Author and former editor of Broken Pencil Hal Niedzviecki gave a reading on campus this afternoon. Professor Gary Draper, who organizes the Canada Council-funded readings, had a class to teach, and could not meet Niedzviecki at the front entrance. Since I was loitering about doing not much of anything, Professor Draper asked if I would meet Niedzviecki and show him around/keep him amused for twenty minutes or so before the reading. St. Jerome’s, the associate college where the reading was held, is pretty dull as far as buildings go, so there wasn’t much to see. The three of us (Niedzviecki brought a friend) talked about reading habits, current affairs on campus, and Concrete Forest, the anthology of fiction by young Canadian authors Niedzviecki edited a few years ago. He was very polite, funny, and all around seemed like a really nice guy. He was also an excellent reader and a very good speaker.
