GIVE A DOG A BONE

Sure, great art should have an easy path in the world. But the fact is that in writing, as in music, there is more talent out there than there is room in the machinery of publishing or in the public's shallow attention. This being the case, the inherent difficulty of being an artist will always carry with it the ancillary frustrations of finding an audience... and yet, that's where all the wear and terror is which makes up the stuff of great art... alone and starving and trying to be a writer in a tiny room... starving for your art isn't done much nowadays... seems like more in centuries past, artists would starve for their art... they'd go mad for it, throw everything up to be able to create... people won't give up their comforts, they won't take the big risks... there aren't any risks to take... people want the name and they want the fame, but they won't lay down their blood for it, they won't go mad for it, and they most certainly don't have the passion for it... They just want the reward, but they don't really have the inner drive to really do the thing that they want to be famous for... And that's where the Canada Council comes in... If you lack the inner drive to do the thing you want to be famous for yet are unwilling to bleed for the privilege, apply to the Canada Council today and you'll see, they will give you the money. Those already bleeding need not apply... the money is reserved for those who don't need it... so it has been and so it will continue to be...