Hey folks! Mostly back from the land of COVID (i.e. testing negative but body’s still doing weird-ass things). Today we talk with my pal Rebecca Rosenblum, who was on the show way back on E25. We talk about her new book, These Day Are Numbered: Diary of a High-Rise Lockdown. Enjoy!
Rebecca Rosenblum
Get Lit E32 with Mark Sampson
Hi everyone, hope your summer is going. Here in southern Ontario, the weather’s decidedly unsummery many days, but at least you can leave the house without risking frostbite, so my complaints are fairly muted.
Work on the new novel continues. Waking early in the morning is far less painful now. The new pain is one some of you know all too well – grant applications. The Canada Council generously offers grants for research and creation, so I’m applying for one of those to cover the costs of heading to Japan for research. I missed the deadline that would have me approved/declined in September, but I’m going whether or not I get the grant, so I’m going to apply and find out if I get money in March. Why not. Still, grant writing. Ugh.
Today’s show is a great one because it features Mark Sampson, poet and author of Sad Peninsula and The Slip, his most recent novel (with Dundurn Press). I met Mark at the Ontario Library Association Super Conference, as we share a publisher (not Dundurn, but Palimpsest). I’m happy to have had the privilege. There’s also that weird little bit of serendipity involving his wife Rebecca Rosenblum, which you might recall from episode 25.
You’ll also notice that there’s a weird technical glitch two or three minutes from the end. Turns out you can work in a place for almost twenty years and still forget about the existence of an important power switch (and, hence, not think about it when your guest back his chair into it).
Enjoy the show!
GET LIT E21 – Trevor Cole and The Whisky King
Hey all! On today’s show I’ll talk about my own personal impression of gritLIT, and then feature an interview with Trevor Cole, one-time Hamilton resident, HarperCollins author and the man behind The Whisky King: The remarkable true story of Canada’s most infamous bootlegger and the undercover Mountie on his trail. Now that’s a serious title.
Rocco Perri was one of Hamilton’s – and, indeed, Canada’s – most notorious gangsters. He was also notoriously good-natured and gregarious, and most of the city loved him. A great read!
As for gritLIT, it was a highly entertaining weekend. We managed to sneak in some interviews with Leslie Shimotakahara and Rebecca Rosenblum, which we’ll get to in future weeks. I also managed to stay up way too late talking to the likes of Denise Donlon (one of my music journo heroes, former host on The New Music, telling me Tom Waits stories for cryin’ out loud…NBD, though, right?). Stayed up even later with the immensely entertaining Lesley Livingston, doing Guy Gavriel Kay impersonations and telling stories until far too much wine was drunk. Look forward to next year’s festival already!