Kate Harding

Archive for the ‘Lessons from the Fat-o-Sphere’ Category

Media darling

In Lessons from the Fat-o-Sphere, Media on July 16, 2009 at 12:27 pm
Craig Lassig for tht NYT

Craig Lassig for the NYT

So, this picture was taken the day after my wedding reception, when I could barely walk, was so tired I wanted to die, and — stupidly not having anticipated either of those eventualities — had to give a reading. And then had to meet up with a photographer for the New York Times right before that. Best planning ever. But at least this one picture turned out surprisingly well!

In case you’re wondering, the giant, black-and-white finger growing out of my left shoulder belongs to a model in the Victoria’s Secret window display behind me. (The juxtaposition of her and me was supposed to be all deep and shit, but then the lighting didn’t really work out.)

Anyway. That photo, by the lovely Craig Lassig, accompanied this Thursday Styles piece by Mandy Katz, which was a sidebar to this article. Two mentions of the book in the NYT in one day! I am beside myself! And also beside a giant, black-and-white finger.

In other fancy media news, Lee Randall wrote a terrifically flattering column about Shapely Prose in the Scotsman yesterday. And then the following conversation took place on Twitter.

KateHarding @randallwrites Just saw it now! Thank you so much!!

randallwrites @KateHarding no, thank you. i need such regular boots up the jaxsie to keep me relatively sane.

KateHarding @randallwrites I will be the boot up your jaxsie any time. Though I’m only guessing what a jaxsie is.

Lee kindly confirmed that a jaxsie is exactly what I suspected it was.

Also, I just set up an interview with Never Say Diet over at iVillage, and in the course of that up-setting (uh, wait…), I discovered that Linda Vongkhamchanh wrote the most fantastic review of Lessons there, over a month ago! WAY TO FAIL ME, GOOGLE ALERTS. Anyway, check this out:

Harding and Kirby, both self-proclaimed fat girls, have founded the ultimate fat girl’s bible, with lessons of positive body image, healthy living, and most importantly loving yourself and being healthy in your current body and at your current weight. It’s possible to be fat and healthy, just as it is possible for someone to be slim and unhealthy. Interesting concept, right? It totally goes against society’s view of women, where skinny is in and fat is just not all that. We love us some revolutionary non-diet literature! And, not to mention, their witty firsthand accounts that go along with the life lessons for the rotund reader make them all the more trustworthy.

Love!

In which I look like a real author

In Lessons from the Fat-o-Sphere on June 4, 2009 at 3:47 pm

ViveLaFemme_172

Photo by Elizabeth Jochum, from the Vive la Femme book launch/anniversary party on May 15. Oh, hello there, left boob!

Come out and meet me!

In Lessons from the Fat-o-Sphere on May 27, 2009 at 9:35 pm
Reading in Philly

Reading in Philly

Unbelievably, the book tour is already half over! Philly (left), Boston, and the Chicago launch at Vive la Femme all went fantastically well — thanks so much to everyone who came out!

If you missed me in Chicago, you’ll get another chance to see me on June 11, at Women & Children First, 5233 N. Clark, starting at 7:30 p.m.

If you’re in Brooklyn next Friday night, June 5, please come out to Re/Dress and see both Marianne and me! There will also be awesome vintage plus-size shopping and a DJ/dance party once we’re done reading! 

Finally, the last confirmed date on our tour is June 28 in Minneapolis, at Magers & Quinn, starting at 6 p.m.  We’ll both be there for that, as it’s the day after my belated wedding reception/6-month anniversary party. Right now, I’m not-so-patiently awaiting the custom Jane BonBon dress I ordered for that, which is only slightly less important to me than the book. Or, you know, the marriage. 

I’m still trying to figure out a date to hit St. Louis in July, but as soon as I do, the internet will be the first to know. Beyond that, we’re trying to set up some college appearances in the fall — if you have any pull with the folks who bring in speakers at a college, please let us know!

Happy International No Diet Day!

In Lessons from the Fat-o-Sphere on May 6, 2009 at 1:54 pm

Today is International No Diet Day, and by a happy coincidence, Lessons from the Fat-o-Sphere: Quit Dieting and Declare a Truce with Your Body is currently the #2 bestseller on Powells.com. First, we want to offer UNBELIEVABLY HUGE THANKS to everyone who’s already bought it. But to everyone who hasn’t — how awesome would it be if we could get the book up to #1 in celebration of International No Diet Day? If you were planning to buy it anyway, please consider ordering it from Powell’s today!

Update: We did it!

OMGOMGOMGOMG

In Lessons from the Fat-o-Sphere on May 5, 2009 at 1:44 pm

The book is out. THE BOOK IS OUT!

Despite my issues with Amazon, I just ordered it for my Kindle. Because it’s too early to go to a bookstore, and any given store might not have it in stock anyway, but I needed to celebrate the whole “It is really, truly available for purchase today!” thing. (By spending money on something I A] already have multiple free copies of, B] have already read about 400 times, and C] still have in Word files on my computer. Shut up.) It is ON MY KINDLE, y’all! Pre-ordering has given way to ordering! It’s real!

Which means now we get to start hearing how much it sucks. Anyway.

As I said to the Aussies and Kiwis yesterday, if you see the book in a store and have the technology handy to send me a picture (katesblog at gmail dot com), I would love that. If you like the book and have the time and energy to review it on Amazon, Powell’s, Good Reads, or your own blog, I would love that, too! If you don’t like the book, I would love it if you kept your mouth shut about it. I AM FULL OF LOVE TODAY.

And I’m sure at least half of you right now are like, “You know what I’d love? If you’d quit plugging your goddamned book and go back to writing real posts. WE GET IT. YOU CO-WROTE A BOOK. IT IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE. EVERYONE WHO CARES ALREADY KNOWS.” To those people I say… Did you know I co-wrote a book? And it’s available for purchase today? Tell your friends!

Oh, all right. If you really want something else to talk about today, check out my boyfriend Paul Campos’s piece in The Daily Beast about the fat hate and sexism being leveled at some of the candidates to replace Souter on the Supreme Court.

So what’s the real motivation for all the anxiety about the bodies that house two such apparently distinguished legal minds? A glance at the comments at a site such as Abovethelaw.com, which features a number of vicious attacks on Kagan’s appearance, provides one clue. For some men, the only thing more intolerable than the sight of a powerful woman is the sight of a powerful woman they don’t want to sleep with.

Emphasis mine. Quote of the fucking year, right there.

Also, check out the Q&A Marianne and I did with Damsel, a newish blog aimed at women in their twenties. Later today, there should be an interview with me up on Broadsheet as well — I’ll come back and link that when it’s up.

Also, THE BOOK IS OUT!!!

Australian Cover

In Lessons from the Fat-o-Sphere on May 1, 2009 at 8:13 pm

The book will be out in Australia and New Zealand on May 4, and it looks like this:

Tee Hee

In Lessons from the Fat-o-Sphere, Media on April 30, 2009 at 8:02 pm

From the aforementioned Trib article:

CT_20090430_CTTEMPO_CTTEMPO_ALL_HD_3_1_3001_CMYK_BS_41_01.ps

Behold the Queen of Fats

In Lessons from the Fat-o-Sphere, Media on April 30, 2009 at 3:30 pm

OK, so the best article that ever has been and probably ever will be written about me is in the Chicago Tribune today. (Thank you, Nara Schoenberg!!!) If you live in the area, you should totally go pick up a hard copy to see the hilarious photo on the cover of the “Live” section. Nara called me a couple of weeks ago and said, “You know, we have some photos of you on file from the RedEye article, but they don’t really capture your attitude. Or your… sort of commanding, regal quality.” To which I replied, “SNORF.” Here is a list of actual questions Nara asked me after that:

  • Do you have anything in your house that’s… throne-like?
  • What kind of pink fruity drinks do you like?
  • Would you consider wearing a tiara?

(Answers: No; fruity-tinis and champagne cocktails; I would consider it, but that doesn’t mean I’ll do it.)

So we set up a shoot at Vive la Femme, because that is where a fat girl in Chicago goes when she needs to be photographed wearing a cocktail dress she doesn’t own, holding a glass of “champagne” (ginger ale), on a black couch with leopard print pillows and a faux-fur throw, in front of a bright pink wall. Stephanie even did a quick “alteration” with paper clips to make the dress fit better through the bust, then helpfully kept reminding me to keep my arm in front of the fucking paper clips for the photos. They are running one FULL-SERVICE OPERATION over there, I’ll tell you what.

Anyway. I can’t get the photo scanned until later, but in the meantime, Fillyjonk’s whipped up a piece of art to give you the general idea. (This is a picture of my first trial run for hair and make-up for the upcoming wedding reception. I say first trial run, because I felt like such a clown done up like this, I scrambled to find another salon to try before I left Minneapolis, and I’ll be going with the second. Keep in mind that in photos, the 90 lbs. of black eyeliner and purple eyeshadow actually look MORE SUBTLE.) shoppedbadmakeup All hail the queen. (And no, it was not remotely my idea to title myself “Queen of the Fat-o-sphere,” for the record, but I do find it hilarious.)

Reuters article on Size Acceptance Movement

In Lessons from the Fat-o-Sphere, Media on April 28, 2009 at 5:47 pm

Obesity becoming U.S. civil rights issue for some

Launching an anti-dieting blog called Shapely Prose, Harding and other fat-acceptance advocates online — calling themselves the fat-o-sphere — are also educating one another about how to improve overweight people’s health.

She and other bloggers with names like FatChicksRule and Big Liberty say society’s “war on obesity” makes overweight people hate their bodies and suffer from low self-esteem.

“Being fat doesn’t make me lazy or stupid or morally suspect,” said Harding, 34, of Chicago, who also has written a book, “Lessons from the Fat-o-Sphere.“

“The message we’re promoting is health at every size.”

I really wish she’d noted that I co-wrote the book with Marianne Kirby, instead of implying that I was the sole author, but otherwise, pretty good article.

Upcoming Readings/Events

In Lessons from the Fat-o-Sphere on April 27, 2009 at 5:17 pm

OK, I’ve got some upcoming reading/event dates for Marianne and me!

On Saturday, May 9, we will both be in Philadelphia, doing a reading and/or workshop (um, we’re not sure which yet) from 4-5 p.m. at The Rotunda (ha), in between performances of Big Moves Boston’s latest revue, “Fat Camp.” Big Moves honcho Marina Wolf Ahmad, who awesomely set this up for us, writes:

This year, Big Moves Boston is taking over the phrase “fat camp” and making it our own, with an all-new, summer-camp-themed revue, Fat Camp (“leave your baggage behind”). Fat Camp runs in the Boston area April 24-25 and May 1-2, and then travels to Philadelphia for one weekend only, on May 8-9.

Fat Camp is summer camp the way Big Moves would do it, full of dining-hall dancing, post-modern pillow fights, a full-service cold-cereal bar, shower-room burlesques, campfire sing-alongs, and of course, trust games. With lots of audience interaction, Fat Camp invites viewers to take their own body-acceptance journeys along with us, and learn to love the skin they’re in!

There will be Fat Camp shows at The Rotunda on Friday night, Saturday afternoon and Saturday evening, $10 advance tickets and $12 at the door. There’s also a hip-hop workshop right after our event for $5.

On Sunday, May 10, we will be in Boston at Lir Irish Pub, at 1 p.m. — though doors open at 12:30 so you can get started on the eating and drinking. This event was organized by the fantastic Center for New Words, who also did the Yes Means Yes event where I nearly broke my damn ankle. And yes, we know it’s Mother’s Day, but it was the only time we could do it — bring your mom, if you’ve got one! Or just come for a drink to recover from brunch with her!

On Friday, May 15, I will be appearing (sans Marianne, sadly) here in Chicago at Vive la Femme, around 6 p.m., I believe. (Uh, Stephanie, you out there? Is it 6?) We’ll also be celebrating the 7th anniversary of Vive, Chicago’s only plus-size boutique, so it should be a raucous affair. And if it’s not, at least you can try on some adorable cocktail dresses.

On Friday, June 5, we will both be in Brooklyn at Re/Dress for an evening of fattitude that will include plus-size vintage shopping, refreshments, and a dance performance (not by us). I’m iffy on the start time of this one, too — will get back to y’all on that.

Those are the confirmed dates for now. We’re also working on setting something up for both of us in Minneapolis on Sunday, June 28. I’ll be in St. Louis at Pudd’nhead Books (owned by a Shapeling!) some time in July, and I’m also intending to hit Madison, Milwaukee, Champaign-Urbana and Indianapolis as my schedule allows. I know Marianne’s planning to do some solo stuff in the south, too. We’ll keep you posted.

Lessons from the Fat-o-Sphere Available for Pre-order!

In Lessons from the Fat-o-Sphere on February 4, 2009 at 9:54 pm

And I think this is the final cover. Close to it, anyway.

I’d encourage everyone to order it from your own local feminist indie bookstore or mine, Women and Children First. But it’s also available for pre-order at Powell’s, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.

Edits

In Lessons from the Fat-o-Sphere on September 3, 2008 at 8:56 pm

Our edits are due next week, which is one reason why I haven’t been updating here. (The other reason is, of course, that I needed another blog like a hole in the head.) I am hoping to do more writing about writing and the publishing process here soon, but that’s hard to do when I’m actually, you know, engaging in it.

In the meantime, check out this article on short stories. I haven’t written one in a long time, but I used to, and I still love to read them.

In American publishing, there is a persistent idea that people don’t like to read short stories anymore. The consensus at the major houses seems to be that story collections don’t sell, and editors are discouraged from taking them on unless a literary agent selling a very desirable novel refuses to sign a contract unless they do. There is a shortage of explanations for why this is: All anyone seems to know is that it has always been this way, and always will be for as long as any of us are on this earth.

In other news, Americans have stopped reading books because blogs and text messaging have made them incapable of paying attention to anything longer than a few pages. Consequently, “short is in,” as Time magazine put it recently in an article about the fad of mini-lit: six-word memoirs, four-word film reviews, 12-word novels, and so forth. 

Has conventional wisdom ever been more plain in its incoherence? 

Excellent question. 

I Wanted to Call It Results Not Typical

In Lessons from the Fat-o-Sphere on August 15, 2008 at 3:35 am

You might have noticed in the “About Kate” section that the working title of the book is Lessons from the Fatosphere.

It’s not the title I wanted, for a lot of reasons — chiefly that the Fatosphere is a hell of a lot bigger than just the two of us. (And we’re pretty big, HAW!) Someone just raised that very point over at Marianne’s blog, and all I can say is: you’re right. And we brought it up. And it didn’t matter, because the publisher was superkeen on the word “Fatosphere.”

And not fighting that point with someone who knows a lot more than I do about publishing is part of not being an asshole.

The entirety of the Fatosphere — and our limited role in it — will be acknowledged in the book. And since it hasn’t gone to press yet, there’s still a possibility that the title could change. But we have been through a lot of proposed titles, and Lessons from the Fatosphere is so far the only one that both of us, our editor, and the publisher can agree on.

Edited May 5, 2009: Since folks are linking this page from Facebook, here’s a handy link to actually buy the book! If you want the Australian version (which is called Screw Inner Beauty), that’s here.