It’s less than a week away from “Pub Day” for Girl Gangs, Zines, and Powerslides: A History of Badass Women Skateboarders and so far, the feedback has been encouraging! I’m trying to stay positive even though there’s some nagging thoughts of doubt and anxiety, imagining friends, family, and strangers reading or listening to it (there’s an Audiobook!). What a rollercoaster.
To get a sense of the writing you can read one of my favourite sections in the book posted on Simple Magic thanks to skater author Cole Nowicki! It features child prodigy skater Beth Fishman and her miraculous encounter with Patti Smith back in 1979 that caused a hint of envy in me as a librarian.
Cole has been an awesome supporter of the project (he even wrote a blurb for the book), and will be the host of an event at the Vancouver Public Library on Tuesday, September 23rd at 6:30 – 8:00pm alongside author, Amy Mattes. Amy and I have a long history together, as we were both part of the Skirtboarders girl gang in Montréal in the early 2000s, contributing to the zine Armpit. Pulpfiction Books will also be selling copies of our books!
Register for the VPL event here. We will be in the Montalbano Family Theatre on Level 8 of Central Branch.
I’m also sharing a talk on zines at the Carnegie Branch earlier in the day. I worked at the Carnegie as Branch Head librarian for four years and consider it the highlight of my library career. This drop-in event will be held inside the theatre at 2:30 – 4pm.
Last weekend, I attended the 10th Anniversary of Stop, Drop, and Roll inclusive skateboard contest, hosted by the fabulous Rose Archie of Nations Skate Youth, fundraising for the Gaza skate team via SkatePal. I’ll admit to being a bit overwhelmed by so many people since I mostly skate alone in Powell River with the exception of the occasional dude or scooter kid, but it was pretty amazing to witness the skill level of some legendary pro skaters and newcomers like Canadian Evie Pritchard.
I ended up entering the 40-plus category at Britannia Courts and came 2nd out of 4. Woohoo! I can’t say it was my best performance, but I managed to ride out of some BS boardslides on the parking divider and a variety of other dorky tricks. And then, I lucked out in the prize draw, receiving the board that Fabiana Delfino donated. Michelle Pezel took a few photos to capture the magic!
Another fantastic surprise was meeting the Canadian skateboard legend, Denise Frohlick who came to check out the contest! She also documented the event forwarding these photos below:
I probably should have been flogging the new book, but at least I shared out a few flyers for the book launch… I’ve been delayed announcing this because Antisocial Skateshop has gone through quite the upheaval since their landlord shut down their old space a few months back. Fortunately, I can confirm that Michelle has sourced a new space on Main Street and has offered to host the book launch on Sunday, September 21st from 4pm-8pm, with a 5:30pm book talk!!
It will be a casual, laidback event but I hope that folks can swing by and chat it up! I’m just so grateful to Michelle and proud of her for persevering in Vancouver which has become increasingly inhospitable to grassroots initiatives like the community hub that Antisocial has become.
Hopefully I’ll see you there! And I’ll be selling and signing books at a slight discount ($25)… so there’s some added motivation. Thanks everybody!
Womxn Skateboard History 