Chris Robinson (Ottawa)

Chris Robinson is an Ottawa-based animation, film, literature and sports writer, and artistic director of the Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF). He also wrote the screenplay for the Jutra Award and Genie Award-winning animated documentary Lipsett Diaries, directed by Theodore Ushev.

Essays and columns

From 2000-2005, Robinson wrote the "Animation Pimp" column for Animation World Magazine. Partially influenced by gonzo and beat writers, Pimp columns often fused philosophy, history and memoir in discussing various facets of animation. A selection of columns were later compiled into a book.

Robinson has also written on music, film, literature and sports for various international publications including Salon.com, Stop Smiling and the Ottawa Citizen. His monthly literature column, "The Lit Pimp" appeared in the Ottawa Xpress from 2006-2010.

Books

Robinson's book Stole This From a Hockey Card: A Philosophy of Hockey, Doug Harvey, Identity & Booze (2005),which was a critical success and was shortlisted for the Ottawa Book Award.

"Robinson draws parallels between his own troubled past and that of epic defenceman Doug Harvey... The result is a biography cum memoir that should find resonance with many Canadians... Robinson reaches a high level of sports biography... creating an exquisite patchwork of sports, personal narrative and manic alcoholism that is tragic in its normalcy." - Janine Armin, Globe and Mail

His other books are: Estonian Animation: Between Genius and Utter Illiteracy (2003); Ottawa Senators (2004); Unsung Heroes of Animation; Great Left Wingers of Hockey's Golden Era (2006); his collection of articles, The Animation Pimp (2007), introduced by Nick Tosches with illustrations by Andreas Hykade;^[1] Canadian Animation: Looking for a Place to Happen (2008); Ballad of a Thin Man: In Search of Ryan Larkin (2008); and Animators Unearthed (2010), a collection of essays on some of the world's most famous independent animators.

His seventh book on animation was the 2010 Japanese Animation: Time out of Mind, which the Ottawa Sun called "a personal, “stream-of-consciousness” journey combing comic book shops and studios looking for past masters and new innovators." Japanese Animation: Time out of Mind inspired a four-part retrospective about Japanese animators Osama Tezuka, Atsushi Wada, Kei Oyama and Koji Yamamura at the National Gallery of Canada and the Canadian Museum of Civilization.^[2]

Robinson is currently working on a biography of Maurice Richard, a book on The Hockey Sweater (Canadian Cinema series) and two writing projects: You Bring out the Best in Me, and My Balls are Killing me.

Screenwriting

Robinson's first attempt at screenwriting was the Jutra and Genie Award-winning animated documentary Lipsett Diaries (2010) directed by Theodore Ushev for the National Film Board of Canada.^[3]

Personal life

One year after completing his work on Lipsett Diaries, Robinson was diagnosed as suffering from a mild form of bipolar disorder.^[3]

In early 2011, Robinson was diagnosed with testicular cancer. He is currently writing a graphic novel, My Balls are Killing Me, about the experience. His frequent collaborator, Theodore Ushev, will illustrate the book.

Bibliography

Books by Chris Robinson

• Estonian Animation: Between Genius and Utter Illiteracy (2003)
• Ottawa Senators (2004)
• Stole This From a Hockey Card: A Philosophy of Hockey, Doug Harvey, Identity & Booze (2005)
• Unsung Heroes of Animation (2006)
• Great Left Wingers of Hockey's Golden Era (2006)
• The Animation Pimp (2007)
• Canadian Animation: Looking for a Place to Happen (2008)
• Ballad of a Thin Man: In Search of Ryan Larkin (2008)
• Animators Unearthed (2010)
• Japanese Animation: Time out of Mind (2010)
• My Balls are Killing Me (graphic novel) (upcoming)

References

1. ^ Sekerka, John (20 September 2007). "Pimping animation". Ottawa Xpress. http://www.ottawaxpress.ca/books/books.aspx?iIDArticle=13031. Retrieved 4 April 2011. 
2. ^ Armstrong, Denis (19 October 2010). "A love of Japanese animation". Ottawa Sun. http://www.ottawasun.com/entertainment/thescene/2010/10/19/15751816.html. Retrieved 4 April 2011. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Cahute, Larissa (10 March 2011). "Genie Awards: Finding the 'crazy manic sides'". Ottawa Citizen. http://www.ottawacitizen.com/health/Genie+Awards+Finding+crazy+manic+sides/4414021/story.html#ixzz1GXELGIXa. Retrieved 14 March 2011. 

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