Writing Addiction: Towards a Poetics of Desire and Its Others

Jaroslaw Zurowsky is a translator and editor in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Throughout history, people have used mind-altering substances, from
opium to alcohol, to stimulate the creative spirit. The 13 articles in
this fine collection (which also includes a thoughtful introduction by
the editors) explore the reasons writers write and the circumstances
under which writing becomes an “addiction.”

The contributors range from writers such as Aritha van Herk and Dave
Margoshes to literary scholars such as Kristjana Gunnars. Although most
of the contributors have connections to Western Canada and academic
institutions of some sort, the collection does not exhibit a regional
focus, nor is it full of unnecessary academic verbiage. The articles,
which are divided into three sections—Confessions, Perspectives, and
Critiques—are able to stand alone and thus can be used by instructors
for separate courses (e.g., Canadian or American literature).

Writing Addiction challenges readers and students of literature to
examine the nature of authorship from a fresh perspective. Highly
recommended.