"In these tight, sexy fictions that make up One Dead Tree, David Menear’s stories and characters uncover hitherto unexplored aspects of the Canadian urban experience." Mark McCawley, Urban Graffiti

David Menear

David Menear

DHP: What is your definition of transgressive?

DM:  You can drive straight down the middle of the road or you can crash, roll, spin, flip, and amused, watch yourself fly off into the ditch and burn.

 

DHP:  What was the first text you read that made you question accepted

societal tenets or values or the way in which the world works?

DM: The bible.

 

DHP: Give an example of a transgressive work & explain why you felt it was

transgressive? The work could be literature, film, visual art, theatre,

graphic novels or something else.

DM: The film “A clockwork Orange” startled me as a pre-ad. The raw sexual violence was horrifying even as I was gripped and lashed in my place with my eyes and ears pegged open by the majesty of the music and the endlessly stunning visuals. For me, it sure did break the boundaries of Disney & Love Story. It was like heroin for the masses that screamed no.

 

DHP:  Name a historical transgressive role model & tell us a bit about

this person.

DM: Henry the eighth I am. I am.

 

DHP: List a few transgressive fictional works from your personal library.

DM: Myra Breckinridge, Last Exit To Brooklyn, Painted Bird, Beautiful Losers…

 

DHP: In what ways are you trying to create or publish work that is

transgressive according to your definition?

DM I am in no way trying to create or publish work that is transgressive. I must agree with Lynn Crosbie, in that, you can’t try to write in a transgressive way. You do, or you don’t. If you lie or cheat, you will be caught and hung.

 

David Menear

 

Menear is most often described as an edgy, urgent, gritty and sometimes ‘transgressive’ short story writer with a soft heart and a sense of humour. You find him at that place where Salinger meets Cormac McCarthy for tea and cookies.

 

In his first two years of writing, Menear has had stories published in several respected Canadian literary magazines. His short story collection "One Dead Tree" was published by DevilHouse in 2014 and sold out in a few short months. “Fern Leaves Unfurling In The Dark Green Shade” was published in "Canadian Noir" (Exile Editions, Year, 2015). Reviews are positive.

 

David, a father of four, has spent most of his life between Toronto and Montreal, but has also lived in London, England, and quaint village France. He studied art & design in New York City. David has won numerous international advertising awards for his creativity. He returned to Toronto for two years at ‘The Beach’, writing hard and playing tennis with terrifying enthusiasm and some certain mediocrity. In August David moved again, and is now somewhere on Vancouver Island or presumed missing back in the Toronto 'Beaches' again.

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