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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Atheist Falzon uses humour to skewer Bible
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Elton John should stick to pop ballads. (CP)
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A provocative Australian atheist will be speaking in Winnipeg later this week.
Edward Falzon uses humour to skewer the idea that the Bible is a dependable guide to moral behaviour in his 2010 book Being Gay Is Disgusting, or God Likes the Smell of Burning Fat.
Falzon, who says on his website that he became interested in the Bible after finding himself on a date with a born-again Christian, takes a comic approach to paraphrasing the stories of the first five books of the Bible, including Leviticus, the laundry-list of rules that includes the much-cited denunciation of homosexuality.
Falzon will be at the Millennium Library for a discussion from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday. The event is presented by the Humanists, Atheists and Agnostics of Manitoba.
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San Diego's Comic Con doesn't just attract fanboys and geeks anymore.
Among the hordes at the world's largest gathering of comic book, science fiction and fantasy devotees was Canadian novelist Margaret Atwood. Atwood, who has written several novels with science fiction or dystopian themes since 1985's The Handmaid's Tale, clearly enjoyed her time at Comic Con, judging by her Twitter feed.
The Canadian literary icon posted a number of photos of herself posing with costumed Klingons, warriors, giant plush animals, and other creatures.
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The Winnipeg writing and illustrating team behind the graphic novel The Imagination Manifesto Book 2 is waiting for voting to conclude Monday for this year's Aurora Awards for Canadian science fiction and fantasy.
Writer/illustrator GMB Chomichuk and co-writers James Rewicki and John Toone published their novel with Chomichuk's Alchemical Press.
It contains four interlinked serialized stories and has been praised by Winnipeg horror novelist Susie Moloney for its innovative use of visual storytelling and its dark beauty.
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Winnipeg comedian Ryan McMahon is writing an aboriginal-themed parody of the hit erotic novel Fifty Shades of Grey, 140 characters at a time.
McMahon, a rising star on the comedy festival circuit, is writing his parody, Powwow Shades of Grey, as a series of tweets and assembling them at powwowshadesofgrey.com. The flavour of his parody can be gleaned from the second line of Chapter 1: "I saw her smack her bad kids around that afternoon and I thought to myself 'That could be my ass she's smacking.' "
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The Toronto-based romance publishing giant Harlequin is the object of a class-action suit alleging that it has been underpaying digital royalties to its authors.
Quill & Quire, the Canadian book trade journal, reports on its website that the lawsuit has been filed in New York on behalf of three American writers.
On Thursday, however, Q&Q posted a response from Harlequin CEO Donna Harris saying, "Our authors have been recompensed fairly and properly for their work, and we will be defending ourselves vigorously."
booknewsbob@gmail.com
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 21, 2012 J8
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Peter Bergen, author of bestsellers about Osama bin Laden, writing book on terrorists in US
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