Bad Artist Named One of CBC's Must-Read Canadian Nonfiction Books for Fall 2024
We're thrilled to see Bad Artist, the thought-provoking essay collection edited by Nellwyn Lampert, Pamela Oakley, Christian Smith, and Gillian Turnbull, has been recognized by CBC Books as one of the "54 works of Canadian nonfiction to check out this fall". This list highlights the most anticipated Canadian nonfiction titles for the upcoming season and includes new books from Tanya Talaga, Dionne Brand, Diana Beresford-Kroeger, Bob McDonald, Guy Vanderhaeghe, The Hon. Murray Sinclair, Malcom Gladwell, Jeanne Beker, Derek Whibley, and Zoe Whittall to name a few.
"Bad Artist is a collection of 21 essays about creativity featuring Canadian and international writers who refuse to conform to the narrative of toxic productivity."
—CBC Books
The editors will be presenting at a number of events in September and October.
Toronto International Festival of Authors
Bad Artist, Good Art: Caught Between Creativity and Productivity
Pamela Oakley, Gillian Turnbull, and Nellwyn Lampert
Saturday, September 21 • 12:00 PM ET
Harbourfront Centre • Reserve Your Spot
Bad Artist - Toronto Book Launch In conversation with Antonia Reed
Nellwyn Lampert, Pamela Oakley, Christian Smith, and Gillian Turnbull
Wednesday, September 25 • 7:00 PM ET
Danu Social House • Reserve Your Spot
Bad Artist - Halifax Book Launch In conversation with Stephanie Domet
Nellwyn Lampert, Pamela Oakley, Christian Smith, and Gillian Turnbull
Thursday, October 17 • 7:00 PM AT
The Bus Stop Theatre • Reserve Your Spot
About Bad Artist
In a world that worships productivity, creating for art’s sake is seen as romantic and nearly indefensible. For anyone who has ever struggled to honour their artistic impulses, Bad Artist offers an antidote to this toxic productivity narrative. This collection of essays features 21 Canadian and international writers from a breadth of backgrounds and experiences whose lives are not always proscribed by predictable work schedules or reliable support systems. They fit creating into the cracks of their lives, and through their stories show us all how to keep creating—not producing.
The list of contributors includes:
In Defence of Giving Up by Stacey May Fowles
Learning to Love the Fallow Periods by Megan Cole
Getting Off the Couch by Jessica H. Robinson
Betrayal: The Bad Artist’s Greatest Act by Nicola Perry
The Murakami Method: Rewriting Long Covid by Linda Browne
We’re All Mad Here by Nellwyn Lampert
Just to Be by Alison Karlene Hodgins
Writing as an ADHDer by Jess Mannion
More Like a Garden by Jessica Payne
A Regulating Home by M.E. Burns
Gross Domestic Productivity by Pamela Oakley
How Can You Write Poetry If You Don’t Go Outside? by Anna Lee-Popham
Creating Outside the Boxes by Wanda Taylor
Turning Down Syndrome into Art by Adelle Purdham
Hummingbird by Gloria Blizzard
I Artsy by Christian Smith
How I Stay Creative While Working My Ass Off (For Someone Else’s Art) by Set Shuter
No Magic Formula by Kim Fraser
The Lemurs Make Me Write by Keriann McGoogan
Field Notes on Patience (in Shreds) by Lorri Neilsen Glenn
