Hal Niedzviecki is a writer, culture commentator, editor and author of seven books including the novel The Program and the non-fiction book Hello, I’m Special: How Individuality Became the New Conformity. Continuing a path of challenging and original work, Niedzviecki brings The Big Book of Pop Culture, a how-to guide for young artists, to this year’s Festival. He is the current fiction editor and publisher of Broken Pencil, the magazine of zine culture and the independent arts (www.brokenpencil.com). Recipient of the Alexander Ross Award for Best New Magazine Writer at the 1999 National Magazine Awards, he lives in Toronto.

Television, radio, magazines, newspapers… it seems as though popular culture has invaded every area of our lives. If it is popular, it must be good…right? In The Big Book of Pop Culture: A How-to Guide for Young Artist, cultural critic and writer Hal Niedzviecki helps young people learn about the history of “pop” culture, become more media savvy and shows them ways that can create their own culture – independent of the mainstream.