Tag: Concordia professor

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Le Monde Festival takes a stand for climate justice at Concordia

According to Concordia’s Ursula Eicker, cities of the future should be less about expansion and prosperity, but more about resilience and socio-economic sharings.

Want to live smart? Slow down. That’s what Ursula Eicker, professor of Buildings Civil and Environmental Engineering said at Le Monde Festival 2019. Le Monde is a climate festival held on Oct. 25 and 26, co-organized by French newspapers Le Monde and Le Devoir. Different talks and debates were held, arguing how we can shape the most sustainable and hopeful future possible.

We have never been as busy as now when it comes to revolutionizing our use of natural remedies. But instead of rushing towards new methods and technologies, maybe we should just go back in time and get inspired by how things were before the industrial revolution. Eicker is Concordia’s new Canada Excellence Research Chair (CERC) in Smart, Sustainable and Resilient Communities and Cities, and this year she was giving the keynote address for the French climate festival. According to Eicker, climate justice will not just take a few single actions, but several repeating ones that might conflict with our incorporated and safe habitual life as we know it. Her take on this matter is that we need to change the infrastructures in cities, not necessarily by looking forward, but by looking backward.

“We live in a world where short term actions dominate,” Eicker said. She doesn’t see a bright future for sterile cities with a focus on expansion and financial growth. Instead, Eicker argues that we need a frame that can help us reduce our carbon footprint in the most efficient way possible.

A large and open space for pedestrians, bikers and green areas are key elements of these so-called “next-generation cities,” that Eicker gave us a virtual tour of. Besides these back-to-basics renovations of the cityscape, she also shared the importance of rethinking how we as consumers maintain ownership of, for example, our way of commuting. Why not drive together with your colleague to work, or go grocery shopping with your neighbour, in one vehicle?

Being smart is not just about being fast, evolving and building. Big changes have to be incorporated into city infrastructure, but you can also help a lot through individual actions. Maybe this simplified approach to sharing both transport and resources would be worth a try.

 

Feature photo by Johanne Nedergaard

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News

Concordia professor talks international environmental agreements

“I have a daughter,” said economics professor and researcher Effrosyni Diamantoudi. “I want her to live in a happy world, like I did—in a world that’s not stressed with hurricanes and storms and all the consequences that come with climate change.”

“I see the world is not the same as it was 30 years ago,” Diamantoudi continued. “It’s not just for the sake of academic curiosity. My research has an important implication on the world I live in.”

Diamantoudi and her team have been researching international environmental agreements, through an environmental economist lense, for more than a decade.

She explained there are currently 180 environmental agreements that have been signed worldwide, which speaks to the necessity of an alternative method.

“If it was a no-brainer, then we would be drafting one agreement and then we’d all go home and it’ll be the end of it,” said Diamantoudi. But as it stands, these agreements are usually written and cancelled and rewritten and more defined and drafted.

We have the Paris Agreement, she said, and the Kyoto Protocol before that, and the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit even before that.

After much research, Diamantoudi and her team suggest to embed the international environmental agreement within another overarching agreement, like trade, and involve as many countries as possible.

It is favorable for country leaders to be part of agreements. “When you’re outside of the agreement, then you have to pay taxes for everything you sell to those markets, you don’t benefit from everything they’re exporting. You lose a lot if you’re outside of a trading block, said Diamantoudi. “What we’re suggesting is a situation where the environmental agreement and the trading block becomes one body, and they negotiate over the two together.”

The concept is simple: if you don’t meet the environmental standards of the agreement, then as a country, you will have to pay a higher tariff.

“That’s a way of balancing the incentives,” said Diamantoudi.

Diamantoudi said their research shows that if some issues are tied into each other, it would reinforce the validity of the agreement.

Through this, more incentives would be created for federal governments to contribute, and for ways to ensure indirect punishment if the agreement isn’t met.

She explained there are several international agreements currently in the works, which usually involves much of the same countries, on a singular topic. A group of countries get together to talk about trade, and months later the same group talks about the environment, and then, another couple of months later, technology transfers, and so on.

Diamantoudi said there are three characteristics that explains the failure of most international environmental agreements.

The first is the lack of enforceability. There is no supranational authority overlooking individual countries to keep them accountable if they don’t abide by the agreements made in the international agreement. These agreements are voluntary, and have to be self-enforced, which therein lies a problem.

“Within a country, you can come up with laws,” said Diamantoudi. “‘Do not dump more than X pollutants in the river, and so on, and if you break the law then you get a fine, or you lose your business. Well, nobody can fine a country, and nobody can shut down a country.”

The second is freeriding. Diamantoudi explained that although it would be ideal for all of us to actually do our part, and keep our environment clean, each one of us individually deviates from the agreement because we count on the other to do their part.

If everybody else agrees to cooperate and to decrease their pollution, then each country individually has an incentive to free ride, to not meet their target, because they assume everybody else has. “They think to themselves ‘now climate change is under control, presumably, and therefore we can continue doing business as usual,’” said Diamantoudi.

The third is the heterogeneity of the problem. Not all countries are the same. So in that,  not all countries have the same economies, are the same size, have the same industry, have the same natural resources, and not all countries suffer the same environmental consequences.

“It often happens that the countries that contribute to this greater bad, are not the ones that suffer the most,” said Diamantoudi. “So there’s this asymmetry in terms of contribution to the damage, and in consequences of the damage.”

“We have a dire problem in our hands, which explains why so many agreements tend to be drafted, and fail, and why we are where we are.”

Diamantoudi further explained if there are some smaller agreements which also has the environmental agreement embedded, it could be a good start.

“If we cant have all 180 countries sign, could we have a group of 90, and another group of 90, by all means, it’s better than nothing,” said Diamantoudi

She further explained that in situations like the environmental crisis, people have to take individual responsibility for their actions as well.

“You can’t teach people to care, but you can teach people to understand better, so information, education, into how this all works,” said Diamantoudi. “Yes, temperatures have increased, yes the water levels have risen, but [educate them on] the consequences of that. Make the calculation of that cost [to them individually], make that information more publicly available so that the masses can understand what’s going on.”

 

Feature photo by Alex Hutchins

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News

Cease and resist

Former Concordia University professor David Ketter claims the university denied him the title of distinguished professor emeritus and diverted his emails. Photo by Takayuki Tatsumi

Former Concordia professor David Ketterer claims university diverted his emails; denied him the distinguished professor emeritus title

On Nov. 27, 2017, former Concordia English department professor David Ketterer received a letter from the university’s senior legal counsel, Melodie Sullivan. “The university is in receipt of your [emails] sent to various members of the faculty and administration,” Sullivan wrote in the letter sent to Ketterer’s home in Liverpool, England. “As I have indicated to you on numerous occasions, no reply will be provided to your communications unless, in our opinion, a reply is required.”

Sullivan’s warning came six years after a cease and desist letter she sent to Ketterer, and multiple emails—some of which seen by The Concordian—were sent to Concordia administrators, including provost Graham Carr, by Ketterer.

“First, you have been informed that, other than communication required in the context of the legal actions you have taken against Concordia, the university does not intend to reply to your emails,” Sullivan had told Ketterer on June 13, 2011.

The legal actions Sullivan referred to were three claims Ketterer made on three separate occasions in Quebec’s small claims court. In September 2009, Ketterer, now an honorary research fellow at the University of Liverpool, was the plaintiff in a case against Martin Singer—the dean of the Faculty of Arts and Science at the time—Barbara Harris, Singer’s executive assistant, and three other Concordia administrators.

Ketterer requested $7,000 from the five individuals, and blamed their behaviour for why he didn’t obtain the distinguished professor emeritus (DPE) title from the university. The former professor said he has been nominated by English department chairs twice for the title “on the basis of [his] research and publications.”

In a recent email to The Concordian, Ketterer wrote that he wanted the DPE title because he was entitled to it.

Ketterer’s accusations against the five individuals, according to court records, were based on a May 2003 email written by Harris, which explained that the professor hadn’t been recommended by the Faculty of Arts and Science committee responsible for the DPE because “he had no department or university service here, nor had he ever supervised a single graduate student.”

Harris, who was the only defendant present at the September 2009 hearing, said the letter’s claim that Ketterer had no department or university service at Concordia was incorrect, and that there were other reasons Ketterer wasn’t recommended. According to Concordia senate guidelines, one of the three eligibility requirements for the DPE title is that the candidate “will have retired or will have chosen to retire from full-time service to the university.”

Instead, the decision not to give Ketterer the title was based on a decision made by the committee in 2008, according to court documents. The committee wrote that it had considered Ketterer’s dossier and, “in light of the criteria established by the senate,” did not forward it.

Judge Jacques Paquet, who presided over the hearing, sided with the defendants, writing that Harris’s mistake “had nothing to do with the committee’s decision.” A year later, in 2010, Ketterer was back in court, this time suing Concordia for an amount of $999.80, again referring to the Faculty of Arts and Science’s 2008 decision, contending that an award he received in 1996, “fulfilled the criteria of a ‘demonstrably outstanding contribution” to either teaching or research, one of the characteristics needed to obtain the DPE.

In her decision, judge Eliana Marengo wrote that the matter would not go to adjudication because that would require reviewing the committee’s work, which the court did not have the authority to do.

Ketterer’s Sept. 12, 2011 court appearance was his last. That day, judge David L. Cameron dismissed the proceedings, citing, among other reasons, Ketterer’s “series of small-claim cases.” Cameron condemned Ketterer to pay the university’s judicial costs— $194 for the 2011 case—but more importantly, prohibited him “from bringing proceedings in the Court of Quebec except with the authorization and subject to the conditions determined by the Chief Justice of the Court of Quebec.”

In a series of emails to The Concordian, Ketterer defended his actions, claiming the university diverted his letters to administrators and violated two academic rules in 2008.

In her Nov. 27, 2017 letter, Sullivan wrote: “Note that all communications received from you, such as letters and/or phone calls, are forwarded directly to me.” Less than three weeks earlier, on Nov. 8, Ketterer described the diversion of letters to Sullivan “as a human rights violation” in an email to Carr.
In an email sent to Sullivan on Dec. 17—in which Carr and Concordia ombudsperson Amy Fish were Cc’d—Ketterer claimed the “deliberate diversion” of his letters was illegal according to British law. “It is not just a matter of censorship; it is a violation of my human rights,” he wrote again.

In an email dated June 10, 2011—three days before the cease and desist letter was sent—Ketterer made a reference to the university’s Code of Rights and Responsibilities formal complaints system, and the reason why the system was created: the 1992 Concordia shooting. “The functionality of this recourse is particularly important because is [sic] a result of the Valery Fabrikant incident,” Ketterer wrote.

In response, Sullivan wrote in the cease and desist letter that, “the reference made in your email to the Fabrikant affair and the murders of four Concordia faculty members may reasonably be considered to be an implicit threat made against Vice President [Bram] Freedman and his colleagues. … Such threats will not be tolerated.”

“She simply invents the notion that I am making a threat,” Ketterer told The Concordian in an email. Ketterer argued he didn’t do more than “relate the Code of Ethics Formal Complaint procedure to the Valery Fabrikant incident.”

According to Ketterer, the motivation for “a couple of Concordia’s senior administrators” to create the DPE title “seems to have been some kind of public relations angle. [The title] is just a synonym for retired (and thus a title to be applied to all retired Concordia faculty unless he or she was a Fabrikant, etc.),” he wrote.

The Concordian contacted Concordia University, but did not get a comment by press time.

Photo by Takayuki Tatsumi

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Student Life

The JMSB prof who does it all

Photo by Ana Hernandez

An insight into the eclectic life of Concordia Professor Robert Soroka

The rain flooded the streets, as the cold, damp air crept into the hollows of my bones. It felt like I was in the British capital instead of our beloved metropolis, for the rain made everything seem grey and melancholic.

On this dreary day in October, I was dodging puddles and pedestrians because I had an interview with a legendary figure at Concordia.

When it was first announced at  that we’d be starting a feature series on part-time professors, I looked at the list and randomly chose the name Robert Soroka. To be honest, I thought he had an interesting name, and I knew nothing about him.

After claiming him off the list, I soon discovered Mr. Soroka was quite popular at our offices. Several of my colleagues were jealous I beat them to the punch and landed Soroka. They told me he was “amazing” and “one of the best professors at Concordia.”

I won’t lie, I was nervous and felt utterly unprepared to meet him. “What if I screw this up?” I thought to myself, as I walked up the staircase. For a moment, I considered fleeing from the interview, but I pushed through the anxiety and knocked on his door.

Upon meeting the professor, my nerves calmed down. We sat down and, since I’m no good at small talk, we jumped right into the interview. We decided to start from the beginning and discuss his education.

“I did my bachelor’s of commerce at McGill in marketing and management information systems,” Soroka said, as he detailed his undergrad experience. He liked business and ended up getting his first degree at the age of 20. A rarity to say in my opinion, considering students these days take their time getting their undergrad.

Following his degree at McGill, Soroka started working as a marketing analyst at a large Eastern Canadian retailer. During this period, he started his MBA at Concordia, working during the day and studying at night. By the time Soroka was in his early 20s, he had his master’s in business administration and several years of work experience under his belt.

Following his master’s degree, Soroka saw an advertisement for a teaching position for a local college and decided to apply. Applying to be a teacher marked a turning point in his career, because Soroka began to actively pursue teaching positions while continuing to work full-time.

He eventually landed two teaching positions at two different local colleges in Montreal and began teaching part-time at both institutions. “I thought the interaction with students was invigorating, and being in an academic environment was stimulating,” said Soroka, as he recounts a time when he used to work during the day as an analyst, then teach in the evening, balancing what he described as a tough and jam-packed schedule.

But another shift would soon occur, as the man decided to switch gears and enter law. Yes, you read correctly, the man began his Doctor of Jurisprudence degree, which is essentially a graduate-level law degree, at the State University of New York. Following this degree, Soroka worked within the criminal law sector in New York state for some time before returning to Montreal.

It appears Soroka always had his eye on the education field. He had the opportunity to meet with the chair of the marketing department at the John Molson School of Business while he was working full-time. He said this individual trusted him and gave him a teaching position, based on the fact that Soroka had acquired a decent amount of experience in the business world.

This job kick-started Soroka’s university teaching career at Concordia. He currently teaches courses in marketing, management and finance at JMSB, while also working at Dawson College. He stressed that, even though he’s a part-time faculty member, he contributes immensely to the community at Concordia.

“I choose to contribute and to teach, and it’s a great feeling” he said, as I tried to jot down all his involvements at Concordia. I can see clearly on his office wall that he won the distinguished teaching award in 1997, demonstrating his capabilities as an educator.

He currently has a three-year appointment on senate, sits on the hiring committee for the JMSB marketing department and previously sat on the business school’s strategic planning committee. He’s also worked with students on case competitions, is a union representative for the university and worked on developing the credit programs for the School of Extended Learning. “As part-timers, especially with a business background, there many more lucrative ways of earning a living.” he said, “but we chose to teach and to contribute.”

Apart from dabbling in law, business and education, believe it or not Soroka is also a talented playwright and thespian. He’s acted in a few plays during his lifetime, stating that he loves to communicate with audience, whether it’s through education, the law or the arts. During one play in particular, he had a lot of downtime between between practicing for every scene and he thought he “could do a better job” in terms of writing the script. So he decided to write a play of his own and he turned out to be quite talented at it. He wrote a few more including Thesis of Life, which has been produced three times, according to his website.

“How do you deal with rejection?” I asked the multitalented professor, considering I’m just about to graduate and have a bit of anxiety about my professional future. Soroka told me that, in every professional situation, you’re bound to face some sort of rejection. For someone who’s experienced a lot of highs during his diverse career, I was surprised to hear those words. He then told me that, every time he’s faced some sort of rejection, he’s used it as a learning experience, and each experience has inevitably contributed to his learning.

As I began to wrap up the interview, another revelation came out. It turns out Soroka was also a local television personality in Montreal, appearing on both CTV and Global. In between all his other activities and commitments, he submitted a demo reel and a resume to the CTV studios. A producer immediately called him and set up a lunch. He offered Soroka a spot on Montreal Today, a morning show where Soroka would act as ‘the consumer cop,’ drawing upon his expertise to provide an business analysis on a variety of topics. He met a lot of professionals during this period and also got to do some investigative journalism after a few years on the show.

Professor, lawyer, business man, playwright and television personality. Give me my asthma pump, I’m about to pass out.

After concluding the interview with the multitalented professor, I felt rather inspired and uplifted by Soroka’s stories. He is an example for the entire Concordia students and staff alike, especially when it comes to being involved in several different projects and juggling many responsibilities.

If I could take anything away from this interview, it would be a stronger motivation to get involved in the Concordia community and the proof that it is possible to have it all.

Categories
Arts

Le Concierge: Exploring the meaning of home

 Concordia professor Federico Hidalgo’s film screened at La Cinémathèque Québécoise

It was a special weekend for Montreal filmmaker and Concordia communications professor Federico Hidalgo. His latest chef d’oeuvre, Le Concierge, premiered Friday, Feb. 3 at La Cinémathèque Québécoise, attracting film enthusiasts and the general public alike for an evening of entertainment, reflection and intrigue. Hidalgo not only wrote the film, but also acted in it and directed it.

Le Concierge tells the story of a concierge responsible for the upkeep of a small apartment in Montreal. As part of his duties, the concierge must also show the vacant space to potential renters. Despite its lackluster appearance, the space becomes highly desired by people from all walks of life, including an immigrant artist, a widower and a teenage girl seeking independence.

As he meets with more interested clients, the concierge becomes increasingly disturbed by a peculiar reality—the owner of this building refuses to choose a tenant. With people continuously opening up to him about their house-hunting struggles, the concierge bears a heavy weight on his shoulders. The audience is urged to reflect on notions of honesty, humility and, ultimately, home.

Hidalgo’s film features very little dialogue, letting the mise-en-scène tell the story instead.

Members of the audience at Friday night’s screening included some of Hidalgo’s students from Concordia. Nasim Gizabi, who is completing a specialization in communications, said seeing his teacher on the big screen was “a great experience.”

“I think maybe now, when I see him in class, it will be different,” he said. “He always talks about the films we make in his class, and now we know how he himself makes them. I saw him actually doing the things that he has been teaching us about—cinematography, mise-en-scène and acting. It’s amazing.”

Gizabi also pointed out the similarities between Le Concierge and works by Korean filmmaker Kim Ki-duk. “He makes films with characters who don’t speak at all. I personally prefer films with minimal dialogue, and Le Concierge was something like that. I liked it,” he said.

Zoé Realffe Dagenais, who is pursuing a major in communications, said she enjoyed the way the film was shot, and agreed that seeing her professor on screen was a unique experience.

“It was kind of weird seeing my prof on screen, but I have more of an appreciation for him now,” she said. “When you see your prof actually doing something that he’s teaching you, it’s kind of cool. That he acted, directed and wrote this film is really inspiring.”

As an exploration into the many reasons why we seek a place to call home, Le Concierge maintains an ambiance that is both insightful and introspective. “The mood is kind of mysterious and psychological,” said Hidalgo, who starred in the film as the concierge. The idea for the story emerged from his own experience renting an office in an apartment complex.

“I saw a lot of people who were going through difficult transitions in their lives, taking these little apartments like the one in the film,” he said. “I became interested in how you can pick up a sense of the types of difficulties they were going through, even though you don’t know them very well.”

Staying true to his real-life inspiration, Hidalgo sought out a small space to film. However, this meant working with a smaller production team of three to four people, plus Hidalgo,  compared to some of his previous films which could include over 50 crew members.

Le Concierge did not receive any grants. Instead, Hidalgo relied on the support of family and friends to put the film together. Making use of the resources provided by family and friends is one of the ways Hidalgo encourages aspiring filmmakers to get their foot in the door. “Start by taking stock of what things you can put together, aside from getting some money. Then, start writing and think of things you can do with the resources you have already at hand.”

“Instead of writing something that you would need a lot of resources for and hoping that one day you get it together, think of [scenes] you can make with the resources you already have,” said Hidalgo. Similarly, he also encourages writers to create scenes according to the spaces which are available to them.

With a series of accomplishments under his belt, including winning Best Screenplay at the Brooklyn International Film Festival and the Miami International Film Festival for his 2003 film, A Silent Love, Hidalgo maintains a special appreciation for the film scene here in Montreal.

With so many beautiful locations in the city and such a diverse population, Hidalgo said Montreal filmmakers hold a unique ability to tell many different kinds of stories. “I find it very, very inspiring because you don’t feel limited by one homogenous culture that can only understand certain types of films or certain languages,” he said. “It’s very competitive, but it’s competitive everywhere. I think it’s a pretty good place to make films.”

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News

Homa Hoodfar free after 112-day imprisonment

Concordia faculty held a press conference regarding Hoodfar's release. Photo by Greg Todaro.

Colleagues: “We’re still in a state of shock” about release from Iranian prison

After 16 weeks of imprisonment in Iran, Concordia professor Homa Hoodfar landed in Oman on Monday a free woman. Hoodfar spent 112 days in a Tehran jail. While the charges laid against Hoodfar and the reason for her release are yet unknown, family and friends, including her colleague from Concordia’s School of Public Affairs, Marguerite Mendell, are just happy for her freedom.

“We’re still in a state of shock,” said Mendell at a press conference on Monday.

“We didn’t expect this news at all,” added Marc Lafrance, a Concordia assistant professor from the sociology and anthropology department. “I can’t find the words to describe my joy.”

Photos of the Canadian-Iranian professor have been shared on social media and while Mendell said Hoodfar seems frail and thin, seeing her able to walk on her own is a positive sign. Hoodfar, who is 65 years old, has a degenerative neurological disorder. She was reportedly not receiving the proper medication during her imprisonment.

Mendell said Hoodfar was asked to write about and explain her research after her first arrest and leading up to her incarceration. Her academic work has focused on gender and sexuality in Islam. However, Mendell said Hoodfar’s trip to Iran was for personal reasons and to conduct some archival work.

“She’s an ethnographer, and an anthropologist … her work is not political,” said Mendell.

Hoodfar’s colleagues also said she underwent interrogations that lasted eight or nine hours at a time and she reportedly spent time in solitary confinement—with no access to a lawyer.

Kimberly Manning, principal at Concordia’s Simone de Beauvoir Institute, expressed her joy of Hoodfar’s release by taking off her “#FreeHoma” pin for good.

“I’m very happy to say I get to take it off today,” she said during the press conference. “The fact that Homa has been a real champion for understanding the lives of women is not without note on this moment. This is something that so many people from so many diverse walks of life rallied to recognize and to call for her freedom on that basis.”

Those rallying for Hoodfar included help from the embassies of Oman, Italy and Switzerland. Canada ended diplomatic relations with Iran in 2012. In a statement, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau thanked those diplomats, adding they were “instrumental in helping secure Dr. Hoodfar’s release.”

At a Board of Governors meeting on Monday, Concordia University President Alan Shepard said he is super thrilled that Hoodfar is on her way home. “We did our best both behind the scenes and in front of the cameras and once she’s had the chance to settle back and get some rest … I’ll be very interested to get any lessons she has [for] us in case we ever find ourselves in this situation again or other institutions find themselves in this situation,” he said.

Concordia students and faculty gathered in solidarity with Homa Hoodfar. Photo by Alex Hutchins.

Protests for Hoodfar’s release happened both in Canada and abroad: in Montreal, more than 100 people gathered on Sept. 21 to bring attention to her imprisonment; in Dublin, Concordia Irish Studies professor Emer O’Toole helped organize a protest outside the Iranian embassy on Sept. 7.

“I’m not sure if I’ve ever felt so much relief in my life,” said Hayley Lewis, Concordia’s demonstration organizer, and former student of Hoodfar. “I am so, so happy that Homa is coming home to us.”

“I think that her release is excellent news. In terms of what contributed to it—I don’t really have any inside information—but I think that definitely the fact that there’s a wide range in show of support from Canadians across the country and particularly the Concordia community, it definitely contributed positively to what happened,” said Alex Tyrrell, leader of the Green Party of Quebec and a speaker at Concordia’s demonstration for Homa.

However, Lewis said there is still a lot of work to be done on behalf of those who are still imprisoned and equally deserve freedom. “That being said, I’m overjoyed by Homa’s release and so grateful that we can all continue to benefit from her presence in our lives and communities,” she said.

While it’s unclear when Hoodfar will return to Canada, or where she will be medically examined, her niece, Amanda Ghahremani, flew to Oman to meet her.

With files from Savanna Craig and Cristina Sanza

Categories
Arts

Canadian authors honored in 75th edition of the Governor General’s Literary Awards

ConU prof David McGimpsey's book of sonnets, Li’l Bastard, made the Governor General's Literary Award shortlist

Just in time for fall, the selection committee for one of Canada’s most prestigious literary awards, the Governor General award, announced its list of finalists.

Among that shortlist is Concordia’s own David McGimpsey, nominated for his book of poetry, Li’l Bastard.

The award is given to English and French Canadian authors in six different categories: fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama, children’s literature (text and illustration) and translation. The winners in each category will receive $25,000, a specially bound copy of their book, and literary glory.

McGimpsey, who has been teaching in Concordia’s English Department for 12 years, released his book, Lil’ Bastard, with Coach House Books back in 2011. The book is divided into eight parts, each one inspired by things such as Montreal, country music, and the television show Barnaby Jones. His work strays from the conventional path of poetry, giving readers a refreshing mix of humor and melancholy in his 16-line sonnets.

A Montreal native, McGimpsey loves to travel and he’s often visited Los Angeles and Nashville, cities that feature prominently in his poems.

“The book is about being comfortable in almost all places,” he said. One section of his book entitled “Nashville Songs” uses songwriting and lyric techniques to mirror his appreciation for country music.

In his writing, McGimpsey finds a pleasant medium between humor and the more conventional seriousness of poetry. With his many portrayals of city life, McGimpsey contrasts some serious themes like the poem “movement of the individual and the maintenance of what is inside that individual” with some less serious, more funny themes. He said, “I want my reader to laugh at things.”

When asked if this set him apart from other poets, McGimpsey was reluctant to say yes, but as many poetry readers will know, it is sometimes hard to find a serious poet who can crack jokes and still be nominated for a government literary award.

This year, McGimpsey is nominated alongside many other well deserving Canadian authors. Despite the tight competition, the GG’s are a great way for Canada to recognize and honor great homegrown talents and offer readers a selection of authors to discover.

The winners will be announced Nov. 13 and the awards ceremony will take place Nov. 28 in Ottawa at Rideau Hall.

The Shortlist:

Fiction

  • Tamas Dobozy, Kitchener, Ont., Siege 13
  • Robert Hough, Toronto, Dr. Brinkley’s Tower
  • Vincent Lam, Toronto, The Headmaster’s Wager
  • Carrie Snyder, Waterloo, Ont., The Juliet Stories
  • Linda Spalding, Toronto, The Purchase

Poetry

  • Julie Bruck, San Francisco, Calif. (originally from Montréal), Monkey Ranch
  • David McGimpsey, Montreal, Li’l Bastard
  • A. F. Moritz, Toronto, The New Measures
  • Lisa Pasold, Toronto, Any Bright Horse
  • James Pollock, Madison, Wis. (originally from Southern Ontario),Sailing to Babylon

Drama

  • Catherine Banks, Sambro, N.S., It is Solved by Walking
  • Trina Davies, Vancouver, The Romeo Initiative
  • Karen Hines, Calgary, Drama: Pilot Episode
  • Cathy Ostlere and Dennis Garnhum, Calgary, Lost: A Memoir
  • Anusree Roy, Toronto, Brothel #9

Non-fiction

  • Nahlah Ayed, Toronto, A Thousand Farewells: A Reporter’s Journey from Refugee Camp to the Arab Spring
  • Carol Bishop-Gwyn, Toronto, The Pursuit of Perfection: A Life of Celia Franc
  • Wade Davis, Vancouver, Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory, and the Conquest of Everest
  • Ross King, Woodstock, U.K. (originally from North Portal, Sask.), Leonardo and the Last Supper
  • Noah Richler, Toronto, What We Talk About When We Talk About War

Children’s Literature — Text

  • Rachel Hartman, Vancouver, Seraphina
  • Deborah Kerbel, Thornhill, Ont., Under the Moon
  • Susin Nielsen, Vancouver, The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen
  • Judd Palmer, Victoria, B.C., The Umbrella
  • Allan Stratton, Toronto, The Grave Robber’s Apprentice

Children’s Literature — Illustration

  • Isabelle Arsenault, Montréal, Virginia Wolf, text by Kyo Maclear
  • Renné Benoit, St. Thomas, Ont., Big City Bees, text by Maggie de Vries
  • Jon Klassen, Los Angeles (originally from Niagara Falls, Ont.), House Held Up by Trees, text by Ted Kooser
  • David Parkins, Lansdowne, Ont., In the Bag! Margaret Knight Wraps it Up, text by Monica Kulling
  • Barbara Reid, Toronto, Picture a Tree, text by Barbara Reid

Translation – French to English

  • Sheila Fischman, Montréal, Ru. English translation of Ru by Kim Thúy (Éditions Libre Expression, Groupe Librex, a Quebecor Media company)
  • Michael Gilson, Saint-Lambert, Que., Mafia Inc.: The Long, Bloody Reign of Canada’s Sicilian Clan. English translation of Mafia inc. Grandeur et misère du clan sicilien au Québec by André Cédilot and André Noël
  • John Murrell, Calgary, The Small Room at the Top of the Stairs &Thinking of Yu. English translation of La petite pièce en haut de l’escalier and Je pense à Yu, suivi de Entrefilet by Carole Fréchette (Leméac Éditeurs / Actes Sud)
  • Nigel Spencer, Montréal, Mai at the Predators’ Ball.English translation of Mai au bal des prédateurs by Marie-Claire Blais (Les Éditions du Boréal
  • Shelley Tepperman, Montréal, The List.English translation of La liste by Jennifer Tremblay (Les Éditions de la Bagnole)

French-language finalists:

Fiction

  • Ryad Assani-Razaki, Montréal, La main d’Iman
  • Charles Bolduc, Montréal, Les truites à mains nues
  • France Daigle, Moncton, N.B., Pour sûr
  • Catherine Mavrikakis, Montréal, Les derniers jours de Smokey Nelson
  • Audrée Wilhelmy, Montréal, Oss

Poetry

  • Corinne Chevarier, Montréal, Anatomie de l’objet
  • Fredric Gary Comeau, Montréal, Souffles
  • Hélène Dorion, Sherbrooke, Que. Cœurs, comme livres d’amour
  • Christian Saint-Germain, Montréal, Tomahawk
  • Maude Smith Gagnon, Montréal, Un drap. Une place.

Drama

  • Geneviève Billette, Montréal, Contre le temps
  • Simon Boudreault, Montréal, D pour Dieu?
  • Fabien Cloutier, city of Québec, Billy [Les jours de hurlement]
  • Evelyne de la Chenelière, Montréal, La chair et autres fragments de l’amour
  • Philippe Ducros, Montréal, Dissidents

Non-fiction

  • Normand Chaurette, Montréal, Comment tuer Shakespeare
  • Pierre Nepveu, Montréal, Gaston Miron : la vie d’un homme
  • Pascal Riendeau, Toronto, Méditation et vision de l’essai : Roland Barthes, Milan Kundera et Jacques Brault
  • Yannick Roy, Montréal, La révélation inachevée : le personnage à l’épreuve de la vérité romanesque

Children’s Literature – Text

  • Aline Apostolska, Montréal, Un été d’amour et de cendres
  • Biz, Montréal, La chute de Sparte
  • Louise Bombardier, Montréal, Quand j’étais chien, illustrations by Katty Maurey
  • Camille Bouchard, city of Québec, Le coup de la girafe
  • François Gravel, Montréal, Hò

Children’s Literature – Illustration

  • Marion Arbona, Montréal, Lapin-Chagrin et les jours d’Elko, text by Sylvie Nicolas
  • Manon Gauthier, Montréal, Giroflée Pois-Cassé, text by Marie-Danielle Croteau
  • Élise Gravel, Montréal, La clé à molette, text by Élise Gravel
  • Émilie Leduc, Montréal, La ronde des mois, text by Émilie Leduc
  • Katty Maurey, Montréal, Quand j’étais chien, text by Louise Bombardier

Translation (English to French)

  • Sophie Cardinal-Corriveau, Montréal, Un adieu à la musique.French translation of Carolan’s Farewell by Charles Foran
  • Dominique Fortier, Montréal, Une maison dans les nuages. French translation of The Prophet’s Camel Bell by Margaret Laurence
  • Alain Roy, Montréal, Glenn Gould.French translation of Glenn Gould by Mark Kingwell (Penguin Group Canada)
  • Lori Saint-Martin and Paul Gagné, Montréal, Irma Voth. French translation of Irma Voth by Miriam Toews (Alfred A. Knopf Canada)
  • Lori Saint-Martin and Paul Gagné, Montréal, La petite cousine de Freud. French translation of Distantly Related to Freud by Ann Charney

 

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