What's On at the Library

Eh List author Ken Sparling joins in a discussion with writer and broadcaster Jonathan Goldstein about the relationship between writers and their editors, as part of a 16-part series about the writer/editor relationship, featured on the CBC’s Canada Writes website. Goldstein, whose radio show ‘Wiretap’ gets play on several networks across North America, boasts a substantial, if peculiar, audience. But it wasn’t always the case. Back when Goldstein’s mailbox was full of rejection letters, he met writer and editor Ken Sparling, who, as editor of Broken Pencil, spotted potential in Goldstein’s quirky scribblings.  Sparling’s attention was the only thing Goldstein needed to keep him at the keyboard. Good, bad, or indifferent, Sparling relentlessly and ruthlessly edited Goldstein’s pages, inspiring the young writer with every bold, red stroke of the editorial pen. It was a good thing for all of us that Sparling was able to see the wheat among the chaff and that he was able to encourage Goldstein to follow Faulkner’s advice and learn to ‘kill his darlings’ in order to give way to the fresh blooms which inevitably take their place.

Drop by CBC Canada Writes to see what Ken and Jonathan have to say about the process of turning scribbles into memorable text.  http://www.cbc.ca/books/canadawrites

Join Ken Sparling on September 22 for an eh List appearance at Toronto Reference Library, where he will be interviewed by his editor, writer Derek McCormack.