Hi, my name is Courtney and I am late for most things I do - including my introduction for this lovely blog called Hot Air.

Due to some seriously annoying electricity problems in my apartment, I have been without access to a computer for extended periods of time, all weekend. Luckily I have a box full of fuses, and a call out to my caretaker, so the possibility of being without electricity for another night is somewhat reduced.

All that aside, I am back as a blogger for a second year in a row, and I’m really excited about that. Last year I was all bright eyed and bushy tailed about the festival. It was my first time hearing of it, and on top of that I had the major responsibility of writing about my daily treks through the land of books and authors and readings and questions.

It was overwhelming to say the least.

This year I’m looking forward to coming back to feeling more grounded - less easily swept up with the magical of it all.

You know?

I’d like to keep my feet on the ground and look at things critically. Seriously.

Because writing is strictly serious business, right?

…………………

Ok so here’s what I think will actually happen - the magic will still be there, and I will be plagued with questions of what drives authors to write? Where does their motivation come from? What does it mean to be a writer?

(you know, because I'm a big fan of the impossible questions)

I will be caught up in all of the different styles and ways that people find to say what they feel is most important to have heard.

I will be lost in the variations of what people consider important to have heard.

So, hopefully with the help of a trained electrician, and the magic of the festival pulling me along through the week, I will be able to share with you some of the things I find most compelling, funny, and obscure.

And hopefully I won’t be late for everything....

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Courtney Slobogian was born in Winnipeg and likes it that way.

She is a writer/understated activist/ irreverent feminist.

Some of her work can be tracked down in quiet corners of the internet.

She co-hosts a radio show on CKUW called Tiger Lilies are Poisonous, and dislikes cotton socks. She wrote a thesis once.