Getting Lit With Linda

What does the work of painter Renoir and his paintings of full-bodied women (2.15; 12.34), and tanning beds (2:30) have to do with the Quebecois author Marie Claire Blais (3:15) and La Belle Bette/Mad Shadows (3:20)? Have a listen to today’s episode to find out …In this episode, Linda looks at Blais’s Mad Shadows and its historical importance to Quebec. Among other subjects, she also references:Value Village, Holt Renfrew 1:3; 11:58 )Sheila Fischman (3:45)New Yorker (4:47; 16:11)Margaret Atwood (4:58; 16:24 )Andre Gide, Andre Breton (5:22; 17:04 )Karen Kain, Veronica Tennant (6:08; 18:02)Elle magazine (11:43)Fluevog Shoes (11:48)Quel est le rapport entre l'œuvre du peintre Renoir et ses tableaux de femmes épanouies (2.15 ; 12.34), et les lits de bronzage (2:30), et l'auteure québécoise Marie Claire Blais (3:15) et La Belle Bette/Mad Shadows ( 3:20) ? Écoutez l'épisode d'aujourd'hui pour le découvrir...Dans cet épisode, Linda se penche sur La Belle Bette et son importance historique pour le Québec. Parmi d'autres sujets, elle fait également référence à :Value Village, Holt Renfrew (1:3 ; 11:58)Sheila Fischman (3:45)New Yorker (4:47 ; 16:11)Margaret Atwood (4:58 ; 16:24 )André Gide, André Breton (5:22 ; 17:04 )Karen Kain, Veronica Tennant (6:08 ; 18:02)Elle magazine (11:43)Chaussures Fluevog (11:48)

In this episode, Linda and Bryn Turnbull discuss her new historical novel, The Paris Deception - and what it means to represent women's lives historically when there has been inadequate records or representation for them. Linda considers the Indigo Girls and their song about Virginia Woolf - and listening attentively to the voices of women through time. Turnbull alludes to The Monuments Men (both the movie and the book) and her novel as an equivalent for women to such a story. Among other topics, we addressnecessary deceptions (18.56)significant visual art work still missing since the Second World War (21.30)women are scapegoats during Second World War (27)

Michael V. Smith is a deeply loving, insightful poet and performer – who uses intimacy and humour as tools to explore pain. In this interview, Linda chats with him about power dynamics and bullying, as they address his poetry collection, Queers Like Me (published by Book*hug in 2023)Here are some of the subjects we covered:  on the nature of creative writing and genre (6.15)poetic technique, poetic devices, and poetic voice (verbatim poems: 6.45, 8.00, 42.43)Facebook poem and writing about his father (9.35, 10.48, 27.50, 32.20)depictions of masculinity  (21.40 mistake with bike/book; 12.05, 21.25)The Floating Man (13.03, 27.10)Agnes Varda (12.12)Eloise Marseille (4.18)working across genres (16.25)Michael reads from “Grandma Cooper’s Corpse” (20.25)humour and contrast (22.42, 24.25)poetry and knowledge - the function of poetry (37.00)his chapbook (23.45)dynamics of power and bullying (32, 32.40, 33.40)the importance of nuance (34.50)gay marriage (36.08)Bronwen Wallace (38.30)Lorna Crozier (39.20)His memoir, My Body is Yours (40.38, published by Arsenal Pulp Press)radical inclusion (46.54)

Eloise Marseille is the first guest for Season 5 - yes, season 5! - and, this time, it's English AND French (starting at the 31.55 mark for the French interview). Marseille is a wonderful Quebecoise graphic novelist, whose candid and humorous book, Naked: The Confessions of a Normal Woman / Confessions d'une Femme Normale examines sexuality and self-love--especially as it bears on women, cis- and trans-. Linda begins with a reference to the feminist theory courses she teaches and some of the theorists, like Kimberlé Crenshaw, and how sometimes students say "do we need feminist theory any more?" Linda wants to unplug students from the Matrix (a reference to the film starring Keanu Reeves) and show them the gritty reality in which we live - yes, we STILL need feminism and Marseille is leading the way/the charge!With thanks to James Healey, the recording engineer who set up the studio; Raphael Krux for music; and Marco Timpano, Sarah Henzi, and Benoit Cantin for giving this episode an advance listen!****Eloise Marseille est la première invitée de la saison 5 - oui, la saison 5 ! - et, cette fois, c'est en anglais ET en français (à partir de 31.55 pour l'entretien en français). Marseille est une merveilleuse écrivaine, dont le livre candide et humoristique, Naked: The Confessions of a Normal Woman / Confessions d'une Femme Normale, examine la sexualité et l'amour de soi, en particulier en ce qui concerne les femmes, cis et trans. Linda commence par évoquer les cours de théorie féministe qu'elle donne et certaines théoriciennes, comme Kimberlé Crenshaw, et comment les étudiants disent parfois "avons-nous encore besoin de la théorie féministe?" Linda veut débrancher les étudiants de la Matrice (référence au film avec Keanu Reeves) et leur montrer la réalité crue dans laquelle nous vivons - oui, nous avons ENCORE besoin du féminisme et Marseille montre la charge!Merci à James Healey, l'ingénieur du son qui a installé le studio, à Raphael Krux pour la musique, et à Marco Timpano, Sarah Henzi, et Benoit Cantin pour avoir écouté cet épisode en avant-première!

Linda wishes her listeners a very happy holiday - and offers a hint about what to expect for at least the first episode of Season 5! Have a restful, joyful period. Getting Lit With Linda returns on March 1, 2024.

In this episode, Linda chats with Dr. Katherine McLeod about her role in the SpokenWeb Podcast, particularly Short Cuts. The conversation covers so much ground in such a short period! We discuss the following: The Short Cuts podcast (6.20, 9:21, 14.05, 18:47)Women poets, such as Gwendolyn MacEwan, Phyllis Webb (15:27), Muriel Rukeyser, Maxine Gadd, Margaret Atwood (8.22; 8.54; 10:03), Daphne Marlatt (18:55), Dionne Brand (11:23), and Brand with Lee Maracle (a member of the Stó:lō Nation; 12.05; 15:25)Feminist practices of listening (9:20)Holding the sound (11:00) CBC Radio, the history of; women writers and (15:49) and the radio program “Anthology” (16:28) The federal funding body, called SSHRC (4.32; 6.05)Smaro Kamboureli and the TransCanada Institute (16:07)The Director of SpokenWeb, Jason Camlot (2:45, 17:33; 22.03) (see Linda's previous episode with Camlot, who is also a poet, here)CanLit Across Media (17:40)The Women and Words Conference (20:54)We talked about SpokenWeb’s beginnings, but here is another example. And, if you're curious, here is a sample of McLeod talking about “holding the sound” in a ShortCuts episode. And if you want to hear the recording of Dionne Brand speaking with Lee Maracle, try going here.

Linda is thrilled to have been able to conduct this interview with one of the foremost feminist scholars in Canada right now—Erin Wunker. They speak about her book Notes from a Feminist Killjoy, published by book*hug, and the important work it undertakes in relation to the labour of being a “feminist killjoy.”Don’t know what a feminist killjoy is? Give this interview a listen to find out more.Here are only some of the key points of the discussion:·    About Erin Wunker (2.46)  ·   About the book itself: Notes from a Feminist Killjoy (book*hug press) (1.41)·     The meaning of the title (4.39)·     What is a killjoy? (1.47)·     Sarah Ahmed, as a thinker and community-engaged intellectual (1.58, 5.40, 8.10, 30.08)·     About the feminist killjoy (6.20, 7.09, 9.46, 19.40, 24.56) and intersectional feminism (15.57)·     Betty Friedan (25.00)·     The style of writing (25.30)·     Collection action, allyship, friendship (18.55)·     The podcast We Can Do Hard Things (Glennon Doyle, 13.08)·     Catherine MacKinnon (30.14, 38.04) ·     Tarana Burke, #MeToo, and Jian Ghomeshi (32.58)

In this episode -- recorded live in Tiohtià:ke in the DeSeve Cinema at Concordia University -- Linda interviews award-winning authors, Catherine Hernandez and Eva Crocker. Linda begins by thanking celebrated Montreal-based author, Christopher DiRaddo, who is the director of the Violet Hour and who opens the event with a territorial acknowledgement and with an introduction to the authors. The Violet Hour and the Association of English-Language Publishers of Quebec (AELAQ) co-sponsored the event, so Linda also recognizes the superb professionalism of the team at AELAQ, including Rebecca West, Alex Sweny, and Elise Moser. She also thanks Stephen Burgess, the audio-visual technician who helped to record the event that day.The interview begins with Hernandez and considerations of her three novels, Scarborough (Arsenal Pulp Press), Crosshairs (Simon & Schuster), and The Story of Us (HarperCollins). They also speak about her amazing Wild Strawberry Homestead. Then, Eva Crocker joins them on the stage and so they also discuss her two novels, Back in the Land of the Living (House of Anansi) and All I Ask (House of Anansi).A question period follows the two interviews, as members in the audience also interact with Hernandez and Crocker. It's a longer episode than usual (which is why there is only ONE this month!), but you will appreciate why: the interview is at turns funny, moving, and warm.

In this episode, Linda reflects on Dionne Brand's magnificent A Map to the Door of No Return: Notes to Belonging, reprinted by Vintage (a division of Random House) in 2023 - but initially published over twenty years ago. That's the staying power of this particular volume - the "Door of No Return" is a particularly harrowing metaphor and, as Linda notes, there are many expressions that use "doors" in contemporary usage. Just not like this book does! A prolific and accomplished writer and professor, Brand is referring to the Black diaspora vis-a-vis the Black Atlantic slave trade.To set up this discussion, Linda considers her personal fascination with "doors" (consider the gorgeous doors of the Atwater Library in Montreal) and then how they have been used in other works -- like that of Complaint! by Sara Ahmed or The Diamond Grill by Fred Wah or The Door by Margaret Atwood -- and then compares them to how the image is used in Brand's literary text.In the Takeaway, Linda gives a shout-out to the annual Read Quebec Book Fair, that this year is taking place from November 3 to November 4th in the McConnell Building Atrium of Concordia University. Please join her there, where she will be interviewing Catherine Hernandez and Eva Crocker live!