What drew you to submit your work to RED SKIES?
I think it’s a great idea for an anthology. It’s a response, a time capsule, and a record of this year
all at once. 2020 has been an insane year and viewing it through the lens of so many different
creatives is really exciting. I also love the community surrounding Canadian small presses, so
Splintered Disorder Press sparked my interest.
What writers have inspired you?
I have always loved Kurt Vonnegut’s writing style. The way he can pack a punch with the
simplest of sentences always blows me away. That is something I’ve always tried to emulate:
simple but impactful. I’m not sure I’m always successful, but it’s a tone and style I admire. I am
also so inspired by my fellow writers and poets in Sheridan’s Creative Writing and Publishing
program. I’ve spent the last three and a half years with them in workshops and every time I come
away having read something totally incredible and unique. The way we all push each other to
elevate our words always leaves me feeling energized and eager to keep writing.
What projects are you currently engaged with?
I’m currently working (very slowly) on two projects. The first is a fantasy novel inspired by
tarot cards. It’s been slow going and I’m not sure what will come of it, but the process of trying
to write a novel I think has improved my writing immensely. The other is a small poetry
collection about Toronto and memories that are tied to specific places throughout the city.
How have you spent the year 2020?
I’ve focused a lot on my writing this year. I think the lockdown, at some points, has allowed me
the time to be really creative, and other times it has stifled me and left me feeling completely
unable to write. Because of this, I’ve been working a lot on little projects and riding the waves of
motivation as they come. This is also the first year I’ve started seriously trying to submit to
publications, so that has been something very new and exciting for me.
How have you maintained your artistic skills during lockdowns?
I’ve done it by staying in touch with my fellow writer friends. Recently, some friends in my
program and I have started doing zoom workshops. I think we all missed the familiarity of our
class’ workshop periods. There is nothing that motivates me more than knowing there are people
who genuinely care about my work and look forward to engaging with it. Having that
community is so essential for me.
Is there one daily ritual or routine that you commit to following?
I try to read everyday. I’m not always successful and sometimes I only read a page or two, but
it’s a habit I try to maintain. I think nothing fuels your writing more than what you read, since you can find inspiration on every page! I made a goal to read 52 books this year, loosely one a
week, and I’m currently on book 51, so I think I’ve been good with keeping up the habit.
Is community important to your work? Are there any magazines or small presses that you
feel particularly fond of?
Community is very important to me, especially the CanLit and small press community. One
upside to this year is that I’ve spent much more time reading work from Canadian authors and
small presses than I ever have before. Some journals/magazines/presses I love are Hexagon
Magazine, Savant Garde, Perhappened, Minola Review, and Augur. Savant Garde in particular
has a special place in my heart because they were my first publication.
How has the Sheridan College Creative Writing and Publishing program influenced you?
Was there any other school or program that had your interest?
The classmates and professors in the program have really helped shaped my writing. I had
honestly never paid much attention to small presses or CanLit before the program and I had a
pretty narrow taste in books (I mostly read fantasy and sci-fi, which I still love a lot), so being in
the program opened me up to a lot of new genres, styles, and voices that I had never considered
before, and I grew from it. My graduating class is small, I believe around 30 people, and that
closeness and support is something I treasure.
I actually did a year at Queens before coming to Sheridan. The program didn’t even exist yet
while I was at Queens, but when I heard about it (especially since I was already considering
leaving Queens at that point), I knew that was what I wanted to do. In high school, I almost
decided on going to Carleton for Neuroscience, but I’m glad I chose this path.
As the head of the design department for Whispering Wick Chapbook Press, you've
adapted to using digital design to make chapbooks. What led you to shift away from the
"DIY, scissors-and-glue" approach? Do you ever blend the two mediums and styles
together? And, what is your creative process to designing chapbooks?
When I was young, my mom always kept a stockpile of magazines for us to cut up and glue back
together. I’d love to cut and glue images into little booklets and write stories in them long before
I ever knew what a zine or a chapbook was. I loved collaging as well. So when it came time to
put together my own self-published chapbook as part of my program’s self-publishing course,
most of the stuff in my chapbook was collage-style as well, only I had used GIMP to create a
digital collage.
I haven’t included any collage work in any of Whispering Wick’s chapbooks, but I’ve tried to
continue that DIY ethos in everything I do with them. For me, the scissors and glue approach is
more about putting your heart into your work more than it is about the actual medium. I try to put
my all into the design of each chapbook and I always want to do justice to the amazing words
within each one. As for my creative process, it centers around that idea as well: doing justice to
the work. I never want the chapbook’s design to overpower the words, but rather to complement
them and be a visual representation of the themes and ideas of the work.
Find more of E.G. Regan at:
This is How Girls are Meant to Be – Flash Fiction – The Bangor Literary Journal
The Quiet Hour – Flash Fiction – Stone of Madness Press
Sickness of a Nation – Poem – Savant Garde
All the Things That Hide in the Woods – Chapbook – Whispering Wick Chapbook Press