Jon Paul Fiorentino

Jon Paul Fiorentino, winter 2008

Jon Paul Fiorentino is a Canadian poet, novelist, short story writer, editor, and professor.

Fiorentino was born and raised in the Transcona area of Winnipeg, Manitoba. In his book of poems Resume Drowning, Fiorentino shared that since he resided in Transcona, Winnipeg, and Montreal, he considers all three of them home.^[1]

Fiorentino became a writer in Winnipeg. In 1999, Fiorentino left Winnipeg to move to Montreal pursue a life in writing.^[2]

Fiorentino teaches at Concordia University, is editor-in-chief of Matrix magazine and founded Snare Books (publishing), a Canadian publishing company.

Education

Fiorentino received his undergraduate degree in English Literature at the University of Winnipeg in 1998. He then moved to Montreal for further studies at Concordia University where he received his Bachelor of Arts in English and Creative Writing (with Honours and Distinction) in 2000. He received his Master of Arts in English Literature and Creative Writing in 2003 at Concordia University.^[3]

Books

Books of poems

Fiorentino has written several books of poems. His first book was Transcona Fragments, which is a collection of poems published by Winnipeg's Cyclops Press/Signature Editions in 2002. In the same year Fredericton's Broken Jaw Press also published his second book, Resume Drowning, which like the first one, is also a collection of poems. Another book of poems entitled Hello Serotonin was published in 2004 by Toronto's Coach House Books. In 2006, Coach House Books published The Theory of the Loser Class (books of poems). Fiorentino wrote two more books or collections of poems, both published by Coach House Books, namely Indexical Elegies in 2010, and Needs Improvement, in 2013.^[4]

Fiction

Fiorentino wrote "Asthmatica", a short fiction, which was published by Toronto's Insomniac Press in 2005. Fiorentino also wrote Stripmalling, a novel, published by Toronto's ECW Press in 2009.^[5]

Short stories

In an interview with The Toronto Quarterly on November 18, 2013, Fiorentino explained that he has a book of short stories, entitled I'm Not Scared of You or Anything, which was set to be published on June 2014 by Anvil Press. Fiorentino also explained that this book has illustrations by Maryanna Hardy.^[6]

Literary contributions

"Post-prairie poet" is a termed coined by Fiorentino who, with Robert Kroetsch, edited the collection Post-Prairie: An Anthology of New Poetry (2005). On Faustus Salvador’s interview with Fiorentino about his book The Theory of the Loser Class, Salvador asks Fiorentino about the genesis of his book titles. Fiorentino explains, "I always come up with the titles first. It seems to me that more people pay attention to the title than to the actual writing. That may sound cynical, but titles are key to me. I collect the writing with the title and the mandate it suggests in mind." ^[7]

Articles

Fiorentino published a number of articles on Huffington Post, National Post, and The Barnstormer. In June 19, 2012, he wrote and published the article “Waiting for Morris Lukowich” in The Barnstormer. Fiorentino has also written a couple of articles for the National Post. In June 19, 2013, Fiorentino wrote “The Rhetoric and Reality of Suicide”, and in December 4, 2013, he wrote “The Case for Fixed Book Pricing in Canada”.

Fiorentino contributed a number of articles in the Huffington Post. He wrote “You Don't Have to be Adam Lanza's Mother to Make a Statement” on December 18 of 2012. His article “Will More Male Athletes Come Out in 2013?” was published on December 26, 2012. On February 18, 2013, he wrote the article “A Film Festival First For Montreal”. He wrote “Why Morrissey Still Matters” on March 7, 2013. Fiorentino also wrote “Sexism and Silence in the Literary Community” in May 1, 2013. ON July 17, 2013, he wrote the article “The Case for the Head Case: If You Were the Class Daydreamer, You're Probably a Writer”.^[8]

Teaching career

Fiorentino has also taught in Winnipeg and Montreal, but mostly in Montreal. He was an Intermediate and Advanced Creative Writing Instructor at Winnipeg Writers’ Collective in January 2004. He also spent time at the University of Winnipeg where he was an Academic Writing (Multidisciplinary/Humanities) Instructor from September 2003 to April 2004.

Fiorentino is teaching at Concordia University in Montreal. He started his career at Concordia University in 2001 where he started as a Research Assistant for Dr. Eve Saunders English Department from June 2001 to September 2001. He was a Teaching Assistant in the English Literature Survey (British Literature from the Restoration to the Georgian Period) from September 2001 to April 2003. He was a part-time Faculty Lecturer for English Composition Stage I in September 2002 to April 2003. From 2009 to 2010, he worked as a part-time Faculty for School of Extended Learning at Concordia University and taught the course Skills for Success in University. He was a Regular Faculty at the English Department for English Composition and Creative Writing from 2004 to 2009. Fiorentino was an Assistant Professor at the English Department for Creative Writing: Poetry, Prose and Screenwriting from 2010 to 2012. Since 2012, he has been a Professor and Regular Faculty in the English Department and teaches Creative Writing: Poetry, Prose and Screenwriting – English Composition.

Stripmalling, transition from novel to screenplay

Stripmalling is Fiorentino’s first novel, which was published in 2009. It is a semi-autobiographical and metafictional novel about an aspiring graphic novelist (named Jonny) who works at a gasoline station and his journey in writing his novel titled Stripmalling.^[9] The story is set in Transcona, Winnipeg. Jon Paul Fiorentino wrote the script with Katrina Best. The screenplay will be produced by Farpoint Films.^[10] Chris Charney of Farpoint films will be the executive producer of the Stripmalling. Farpoint Films is a local, Winnipeg-based company. Katrina Best (Fiorentino’s co-writer) is a Canadian-British screenwriter.^[11]

Bibliography

• Transcona Fragments (Cyclops Press/Signature Editions, 2002)
• Resume Drowning (Broken Jaw Press, 2002)
• Hello Serotonin (Coach House Books, 2004)
• Post-Prairie: An Anthology of New Poetry (Talonbooks, 2005) (edited with Robert Kroetsch)
• Asthmatica (Insomniac Press, 2005)
• The Theory of the Loser Class (Coach House Books, 2006)
• Blues and Bliss: The Poetry of George Elliott Clarke (WLU Press, 2008)
• Stripmalling: a novel (ECW Press, 2009)
• Indexical Elegies (Coach House Books, 2010)

References

External links

• Jon Paul Fiorentino's website
• "Theory of the Writer Class." Interview with Melora Koepke. Hour, 26 February 2009
• Interview in The Danforth Review
• Montreal Mirror profile
• Quill & Quire review of Stripmalling