hal niedzviecki HAL NIEDZVIECKI is a writer, culture commentator and editor whose work challenges preconceptions and confronts readers with the offenses of everyday life. He is the author of six books including the novel Ditch, and the upcoming novel The Program. He is co-founder of Broken Pencil, the magazine of zine culture and the independent arts and edited the magazine from 1995 to 2002. Hal’s writing has appeared in newspapers, periodicals and journals across North America including the Utne Reader, the Globe and Mail, the National Post, Toronto Life, Geist, Azure and This Magazine. He was the recipient of the Alexander Ross Award for Best New Magazine Writer at the 1999 National Magazine Awards and has presented his work at gatherings across North America including the International Festival of Authors in Toronto. Once dubbed the “guru of independent/alternative action” by the Toronto Star, Niedzviecki is committed to exploring the human condition through provocative fiction and non-fiction that charts the media saturated terrain of ever shifting multiple identities at the heart of our fragmenting age. He lives in Toronto. Visit Hal’s website: www.smellit.ca