School of Journalism
Biography:
In Fall 2012, Bill is teaching two sections of “Feature Reporting Workshop” (JRN 303) to third-year undergraduates. In Winter 2013, Bill is teaching “Magazine and Feature Writing” (JN 8203) to first-year graduate students as well as the undergraduate course, “Journalism and Ideas” (JRN 403).
Bill joined the School of Journalism in 2002-2003, teaching “Advanced Magazine Writing” to final-year undergraduates and “Introduction to Feature Writing” to second-year undergraduates. From 2003-2008, he taught both sections of Magazine Masthead, the capstone course that produces the two annual editions of the Ryerson Review of Journalism. More recently, he developed courses for the school’s revised curriculum. In Winter 2008 he created the aforementioned “Magazine and Feature Writing,” and in Winter 2009 he taught the second-year Master of Journalism course, “Visions of Literary Journalism,” for the first time (the undergraduate version of the course, JRN 508, sports the somewhat less pretentious title, “Literary Journalism”). In Fall 2008, Bill created the second-year undergraduate course, “Journalism and Ideas,” and in Fall 2009, Bill, Ivor Shapiro and Kamala Al-Solaylee created “Feature Reporting Workshop.” Most recently, in Winter 2010, Ivor and Bill co-taught a revamped second-year undergraduate course, “Elements of Feature Writing.”
Prior to joining Ryerson, Bill spent 15 years working as a full-time journalist, including a decade-long run as associate editor (1991-1993), managing editor (1993-1996) and editor (1996-2002) of the Toronto-based alternative newspaper/magazine, Eye Weekly (now the Grid). His freelance features, columns, editorials and reviews have appeared in various dailies, weeklies and magazines, such as the Globe and Mail, the Hamilton Spectator, Canadian Business, the Walrus, This magazine and the Calgary Herald’s Swerve. Bill got his start in journalism in the mid-eighties at the helm of Vex magazine, a Calgary-based music and arts monthly.
Bill’s primary area of research is literary journalism. He is co-founder and current President (2012-2014) of the International Association for Literary Journalism Studies (www.ialjs.org, established 2006). He is active as a scholar of literary journalism while still dabbling as a practitioner.
Bill’s feature, “Geared Up: On the Road to Two-wheeled Transcendence,” for the Walrus, won the Silver Award in the Essays category at the 2008 National Magazine Awards. http://www.walrusmagazine.com/articles/2008.06-cycling-in-toronto-bike-love-bill-reynolds/.
“The Fall and Rise and Fall of John Lefebvre,” for the Calgary Herald’s weekly magazine, Swerve, was nominated for two 2008 Western Magazine Awards in the Business and Profile categories. www.journalismproject.ca/en/.../Bill_Reynolds_Swerve_Lefebvre.pdf
The Swerve cover story, “Too Old to Rock?” won in the Arts, Culture and Entertainment category at the 2006 Western Magazine Awards. http://swervecalgary.com/2005/10/28/too-old-to-rock/
“Crossing the Line,” an investigation into patriotism and dissent in post-9/11 America, published in This magazine, won the Gold Award in the Essays category at the 2005 National Magazine Awards. http://www.thismagazine.ca/issues/2004/09/crossingtheline.php
His most recent magazine piece for the Walrus can be found here: http://www.walrusmagazine.com/articles/2011.07-firsthand-exorcism-at-ground-zero/
Bill did not begin his career in journalism. He holds a Master of Arts in philosophy from University of Waterloo, and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in philosophy from University of Calgary. He tries to bring a bit of his philosophical training (what he can remember of it after all these years) into his teaching, especially in courses such as “Journalism and Ideas” and “Literary Journalism.”
Qualifications:
B.A. Hon. (Philosophy) Calgary, M.A. (Philosophy) Waterloo
Current Courses:
JRN 303 - Feature Writing Workshop
Selected Publications:
Recent Academic Publications
“Chicago 1968: History as the Literary Journalist Sees It (Or Thinks He Sees It),” in Richard Keeble and John Tulloch (eds.), The World of Literary Journalism (New York: Peter Lang), forthcoming.
“‘Greenwich Village at Night’ and Mary McCarthy’s Immersion Journalism,” in Richard Keeble and John Tulloch (eds.), The World of Literary Journalism (New York: Peter Lang), forthcoming.
“Literary Journalist Charles Bowden and Chronicling the On-going Catastrophe of Ciudad Juárez,” Todas As Letras, 14.2, Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie, São Paulo, Brazil (forthcoming).
“John Valliant’s The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival,” Book Review, Literary Journalism Studies 4.2 (Fall 2012).
“From Cold War Cultural Critic to Mocking Liberals: Canadian Writer-Editor Robert Fulford’s Long Journey,” in Richard Keeble and John Tulloch (eds.), Global Literary Journalism: Exploring the Journalistic Imagination (New York: Peter Lang, 2012), 269-284.
“On the Road to Gonzo: Hunter S. Thompson’s Early Literary Journalism (1961-1970),” Literary Journalism Studies 4.1 (Spring 2012), 51-84. http://www.ialjs.org/?p=1495
John S. Bak and Bill Reynolds (eds.), Literary Journalism across the Globe: Journalistic Traditions and Transnational Influences (Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press, 2011).
“The Edge of Canadian Literary Journalism: The West Coast’s Restless Search for Meaning Versus Central Canada’s Chronicles of the Rich and Powerful,” Literary Journalism across the Globe (2011), 77-92.
“Steve Lopez’s The Soloist: A Lost Dream, an Unlikely Friendship and the Redemptive Power of Music,” Book Review, Literary Journalism Studies 1.2 (Fall 2009), 123-125. http://www.ialjs.org/?p=681
“Recovering the Peculiar Life and Times of Tom Hedley and of the Canadian New Journalism,” Literary Journalism Studies 1.1 (Spring 2009): 79-104. www.ialjs.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/79-104-reynolds.pdf
“A Metaphor for the World: William Langewiesche, John Valliant and Looking for the Story in Long-form,” Asia-Pacific Media Educator (Special Issue: Narrative and Literary Journalism) 18 (December 2007): 59-71. www.jstudies.com/jour331/lectures/files/APME18-Reynolds.pdf
Presentations, Refereed Conference Proceedings
“Literary Journalism: The Power and Promise of Story,” Host and Conference Organizer, The Seventh International Conference for Literary Journalism Studies, School of Journalism, Ryerson University, Canada, May 17-19, 2012.
“Literary Journalist Charles Bowden and Chronicling the On-going Catastrophe of Ciudad Juárez,” Seminar Research Session, Literary Journalism’s Response to “Collapse / Catastrophe / Change,” at conference of American Comparative Literature Association (ACLA), March 29-April 1, 2012, Brown University, Providence, U.S.A.
Seminar, “Village Denizens: Mary McCarthy’s ‘Greenwich Village at Night’ and the New York Post’s Unlikely Support of Literary Journalism,” Invited Research Session, “A Roundtable on Literary Journalism: Telling Stories, Defining Citizenship,” at conference, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), St. Louis, U.S.A., August 10-13, 2011.
“Chicago 1968: Esquire Magazine’s Burroughs, Genet, Sack & Terry Southern on Chicago ’68 vs. David Lewis Stein’s Living the Revolution: The Yuppies in Chicago,” part of panel, “Literary Journalism and Literary History: An Uneasy Relationship,” at conference, “Literary Journalism: Theoria, Poises and Praxis,” The Sixth International Conference for Literary Journalism Studies, University Libra de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium, May 12-14, 2011.
“Before They Called It ‘Gonzo’: Hunter S. Thompson’s Literary Journalism, 1961-1970,” revised paper presented on panel, “Hunter S. Thompson,” The Thirty-ninth Annual Louisville Conference on Literature & Culture Since 1900, University of Louisville, Louisville, U.S.A., February 24-26, 2011.
“Chicago 1968: History as the Literary Journalist Sees It (Or Thinks He Sees It),” presented on panel, “Literary Journalism and History: Nonfiction Twins Separated at Birth,” NonFictioNow, University of Iowa, Iowa City, U.S.A., November 4-6, 2010.
“Before They Called It ‘Gonzo’: Hunter S. Thompson’s Early Literary Journalism, 1961-1970,” presented on panel, “Get Out the G____: Re-visioning Hunter S. Thompson’s Literary Journalism for the Twenty-first Century,” 5th International Association for Literary Journalism Studies Conference (IALJS), Roe Hampton University, London, U.K., May 20-22, 2010.
“Like a Reporter: The Curious Case of Toronto Star Newspaper Men Morley Callaghan and Ernest Hemingway, Before and After Paris, Before Literary Journalism,” Work-in-Progress Presentation, The Fourth International Association for Literary Journalism Studies Conference (IALJS), North-western University, Evanston, U.S.A., May 14-16, 2009.
“How Tom Wolfe and the New Journalism Colonized the Minds of Canada’s Best Young Feature Writers,” Seminar Presentation: Literary Journalism Across Cultures, American Comparative Literature Association (ACLA), Harvard University, Cambridge, U.S.A., March 26-29, 2009.
“Tom Hedley and the Rise of Canadian Literary Journalism,” Seminar Presentation, Literary Journalism Across Cultures: A Comparative Approach to Nonfiction Writing, European Society for the Study of English (ESSE), Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark, August 24-28, 2008.
“Teaching Literary Journalism: As Writing,” The Third International Association for Literary Journalism Studies Conference (IALJS), Panel Presentation, Universidad Técnica de Lisboan (TULisbon), Lisbon, Portugal, May 15-17, 2008.
“Like a Novella: The Golden Age of Canadian Literary Journalism,” 3rd International Association for Literary Journalism Studies Conference (IALJS), Research Paper Presentation, Universidade Técnica de Lisboan (TULisbon), Lisbon, Portugal, May 15-17, 2008.
“Teaching Literary Journalism: From English to Journalism and Back Again,” Panel Presentation, The Second International Association for Literary Journalism Studies Conference (IALJS), Sciences Po, Paris, France, May 18-19, 2007.
“The New Chasm in Canadian Literary Journalism: Searching for Meaning on the West Coast vs. Chronicling the Rich and Powerful in the East,” Research Paper Presentation, The First International Conference on Literary Journalism: Celebrating The Jungle: A Century of Literary Journalism Throughout the World, University-Nancy, Nancy, France, May 19-20, 2006.
“A Metaphor for the World: William Langewiesche, John Valliant and the New Classicism in Long-form,” Research Paper Presentation, Mapping the Magazine 2 Conference (MTM2), School of Journalism, Cardiff University, Cardiff, U.K., September 15-16, 2005.
Non-academic Publications
“Wheels of Misfortune: Live by the Bike, Die by the Bike and All the Dodging and Arguing In-between,” Toronto Standard, November 11, 2011. http://www.torontostandard.com/the-sprawl/wheels-of-misfortune
“Exorcism at Ground Zero,” Firsthand, Walrus, July-August, 2011, 17-20. http://www.walrusmagazine.com/articles/2011.07-firsthand-exorcism-at-ground-zero/
“Alex Chilton: From Early Chart Topper to Critic’s Darling to Cult Hero,” Obituary/Appreciation, Globe and Mail, March 19, 2010.
“How I taught My Students to Think about the Journalism They Read,” Essay, J-Source, January 26, 2012. http://j-source.ca/article/how-i-taught-my-students-think-about-journalism-they-read
“Memes and Literary Journalism,” Essay, J-Source, October 24, 2009.
“Adventures in Long-form Magazine Editing,” Essay, J-Source, July 28, 2009. http://j-source.ca/article/adventures-long-form-magazine-editing
“Go Long and Go Deep: Teaching Literary Journalism,” Essay, J-Source, March 16, 2009. http://j-source.ca/article/go-long-and-go-deep-teaching-literary-journalism
“Martin Streak Was a Rock ’n’ Roll Original,” Globe Toronto Essay, Globe and Mail, July 11, 2009.
“Geared Up: On the Road to Two-wheeled Transcendence,” Book Chapter, in Moira Farr and Ian Pearson (eds.), Cabin Fever: The Best New Canadian Non-fiction (Toronto: Thomas Allen Publishers, 2009), 277-298.
“Geared Up: On the Road to Two-wheeled Transcendence,” Essay, Walrus, June 2008, 54-64.
“Rocking’ Robin Hood,” Cover Story, Swerve, October 26, 2007, 25-31.
“Straight to the Blue Box: Facelifts Will Only Hasten Newspaper’s Demise,” Column, This, July 2007.
“The Man, The Tree, The Tribe & The Loggers,” Feature, This, January 2006, 28-31.
“Too Old to Rock?” Cover Story, Swerve, October 28, 2005, 17-23.
“Crossing the Line: How Patriotism Stifled Freedom of Speech,” Feature, This, September 2004, 22-30.
“Rock Retribution: Nick Cave and David Eugene Edwards,” Weekend Review Feature, Globe and Mail, September 13, 2003.
“Why Your Local Radio Station Sounds Like This,” Weekend Review Cover Story, Globe and Mail, August 3, 2002.
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