Russell Smith in Conversation with Josey Vogels at TINARS
Russell Smith will launch a revised literary edition of his notorious pornographic novel, Diana: A Diary In The Second Person (Biblioasis), by having a frisky Valentines Day conversation with renowned sex columnist Josey Vogels about the voice as an instrument of seduction and other matters of the heart. A This Is Not A Reading Series event presented by Pages Books & Magazines, Biblioasis, and EYE WEEKLY. At the Gladstone Hotel Ballroom, 1214 Queen St West, Toronto on Thursday, February 14 at 7:30 p.m. (doors 7pm). Free admission.
Novelist, CBC personality and Globe & Mail columnist Russell Smith wrote a pornographic novel in 2003 under the nom de plume Diane Savage. The book had a limited print run. Even so, the identity of its author was the topic of widespread literary gossip. The forthcoming Biblioasis edition, with a new introduction by the author, marks the end Smith’s pseudonymous existence and makes the book widely available for the first time.
Written in the tradition of erotic confession (with a twist), and as delicately composed as the works of Anais Nin or Pauline Reage, Smith’s pornographic novel portrays female desire in memoir form. The unnamed narrator – gorgeous, sophisticated, and underemployed – embarks on a series of increasingly intense urban encounters. Smith brings her insatiable desire to life with his trademark wit and linguistic playfulness. Diana: A Diary In The Second Person is a literary experiment, a modernist tale whose goal is to arouse and paint a sexual portrait of the city it scorches.
Russell Smith is the author of six works of fiction. A well-known journalist and cultural commentator, he writes the weekly ‘Virtual Culture’ column in the Globe & Mail. His first novel How Insensitive was nominated for the Governor General’s Award and became a national bestseller. His latest book is Men’s Style, a book on men’s fashion. He lives in Toronto.
Josey Vogels is the author of the nationally syndicated relationships column My Messy Bedroom and the advice column Dating Girl. She has published five books on sex and relationships, including Bedside Manners: Sex Etiquette Made Easy.
