What could have been

Sina is so awesome.

Inspired by truscott once again

Mark linked to some very awesome song lyrics and claimed they were the best ever. It inspired me to post some of my favourite lyrics. Please feel free to add yours!


OUR RETIRED EXPLORER (Dines With Michel Folcault In Paris, 1961)
by The Weakerthans

Just one more drink and then I should be on my way home. I'm not entirely sure what you're talking about. I've had a really nice time, but my dogs need to be fed. I must say that in the right light you look like Shackleton. Comment allez-vous ce soir? Je suis comme ci comme ça. Yes, a penguin taught me French back in Antarctica. I could show you the way shadows colonize snow. Ice breaking up on the bay off the Lassiter coast. Light failing over the pole as every longitude leads up to your frost bitten feet. Oh, you're very sweet, thank you for the flowers and the book by Derrida, but I must be getting back to dear Antarctica. Say, do you have a ship and a dozen able men that maybe you could lend me?

DON'T MAKE FUN OF DADDY'S VOICE
by Morrissey

Long ago, when he was young and restless
Suddenly, Daddy saw the beckoning finger of fate

Don't make fun of Daddy's voice
because he can't help it
when he was a teenage boy
something got stuck in his throat

When you are young you crave affection
and it can come from the strangest direction

Don't make fun of Daddy's voice
because he can't help it
when he was a teenage boy
something got stuck in his throat

No te divertes con pappy.
No te divertes con pappy.
No te divertes con pappy.
No te divertes con pappy.
No te divertes con pappy.
No te divertes con pappy.
No te divertes con pappy.

BRAND NEW HAIRSTYLE
by The Smoking Popes

I'm looking for a brand new hairstyle
One that I can call my own
One that says I'm not afraid to be my own man

One that makes you glad to see me
One that makes me glad to be me
One that I can wear with pride when I go outside

I'm tired of caring about
What other people say
My hair is on my head
My hair is mine

I need a brand new outlook
To face a brand new day
I need a brand new hairstyle in a big way

I'm looking for a brand new hairstyle
One that I can call my own
One that says I'm not afraid to cut my own hair

One that makes you glad to see me
One that makes me glad to be me
One that I can wear with pride when I go outside

w00t!

I did it! I have been struggling for a while now with how to write the stories I want to write. But I had a breakthrough tonight and I finally finished my first short story in over a year and a half. It's called IT'S EASY TO BE A MORALIST WHEN YOU'RE UGLY. It feels really good to be writing again. I am so far away from completing a new project or anything like that, but it's a relief to finish something.

Things i am excited about

Editing these books:

The Emily Valentine Poems by Zoe Whittall (Snare)
(Pop culture savvy poems. Great stuff. Heavy on wit, No earnestness!)

The Coward Files by Ryan Arnold (conundrum)
(Great collection of stories by sex symbol Ryan Arnold. Stories about failure and baseball.)

Designing this book:

ropewalk by Angela Carr (Snare)
(An adventurous and very confident collection of feminist poetry. Influenced by Dickinson and Stein.)

Going to Russia.

Tour report

# of gigs: 5 (Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Calgary, Winnipeg)
# of one night stands: 0
# of kilometres travelled: 8564
# of drunken nights: 14
# of people read to: around 500 (including that huge T.O. launch)
# of books sold: 82
# of books given away: 5
# of nights a. rawlings rocked the house: 5
# of times I bombed: 1
# of times I fantasized about moving to Calgary: 6
# of times I wished I was as charming and graceful as Sina Queyras: 23
# of inappropriate gifts purchased: 2
# of inappropriate gifts received: 1
# of new nicknames: 1 (Freshmaker)

In calgary

I am having an amazing time in Calgary. These kids know how to fuck it up. Tonight is the first of two launches. Will I see you there?

Calgary launches! tonight is the first one.
International Spoken Word Festival
April 26 @ 7:30pm
Beat Niq Jazz & Social Club (811 1st St. SW)
with Jason Christie and a. rawlings

NoD and dANDelion launch
April 27 @ 7:30pm
Carpenter's Union Hall (301 Tenth St. NW)
with derek beaulieu, Jason Christie, a. rawlings

In other news, my book of poetry is the Menthos Fresh Idea of the Week in DOSE Magazine. That's very strange and hilarious. The kids now call me "THE FRESHMAKER."

Chb in mtl

Sunday April 23rd. 7:30 pm
The Green Room, 5586 St. Laurent
Free Admission

Join Coach House Books for the Montreal edition of our spring launch

Sina Queyras - Lemon Hound (poetry)
Chris Ewart - Miss Lamp (novel)
Angela Rawlings - Wide Slumber for Lepidopterists (poetry)
Jon Paul Fiorentino - The Theory of the Loser Class (poetry)

and special guest
Melissa A. Thompson launching her first novel, Dreadful Paris, (Snare Books)

Hosted by Maya Merrick

http://www.chbooks.com

That's better

Last night's Coach House launch was amazing. I only flubbed one line and didn't screw up for the most part! (but I did have a panic attack in the post-launch shmooze fest). Sina Queyras was astonishing -- she delivered her prose poetry with an unmistakable authority; a. rawlings performed a wonderful 3 minute rendition of WSFL with backup singers. Darren O' Donnell and Karen Hines were equally hilarious and charming. My homey Chris Ewart kicked ass all over the place with Miss Lamp.

Thanks to everyone who made the night special. Especially the Coach House crew.

And they called her sonnet

Fiorentino is smart and deft.
THE GLOBE AND MAIL

I'm not interested in talking too much about the rest of the review. It was a mixed review. But I'll just close my eyes and pretend we live in a world where reviewers actually make an effort to understand the difference between poet and poetic voice, between the abstract and the concrete, between earnestness and satire. The reviewer in question once complained that Robert Kroetsch's poetry lacked spiritual accountability. Scary eh?

Scary times

An article on me just in time for my book launch: here

I'm very scared. Why is it that every reading feels like the first reading? I am thrilled with the way TTOTLC turned out but I am so scared to launch the fucking thing. If you happen to be near the Montreal Hyatt Regency tomorrow around 6pm, drop in and I will do my best not to suck. In fact, I will try to rule. I know it's hard to rule but I will try.


love Jonny

Interview with JPF

A little interview in support of The Theory of the Loser Class here.

An invitation

Please join me at Blue Met for the launch of my book.

Thursday, April 6, 2006

6:00 PM Room: Salon des Arts 5e étage / 5th floor
Hyatt Regency Montreal, 1255 Jeanne-Mance

THE THEORY OF THE LOSER CLASS

Activité/Activity: Launch
Durée/Length: 90 minutes
Prix/Cost: Gratuit / Free
Participants: Jon Paul Fiorentino
Animateur(trice) / Host : Jason Camlot

The theory of the loser class -- arrived

It is here. I am blown away by Darren Wershler-Henry's design; I am too scared to read the book all the way through; I am feeling strange, proud, overwhelmed, sad. There's always a sense of loss when the poems become a book. But I know this is the best poetry I have written. It's a very good day. I am extremely lucky.

Also: congrats to Sachi, Jani and Gill who were all winners today. My wonderful friends.

Things

I'm restless. My book should be at my door this week. I know it will be a lovely object, it's just the writing I'm worried about. You get to a point where you've looked your poetry over so often, rewritten it, etc, that you can't really look at it anymore.

I've also sent off the first Snare book to the printer. Jason Christie's Canada Post is quite the debut. Very peculiar and witty poetry. I redesigned the cover at the last minute and I think it will pay off...

New website again

So I redid the website again. Using the trusty old freeware. I think it's much better this time. And the true cover of The Theory of the Loser Class is up now. Imagine it embossed, on lovely textured paper. I love Coach House.

Here it is: www.jonpaulfiorentino.com

Tell me what you think ok?

Expozine awards

Hey, here's a lovely thing:

Expozine Awards Shortlist

BOOKS:

Something for Michael 003 (girl on girl) by Shannon Gerard
The Hero Book by Scott Waters
Asthmatica by Jon Paul Fiorentino (Insomniac)
The Official St Leonard Dictionary by John Trivisonno
Making Stuff and Doing Things by Kyle Bravo (Microcasm Publishing) ypf yearbook
Garbage Head by Christopher Willard (Vehicule)


COMICS:

ojingogo by Matthew Forsythe
horror perditii by Amanda Crawford
Mocking Irony by Edward Bak
Revolver by Salgood Sam
Big Questions #7
Anders Nilsen (Drawn & Quarterly)


ZINES:

four minutes to midnight
Carousel
Leg Moustache Advisor
Tarhonya by Stephen Guy
LASH by Shawn Kuruneru
G-Eunuch Digest (The Cowboy Issue)
Lifelike by Chris Binkowski

CBC poetry face off

CBC Poetry Face-Off
Thursday, February 16th at 5 p.m. – Casa del
Popolo, 4873 Saint Laurent

For the fifth consecutive year, CBC Radio One will
celebrate Canada’s poetic imagination with a twist: by
giving it a competitive attitude. 14 selected cities
across the country will host live-before-an-audience
poetry combats, and five poets in each city will be
commissioned to write and perform their work on a
common theme. This year’s exciting theme is
irresistible. The audience at each combat will choose
their champion and the winning entry will move on to
the national play-offs. The finalists will then be
heard on CBC Radio’s Sounds Like Canada in April 2006,
the national listening audience will be able to vote
for their favourite, and a Canadian champion will
emerge. The Montreal event will be hosted by Patti
Schmidt and the performances will be accompanied by
musician Nicholas Caloia.

Among the competing poets will be Susan Elmslie, Susan
Gillis, David McGimpsey, Oana Avasilichioaei, and Jon
Paul Fiorentino, an eclectic group representative of
Quebec's new generation of literary artists.



Come and cheer them on!!!



This event is free, no guest list reservations
necessary but space is limited.



For more information go to www.cbc.ca/poetryfaceoff/

The theory of the loser class

I'm looking at the galleys for my new book. It's a very exciting time. If you want a sense of what it will look like click here.

It's a book about Thorstein Veblen, Jerry Lewis, Theodor Adorno, R2-D2, binary code, Montreal, and Winnipeg.

It will be out April 1st...

Matrix call for submissions

Matrix presents Fan Friction
edited by Jon Paul Fiorentino and Sachiko Murakami

Fan-fuelled culture has never been hotter. The best practitioners of this twenty-first century genre have achieved a level of revision and fluency that cannot be ignored. At its best, fan fiction challenges distinctions between high and low culture, between authorship and appropriation; it forces us to question what makes for appropriate literary subject matter and to interrogate the role that cultural literacy plays in contemporary literature. Fan fiction can no longer be classified as simple emulation text. The fan’s cultural position is changing and shrewd fans are asserting their own artistic vision through the creation of their own narratives. As opposed to simply being tacit consumers of cultural products, these new fans claim for themselves a right to resituate the culture they are immersed in.

Matrix magazine is pleased to explore this trend and is asking for submissions on the theme of “fan friction” for our 74th issue. Suitable submissions include pitches / treatments of television shows (imagined or real), short film scripts, song lyrics (parodies, emulations, etc.), visual art, comic art, queer fan fiction / erotica, fanzine excerpts, ironic tributes, rewritten porn, comedic texts, mockumentaries, and essays on fandom.

Please send submissions attn: Jon Paul Fiorentino and Sachiko Murakami at
fanfriction [at] yahoo [dot] ca

Deadline: March 31 2006

Rapidcycler

My poem "Rapidcycler" is in the new issue of the Walrus. Click here.

I've revised the poem since the Walrus took it, but it still gives you a sense of what The Theory of the Loser Class will be like.