Earlier this year, the National Post’s The Afterword devoted a week to publishing excerpts from a fine anthology called Finding the Words: Writers on Inspiration, Desire, War, Celebrity, Exile, and Breaking the Rules (McClelland & Stewart). Proceeds from the volume go to PEN Canada’s work in defense of freedom of expression.
Here’s the beginning of my piece; you can read the rest on the National Post website.
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“A few years ago, in early May, I went to a friend’s magnolia and martini party on the other side of the Rideau Canal. First I had a great big martini, then I had a medium-sized martini, then I had a baby-sized martini (rather like Goldilocks, except that instead of running off into the woods I would totter home). In the garden, the magnolia was a mass of white blossom, and my friend bloomed too, sexy and voluptuous. Nevertheless, the man in her life had recently told her that he wanted a woman ten years younger. Now she was between men, as I was between books.”
Originally published Feb 15, 2011, by the National Post.