Maddy Curry and Sarah Beaudin first met while working at Quattro Books. Specifically, they met while cleaning out their new office, a former meat locker. The weird location spawned a friendship that was as binding and satisfying as a well-crafted hamburger patty.
Subsequently, the two women have worked four jobs together: an arrangement that further built upon their friendship and also began to spark a recognition of shared interests and goals.
“We soon discovered that in addition to a shared love for whiskey, bad puns, quirky design, and the Barenaked Ladies, our experiences and frustrations as young people – as young women – in the creative industries and the literary arts mirrored each other,” they write in an email. “We soon realized that a lot of these frustrations that we were preoccupied with could be situated and even addressed within the shifting context of the publishing world.” The two women decided to work together, and that’s how Meat Locker Editions was born.
The non-profit organization covers a lot of ground in its mandate, but it primarily intends to provide opportunities for emerging and underrepresented writers aged 18-35. Specifically, their focus is upon women in this age bracket. They also want to take advantage of the transitioning world of publishing by weaving other art forms into literary art in innovative ways. “Meat Locker Editions is an initiative designed to help reinvigorate our industry, a response to a prevailing sense of fatigue and frustration within the book sector; we want people to delight in books, reading, art and recover a sense of community within that framework,” they say.
That brings us to their upcoming “Literary BBQ” and fundraiser on July 20th, happening at the Cloak and Dagger pub in Toronto. The event is an embodiment of the collaborative, inclusive and innovative spirit that Curry and Beaudin are looking to bring to the arts community; the BBQ will feature a reading by Dave Proctor from his book Gross, due out on Meat Locker Editions in fall of 2013, and among other merchandise, there will be three different types of BBQ sauce on hand, given to guests as part of the door fee ($10). There will also be a raffle, music from MJ Cyr and, of course, loads and loads of delicious meat (and veggie/vegan options too, of course.)
The fundraiser will help MLE realize the many projects that are currently simmering. Among these are a mobile book bike (an early prototype will be available for ogling at the BBQ) that was inspired by the current spate of mobile libraries popping up. They hope to eventually adorn the bike with indie books and zines. Another project is a conversation series entitled Butcher’s Block, with their first panel scheduled for fall 2013 on women in the literary arts. They’re also planning to release a cookbook, tentatively titled Cookin’ with Canlit, that will source specialized recipes from members of the literary arts community. And they have an ongoing poetry series, the Underdog Poet’s Academy, that happens on the last Sunday of each month.
If you live outside Toronto and wish to contribute to Meat Locker Editions, or are unable to attend the BBQ, here’s a few things you can do to help them out:
– Donate used (but in good condition) books for the Book Bike;
– Share panel ideas
– Visit their website at meatlockereditions.ca and click the “Donate” button, where you can make a Paypal contribution.
To learn more ways to help out, email Curry and Beaudin at [email protected].
Do you want to know even more? Follow Meat Locker Editions on Facebook, Twitter, and sign up for their newsletter.