Writing With a Broken Tusk
Writing With a Broken Tusk began in 2006 as a blog about overlapping geographies, personal and real-world, and writing books for children. Since March 2024, Jen Breach (writer, VCFA graduate, and former student) has helped me curate and manage guest posts and Process Talk pieces on this blog.
The blog name refers to the mythical pact between the poet Vyaasa and the Hindu elephant headed god Ganesha who was his scribe during the composition of the epic narrative, the Mahabharata. It also refers to my second published book, edited by the generous and brilliant Diantha Thorpe of Linnet Books/The Shoe String Press, published in 1996, acquired and republished by August House, now part of Reading Is Fundamental, and still miraculously in print.
Posts on this site reflect personal opinion and commentary protected under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the First Amendment of the US Constitution.
Process Talk: Meera Subramanian and Danica Novgorodoff
Around us, storms are storming, droughts are droughting, ice is melting. Polar bears and whales are doing their best to adapt, while we’re whizzing toward tipping points at great speed. Mostly I want to duck and hide but there’s nowhere to hide. Meanwhile, the oil and gas industry’s trying to get as much of its product out of the ground as fast as it can, when it knew perfectly well, decades ago, that this was coming.
As always, swirling news about the planet and us resolve into a single question for me: what do we tell young people? What can we say that will help them cope with effects whose scope we are only now beginning to understand? If you wanted an answer that is appealing and humane, vivid and thoughtful, clear and compassionate, here it is—A Better World is Possible: Global Youth confront the Climate Crisis by Meera Subramanian and Danica Novgorodoff. I asked them if they’d tell me about making this book. Here’s our e-mail exchange.