by Matthew Firth (March 2008)

Chris Walter is not a subtle writer. It’s obvious by the name of his website: www.punkbooks.com. It’s obvious from the tattoo in block letters on his stomach: PUNK BOOKS. Above, another tattoo on his chest depicts an old Underwood typewriter spitting out flames. I know this not because I’ve seen the man naked but because he’s boldly shirtless in some of the author photos in his books. 

And then there’s his small press called Gofuckyerself Press. The press’s logo is the same flaming typewriter. When I ordered a couple books from his press, I also got a Gofuckyerself Press button and GFY Press stickers. 

My three-year old son likes the stickers, recognizing that I have a similar model of typewriter that he bangs away on. All of this to say; Walter stands out and so does his fiery prose. Picture Joey Shithead Keithley of DOA fame as a writer rather than a punk rock maestro and you’d have a close approximation of Chris Walter.

But beyond the body ink and provocatively named press, Walter is a deadly serious writer committed to his art and subject matter. He is mostly a novelist, though also handy with the short story form. His novels include Welfare Wednesdays, Booze Can, Kaboom, and Mosquitoes and Whisky. Shouts from the Gutter compiles more than 30 of his short stories. Walter’s subject matter is largely what he knows: the junkies, whores, crackheads, thieves, punks and drunks of Vancouver’s downtown east side. But he also reaches into his punk past in Winnipeg to fuel some of his prose. 

And – particularly in his short fiction – Walter is capable of stretching it further, writing about the dashed dreams of the poor and barely surviving, scheming ex-cons, and even the mysterious origins of clowns deep in South American jungles. Walter’s fiction is the antithesis of CanLit and its dour middle class musings. He writes with conviction about the street like no one else in this land. Walter’s fiction is convincing, lively, real, accessible and wildly entertaining. 

I caught up to him online and had this conversation …

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MF: How many books have you written and over what time period?

CW: 12, or 15, if you count the books I abandoned or allowed to go out of print. I wrote Beer in 1999 and kept going, though at an irregular speed for the first few years. My life was very chaotic and I didn’t have a computer or a typewriter for the first few books.

MF: How do you keep up this pace?

CW: I’m an addict, and addicts do everything obsessively and compulsively. Luckily, writing is not as detrimental to my health and sanity as drugs are. Still, I have to force myself to take time out for my family. Not enough time, if you listen to my girl. She mostly understands, though. Writing is therapy.

MF: All of your books are published by your brilliantly named Gofuckyerself Press. Why the DIY route? Did you send your stuff out to other small presses at any time? Or was your mind made up to start GFY Press right from the start?

CW: Actually, my second book, Punk Rules OK, was published by a small press called Burn Books. When I learned there was little they could do for me that I couldn’t do myself, I decided to cut out the middleman. I was only getting 7% (which is standard), but now I keep all the profits. I have printing connections and can produce my titles fairly cheaply. The business end is a hassle, but at least I don’t have to take orders from anyone. Also, I like being able to control even the smallest details. If a book doesn’t turn out exactly the way I’d hoped, I have no one to blame but myself. If I hadn’t gone this route then I’d have to take a day job, and I’m done with that.

MF: How do you distribute, market your books?

CW: I ask fans to find stores where they live, and then I call the stores and ask if they’ll take my books on consignment. Sometimes things don’t work out, but more often they do. It’s tough though, especially collecting money. I plead or threaten; whatever it takes. And I NEVER QUIT UNTIL I GET PAID. I’m also a relentless Myspace whore and I contribute to various magazines, which helps get my name out there. Word of mouth seems to work for me.

MF: Any sense of who reads your books? Are your readers more varied than might be expected?

CW: Much to my surprise, storeowners tell me that old people, young people, and even businessmen and yuppies buy them. It’s a good thing that I don’t rely on punk customers because one will steal a book and pass it around. I’m amazed that anyone buys them, actually. It’s hard to sell books and I feel very fortunate to eke out an existence this way.

MF: You come from a punk background. But why, mainly, do you write novels, rather than, say, one minute and forty-five second punk songs? In other words, why books?

CW: I’m a failed musician. I was never able to re-create the sounds in my head on guitar. But I can capture my thoughts on paper, and I don’t get too fancy. I want people to understand what I’m saying, not admire my flowery prose.

MF: How are your books received by the punk rock crowd?

CW: Meh, some dig ‘em, some don’t. Same as everyone else. I’m not trying to please everyone; I just want to write what is true for me. Don’t get me wrong: I’m in the entertainment business, but I know that I can’t appeal to everyone, so I cater to the rude, crude, and loud. I also need to have a laugh or two.

MF: Yeah. Humour plays a big part in your fiction. Why?

CW: My subject matter is often so grim that if I didn’t throw in some black humour, readers wouldn’t be able to get through a whole book. If I describe a crackhead digging through the storm drain looking for crack that doesn’t exist, I have to find a way to make it funny, which isn’t always easy. I want readers to laugh and cry. If I can do that, then I have truly succeeded.

MF: Okay, don’t hold back – why is CanLit so fuckin’ lame-assed?

CW: Publishers are unwilling to take chances on anything that might not sell. They stick to cookbooks and formulaic fiction because they exist on a razor’s edge as it is. The small presses, since they operate with government funding, publish books that are of little interest to anyone except literary snobs. Some like to think that they are bold and outspoken but mostly they are pretty tame. I think publishers have seriously underestimated the potential of books that deal with the nastier side of life. I’m sure that I could sell assloads of books at Chapters, but that will never happen because the book industry is fucked. Mega-stores such as Chapters are largely responsible: they run roughshod over publishers and make their own rules. There are a few good independents and I applaud them. McNally Robinson, for example, are fucking awesome. Duthies is also good. Too bad there aren’t more bookstores like them. I’m lucky that I can also sell my books in record stores.

MF: Are there any Canadian writers out there whose stuff you dig?

CW: I’d say that John Armstrong of Vancouver is pretty much my favourite Canadian writer. His first two books, while brilliant, were autobiographical, so it remains to be seen if he can apply his acidic yet brutally funny prose to fiction. I suspect that he will manage. John humbles me.

MF: What if a big publisher came knocking, realized that they could also sell assloads of your books; would you jump on board, go that route?

CW: It would all depend on the conditions. If they allowed me complete freedom to write the books I wanted, then sure. If they tried to tell me what to do, then fuck that. I’d love to sell out, but not if it means compromise. I’ve worked too hard to see GFY go down the shitter.

MF: Why do you concentrate so much of your fiction on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside?

CW: Douglas Coupland can write about yuppies but I can’t. I am endlessly fascinated with junkies, drunks, punks, and whores.

MF: Why? What draws you to junkies, drunks, punks, and whores and why write about them?

CW: Put it this way; when a junkie wakes up, his day will be full of drama, though usually of a nasty sort. Punks, drunks, junkies, and whores are infinitely more interesting than the average well-adjusted and secure citizen. I am them and they are me.

MF: How do you react to comparisons – in terms of the names of writers and others that are used to describe your fiction? Do comparisons annoy you, flatter you, confuse you, etc?

CW: I don’t pay attention to any of that. I don’t even read my reviews any more. My girlfriend goes through that stuff and picks quotes to use for the back covers. If I believe critics when they say I’m good, then I must also listen when they say I suck. They’re all frustrated writers, anyway.

MF: Who are your literary influences and why?

CW: I like Irvine Welsh because he is the king of black humour. I like Bukowski for his brutal honesty. And I like John Steinbeck because his characters are real enough to bleed on you, and he is master storyteller bar none. My favourite Vancouver author is John Armstrong.

MF: You comfortably summon up a broad range of cultural references in your fiction, from obscure punk bands to Homer Simpson and lots in between. Can you comment on the role of punk and pop culture, and maybe the meeting of the two, plays in your fiction?

CW: I feel that people like to read about things they can relate to, and pop culture references are merely a device to draw readers into the story. I use punk rock references because I want my punk readers to know that we are of the same tribe.

MF: What’s next?

CW: Gofuckyerself Press recently launched a book by Australian author, Drew Gates. The Crooked Beat, which details the twisted adventures of a punk junkie in Southeast Asia, is a very funny and but dark and raunchy rollercoaster of a book. GFY also launched my newest book, Rock & Roll Heart on February 29^th. Rock & Roll Heart is a fast and wild tale of a love triangle gone wrong. In August, GFY will launch my rock biography, Personality Crisis: Warm Beer & Wild Times, which details the brief but turbulent life of one of Canada’s largely unknown but hottest rock bands.

Matthew Firth’s most recent book is Suburban Pornography and Other Stories. He lives in Ottawa where he works a day job and publishes Front&Centre and Black Bile Press chapbooks under cover of the night.