I'm judging the 3-Day Novel Contest and loving it

Yep. Novels written in three days by twelve crazy people.

Judged by three crazy people (including me).


The Edmonton Sun writes: "The Bachelor showed off Whyte Avenue as a fine place for romance, amid the sidewalk gum spots and keg apes. Canadian Idol had theatrical locals praying for their amigo's high-end national karaoke run.

"If successful, the new idea of turning the long-running tradition of marathon book writing into a dog (or gong) show has vastly more creative potential than any combination of on-camera uber-dating and cover-singing. Namely, the seeds of permanent literary achievement.

"The goal of Book Television's 3-Day Novel Contest, playing out live this weekend at South Point Chapters on Calgary Trail and 32 Avenue is to ease 12 writers from across Canada through the same number of new, 90-page novels....

"After three days of live updates on national television, the novels will be read and judged by Vancouver's Jenn Farrell and two of our city's best writers - both of whom delightfully write books set in Edmonton. They are Todd Babiak (Choke Hold, The Garneau Block) and Minister Faust (The Coyote Kings of the Space Age Bachelor Pad and The Notebooks of Dr. Brain, which will be published by Random House next February). Faust, who will be judging a poetic challenge at 8 tonight, muses on the idea of the literature process being boiled down to boob tube entertainment.

"Why not?" he smiles. "Writing is so solitary I think that some people who want to write are really mystified by it. And there are writers who have contributed to the kind of deceit that we're wizards of some sort. We're not wizards. We just have to work really hard. It's good to show that writing is not some mysterious, secret process, and hopefully it may help people finish their own projects.

"As a writer, you're either held in zero esteem or high esteem, referring to people such as Shakespeare as gods. That's all nonsense. It's work and it can be fun.

"But if the contestants just tear their freaking guts out this weekend," the Minister adds, "right on."

Comments

Anonymous said…
Guts torn out, but not permanently. Was great to talk to you this weekend, looking forward to more, very soon.

mjh

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