Happy Anniversary / Birthday Wishes to The Geography of Pluto

An Interview with Christopher Di Raddo

Season 5, Episode 69

Linda begins this episode with a brief acknowledgement of the passing of Nobel Prize winner for the short story, Alice Munro – who died a couple of days before this episode was aired. It's a pertinent moment to take pause when the subject of this episode is, in part, about anniversaries - which often include remembering when a beloved person dies or, as was the case only a few days ago, honouring a special person - like mothers on Mothers' Day. Who we choose to so honour and how we do so says a great deal about us, not just the persons we are honouring.
In this episode, Linda interview author Christopher DiRaddo about anniversaries, particularly the 10th one for his first novel, The Geography of Pluto, and his reading series (in Montreal), called The Violet Hour. Among other topics, they also discuss the following: family, role of and shape (11.40); Bronski Beat (16.50); his other book, The Family Way; author Licia Canton (19.10; 21.45) and her support for Christopher; Marisa Portolese's Goose Village (exhibit, 22.32); the titles and epigraphs of his novels (25.00), one from Le Petit Prince (27.30) and the other from a Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five.

  And there is a Takeaway in this episode - appropriately (in view of our discussion about anniversaries and commemoration) referencing the Canada Post stamps that honour graphic novelists in Canada.