Episode Overview

Author: Michael Turner
Book Title: The Pornographer's Poem
Original Broadcast Date: October 22, 1999

Believing pornography doesn't get the attention it deserves as a valid cultural form, Michael Turner uses explicit sex in his new book, The Pornographer's Poem, to tell the voyeuristic coming-of-age tale of a young man in 1970s Vancouver.

Unafraid to bare all for his art, Turner takes off his clothes and jumps into bed for an interview with Evan Solomon on CBC Newsworld's Hot Type Friday, October 22 at 10 p.m. ET.

Hailed as experimental, The Pornographer's Poem blends literary genres combining first person narrative with journals, movie screenplays and interrogation style prose. Following the adventures of a teenaged pornographer in suburban Vancouver, it examines the loss of innocence, childhood memories, love, sex, truth and lies.

Lounging in bed au naturel, Turner talks to Evan Solomon about the blurring of the line between art and pornography, porn as a tool for social commentary, sexual repression and the autobiographical nature of his book.

Encouraged to push the limits of the interview, Solomon also adopts the interrogation style employed in The Pornographer's Poem to ask Turner about his bout with testicular cancer, fear of impotency, sexual drive, voyeurism and masturbation. Turner is best known for writing Hard Core Logo (1993) and American Whisky Bar (1997). Canadian filmmaker Bruce MacDonald has adapted both for the screen, the former as a feature film, the latter as a live television drama. Turner has also recorded three albums as a member of the independent rock group the Hard Rock Miners.