So. Nearly four months away from this blog, which makes me sad, because I really like blogging. I spent most of the winter swamped in the innumerable, seemingly-unfinish-able tasks that dictate how and where I spend my time. That means either marking, or writing academic stuff. In happy news, I’ll be presenting a paper on Insurgency & Commemoration at Batoche for CACLALS this spring, at UVic. I haven’t presented a paper since 2011, so it’s about time.
I’m teaching an extra section of composition, too, for January – April, which means I have 70 students instead of the 30-something I had in the autumn. For the most part this is good news (for four months we’ve cracked the poverty line!) but it means I have no time. And so much to do. I try not to do the infernal mathematics: 70 students x 12ish assignments each = what was I thinking.
Of course, there are bright things, too, and pleasant news. One of them is that my novel is coming out in May. It has a cover! It’s very very pretty. I feel so lucky that the people at NeWest— editors, designers, marketers, managers– understand what I was trying to do, and have designed something that reflects & expands on the story. I’ve been thinking a lot about collaboration for the last couple of weeks, as I realize how many people have contributed to turning The Paradise Engine from a secret word document I kept squirreled away on my harddrive, to an actual, real book. That’s pretty exciting.
Where is Here? 
Congrats! That’s fantastic news! I can’t wait to read it.
BTW, I am curious about your thoughts on insurgency–I didn’t realize you were working on it.
Thanks for the comment (and for being excited about the book, of course). I’m still thinking through insurgency as a military/ethical category, especially in regards commemoration. Batoche has given me nothing but problems as a site of memory, mostly because the forms that govern our commemorative tradition emerged from conventional warfare, you know? It means they’re better suited to citizen soldiers, ideally in uniform, who represent a coherent internationally-recognized nation, and who therefore can wage war legally. At Batoche we have a kind of para-national group, who are both subject-to the nation (and therefore subject to the NWMP as a police force) and outside that nation (and therefore fair game to the military, and the dirty colonial tactics of the “Small War” or counterinsurgency). I’m sort of kind of arguing that military tactics are discursive, producing the categories “citizen” and “rebel” not only through the particular acts of violence, but also through their symbolic meaning. After all, if you’ve signed an international treaty regarding exploding ordnance, you wouldn’t use exploding ordnance against a nation who also belongs to that discursive community. But Canadian forces used such tech against the Metis (along with the Gatling gun).
And I should thank you for the word “insurgency.” It’s stuck in my head because of listening to you talk about it.
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Thanks Tina! Nothing like a 15-O wooo to make you feel you’ve really accomplished something 🙂
Such a lovely cover. Your book sounds amazing, and I can’t wait to read it! Congratulations!
Such a lovely cover. Your novel sounds amazing, and I can’t wait to read it! Congratulations!
Thanks, Jen! I’m pretty ridiculously excited myself.