WOTS09: In Which Stuart McLean Helps Me in My Job Hunt

That is a bit of an overstatement. Let me backtrack.

The Word On The Street National Book & Magazine Festival celebrated its 20th today with the usual mix of author readings, live music performances, kids events, marketplace booths, and book sales. The “national celebration of literacy and the written word” was first held in 1990; this year it took place in Vancouver, Kitchener, Halifax and Toronto.

Last year, I was a volunteer at the kids activity tent. It was a humid, messy affair, packed with mad scientists, melting crayons, and ranks of worn-out parents. Children bursting out of the tent seams. But it was a rare opportunity to experience books and learning from a child’s perspective so I had fun. I also walked away with an illustration by Jeremy Tankard, a leftover easel drawing from his mini-art lesson for the kids that he didn’t want. Still, I missed a lot of events during the day because I was volunteering, so this year I was a plain old festival attendee.

First up, readings by Jonathan Goldstein and Stuart McLean at the CBC Stage, and “a middle-aged rap session” by Abdominal and the Obliques. It was fun times: both read selections from their new books, and the band paid tribute to Toronto and the GTA during their performance. I appeared to be one of the only 905-ers, but what we lacked in numbers, we made up for in spirit. Markham to Queen’s Park is no small jaunt.

Jonathan Goldstein’s Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bible! sounded hilarious and I can’t wait to read it. Irreverent, but hilarious. Though, if I can handle Lamb, I can handle anything. The OT has its fair share of outrageous moments anyway. He read from the first chapter, which of course was about Adam and Eve.

I did end up buying the latest Vinyl Cafe book, Extreme Vinyl Cafe (X-TREEM VINYL CAFE! Now with 20% more monster trucks and flaming gazebos. I kid—no gazebos were harmed during the making of this book). Now, Mr. McLean is one of my favourite authors, and I’d just downed a rather large cup of coffee in record time, so I was more than a little giddy when it was my turn to get the book signed.

Stuart: So who do I make this out to?

Me: *bashful* Liane please. L-I-A-N-E.

Stuart: *writes* For L-E-…?

Me: Oh sorry, it’s L-I-A-N-E.

Stuart: Well that won’t do. *To volunteer* Here, can I get another copy of this?

Me: *wildly* No no, it’s okay!

Stuart: No, it’s not okay. We’ll use this one for someone else. *stashes besmirched book under his chair*

Me: *thinking* Leroy? LeBron? Leander? Lemuel?

Stuart: So what do you do?

Me: *well and truly flustered at this point* Well I’m unemployed I mean I just finished school so I’m looking for work.

Stuart: And what field are you in?

Me: Actually, I’m in publishing or rather I’d like to be since I’m just starting out but the market is a little slow right now so…

Stuart: Really? Well, let’s see who’s here. Maybe you can talk to someone…

Me: *high pitched noise* Please it’s alright, that’s too much the book is enough murmel murmel murmel…

Stuart McLean is a very kind, very gracious man with great handwriting and famously bad spelling (not of my name; read the intro of his latest book). He introduced me to a publicist who worked on the promotion of the book; she was also in line for a signing and just as friendly as he was. We chatted about publishing programs and about getting into the industry, exchanged business cards, and then peered then into the sky for a few minutes, looking for the aerial banner that had been hired to promote Extreme Vinyl Cafe.

I spent the rest of the day wandering among the tents and ogling comic books in the graphic novel marketplace section. There was a table for The Joe Shuster Awards, which were announced the previous night. I bought Faith Erin Hicks‘ The War at Ellsmere; she didn’t win in the Cartoonist category, but rocks hard regardless. Look, she even made little paper dolls of the Ellsmere characters:

She’s also working on a new book, to be published by First Second Books. It’s called Friends With Boys, and it’s thiiis close to shoujo manga…

It’s about a girl named Maggie, who has three brothers (as I do), who was home-schooled (as I was), and is now entering her first year of public high school (as I did). She also is stalked by a ghost (that has yet to happen to me). She gets mixed up in High School Drama, makes friends with the wrong people

…except that, because we are talking about the author of Zombies Calling and Demonology 101, two things are inevitable:

1) Zombies. And 2) Someone will, eventually, get punched in the face.

Excellent.

At this year’s TCAF, and again today, I noticed how strange it was when meeting an author. On the one hand, all I want to do is gush over how much I admire their work, but I’m too shy to say it. At the same time, many authors are incredibly appreciative of their fans while also slightly embarrassed or surprised by the attention. One author at the signing table joked that she was so stoked that someone was buying her book that she might, ahem, wet herself. The customer looked highly gratified. “That’s alright!” chirped a nearby volunteer. “We have paper towels.” Bashfulness aside, I guess everyone’s a winner in these situations.

There’s been a lot of talk recently about what is and isn’t quality literature, about CanLit and its worth, etc. But at Word On The Street, none of that seems to matter. Sure, it has its big name headliners, but the festival also showcases books and magazines for both adults and children, about every topic under and beyond the sun. And it supports local literacy initiatives. And it’s free to attend. Now that’s a celebration of literature.