| Born in 1971, Hal Niedzviecki is a prolific Canadian author, editor, and journalist. His writing tends towards the darker side of urban life in Canada, as well as taking a closer look at the things we think we know best, such common stories like Charlotte's Web, pop culture, and the way people attempt to find meaning, cohesiveness and creativity in their own lives. He also has had a great hand in introducing new ideas to mainstream Canadians, like the notion of the slacker and the theory behind purposely taking a bad job.
He co-founded Broken Pencil, a zine about zines and alternative culture. He is also the author of Smell It, a book of short stories; Lurvy, a dark retelling of Charlotte's Web; We Want Some Too, a non-fiction book about pop culture and its effect on the generation that has grown up saturated in it; Ditch, a coming-of-age novel about a young man and his porn-star girlfriend; Cyborg: Digital Destiny and Human Possibility in the Age of the Wearable Computer, co-authored with inventor Steve Mann; and The Original Canadian City Dweller's Almanac, co-written with poet Darren Wershler-Henry. He has also edited an anthology of short stories about Canadian cities, called Concrete Forest: The New Fiction of Urban Canada. Niedzviecki has also written for many Canadian magazines and newspapers, including Adbusters, Toronto Life, the Globe and Mail, and the National Post.
His work has been described as "challenging, bravely original and skillfully executed" and "dark and bitterly funny," by the Globe and Mail and Toronto Star respectively.
Hal Niedzviecki won the Alexander Ross Award in 1999 for Best New Journalist at the National Magazine Awards, and has presented his work at various gatherings in North America, including the International Festival of Authors in Toronto.
Sources:
We Want Some Too: Underground Desire and the Reinvention of Mass Culture by Hal Niedzviecki
Ditch by Hal Niedzviecki
http://www.smellit.ca
http://www.writersunion.ca/n/niedzviecki.htm
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