#Yearof50. Entry 11: We write what we know

So, I’m no David Clark, but I’ve put pen to paper over the years. In 1988, my Grade 10 English teacher Ms Hunt, without my knowledge, submitted a piece of fiction I wrote into our graduation yearbook. It made the cut (thanks Rachel Welch O'Connor!) and I was incredibly touched.

I kept writing into my CEGEP years, as I’ve mentioned in a previous post, writing for Heritage College“ The Mushroom”. At Queen’s, I had op-eds published in the Queen’s Journal, and I actually came out in an op-ed in the Queen’s Gazette (more on that in a post to come). I later published some poems in a couple of anthologies, and was chuffed to be accepted, through peer review, into the Queen’s Anti Racism Review and Queen’s Undergraduate Review.

A few years later, another peer review jury accepted my paper on philanthropy in the higher education education sector. Oh, and the Kingston Arts Council seemed to love a short story I submitted to their contest in 1997. I also ended up co-writing a fun trivia book about Mount Everest with a fellow named Don Travers.

My biggest writing adventure was editing Mark’s book, Justin Case and the Closet Monster. And I continue to be Mark’s writing partner on some new projects we are cooking up. Stay tuned…

I recently discovered a huge cache of my poetry, and it was quite the journey to walk in the steps of my younger self, trying to escavate the layers of my experience. How intriguing to engage with my former self, and his fears, passions, and darkness. It was like arguing with a mirror. May the letters capture my truth.