All the Young Punks:
Stepping away from writing's upper class hubris
by John Coleman

When it comes right down to it, I'm a punk. I'm attracted to punk's messages. I'm empowered by someone yelling at me I'm not free, the factory's no place to waste my youth, believe in myself. There's decency in a voice that comes from the streets and knows how to look out for number one. I trust these artists before any corporate record label's darlings. Straight up, it's how I've always been, and how I will always be.


So when I look at literature, I come in with my radar on. My perception filters through an array of disparate punk ethics: Who's writing this? Where is s/he from? Why does s/he have the right to talk to me? Variables draw me in, but I also have a constant: a meaningful topic supported by an authentic voice.


I don't wanna hear about what the rich are doing / I don't wanna go to where the rich are going

- Joe Strummer, "Garageland", The Clash, 1977



My sum of all writerly cons are those pompous condescending literary types that ignore what's going on at street level. You know, the fake artists. People who release books under the artistic guise, but all you get is high class values, big business production. The Shop-A-Holic diaries, Dr. Phil dissertations, and Booky Wooks.


What is missing are real people. Members of the working, lower and outcast classes who know the value of sweat is much more than a silver spoon. People who earn their place in society rather than inherit it. These voices are railroaded by recent literature’s obsession with the American dream. Jane Austen tried to infiltrate this same system over two hundred years ago and we're still struggling with it today.



No rich or poor, no hate or war / Where everybody knows the score

- Roddy Moreno, "No Justice", The Oppressed, 1996



I want more Atif Rafays, Mumia Abu-Jamals, Jamaica Kincaids, ZZ Packers, and Dionne Brands. I want someone with a struggle to back up their message. But the more I see new books by the Russel Brands and Snookies spread among the masses, the more I see people duped by fake art. Punk rocker Joe Strummer, says it best: an artist must be of their time. Real literature responds to its culture; moreover, to what's wrong in its culture.


Definitions are cruel. Most people view writers as intellectual elites, with upper class skills and opinions. There's no need for critical analysis in the working class. We must break down the literature misconception.


When I get the question, What do you do?, I respond with, I'm a line worker in a factory. My friends have to pipe in, And you're a writer, nudging at my bloody sleeve. A writer? people gasp, Can't you do that for money?


Or when I apply for a non-writerly job, you know, to pay the bills, I get: Wait a minute here, I see a lot of writing gigs and editing experience on your CV. Are you in the right place?


In my own technical, microfiltered terms, I am a working class writer. Under that, I counter the stereotypical writer persona. I don't view writing as an epistemic conundrum. I respond to my culture by gathering information and reflecting on it. I know the best place for inspiration is away from all the upper class hubbub.


I don't wanna be poor no more

- Carl Fisher, "Voice Of A Generation", Blitz, 1982



This fall I'm attending Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario, to begin a Masters Degree in English, and I'll be working as a teaching assistant. I'm anxious to use my skills to write and teach others about real literature. But I don't think I'll hang up my boots for good. I have a feeling I'll need to make sure my sweat glands are still functional, maybe by chopping wood at a local lumber yard. Ten bucks an hour under the table, the pine needles' sour fragrance livening me with each cold breath.
John Coleman is a new media journalist and graduate of Wilfrid Laurier University with an Honours Degree in English and a Minor in Journalism. He frequently writes about contemporary Canadian writers for us. He also writes for Tangible Sounds Music Magazine. For his latest updates, follow John on Twitter. Check out his blog for all of his published work.