Issue 80: The Gallows Humour Issue

Matrix magazine is now accepting submissions for its Gallows Humour dossier. We are looking for your darkest, most absurd and sardonic, witty, acerbic, ironic and sarcastic unpublished writing. Edited by Mike Spry. Poetry: (3-5 poems). Fiction: (3500 words max.).

Deadline: April 11th, 2008.

Electronic Submissions Preferred: spry@matrixmagazine.org

On Gallows Humour:

“The ego refuses to be distressed by the provocations of reality, to let itself be compelled to suffer. It insists that it cannot be affected by the traumas of the external world; it shows, in fact, that such traumas are no more than occasions for it to gain pleasure.”
– Sigmund Freud,“Humour (Der Humor)”

“When Oscar Wilde allegedly gestured at the garish wallpaper in his cheap Parisian hotel room and announced with his dying breath, “Either it goes or I go,” he was exhibiting something beyond an irrepressibly brilliant wit. Freud, you see, wasn’t whistling “Edelweiss” when he wrote that gallows humour is indicative of “a greatness of soul.” The quips of the condemned prisoner or dying patient tower dramatically above, say, sallies on TV sitcoms by reason of their gloriously inappropriate refusal, even at life’s most acute moment, to surrender to despair.”
–Tom Robbins, “In Defiance of Gravity”

If you’re viewing this page spectrally and lack an email account, but still want to submit, send your hardcopy to:

Matrix Magazine
The Gallows Humour Issue
1400 de Maisonneuve Blvd. W., LB-658
Montreal, QC
H3G 1M8

Rita Wong and Robert Majzels have thoughtful responses up on rob mclennan’s ‘12 or 20.’ (I’m sure I should get why they’re called ‘12 or 20,’ but don’t.) Can’t wait to read Rita’s new book, Forage.

Tonight, Wayde Compton (my sweetheart) performs at the Western Front.

Wayde Compton and Jason De Couto: The Reinventing Wheel, A Turntable Project.

Sat., Jan. 12, 7:30 pm, The Western Front, 303 E. 8th Ave., Vancouver. Reception to follow. Free admission. Presented by the SFU Writer-in-Residence Program

And, in a week or two, David Chariandy and I read out at UBC. Here’s the announcement from the Play Chthonics Reading Series website:

Play Chthonics Reading Series
will host writers Anne Stone and David Chariandy.

Wednesday January 23, 2007 at 7:30 PM. Cash bar.

Cecil Green Park Coach House
Green College
6201 Cecil Green Park Road, UBC

MAP: http://www.maps.ubc.ca/PROD/index_detail.php?locat1=421

(more…)

I thought I was prepared that day for what I was about to hear, as I was no stranger to the circumstances surrounding the trial. But as I listened to Crown council describe, in the cold, matter-of-fact language of legal-eze, “what really happened” to those six women, I knew that I was not prepared, not at all. And I wondered how knowing this information could make any difference to the injustices the women experienced, injustices which continue to shape the present.     

Libby Davies also responds to the verdict, calling for reform of legal and social policy, an inquiry into police handling of the case, and fundamental changes to the social backcloth that has sex workers face such terrible risks of violence.  Says Davies:

Surely the trial of the missing women must compel us to act, to seek answers and make changes that will minimize the risk and harm that sex workers face.      

“I was born with a fever, but it seemed to subside for sixteen years. High school, I was a good girl. I was pretty, I smiled, I fit in fine. And then as I turned sixteen and stopped smiling, the fever returned, though my skin stayed pale and sure, showing no sign of the heat inside me.” 
    —Rebecca Godfrey. The Torn Skirt: a novel. (Harper Collins, 2001). (more…)

We are looking for the best unpublished writers in Canada for our 79th issue.

We are looking for innovative short fiction and poetry by young or emerging writers.

Eligible applicants include Canadian citizens who have NOT published a trade book. People who have published chapbooks or have been published in anthologies or magazines may submit.

Edited by Ian Orti and Maya Merrick

Electronic submissions only. (Word or text files only)

Send to: ian[at]matrixmagazine[dot]org
Due date: December 5th

My plan with Wayside Editions is to focus on exciting first books. Louis was the first of these, and I’m very happy to see this long over-due book come into existence. When I approached him last spring, I had his shorts in mind, those lovely little “true stories” books he’d put out over the 90s, like “Fly vs. Kitten.” Louis, though, had something more ambitious in mind and from the stories I loved and some I hadn’t yet seen, wove together a wonderful novel. If you’re in or around Montreal, don’t miss this launch.

October 23rd.
6 to 10 p.m. (followed by special guest DJs)
Casa del Popolo
4873 St. Laurent

The Montreal Review of Books has a big profile of Louis and his book. Check it out.

If you’re in Vancouver, though, you might want to drop by Spartacus at 7 p.m. and hear Reg Johanson, Larissa Lai, Lora McElhinney, Sachiko Murakami, and Renee Rodin. They’ll be reading as part of the launch of West Coast Line 53: Representations of Murdered and Missing Women.

As for the imprint, next fall will see the publication of a brilliant and experimental novel by Jenny Sampirisi. Can’t wait.