Broken Pencil news

Broken Pencil Newsletter - December 2008

Hello Everyone! A belated welcome to winter and our newest issue. Broken Pencil's latest issue -- #41, The Humour Issue -- is out now! Featured in this issue: Katie Crown and the new generation of comic wunderkinds get profiled. Erin Kobayashi interviews Blert author Jordan Scott. Plus we have an exclusive excerpt from Lovers Spit Zine, a stealth tell-all about Canada's indie darlings Broken Social Scene. If you're not already one of our loyal and beloved subscribers, order your copy now at: http://www.brokenpencil.com/store/

We're currently hard at work on issue #42, which will be available in January. We plan to ring in 2009 with an in depth look at tabloid newspapers and their zine origins, a profile of Conundrum Press, an examination of whether the creation of good art is directly related to the amount of funding available, and another 60 pages of excerpts, reviews, fiction, comics and much more.


Death Match:
North America's Most Dangerous Short Story Contest
The second annual Indie Writers Deathmatch is underway. Only one writer will be left standing! We are now accepting entries for the contest. Enter a short story and you could win cash prizes, publication in Broken Pencil, and literary bragging rights baby! The deadline for entry is end of December. Enter North America's boldest literary challenge right now at: http://www.brokenpencil.com/deathmatch/

New Fiction Online

Band Names by Tor Lukasik Foss appears in BP 41, on stands now, and has just been added to the website. This story is freakin' funny. Read it now here.

Heartbreak for Dummies by Ashley Little is part of our new ongoing online only short story series. Check it out here.

December Zine of the Month
Rocket Robin Hood
David Pietila 440 Mary St. N., Hamilton, ON L8L 4W9, $6
History, art and more from the classic Canadian cartoon. Thoughtful, well written and researched, this zine delivers memory-jarring flashbacks of the profoundly strange, even surreal, cartoon that marked both a nadir and a low point for Canadian toons. Read the full review here.

Indie Artist in Residence
Our newest Indie Artist in Residence is Montreal poet and sports enthusiast David McGimpsey, author of (most recently) Sitcom (Coach House Books) Check out what he has to say: http://www.brokenpencil.com/indieartist/

Indie Market Place
Are you a zine maker? A record label? A basement creator of wacky and wonderful things? Then the Broken Pencil Indie Marketplace was made for you. Hawk your wares! Promote your zine, blog, or book! Make yourself known and reach BP readers for super cheap! Latest advertisers include No Media Kings - website hosting for as low as $6.50 a month, and Get Bent Records, an independent music label focusing on the grassroots development of musicians that share a do-it-yourself attitude, ethical philosophy, and penchant for great sound. Check out these and all our great indie marketplace advertisers here: http://www.brokenpencil.com/indiemarketplace/
Contact Tara at ads@brokenpencil.com for rates and availability.

Canzine 2008
The annual festival of zines and independent arts fair took place October 2008 in Toronto and was a great success. It was an incredible day! Roughly 170 vendors showed up to sell their wares, and around 1000 people came to browse. The comedy show and readings were hilarious, and Faisal Qamar won the 1-2 Punch Authors Pitch Contest (authors get 2 minutes to pitch, and judges get a minute each to respond) with his pitch about immigrating to Canada and learning to survive on $10 an hour. Thank you to our sponsors, volunteers and to everyone who came to check out the event. See you next year! (The picture is from Open Book Toronto - click on the link to read their review and to see more pictures.)

Photos and related press:
http://www.openbooktoronto.com/articles/canzine_2008
http://torontoist.com/2008/10/funniest_canzine_ever.php
http://poetency.blogspot.com/2008/10/free-speech-breaks-out-at-canzine.html
http://www.nationalpost.com/arts/story.html?id=924253

Call for Submissions
We're looking for new contributors for the magazine. Send your ideas for articles on the subject of independent cultural production to us, or volunteer to review books, zines, comics, and more. Our editor Lindsay Gibb, editor@brokenpencil.com, is standing by. Also, if you have a zine, CD, video, book or ezine you would like reviewed please send them our way. Complete info about submitting your ideas or becoming a bp reviewer here: http://www.brokenpencil.com/about/submit.php

Upcoming Workshops and Events
Hey, there's something new on the BP blog almost everyday! Events, zine gatherings, general weirdness and more: http://www.brokenpencil.com

Contacting Us
Founded in 1995 and based in Toronto, Canada, Broken Pencil is a website and a print magazine published three times a year. It is one of the few magazines in the world devoted exclusively to underground culture and the independent arts. We are a great resource and a lively read! A cross between the Utne Reader, an underground Reader's Digest, and the now defunct Factsheet5, Broken Pencil reviews the best zines, books, websites, videos, and artworks from the underground and reprints the best articles from the alternative press. Also, ground breaking interviews, original fiction, and commentary on all aspects of the independent arts. From the hilarious to the perverse, Broken Pencil challenges conformity and demands attention.

Hey, want to say something about our magazine, let us know about an upcoming event, send in a zine or website or CD for review or maybe do a piece for the mag? Don't be shy! We want to hear from you. Send us an email at editor@brokenpencil.com, or a letter at PO Box 203, Station P, Toronto, On, M5S 2S7 Canada, or call us at 416-204-1700.