Christopher DiRaddo's Blog, page 7
February 24, 2018
Creation of the Blue Metropolis Violet Prize
This week, Blue Met announced the creation (and first winner) of the Blue Metropolis Violet Prize. You can read the announcement here. I’ve been working hard on this for the past six months. Last year, when Blue Met asked if […]
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January 17, 2018
Funny Boy
Last year, Amnesty International Canada asked me if I’d help them choose a title for their book club. They were particularly looking for an LGBTQ novel for their summer selection. I had no idea that the human rights organization had […]
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August 10, 2017
Literary Pride
Montreal’s Gay Pride begins this week. It’s also Canada Pride, which means there are more events than usual and the city expects more tourists. I was asked to help program a series of English literary events for next week. Fierté […]
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April 4, 2017
Violet Metropolis
Last fall I approached Blue Metropolis to see if they were interested in having me produce a special edition of the Violet Hour during their next literary festival. Ever since I started the reading series, I’ve been seeking out such partnerships. I figured by holding one during the 2017 festival, I could amplify my reach […]
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January 11, 2017
Pluto makes Top 20 at Glad Day
This week I learned that Pluto made the Top 20 “Modern Classics” list for 2016 at Toronto’s Glad Day Bookshop. It just slipped in at number 20, and I don’t know what that means in terms of copies sold, but I’m thrilled. Not bad for a book that was released almost three years ago. This, […]
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January 7, 2017
The Violet Hour
For the past two years now, I’ve been organizing queer readings in Montreal. It’s been sporadic. The events have had different names, different locations, different themes. But now, after putting on close to a dozen, I thought it was time to turn it into a singular series. The Violet Hour is Montreal’s queer reading series. […]
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January 3, 2017
Legend Series: Felice Picano
This past November, Never Apart helped me bring literary legend Felice Picano to Montreal for a frank on-stage discussion about his work. I was thrilled they trusted me with this, and I hope it’s the beginning of many more such events. There are so many great writers I’d like to bring to town, and it’s […]
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March 23, 2015
Naming Pluto
As New Horizons quickly approaches Pluto (112 days as I write this), the SETI Institute is looking for the public’s help in naming the dwarf planet’s craters, ridges, channels, volcanoes and various other features (as well as those on its moon Charon). I find this exciting. People can submit names centred around three different themes: […]
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August 28, 2014
In defence of Pluto
Do you remember where you were when you first heard that Pluto wasn’t a planet anymore? I don’t. But I do remember how I felt. It was a surprise, a shock. Like being told there is no Santa Claus. No Easter Bunny. No God. “There are only eight planets now in our solar system,” […]
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August 26, 2014
Reading lessons
Yesterday, the New Horizons space probe crossed Neptune’s orbit. About a month ago it snapped this distant shot of the gas giant (and its moon, Triton) from a distance of 2.45 billion miles. This is the last major crossing the vessel will have until it gets to Pluto on July 14, 2015. So I […]
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