Today we continue Maple Leaf May by interviewing Erin Klassen. She’s a writer, founder, and Editor in Chief of With/out Pretend.

(What, you think we’d just leave Canada without lingering?)

With/out Pretend is an independent Toronto-based publisher focused on producing, promoting and distributing works by women and non-binary writers and artists. They also host storytelling events and run a digital and print magazine called The Vault.

Erin Klassen is the founder of With/out Pretend. She’s also an editor, collaborator, community-builder, and fiction writer. Her work has appeared in a number of print and online publications, including Studio Magazine, The CBC, Ephemera Magazine, and You Care Too Much. She enjoys Nina Simone, Italian food, and talking about the future.

Erin shares how she curates a diverse collection of women and non-binary creators, revealing how her collaborative zine examines a range of human emotions that many literary journals overlook. Erin shows us how With/out Pretend and The Vault make the creation process transparent from the seed of an idea through its full-grown splendor. Plus, Erin gets real about the financial side of independent publishing.

We also explore the subject of genuine (non-Goopified) self-care, and we all agree on our favorite Kid in the Hall.

Find Erin Klassen, With/out Pretend, and the Vault On Social Media

• Erin’s website: erinklassen.com
• Erin’s Instagram: @erin.klassen
• With/Out Pretend’s Instagram: @with.outpretend
• With/Out Pretend’s Twitter: @WithoutPretend
• The Vault’s Instagram: @vaultzine

Get books and zines from With/out Pretend

• Join The Vault
• You Care too Much, a zine on the subject of what self-care truly means
• Visit the With/out Pretend online store

Check out On Pleasure and throw your hat in for the giveaway)

On Pleasure includes writing from Alicia Bunyan-Sampson, Mollie Coles Tonn, Colleen Conroy, Lizzie Derksen, Jaime Eisen, Margeaux Feldman, Ruchika Gothosar, Carvela Lee, Brooke Manning, Maria Isabel Martinez, Kyisha Williams, and Kristen Zimmer. It’s Illustrated by Violeta Noy, and features photography by Alison Maxwell.

Then at 36:55 Emily and Corinne air some grievances

To maintain the inspirational glow of our interview with Erin, stop the podcast at 36:55. After that, Emily and Corinne gripe about (more) careless disregard for the people who make traditional publishing possible. Specifically, we talk about the recent layoffs at Portland’s own Oni Press in the wake of its merger with Lion Forge. We also lament the withdrawal of Baker & Taylor from the retail and wholesale business. Long story short? Monopolies should GTFO.

MAPLE LEAF MAY ZINE GIVEAWAY

Get in on our giveaway of two physical zines from our sisters to the north. We’re giving away one copy of You Care Too Much from the Vault and a copy of Return Trip, created by Episode 21’s interviewee, Erin Pehlivan.

The post Episode 22: Erin Klassen, Editor in Chief of With/Out Pretend first appeared on Hybrid Pub Scout.

The post Episode 22: Erin Klassen, Editor in Chief of With/Out Pretend appeared first on Hybrid Pub Scout.

“In order to really have traveled, I think we have to come full circle and come back to ourselves, back to our homes, and really reflect on what we’ve been through.”

Erin Pehlivan is the founding editor of Return Trip, a zine that explores how travel makes us feel. She is a freelance writer and editor who’s been published in Maisonneuve, The Globe and Mail, enRoute magazine and more. She is also an associate editor at The Vault, a literary zine focusing on the work of women writers. Her home base is Toronto, but she’s also lived in Copenhagen, Ho Chi Minh City and Montreal.

Erin shares her inspiration and process for creating Return Trip, how it incorporates unique cultural and personal perspectives on travel, and the value of engaging with other creators and publishing peeps in your community. Corinne also dispenses marketing advice and gets to the bottom of whether Rush, Nickelback, or Justin Bieber would be Erin’s desert island pick. And no, we will not be linking them.

Find Return trip at:

returntrip.ca
@returntripmag on Instagram
And buy a copy here.

In this episode…

• Here’s a taste of Art Brut. You’re welcome.
• Flights by Olga Tokarczuk: an award-winning novel full of reflections on travel
• The Art of Travel by Alain de Button: another recommended book exploring travel’s emotional ups and downs
• Living Hyphen Magazine: a magazine that boosts the voices of “hyphenated” Canadians through stories, poetry, photography, and illustrations
• Normal People by Sally Rooney, an author whose work has fully infiltrated Erin’s consciousness
• HBO show My Brilliant Friend, based on the series by Elena Ferrante
• Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
• #FashionVictim by Amina Ahktar
• Let’s Start a Riot by Bruce McCullough: a memoir by the Kids in the Hall member
• Alissa Nutting and her upsetting books

The post Episode 21: Interview with Erin Pehlivan, Founding Editor of Return Trip first appeared on Hybrid Pub Scout.

The post Episode 21: Interview with Erin Pehlivan, Founding Editor of Return Trip appeared first on Hybrid Pub Scout.