Bert Archer

Bert Archer is a Canadian author, journalist, travel writer, essayist, critic, and former editor in chief of the Montreal Gazette.

Bert Archer
BornMontreal, Quebec, Canada
OccupationWriter/journalist
NationalityCanadian
Period1994–present
Notable worksThe End of Gay (and the Death of Heterosexuality)

Archer was born in Montreal and lived in Calgary and Vancouver. He attended St. Michael's University School in Victoria, British Columbia, and then went to the University of St. Michael's College at the University of Toronto, and Trinity College, Dublin. He wrote for the University of Toronto student newspaper The Varsity, and was editor-in-chief of The Mike, the college newspaper.[1]

Journalism

In 1994, he was hired as an editorial assistant by Quill & Quire, Canada's national book trade magazine. Two years later, as review editor, Archer was pressured to resign after writing an essay in the Financial Post which some considered derogatory to certain elements in the Canadian publishing industry, specifically, the small presses.[2] He was subsequently hired as a columnist for the Toronto Star, Canada's largest circulation newspaper, to review books published by small Canadian publishers.

As a literary journalist, Archer courted controversy, calling into question the reputations of Canadian literary figures such as Margaret Atwood[3] and Michael Ondaatje. Greg Gatenby, founder of Toronto's International Festival of Authors, said of Archer being given space in prominent papers to write about books, "It's like having an eight-year-old at the helm of a 747." A profile in The Globe and Mail on the release of his first book was titled Bad Boy Bert.[4]

Since then, Archer has been an editor at the alternative arts magazine Now, where he wrote about books, and the now defunct Eye Weekly, where he was production editor and for which he wrote regular op-ed pieces. From 2007-2015, he was a real estate columnist for Toronto Life magazine.[5]

Since 2006,[6] Archer has been writing about travel as a freelancer for several papers, magazines, and sites in Canada and the US, including the Globe and Mail, Hazlitt,[7] the Washington Post,[8] and Zoomer magazine.[9]

In 2022, he was named editor in chief of the Montreal Gazette,[10] Canada's oldest daily newspaper, a position he held until mid-2023.[11]

Books

Archer is the author of The End of Gay (and the Death of Heterosexuality), published in Canada in 1999, in the US[12] in 2002, and the UK[13] in 2004. The book argues that there is no such thing as inherent sexual identity, and that sexual behaviour is a product of many factors, personal will not least among them.

Archer has also contributed chapters to several books: "Why Boys Are Better Than Girls" for What I Meant to Say (2006),[14] Creating a Toronto of the Imagination for uTOpia (2006), as well as chapters for its follow-up, GreenTOpia (2007),[15] and a book about water called HtO (2008),[16] excerpted in the National Post.[17]

References
  1. "Reminder: Taking the 'free' out of freelancing, …and how to find work too! – Canadian University Press". Archived from the original on 2018-06-20. Retrieved 2018-04-21.
  2. "Book editor resigns over controversy", The Globe and Mail, Nov. 15, 1996.
  3. "Alias Grace". 12 March 2004.
  4. "Bad Boy Bert".
  5. "Bert Archer, Author at Toronto Life".
  6. "Garlands and gluhwein on the Danube".
  7. "Breaking Bridge: The Destructive Power of Lazy Tourism". 20 June 2014.
  8. Bert Archer (2012-11-09). "In East Africa, bag the safaris and head for the cities". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. ISSN 0190-8286. OCLC 1330888409.
  9. "Unearthing the Precolonial History of Victoria B.C."
  10. https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/bert-archer-named-editor-in-chief-of-the-montreal-gazette
  11. https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/montreal-gazette-editor-in-chief-deputy-editor-leaving-the-paper-1.6449553
  12. Archer, Bert (2002). Books: Bert Archer. ISBN 1904132073.
  13. "Bert Archer". Vision Paperbacks. Archived from the original on 2007-09-13. Retrieved 2007-07-19.
  14. "What I Meant to Say". Archived from the original on 2007-08-21. Retrieved 2007-07-19.
  15. "GreenTOpia". Archived from the original on 2013-01-19. Retrieved 2008-11-12.
  16. "HtO". Archived from the original on 2008-12-18. Retrieved 2008-11-12.
  17. https://nationalpost.com/story.html?id=942567%5B%5D
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