Sylvie Hill

The Ottawa XPress – September 11, 2008 CALL OF THE WILD: Moose & Pussy: Dirty, gritty, literary The definition of “erotica” has been recycled more times than a cum rag. It’s been cleaned up and academicized to appease prudes, romanticized to placate suburbanites and disguised to mean anything that’s not porn. That’s why you’ll love [...]

The Ottawa XPress – November 6, 2006 BOOK REVIEW Matthew Firth’s Suburban Pornography (Anvil Press, 207 pp.) Matthew Firth’s tales of degenerate one-night stands “Relax, girl. It’s just like taking a big shit. Only in reverse.” These are the lines I recite readily and adoringly when I’m asked about the best in contemporary Canadian pornographic [...]

The Ottawa XPress – June 1, 2006 BOOK REVIEW Jennifer Whiteford’s Grrrl (Gorsky Press, 252 pp.) Whiteford’s channels her own rock star dreams through the novel’s riot grrrl Play. Stop. Rewind. Jennifer Whiteford’s distinctive debut novel, Grrrl, is like a killer mixtape from the early 1990s that you want to play over and over again. [...]

The Ottawa XPress – April 13, 2006 Festival fluke puts femmes first this spring Every event tends to have its show-stealers, and the all-women Writing Life series at this year’s Ottawa International Writers Festival is looking like a serious contender. The series consists of three interactive evenings with authors in conversation about their craft and [...]

The Ottawa XPress – November 24, 2005 BOOK REVIEW Dan Savage’s Commitment (Dutton/Penguin, 304 pp., $35.00) vs Rob Brezsny’s Pronoia (North Atlantic/Frog Ltd., 296 pp., U.S. $25.50). Savage – ON COMMITMENT AND THE ULTIMATE BENEVOLENCE OF THE CONSCIOUS UNIVERSE In his new book, The Commitment, scandalous and sensible syndicated Savage Love columnist Dan Savage thinks [...]

The Ottawa XPress – November 3, 2005 BOOK REVIEW Tracy Quan’s Diary of a Married Call Girl (Three Rivers Press, 318 pages, $17.95) Love, lust and funds found south of 79th and 2nd “How much can – or should – one person get away with?” ~Nancy Chan, Call Girl When it comes to sex, you [...]

The Ottawa XPress – July 7, 2005 BOOK REVIEW Aviva Cohen’s Sex and Sublimation (Tritonia Press, 213 pages, $19.99) Aviva Cohen’s debut novel gives art and authenticity a highly sexualized once-over Sex and Sublimation is a literary gem that shines light on the role and responsibility of the feeling person in contemporary society. A text [...]

The Ottawa XPress – December 9, 2004 BOOK REVIEW Emily Pohl-Weary’s A Girl Like Sugar (McGilligan Books, 232 pages, $22.95) Empathizing with the Apathetic – “You’re one weird dude, Sugar.” – “Weird is way better than cute or sweet.” Young People’s Press touts Toronto’s Emily Pohl-Weary as “an unconventional and modern-day hero to many young [...]

The Ottawa XPress – May 20, 2004 BOOK REVIEW Emily Pohl-Weary’s edited anthology: Girls Who Bite Back (Sumach Press, 332 pp.) Girls Who Bite Back unrolls the female roll model: Superchick Anthology takes on feminist pop icons “Everything I know about feminism I learned from pop culture.” ~Sophie Levy, Manifesto for the Bitten The notion [...]