Jason Dickson is the author of three books, Clearance: Selected Journals of Dr. Michael Purdon, Parapsychologist (BookThug, 2000), The Hunt (BookThug, 2006), and Glenn Piano by Gladys Priddis (BookThug, 2010).
     His work has also appeared in Geist, Rue Morgue, CNQ, Open Letter, Broken Pencil, Kotaku, and Quill & Quire.
   Today in London, Ontario, Mr. Dickson co-owns & -operates an antiquarian bookstore, Brown & Dickson, with his partner, Vanessa Brown.
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Images of Canadian postcards on which the narrative is handprinted convey the text of The Hunt (BookThug, 2006) with black-and-white photographs apposing. The lines, therefore, enjamb at point of restriction, rather than what we might otherwise think of as intention. Additionally, some postcards bear crossed-out, ostensibly miswritten words.
      Offer a thought or two, if you will, about the book’s form. Why postcards? Why were ‘mistakes’ printed? Why appose the text with photographs? How do these choices reflect your area of expertise, Canadian literature?

The postcards were a happy accident. The story was displayed at a London Ontario art exhibition (curated by Kirtley Jarvis) and I needed a way to exhibit the story sections in a gallery. I was working at a used bookshop at the time and Kirtley came in to talk about the show. We were brainstorming ways to mount the sections. I was at the front counter which had the postcard section behind it at the time and we were both like, "Of course!" and went from there.

I purchased 100 postcards and went to work. They were all from Canada, of course. And I planned right from the beginning to keep my handwritten mistakes. I loathe perfection and that was part of it. But also I think it just makes things a little more creepy, off-centre. Lovely accidents happened again when Jay (at Bookthug) started to lay out the book. At one point we even considered a perforated book where you could remove the postcards and arrange them yourself.

The postcards lock the story in Time. But because they were historically also meant to be sent in the mail (and some do have postmarks) they also become ephemeral. This conflict was very important to me. I was deep into London Regionalism at the time and wanted a way to exhibit both timelessness and locality. The postcards added that final layer of substance.    ....................................................​

Four years in the making, When the Bones Speak, a World War II novel written by Joan Clayton, will be launched Saturday, June 25th.

​WHERE: The RCAF Wing Association, 2155 Crumlin Road (near the airport). 

WHEN: Sat. June 25th. Book Launch/Cocktail Reception - 2:00 pm. Everyone welcome!

When the Bones Speak, written by Joan Clayton, is a work of historical fiction, in which one of the main characters is based on a World War II Air Gunner named Frederick, whose plane was shot down in Germany in 1943. Through a strange coincidence, Dr. Clayton was given his log book which contained a photograph of Frederick, a letter written to his mother in Nova Scotia telling her that her son is buried in a mass grave in Ohlsdorf, and a London FreePress article about a man who survived because he missed the flight that morning when someone offered to cook him a warm breakfast. With this information, and through much reading, research and interviews with Air Gunners who had survived the war, Dr. Clayton has written a fictional love story to honor Frederick's life and death.
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Dr. Joan Clayton is a Psychologist and Trauma Expert who began writing ten years ago. She is primarily a poet and playwright. She received the Kobzar Scholarship from the Shevchenko Foundation in Winnipeg in July, 2012, to attend the Humber School of Writing Summer Workshop. It was there that this book began. Her Non- Fiction Chapter on Immigration will be published in the Anthology, Coming Here, Being Here, by Guernica Press this November.

When the Bones Speak is her first novel, and it will be for sale at the Book Launch. Dr. Clayton will also discuss with participants how to write a historical story when you have limited information, but
great enthusiasm and passion to honor the courageous decisions that people make in war time.

​RSVP by noon Wed. June 22nd at this site: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/ribbon-cutting-ceremony-for-living-guard-of-honour-at-427-wing-rcafa-tickets-25954164605, or contact Colleen at 519-870-9979 or info@earthtobusinessmarketing.com.