Working in the World of IdeasLiteratures of Modernity

ryerson.ca/graduate/literatures

Faculty of ArtsEnglish Department Literatures of Modernity

Each year, half of our cohort elect to take up a practicum, and they each spend six weeks

of the spring/summer term working in the world of ideas. While their peers pursue indepen-

dent research projects, practicum students gain direct professional experience and the

opportunity to discover from the inside how a wide range of organizations, from small presses

to large film festivals, manage to perform the work they do, and also to contribute to that

work. A selection of their challenges and experiences are featured in the following pages, and

they vary greatly, from exploring manuscripts at a literary agency to developing a communi-

cations and outreach strategy for an arts festival, to the ongoing work of helping publishers

adapt to an increasingly digital market. Our students bring to their placements the more

theoretical knowledge gained in their courses; they also bring their enthusiasm, practical

skills and a strong desire to engage with organizations that are as passionate about literature,

culture and the arts as they are. For our hosts and our students, the experience has been

mutually rewarding. We hope you enjoy reading about what it means to work in the world

of ideas as a practicum student in Ryerson’s Literatures of Modernity program!

Ever since the launch of the MA in Literatures of Modernity in 2008,

housed in Ryerson University’s English Department, the

practicum option has proven very popular with our students and

with our partners, who come from across Toronto’s thriving cultural

and creative industries.

Sophie Thomas Director, Graduate Program in the Literatures of Modernity

Randy BoyagodaChair, English Department

A great learning experience goes beyond classrooms and textbooks. One of the main reasons the Literatures of Modernity program has been such a success is its focus on experiential learning. Our partners and faculty are the key to this success as they inspire students to continue to learn through the challenge of applying their knowledge.

Participating in these partner projects allows our students to engage directly with the world around them. What you read in these pages is just a sample of the interesting and rewarding projects that the students have been involved with and the contributions that they have made to our cultural and creative industry partners.

Immersion in a professional setting, especially when integrated with a strong theoretical foundation, gives students the knowledge and confidence to be creative risk takers. As individuals, they become multifaceted, nimble and professional.

The Literatures of Modernity program exemplifies what we do best in Arts: Linking theory with experiential learning.

I congratulate the achievements of our students and partners as we work together in the world of ideas.

Jean-Paul BoudreauDean

Faculty of Arts

Faculty of ArtsEnglish Department Literatures of Modernity

The Client:Descant Magazine, an internationally acclaimed quarterly literary magazine publishing new and established contemporary writers and visual artists from Canada and around the world.

The Challenge:

How do you transform a 40th anniversary party into an important cultural

event in the life of the city?

The Result:

Our student planned and coordinated an outstanding event for a lively crowd

of contributors, readers, stakeholders and influencers. She curated three image

galleries, generated advanced buzz via social media, and then capitalized upon

the success of the event by creating a communications strategy for the magazine

to expand and extend its connections thereafter.

Student Testimonial

“Events like this help to foster a sense

of community in the ecology of books,

just as literary journals like this provide

writers an independent space to

explore their craft.”

The Client:Essential Skills Ontario (formerly the Ontario Literacy Coalition), a non-profit umbrella organization

that supports literacy across the country. Today, Essential Skills Ontario partners with stakeholders to

deliver effective literacy training and informs policy by providing evidence-based research.

The Challenge:

The organization wanted to identify a major partner that could help carry its

mission forward and expand its profile at the provincial and national levels,

particularly through culture-focused media. Could the Canadian Broadcasting

Corporation (CBC) be just such a partner?

The Result:

Our student researched the CBC’s rich history of literary advocacy. She further

contextualized this history in a broader analysis of the contemporary non-profit

sector, in hopes of helping the organization make a case for a partnership initiative

with the CBC that was focused on literacy as a historic mission and an active

contemporary concern.

Student Testimonial

“I had to consider the ongoing

challenges that non-profits face

in order to survive and keep

themselves viable and relevant:

the tension between being an

agent of social change and the

economic necessity to

sustain oneself.”

The Client:The Modern Literature and Culture Research Centre (MLC), housed in Ryerson University’s Faculty of Arts, with a mandate to research literary and cultural production in the modernist era (1880-1940).

The Challenge:

The publisher’s waiting, and the scholars need to make sure the work is exact:

how can you help us prepare a volume of modernist poetry for publication on a

strict timeline?

The Result:

In collaboration with resident scholars, our student conducted a meticulous

transcription of a long poem by the Dadaist artist Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loring-

hoven, for inclusion in a volume of her poetry – the critically-acclaimed Body Sweats:

The Uncensored Writings of Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven, ed. Irene Gammel and

Suzanne Zelazo.

Student Testimonial

“Most of all, the practicum has taught

me that working in the world of ideas

has to be something you love. When

understood as a vocation rather than

a job, truly remarkable things

can happen.”

The Client:PEN Canada, a non-profit organization campaigning worldwide on behalf of persecuted writers and freedom of expression. The Canadian chapter of International PEN has a membership of writers and supporters from across the country.

The Challenge:

How can PEN develop greater support for its campaigns through identifying

supporters and members in local literary communities around the country?

The Result:

Our student developed a database of forty-three literary festivals from across Canada,

compiled a portfolio of targeted promotional material, and proposed individualized

partnership plans for possible involvement with PEN.

Student Testimonial

“As someone who is fiercely independent,

the placement gave me a better

understanding of the importance of

network-building, even as it helped

me recognize some of my

own strengths.”

The Client:Authors at Harbourfont Centre, an innovative, non-profit organization that cultivates and advances the cause of literature by presenting international and Canadian novelists, poets, playwrights, short story writers, and biographers.

The Challenge:

Authors at Harbourfront Centre brings in an array of acclaimed writers from around

the world, to a city that’s home to ethnic communities from around the world. How

can we bring these two groups together?

The Result:

Our student worked with the International Festival of Authors Community Outreach

program to develop a database of over a hundred contacts among the city’s many

ethnic associations and cultural groups.

Student Testimonial

“Helping Authors at Harbourfront

Centre celebrate cultural creativity

across the communities of the

Greater Toronto Area also led me

to see how complex and vibrant

this city is.”

The Client:The Walrus, Canada’s award-winning general interest magazine, with a mandate to promote educated and informed public discourse.

The Challenge:

To help keep The Walrus in its privileged position as the country’s leading general-

interest publication, particularly in a rapidly-changing media landscape dominated

by questions of traditional long-format journalism’s relevance in a digital era.

The Result:

Through a combination of interviews and research, our student conducted a real-

time, in-house diagnostic of the challenges and opportunities of contemporary

magazine publishing and presented these findings in various ways, as part of her

immersion in the daily life of the magazine.

Student Testimonial

“The Walrus, and media communities

like it, will always be hybrid creatures

of communication… yet it insists its

presence as a discrete entity, as a

print archive of long-form journalism,

is first and foremost a magazine.

As it should.”

The Client:Broken Pencil, a quarterly Toronto print magazine (established 1995) of zine culture and the independent arts.

The Challenge:

How can a magazine that has enjoyed critical acclaim and commands a cult

following – in no small part thanks to its physical nature – adapt for the digital

era without losing this appeal?

The Result:

Our student created and analyzed digital tools to help understand Broken Pencil

contributors and website users, in order to remain responsive to the dynamic

needs of this fiercely independent literary community.

Student Testimonial

“These alternative publications gain

their value in the real, tactile presence they

hold, reacting against the exaggerated claim

that print culture is dead by maintaining the

same creation ideals that they held at their

inception: independence, community,

creativity. These don’t change.”

The Client:BookThug, an independent small press publishing innovative books of poetry, prose and creative criticism that extend the tradition of experimental literature.

The Challenge:

How can a publisher of experimental literature, where often the very materiality

of the work is part of its meaning and appeal, succeed in finding new audiences

for that work in a digital context?

The Result:

Our student helped reconceptualise a series of print works for digital publication,

and as part of this effort curated excerpts from genre-bending titles for online

and interactive previewing.

Student Testimonial

“It has been an honour to be affiliated

with such a brave and dignified publisher

at this turbulent and exciting time, and I

look forward to developing new ways for

the Canadian publishing business to

thrive in the global literary culture.”

The Client:The Rights Factory, a literary agency that deals in intellectual property rights to entertainment products, including books, comics and graphic novels, film, television and video games.

The Challenge:

How can you help an ambitious literary agency compete for the best talent and

book deals in a fiercely competitive and often disrupted business environment?

The Result:

Our student worked directly with two authors on early drafts of their novels,

offering substantial editorial commentary; she also wrote and distributed a foreign

rights pitch to publishing houses in Holland and Germany and provided regular

feedback on various “slush-pile” manuscripts.

Student Testimonial

“Publishing is its own military-industrial

complex, filled with broken-hearted writers,

corporate buyouts, warehouses full of unsold

books, and hardworking people labouring

thanklessly on behalf of what they love.”

The Client:The Canadian Film Centre (CFC), a charitable organization committed to promoting and investing in Canada’s diverse talent, providing exhibition, financial, and distribution opportunities, and developing industry collaborations and creative partnerships.

The Challenge:

How do you help curators efficiently and smoothly coordinate the CFC’s Worldwide

Short Film Festival (WSFF), when over 500 delegates attend a six-day celebration of

275 films from 36 different countries?

The Result:

Our student acquired screening rights for 15 films from production companies

located across the world, managed the delegate information for over 500

delegates, supported the telecommunications of 50 staff members, and acted

as a lead at a reception.

Student Testimonial

“What I did at the WSFF was a trial-by-fire

entry into the film festival world. My

experiences there have already opened the

door to opportunities for me. Immediately

after completing my internship, I applied to

other jobs in the industry—and I am thrilled

to say that my orientation at my new job

is next week!”

The Client:The Literary Review of Canada (LRC) is the country’s leading forum for smart and provocative discussions and debate about books, culture, politics and ideas.

The Challenge:

The magazine wanted to know more about its readers, its writers, and what it has

historically covered. That way, it could plot a course forward that would extend its

traditional strengths and develop new areas of books and intellectual life in which

to direct its influential focus.

The Result:

Proceeding issue-by-issue from 2007, our student conducted a thorough

statistical analysis of the LRC’s content distribution, identifying trends and subject

areas for growth. She also proposed plans for targeted marketing campaigns

intended to expand the subscription base.

Student Testimonial

“Such institutions must be viewed

as profitable even though they do not

work for monetary profit, in that they

are generally advantageous and

beneficial to society as a whole.”

Faculty of ArtsEnglish Department Literatures of Modernity

Department of Englishryerson.ca/english

MA in Literatures of Modernityryerson.ca/graduate/literatures

Ryerson University, 350 Victoria StreetToronto, ON M5B 2K3 Canada