Bad Artist: Creating in a Productivity-obsessed World

The perfect antidote to the toxicity of the current productivity narrative, this collection of essays on creativity features 21 Canadian and international writers, providing warmth, support, camaraderie, and empathy.

In a world that worships productivity, creating for art’s sake is seen as romantic and nearly indefensible. For anyone who has ever struggled to honour their artistic impulses, Bad Artist offers an antidote to this toxic productivity narrative. This collection of essays features 21 Canadian and international writers from a breadth of backgrounds and experiences whose lives are not always proscribed by predictable work schedules or reliable support systems. They fit creating into the cracks of their lives, and through their stories show us all how to keep creating—not producing.

As artists, many of whom have faced systemic barriers, the collection’s contributors offer pragmatic reflections on resisting the culture of productivity, reminding us that creativity can take many forms. Taken together, the essays present a comprehensive rumination on creativity in late capitalism, providing warmth, support, camaraderie, and empathy. It’s The Paris Review meets the Billfold’s “Doing Money” with a generous dash of the friend who knows you’re an artist even on the days when you’re not so sure.

Nellwyn Lampert is a writer, editor, bookseller, and teacher. She is the author of Every Boy I Ever Kissed (Dundurn Press), and holds an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from the University of King’s College. Nellwyn has written or edited for CBC First Person, She Does the City, The Huffington Post, and The Ex-Puritan Literary Magazine, among others. She has taught creative writing and communications, having served as an instructor at Seneca Polytechnic and King’s Writing Workshops. As a bookseller, she is dedicated to helping children develop a love of reading, and finding the perfect book for every reader.

Pamela Oakley is a writer/editor/educator who has written for publications such as Canadian Running, Canadian Cycling, Today’s Parents, several features in the Kingston Whig-Standard, and others. She currently teaches classes at Seneca Polytechnic, with a focus on food and love in literature. Pamela feels very fortunate to spend her time with the Penizen folk and being used as an exemplar for a bad artist.

Christian Smith holds a doctorate in the molecular and cellular biology of cancer from the University of Toronto, has over two decades of experience as a research scientist, and since 2006, has held the position of Manager of Research Operations at the world-renowned Brain Tumour Research Centre in Toronto. Compelled by an insatiable drive to learn new things and challenge himself, Christian returned to graduate studies and completed an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from the University of King's College in 2017. With luck and an incredible writing community at his back, Christian published his debut nonfiction book, The Scientist and the Psychic: A Son’s Exploration of His Mother’s Gift, with Penguin Random House Canada in December 2020.

Gillian Turnbull is the author of Sonic Booms: Making Music in an Oil Town (Eternal Cavalier Press). She holds a PhD in Ethnomusicology and an MFA in Creative Nonfiction. She has taught music at Toronto Metropolitan University and written for Chatelaine, Maisonneuve, The Walrus, and The National Post. She is the Director of Writing and Publishing at the University of King’s College in Halifax.