Check out my latest essay in @maisonneuvemag that is garnering media attention!
2020 has been an unpredictable year for us all, so apologies for not updating this wee lil 15-year-old blog as much as I used to! So far it’s been an incredible for my career, and so many other things happening as well, that this post is going to have to encompass all of them! Hey, bloggers can’t be choosers (har har).
First things first, all year I have been researching and writing a piece for Maisonneuve Magazine about the deep roots that Arabs have in Montreal and also Canada + my family’s long and storied history therein. The fall issue of the magazine has finally hit the newsstands and you can read my feature essay in its entirety! Because Maisonneuve is such a great mag, I would highly encourage you to purchase a copy here, especially if you don’t live in Canada and want your own issue delivered to your door!
But if you can’t make it out to the newsstands (thanks COVID), you can read the essay in its entirety here!
It’s really making an impact and readers are really connecting with the story – so much so, that CityNews Montreal interviewed me last week about my new essay. You can watch that entire interview below!
It’s so strange how, at least once a year, I manage to attract the attention of the media. Sure, I am a writer myself and have connections, but honestly, these are reporters reaching out to me and not vice versa. So it feels so great to know that what I have to say and the stories I want to share are truly fascinating and interesting to people.
If you live in Canada, Maisonneuve Mag is sold at all Indigo/Chapters locations, as well as Type Books, Book City, Coles, and other shops! This is what my issue looks like!
On top of being a literary darling (hahaha, kidding!) (not kidding), I’ve also had A SUMMER. It’s been truly busy with my continuing gig at eTalk (it’s been a year now! Time flies!) plus all of the adventures I’ve been up to (even with the borders closed and COVID ravaging our travel plans, we’ve been enjoying tons of road trips, and still more to come!).
If you’ve been following here for a while, you know that every once in a while, I dabble in a bit of modelling just for shits n’ giggles. Last year I did quite a few shoots that I never blogged about, but I really enjoyed this recent shoot with regular collaborator Graham, so I thought I’d post some of the shots we did this summer. I love the colours (we shot at dusk along the waterfront overlooking the city of Toronto) and we captured them without even using lighting!
I still have more things in the pipeline and can’t wait to share them with you all. In the meantime, be sure to bookmark and check Christine Estima dot com often for more of my published articles, press interviews, photoshoots, and more!
Head’s up vegan/vegetarians! Check out my new food essay in The @TorontoStar!
During this time of uncertainty for many freelance writers around the world, I somehow managed to sell my very first food story to The Toronto Star! The Food section is a place I never thought I’d have a byline, so I’m super proud of this one. Head’s up vegans/vegetarians (or anyone looking to reduce their meat intake), this is about Liquid Smoke, a must-have pantry ingredient to zest up your plant-based recipes (and since we’re all quarantined at home right now, this is something you will definitely be using more of. No more boring self-isolation meals!). Click here or the above image to read! I will update this post when it’s also published in the print edition!
APRIL 15, 2020 EDIT!: it’s printed in today’s print edition, in the Life Section!
I’ve been trying to break into The Toronto Star for years, so this is very special to me, and clicks are appreciated!
As I mentioned above, right now during such times of uncertainty, it’s hard being a freelance writer. Many of my friends in the industry are seeing their income drastically reduced. Freelance budgets are drying up at newspapers and magazines, most pitches are being rejected across the board, and there is a rising sense of anxiety in the industry. I’m super lucky to be a regular, daily contributor at eTalk as I blogged about previously. They’ve actually given me more work lately, so on top of my regular late night TV beat, I also do news hits in the morning, and even some entertainment roundups and special one-offs! Here’s my late night column from this morning that I really liked (feminist Ryan’s, holla!), a news hit from this morning (Swifties rejoice!), a special one-off dedicated to Mariah Carey, and an entertainment roundup for all of us stuck in quarantine. I am loving all the extra work, but I realize I am super lucky. Many thanks to every editor and publication who agrees to take me on!
As always, fanks for the support, my munchkins, and please visit the official Christine Estima dot com for more of my published stories, essays, and more!
My latest freelance gig: I’m a Late Night TV Talk Show columnist
The life of a freelance writer is a precarious one. Most days we don’t know where our next paycheque is coming from, and we’re constantly chasing up money we are due from unresponsive accounts payable departments! It’s a lot of pitching, a lot of rejection, and trying over and over again. I’ve been lucky over the years to be able to live off of my writing whilst being awarded some generous artistic awards to keep me going in the lean months, but having a steady gig (short of becoming a staff writer) is the dream of every writer slugging it out in the fields.
Luck struck me a few weeks ago and I haven’t really said anything because it’s all still so new, but I recently signed the contract so I guess I can say a word or two here: I’m now a regular freelancer for eTalk! For those outside of Canada, eTalk is a massive entertainment news show that covers everything from the Oscars red carpet to movie premieres and everyday celebrity hot takes. They also have an online magazine named The Loop, and recently they took me on to be their new Late Night TV Talk Show columnist!
Yes, that means I get paid to watch lots of Late Night Talk Shows and write about all the fun, buzzworthy, wacky things that happen! Not too shabby. I officially can’t complain.
Even though I’ve only been doing this for a few weeks, I’ve already amassed a massive catalogue of articles under my column, so it would be too much to link them all here. But you’re in luck – click here to visit my official dot com and view a scrolling gallery of all of my published pieces thus far AND to click on the ones you want to read!
So far I’ve been able to reveal breaking news about a possible Friends reunion, recap all of Kanye’s wacky antics, dish on ScarJo’s engagement party rules, watch Demi Moore dunk on Bruce Willis, and gasp at Jessica Biel throwing shade at *NSYNC.
Clicks are appreciated, so please follow me on Twitter to read my regular daily doses as they are published hot off the press.
Fanks for the support, munchkins! And as always, don’t forget to visit Christine Estima dot com to read more of all my published short stories, essays, op-ed, columns, and reportage!
WATCH: My interview on @CityNews about #BUNZ
Click the above video or click here to watch my interview today on CityNews Toronto. I was contacted by their reporter to lend my voice and opinion on local trading and bartering app BUNZ which has had some recent upheaval. If you remember, I’ve written in the past about BUNZ for VICE and for the The Walrus, so naturally I had some things to say about recent changes to the community.
Look Ma, I’m erudite and oh-so studious!
Enjoy!
Don’t forget to check out the official Christine Estima dot com for more of my interviews on the news and on talkshows!
Why I Wish I Never Reported My Assault: read my latest essay in @WalrusMagazine
After the Jian Ghomeshi essay, and the Kavanaugh Hearings, it felt like a timely and relevant idea to get my story out.
I don’t have anything else to say on the matter.
In terms of writing, this process was an extremely long one. For obvious reasons, this essay had to be fact-checked. But the process took over two months, mostly because the magazine (bless ’em) wanted to make sure they had crossed all the T’s and dotted all the i’s, in case anyone wanted to come back at me and call me a liar.
The burden of proof the fact-checker required was greater than what the police required to press charges against my assailant.
So I double-dare you to call me a goddamned liar.
Thanks for reading and for the support, my munchkins.
Fuck the patriarchy.
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In other news, I spent the weekend with photographer and fellow writer Graham Isador, who took nice shots of me on a rooftop.
If you don’t think photographs are important, wait until they’re all you have left.
Check out my official website Christine Estima dot com for more of my published works.
Kirk/Spock: listen to me on the #GRTTWAK podcast!
A few weeks ago, I performed for a second time at the Grownups Read Things They Wrote as Kids stage in Toronto. I shared two teen diary entries where I wrote about Kirk/Spock dreams.
Were the dreams nerdy?
Yes.
Were they sex dreams?
Also yes.
Just like last time, I have been included in their latest podcast episode, which you can listen to on your device via the podcast app, or listen here:
Enjoy!
My latest essay in the @NYTimes: Taking Back My Eyebrows
So . . . this happened.
I sold an essay to The New York Times! They launched a new column in the Style section called Rites Of Passage, and I’m one of the first people to be published in it. I’ve been keeping a lid on this news for a while because, even after I sign a contract, I’m still never sure something will be published until I see it in print. Working with my editors at the Times was incredible, they were so kind and generous. This was a very quick process too, from submitting, to acceptance, to editing, to published. I’m so pleased with how it all turned out. Read it here!
One thing was edited out which I’ll share here: a behind the scenes look at some of things I wanted to say.
Well, I won’t tell you, I’ll show you:
I mean, it’s obvious why that wasn’t included in the final version, but as many of you already know, when it comes to my eyebrows, I GOT STORIES.
Thanks for the support, and if you want more, don’t forget to check out the official Christine Estima dot com, where you can read in full all of my published work!
Check out my interview in @Macleans Magazine
After the Toronto terrorist attack perpetrated by an Incel misogynist last month, I tweeted about the ludicrous male entitlement and fragility that make up “incels.” The tweet subsequently went viral and I received in response a deluge of obscene, disgraceful, inhuman, and sexually-harassing messages from angry white dudebros online. So I fought back and it was the sheer act of fighting back that made my original tweet go even farther online than I imagined. I gained 1000+ new Twitter followers in 24 hours, my tweet was liked over 5000 times, and it was screencapped & shared in FB groups all over the internet. It was a crazy period.
As a result, Maclean’s Magazine published a piece about incels, misogyny, and the fight against targeted harassment of women. Friend Andray Domise interviewed me and others about fighting against online harassment, and the piece was published recently. It’s a really great piece, of which you should read in full, but here’s a section which contains a snipped of my interview:
With this in mind, I’ve recently sold two essay pitches to two different magazines, one of which will deal with the ongoing oppression and subjugation of women, and I can’t wait to share them with you when they’re published.
Check out more of my press interviews and media profiles on my official website Christine Estima dot com!
Read my latest essay published in @WalrusMagazine !
Here’s something I’ve been keeping a lid on for some months, but am super excited to finally share! I sold a story to The Walrus! For my international readers, The Walrus is a Canadian magazine that could easily be likened to The New Yorker – a highly-curated arts and culture magazine with some amazing critical thinkers writing for and creating the magazine. It’s a national magazine, available across the country.
My essay, published today, is about the time last year when I found a roll of film on the curb and set out to find the lost photographer. It’s a really quirky story that involves a lot of six-degrees-of-kevin-bacon but also about expectations v reality. I may or may not mention Amélie once or twice within this piece. Check it out and share it with your friends!
So here’s something funny about this process of being a freelance writer that is related to this story – last year, another magazine (which shall remain nameless) bought this story. They sat on this story for 7 months. They edited it so it stripped out all the colour, flare, style, and tone of my writing. They were absolutely unreachable at times, and it was a super frustrating experience working with them. Finally, a publication date for this past January was set. They paid me in full in anticipation of the publication date. Then, ON THE DAY it was set to be published, I received an email from the editor, saying that they were killing the story because it was “too local” and not something that would appeal to people across the country.
What the shizz?
Not once in the 7 months that they had the story was the concern that it was “too local” ever raised. Also, that’s a bullshit criticism, you guys have read the story, do you find this story unappealing to people outside of Toronto? Rhetorical question.
And worst of all, before that publication had bought the story, I had pitched it elsewhere, & some places only got back to me after said-publication bought it. So I had turned down other publications for them! For those of you outside of the publishing world, you should know this kind of behaviour and practice is all SUPER UNPROFESSIONAL. I’ve had stories killed before, but not on the DAY it was to be published, for such a lame excuse, after paying me in full. Most writers I know have had similar experiences with them, and warned me about them. So in my reply, I told them exactly what I thought. May the bridges I burn light the way.
I subsequently erased ALL the edits they did on my piece, and went back to my true voice that they tried to strip from the piece. Sometimes editors try to “trim the fat” of a story, but any chef will tell you that the fat has all the flavour. Good writing requires a style and a voice, and I wasn’t going to let them convince me my voice needed to be trimmed.
Fast forward to this past autumn, The Walrus bought the story (and frankly, The Walrus is a much better publication, with a helluva lot more respect), and the process of fashioning and editing the piece with them has been light years ahead and beyond what said-shizz-publication was like. And I’m super proud of this end result. Because above all, I found a publication that nurtured and encouraged my voice and style.
There are a lot of shady things publications try to do to freelance writers . . . and most of the time, they get away with it. Being freelance means you don’t get the support of HR and you’re in this legal gray area most of the time. So I’ve learned that you have to be your best advocate in this business . . . because the world doesn’t owe you any favours. Hustle and work hard, and it will all sort itself out in the end.
And maybe, if you’re really lucky, you’ll get paid twice for the same story 😉
(Yes that was tacky of me, but I’m not deleting it.)
Don’t forget to check out the official Christine Estima dot com for more of my published essays, stories, and more!
Listen to my story on the @RaconteursStory podcast!
As many of you know, I’ve been doing live storytelling and spoken word for about 4 years now and I’ve been really lucky with all the places I’ve been invited to speak – London UK, NYC, and all over Toronto. You can watch many of my performances on my YouTube and also listen to the rest on my Soundcloud! Anyway, one of the places I’ve performed at twice Raconteurs Storytelling, has just relaunched their podcast and I appear in episode 3 “Appearances,” where I tell my story of my ethnicity and the mild racism that comes with being othered and “exotic.”
Click here to listen! You can also subscribe to their podcast on iTunes!
And don’t forget to check out the official Christine Estima dot com for more of my Spoken Word, published writing, and more!
Other-Worldly and Vaguely Threatening: Part 2
It seems like at least once a year, I do a photoshoot. A couple of times, it’s been for magazines, but mostly it’s for photog friends who think I give good face, as it were. My friend Graham Isador, who’s a fellow in many ways (we both do the thee-ahh-tah, we both do Live Storytelling, we both freelance the snot out of VICE), has taken up the fine art of photog’ing and we met up earlier this week on the West Toronto Rail Path to werrrrk, shashay, chantez.
Last year I said that, you know, since I’m a professional writer, I’m not interested in looking “pretty.” I want to look “other-worldly and vaguely threatening.” This shoot is kind of an extension of that idea.
But then Graham said I was “ridiculously photogenic” so of course I had to A) giggle like a twee dickhead, and B) tell all of you people.
Ah yes, one of my typewriters made an appearance. ‘Natch. Those things are my babies.
I like doing these fun little activities every once in a while considering that my daily life is super unglamorous. I spend eight hours a day banging away at my laptop, whilst still wearing yesterday’s yoga pants and rocking a mad case of boob sweat. So when this opportunity came up, I was like, “an excuse to pluck my unibrow and wear deodorant!”
But before you comment to say I look like a rain cloud of doom…..
Many thanks to Graham for these wonderful shots!
Don’t forget to check out Christine Estima dot com for more from my previous photoshoots and press coverage!
How Men Can Stop Street Harassment: my latest article in @VICE
Earlier this week I endured yet again an incident of street harassment. It happens almost every day. So much so, that it’s almost normalized as part of my daily routine. Get up, take a shower, grab a cuppa from Timmies, and tell some douchenozzle to go fuck himself.
This incident was different because a nice young couple came to my aid. I started thinking about all the ways men can be an ally to women to women when they observe street harassment. So many men, supposedly “nice guys,” will just ignore it and pretend it isn’t happening. BUT IT IS HAPPENING, and we need your support and solidarity.
Do you nice guys call out harassment when you see it? Or do you just stand there and watch whilst thinking about how nice you are?
So, with some encouragement from my editor, I wrote about it for VICE. Read it in full here. Enjoy!
And as always, you can visit the official Christine Estima dot com to read more of my published essays, op-eds, columns, short stories, travel writing, and much much more.
Listen to “Spray It, Don’t Say It” – my latest Spoken Word performance
A couple weeks ago I performed a Spoken Word piece at The Spoke, a live storytelling event here in Toronto, which I blogged about here. The organizers recorded the audio of my piece for their podcast, and you can now listen to it here below! It deals with street art, graffiti, heartbeats, heartbreak, mourning, healing, hope…all the good stuff. Enjoy!
My Soundcloud also has other audio clips from some of my previous Spoken Word performances, so please check it out!
Don’t forget to check out the official Christine Estima dot com for more on my Spoken Word performances, my published articles, essays, short stories, and more!
“I’m On My Knees But I’m Not Praying”: my latest short story published in Matrix Magazine
FAIR WARNING this is a rather racy story that deal with some full-on topics. For the record, I’m not trying to say anything about the political issues associated with the themes in this story, I’m just exploring an idea and seeing where it goes. This piece is more about complicated emotions and feelings that are in direct conflict with each other, rather than the politicizing of bodies.
Also, creative writing is rarely sensical haha.
You can read this piece in full online right now and it will also appear in print soon, and I will of course update you when that happens! Enjoy at your own discretion, my munchkins.
* * *
A couple of weeks ago, I was asked to perform some of my Spoken Word/Live Storytelling at The Spoke.*
The theme of this night was Heartbeats, so I figured I could speak for 5-10 minutes about that!
I was the first storyteller of the night and it went very well. People came up to me afterwards to hold my hand and tell me they enjoyed my lovely little story. It’s so great connecting with people by just telling some of the fubar stories from my clusterfuck life, haha.
It was such a great night and I’m grateful to the organizers for asking me to participate. They recorded audio of the night so as soon as I have that, I will share it with you. It may also appear on their curated podcast soon.
Speaking of which, if you visit my Soundcloud, you can hear in their entirety some of the audio from my previous Spoken Word performances. I also have on there an Ambient Playlist that I’ve specially curated that is becoming quite popular on there. It’s a great playlist for writing and doing creative endeavours.
Don’t forget to check out Christine Estima dot com for more of my published works that you can read in full, and also all of the media attention and press my work has garnered!
*fanks to Caron for the pics!
You Will Lose All Your Friends in your 30s: my latest @VICE essay
I’ve had an absolute bonkers week (more on that in a sec) so I’m slow to report that earlier this week, my latest misanthropic, bitchy essay was published in VICE. Once you get on the wrong side of 30, it’s like a plague of locusts descends upon your friendships. You better lock up your besties and buddies in your basement now and make sure they can’t chisel their way out, because your 30s are a barren wasteland.
So, uh, enjoy?
* * *
The reason this week has been absolutely bonkers is because I took part in an indie theatre fest called Operation 24! Run by Parkdale theatre darlings Unit 102, Operation 24 is a 24-hour theatre challenge where plays are written, rehearsed and performed professionally all within 24 hours! “Each writer stays up until the wee hours of the morning to craft a ten-minute play. The actors and directors take that play and rehearse it all day, preparing to show it to you, our audience at 8pm the next night. 24 hours from beginning to end resulting in a dynamite night of theatre.” As you may have guessed, I was one of the writers!
At 8pm on Tuesday night, each playwright started writing a 10 minute play on our own. After LOTS of coffee and pizza, I finished my play around 3am. I sent it to my director and two actors around 3:30am and was absolutely wrecked.
Some of the other playwrights finished around 5am (and one completely rewrote his play at 7am!). At 10am, the director and actors began to rehearse. Then at 8pm and 10pm, the actors nailed 2 performances of it, memorized, staged, blocked, cued, costumed, and lit!!
It was an absolutely thrilling and brilliant experience. Longtime readers of this blog know that in my past life I was a playwright with quite a few productions under my belt, but this was the first time something of mine had been staged since 2010. I had such a great (albeit sleep-deprived) time and I’d definitely do it again, and recommend it to all the playwrights, directors, and actors in Toronto who want a challenge!
Don’t forget to check out the official Christine Estima dot com for more of my theatrical productions, performances, and more!
Check me out on @CBC’s show Podcast Playlist!
Last year I performed at GRTTWaK, reading an entry from my 1996 diary which was hilarious and cringeworthy at the same time. It was a great experience where I ended up being included on GRTTWaK’s curated podcast. Well, the CBC show Podcast Playlist got wind of my performance and included it in this week’s edition, “As Seen On TV!”
If you want to give’r a listen, click here and fast forward to time index 48:00!
And if you want to watch this performance in full, including me trying to stifle a giggle as the audience laughs, you can watch it below!
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Last week I mentioned that I’d be reading at the Toronto launch of Room Magazine’s 40th Anniversary Anthology. Well it went great! A lot of people in the Canadian literary community showed up and I got to talk books, creativity, and the business with some incredibly talented and accomplished peers!
I’m so pleased that they included me in the anthology. There are more good things like this to come, things are happening and it’s all very exciting. I love being a writer, espesh a respected member of the Can. Lit. community!
As always, don’t forget to visit the official Christine Estima dot com to check out all of my published works, and all of the media attention I’ve garnered!
Come Watch Me Read at @RoomMagazine’s 40th Anniversary Celebration!
If you’re a longtime reader of this blog (which has officially been around for 12 years this month….), you might remember a decade ago when I sold a short story to Room Magazine. I posted about it here….my gosh that blog post hasn’t aged well. Also TMI, ESTIMA. Yeeesh.
Back then, Room was called Room Of One’s Own, but it’s always been an outlet for Canadian women to have feminist literature and art published. This was a big success for me at the time because I was still a novice, emerging writer with only a few successes under my belt. Also, I was still finding my style, voice, and form (which, for a writer, can take years).
In any case, recently Room contacted me to let me know they were putting together their 40th Anniversary Anthology and they wanted to include my short story!
Me: So you want to re-publish the same story a decade later?
Them: Yes.
Me: And you want to pay me a second time for the same story?
Them: Yes.
Me: What do you need me to do?
Them: Could you talk about it on social media?
Me: HOLD MY BEER.
In addition to this great honour, later this week they are having the Toronto launch party for the 40th Anniversary Anthology and they asked me to be one of the readers! Huzzah! Finally, a captive audience.
The event is the evening of April 22 at the Artscape Youngplace in the west end of Toronto, so if you’re about and free that evening, I’d love to see some familiar, friendly faces in the room. Get it? THE ROOM.
……(I’ll get my coat).
All the details for the even are here on the Facebook Event Listing so come out on Saturday and watch me be a huge ham in front of Can.Lit scenesters.
Also don’t forget to check the official Christine Estima dot com to read my published works and to check out all the great things I have coming up!
The #friendzone & dudebros: my latest essay in @Vice
So this is a funny story. Last week I got into a Twitter spat with some jabroni who was going on about the “friend zone.” I was frankly shocked to see it coming from a so-called “gentleman,” (he uses that word in his twitter handle like all gentlemen do, ‘natch) because in the circles I run in, using that term is a laughable offence. Forgot that there actually are people who think that’s a perfectly acceptable term (and the word for those people is ‘nimrod’).
In any case, one of the staff writers at VICE saw my tweets and told me I should definitely turn this into a piece.
See? NEVER SHY AWAY FROM HAVING FIGHTS ON SOCIAL MEDIA.
I WILL HAVE ALL THE FIGHTS WITH STRANGERS ON THE INTERNETZZZZZZZ.
Kidding! (Not kidding)
Click here to read the piece in full.
As always, don’t forget to check out the official Christine Estima dot com for more of my published essays, stories, travel writing, interviews, and more.
The Lovertine: Watch my TV interview on TFO!
Life is strange and unpredictable. You never know what’s coming for ya. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. A few months ago, you’ll remember I was interviewed and photographed for a Toronto Life feature , which itself was a lot of fun. Well, more people saw that interview than I bargained for.
I was contacted by the good folks over at TFO 24.7, the Franco-Ontarian TV station here in Canada. They noticed that I speak French, and that many of my love letters are in French, and they asked if they could come over and film me for a Valentine’s Day segment.
They came over and interviewed me for 5 hours. The finished TV segment is less than 4 minutes, it’s a lot of work that goes into making a mere 4 minutes! They filmed me in my bedroom here in Toronto, which I have decorated with the letters, old photographs, antique furniture and typewriters, and then they filmed me at an antique shop and a café.
I really like the way this came out. The music they use is super sweet and it makes my 9 x 15 bedroom look much larger than it actually is! I’m also a little embarrassed, just because this is my bedroom and I’m inviting all of you strangers into my tiny little corner of the world, but hey…. I WOULD DOOOOO ANYTHING FOR LOVVVVVVVE. Har har.
I think this is my favourite shot in the entire segment.
Anyway, watch the entire segment below! It’s in French, of course, but you will probably still get the gist of it even if you don’t speak French. Enjoy! Savourez-le!
The Spadina Monologues 