-there, married queer and a published writer.

17 - What made you write, as opposed to doing something else?

After 31 years of doing something I was only superficially suited to, what else was I going to do but follow my gut?

18 - What was the last great book you read? What was the last great film?

Book: Thin Ice by Norman Levine. Film: Let the Right One In a 2008 Swedish vampire movie.

19 - What are you currently working on?

My next short story.

Doing what I can to help Siren Song Publication sell my newest collection, When Jupiter Aligns with Mars.

Weeding the garden and keeping various Bridgehead cafes afloat.

12 or 20 questions (second series);