Hal Niedzviecki (born January 9, 1971) is a Canadian novelist and

cultural critic A cultural critic is a critic of a given culture, usually as a whole. Cultural criticism has significant overlap with social and cultural theory. While such criticism is simply part of the self-consciousness of the culture, the social positions o ...

. Born in

Brockville Brockville is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada, in the Thousand Islands region. Although it is the seat of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, it is politically Independent city, independent of the county. It is included with Leeds and ...

, he was raised by a Jewish family in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, and Potomac,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, did his undergraduate studies at

University College, Toronto University College, popularly referred to as UC, is a Collegiate university, constituent college of the University of Toronto located at its University of Toronto#St. George campus, St. George campus in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was created ...

, and his postgraduate studies at

Bard College Bard College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The campus overlooks the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains within the Hudson River Historic District ...

. In 1995, he co-founded the magazine '' Broken Pencil'', a guide to underground arts and

zine A zine ( ; short for ''magazine'' or ''fanzine'') is, as noted on Merriam-Webster’s official website, a magazine that is a “noncommercial often homemade or online publication usually devoted to specialized and often unconventional subject ...

culture, and was the magazine's editor until 2002. He has also written for ''

Adbusters The Adbusters Media Foundation is a Canadian-based not-for-profit, pro-environment organization founded in 1989 by Kalle Lasn and Bill Schmalz in Vancouver, British Columbia. Adbusters describes itself as "a global network of artists, activis ...

'', '' Utne'', ''

The Walrus ''The Walrus'' is an independent, nonprofit Canadian media organization. It is multi-platform and produces an eight-issue-per-year magazine and online editorial content that includes current affairs, fiction, poetry, and podcasts, a nation ...

'', '' This Magazine'', ''

Geist ''Geist'' () is a German noun with a significant degree of importance in German philosophy. ''Geist'' can be roughly translated into three English meanings: ghost (as in the supernatural entity), spirit (as in the Holy Spirit), and mind or int ...

'', ''

Toronto Life ''Toronto Life'' is a monthly magazine about entertainment, politics and life in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. ''Toronto Life'' also publishes a number of annual special interest guides about the city, including ''Real Estate'', ''Stylebook'', ''Eati ...

'', ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'', and the ''

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper and the flagship publication of the American-owned Postmedia Network. It is published Mondays through Saturdays, with Monday released as a digital e-edition only.

''. In 2006, Niedzviecki hosted a summer replacement series, ''Subcultures'', on

CBC Radio One CBC Radio One is the English-language news and information radio network of the publicly owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial-free and offers local and national programming. It is available on AM and FM to 98 percent o ...

. In 2017, Niedzviecki wrote a piece for ''Write'', the Writers' Union of Canada magazine, where he wrote: "In my opinion, anyone, anywhere, should be encouraged to imagine other peoples, other cultures, other identities" and told writers to try to "Win the Appropriation Prize". After controversy arose over the piece he resigned from the editorial board.

Work

* ''Concrete Forest: The New Fiction of Urban Canada'' (1998, anthology) * ''Smell It'' (1998, short fiction) * ''Lurvy, A Farmer's Almanac'' (1999, novel) * ''We Want Some Too: Underground Desire and the Reinvention of Mass Culture'' (2000) * ''Ditch'' (2001, novel) * ''The Original Canadian City Dweller's Almanac'' (2002, with Darren Wershler-Henry) * ''Hello, I'm Special: How Individuality Became the New Conformity'' (2004) * ''The Program'' (2005, novel) * ''The Big Book of Pop Culture: A How-to Guide for Young Artists'' (2006) * ''The Peep Diaries: How We're Learning to Love Watching Ourselves and Our Neighbors'' (City Lights, 2009) . * ''Look Down, This Is Where It Must Have Happened'' (City Lights, 2011) * ''Trees on Mars: Our Obsession with the Future'', (Seven Stories Press, 2015)

References

External links

*
Interview with Hal Niedzviecki, online from CBC Words at Large

article from the

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

1971 births 21st-century Canadian non-fiction writers 21st-century Canadian novelists Bard College alumni Canadian male novelists Living people People from Brockville People from Potomac, Maryland University of Toronto alumni Writers from Maryland Canadian male non-fiction writers Novelists from Ontario {{Canada-writer-stub