Swan's
journalism has appeared in
American, British and US
publications. She started
as education reporter for
The Toronto Telegram in
l967 in the era of student
protest after working as a
cub reporter on the
Midland Free Press in
1961-1963. She went on to
write for the Toronto
Star
and for television with TVO,
the CBC
as well as performance
pieces in collaboration
with others. Susan
continues to contribute
essays and is commissioned
for her journalism in
recognition of her keen
insights, incisive
interviews, and her
ongoing activism in the
community of writing and
social awareness.
A complete bibliography is
available by downloading
Swans Curriculum Vitae
in the section About
Susan Swan,
which includes detailed
information in the
following categories:
Samples
of book reviews written by
Susan Swan
Material
written for television and
film by Susan Swan
Samples
of essays and features
written by Susan Swan
Selected
readings and cultural
exchanges
Talks by
Susan Swan
Recent
Articles
Locating Myself in the Casanova Craze By Susan Swan, August 2005
INTRODUCTION
Writing my latest novel about Casanova, I discovered that I wasn't alone in sharing a fascination with the legendary eighteenth-century Venetian lover. This Christmas, a BBC movie starring Peter O'Toole will be shown in the UK on
Dec 21 and 23 2005. A Hollywood movie about Casanova starring Heath Ledger will
be released Christmas Day 2005. And in the last five years at least ten other male and female writers in the last five years have published books about Casanova (1725-1798). Why are so many women and men writing and making movies about him now? Do we feel starved for sensual enjoyment in the 21st century? Certainly, we live in a culture where new technologies like email mean that many of us work almost a month more a year than we did in the 1970's. I came to the conclusion that Casanova is the Dionysian figure whose interest in freedom will redeem us in a work-obsessed Apollonian age. The master of self-invention, he enjoyed performing whatever role the situation required and he showed little interest in acquiring power or wealth. Eloquent, self-confident and fashion-conscious, Casanova spent most of his life outwitting social controls of any sort. He appears to have become a symbol of liberty for contemporary writers and readers because he lived as if pleasure and adventure are as worthy of our time as money and fame, believing that the greatest aphrodisiac of all is happiness. read more...
You can't go home again, National Post, June 18, 2005
Love secrets from Casanova, MSN: Match.com website, July, 2005
Essays
on Canadian Writing,
Issue 76 "Literatures,
Cinemas, Cultures"
Sleepers
the Globe and Mail,
September 11, 2002
|