The writers Andrew MacDonald and Dave Lapp together hold this issue’s M.V.P. title. Andrew’s story “Progress on a Genetic Level,” from Taddle Creek No. 35, recently was nominated both for a National Magazine Award and long-listed for the Journey Prize, the latter of which sees his story appear in the annual Journey Prize Stories anthology. Meanwhile, Dave’s People Around Here installment “Mom,” also from No. 35, was chosen by the cartoonist Roz Chast for inclusion in The Best American Comics 2016—the third time Dave has appeared in this beloved series. Well done, and congratulations to both.
Speaking of the National Magazine Awards, a recent kerfuffle resulted in the creation of a new set of awards for Canadian magazines. Apparently the solution to the problem of too many award categories was to add a second show. Taddle Creek will be sticking with the original National Magazine Awards in 2017, having invested sixteen years in trying to win one already. Now that every major magazine in the country has abandoned the N.M.A.s, Taddle Creek is guaranteed at least a hollow victory—or an even more embarrassing loss than usual. Whatever shakes up the monotony, at this point.
Word on the street is that, as of December, the Ontario Arts Council will begin requiring those applying to its Writers’ Reserve program (and all programs, in fact) to do so on-line. As a recommending magazine to this program, Taddle Creek certainly will not miss the annual stretch of nightmare visits to the post office, which last from about Labour Day to late January, to pick up the dozens of applications that flood in every week, nor will it miss the pages upon pages of unnecessary extra paperwork resulting from the annoyingly high percentage of applicants who do not read the instructions properly and send in three copies of their entire package, not just the one-page main form.
This change got Taddle Creek thinking about its own submission process, which has gone largely unchanged for nineteen years. The magazine makes no secret of the fact that it does not care for most of the unsolicited submissions it receives, and much paper is wasted in the process of rejecting them. This system also only allows one editor to read submissions at a time, short of printing out multiple copies. Taddle Creek currently is not accepting submissions, but when it next does, it believes it will begin using an internal sharing system of some kind to allow it to funnel its toner budget into other areas.
It recently came to the magazine’s attention that a few errors crept into Eleri Harris’s comic “Hell’s Bells,” which appeared in Taddle Creek No. 36: John A. Macdonald’s name was misspelled in its final instance, on the comic’s third page, as was the name of the location Rogers Pass. Also, the final panel should state “Canada is still a country 130 years later,” not “127 years later.” Eleri corrected these errors before press time, at Taddle Creek’s request, but due to a production error, the corrected page did not make it into the issue. It has since been substituted on Taddle Creek’s Web site. Taddle Creek regrets the errors.
In adding three unposted stories from Taddle Creek No. 1 to the magazine’s Web site recently, some nineteen-year-old errors presented themselves (as reported in this corrections column previously, the first two issues of Taddle Creek were not fact-checked and should not to be trusted in print form):
In Michael Boughn’s story “The Headache,” the lyrics to the song “I Can See Clearly Now” were a bit off. Mao Tse-tung’s name also was missing a hyphen. Taddle Creek regrets these errors.
In “The Mugging of Mrs. Melaney,” by Keneth Doiron, Lenox Hill Hospital originally was misspelled “Lennox.” Taddle Creek regrets the error.
In the short story “The Silk Tie,” by Caitlin Smith, a few proper names, including Living Language, Johnnie Ray, McGillivray, and Tensor, were slightly misspelled. A few of the French words and names were a bit off, too. Taddle Creek regrets the errors, especially Johnnie Ray.
Taddle Creek rarely gives hint of its upcoming doings, but 2017 is a big year. The magazine’s summer issue (No. 39) will celebrate Canada’s hundred and fiftieth anniversary (sesquicentennial to you) with work by authors and artists representing each of the country’s thirteen provinces and territories. Then, come winter, Taddle Creek No. 40 will celebrate a smaller but no less important anniversary: Taddle Creek’s twentieth. As the magazine does every five years, expect a slightly larger, slightly better than usual issue, featuring many of the magazine’s regular contributors.