The blog of Ron Schafrick
A number of months ago, Plenitude Magazine (who had published my story "Lovely Company" back in 2014) asked me to write a short piece on a queer book or author that had a big impact on me. I decided to write about Denton Welch, and you can find that piece on their website. Check it out here.
I'm terribly excited and pleased to announce that my mega-long story "Safe" has been accepted for publication in The New Quarterly! Expect it to come out in either the Spring or Summer issue (will keep you posted, of course). Thanks to the people at Moosemeat, my writing group, who saw an earlier version of the story and offered their insight and suggestions. Can't wait to see it in print!
Please join me Monday, January 11th, at 6:15 PM at The Central (603 Markham Street in Toronto) where I'll be reading alongside Clara Blackwood, Sonia Di Placido, and Richard Scarsbrook. You can find out more about each of the readers, the time and venue, and about our lovely host, Heather Wood, here and here. Looking forward to it! See you then!
First of all, my apologies to my friend Mark Sampson. I know he does a yearly round-up on his own blog, but because I only started blogging in early 2015 I also couldn’t resist doing something similar by looking back at what I read and enjoyed and which otherwise inspired me this year. So in chronological order here’s what I read in 2015:
On Saturday the 19th, starting at 1 PM, please join me and a whole slew of other fantastic writers at Glad Day Bookshop where I'll be signing books and talking to other readers and writers. Oh, and cider will be involved. For more information, click here.
I'm pleased to announce that my collection of stories, Interpreters, is now available at Glad Day Bookshop. You can order it here or, better yet, drop by the world's oldest LGBTQ book store and support local queer writers.
I'm excited to announce that on Sunday, December 6th, I'll be reading at the Lit Live reading series in Hamilton. I'll be reading alongside Donna Langevin, Janthan Ball, Pearl Pirie, Maureen Hynes, and Ruth Roach Pierson. The event takes place at Homegrown Hamilton, which is at 27 King William Street. Readings start at 7:30 pm. (I guess you can see all that from the adjacent graphic...) For more information about Lit Live, please click here. Hope you can join me!
I first learned of the Chilean writer Alejandro Zambra when I came across his short story “Family Life” in Harper’s earlier this year. It’s a charming and unassuming story about an apparently unemployed forty-year-old named Martín who is housesitting the family home of a distant cousin, his beautiful wife, and their young daughter. While they’re away in Europe, Martín spends much of his time smoking, watching TV, and doing little else until the cat goes missing, at which point he meets a woman named Paz and pretends that both the cat and house are his, that the picture of the beautiful woman on the wall is of his recently separated wife and that she’s keeping their daughter away from him. Things get complicated after that, both with Paz and with the mounting lies out of which Martín sees no exit. At the time I made a mental note of the story and its author, and so when the collection My Documents recently came out—to a great deal of buzz—I made sure to order a copy. I’m glad I did.
My short story "Conjecture" can now be found on The Danforth Review website. You can find it here, alongside stories by Adam Giles and Sarah Richards. Hope you enjoy!
I'm pleased to report that my story "Conjecture" was accepted by The Danforth Review. It's an online journal out of Toronto, and I'll post again when the story goes live. In the meantime you can find out more about The Danforth Review here.
