How About This Presents Julia Wright
The host of CBC Information Morning Saint John is our next interview subject!
Welcome to Atlantic Canada Mondays, a regular feature of How About This where we interview interesting residents of the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador. Today’s subject is Julia Wright, the host of CBC Radio’s Information Morning Saint John. Julia worked in a number of jobs prior to her current CBC Radio hosting role and with collaborator Pamela M. Pierce wrote and published Hard Times in the Maritimes, a well-regarded zine based in Saint John, NB.
Per her Twitter bio: writer, photographer & CBC radio host. born & raised johner. goth athlete.
Here’s Julia!
Julia, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A high school English teacher.
What kinds of jobs have you had prior to focusing on news and broadcasting?
I’ve had a strange array of jobs: as a line cook, making cream cheese stuffed crust pizza at Samba Brazil, and club sandwiches at the James Joyce Pub in Fredericton. Soups and pies at the Tea Infusion at the Saint John City Market.
I wrote full time for a cannabis culture magazine before weed was legal. I taught creative writing at UNB’s College of Extended Learning. I had a Kijiji side hustle proofreading and copyediting papers for university students.
My last job before I switched full-time to reporting/broadcasting was at a John Howard residential treatment facility for teenagers.
You've worked in radio for several years now. How did you make your way into your current CBC hosting gig? Were you involved in community or college radio before working for the CBC?
I did all the training to get involved in campus radio at CHSR in Fredericton, but got intimidated by the whole thing and never actually went live.
I’ve been lucky to work with many brilliant reporters, producers, editors & camera operators in New Brunswick over the years, especially at CBC - but also in private radio & as a freelancer. Everything I know about reporting, shooting and hosting, I learned from them.
How has your life changed since getting such a public job, heard by tens of thousands of listeners in the morning?
It’s fun, but nerve-wracking. You never know when you’re going to run into someone who recognizes you from work: changing in the locker room at the gym, the middle of remote wilderness in Fundy National Park. It’s great, because I love people. But odd sometimes, because I hope I measure up to whatever preconceived idea people have of me in their head from my job. The other day a construction worker leaned out of his excavator & asked, “hey, aren’t you the radio girl?” I get a lot of jokes about people waking up with me every morning, or asking me why I’m not in bed yet.
I’ve always felt like Saint John is like living in a giant house with a bunch of roommates. If you’re not comfortable sharing your space and talking to people when they mosey into your path, it’s not going to work.
I remember that you and your good friend Pamela once published a zine, Hard Times in the Maritimes, based out of Saint John, NB. How did that start and how did that story end?
That was a blast. I loved every minute of it. Hard Times was a monthly ‘zine that featured reporting, poetry, rants, original artwork & collage by people from all over Atlantic Canada. It ran monthly for two years - a dizzying achievement in the world of local publishing when you think about it. It was one of my favourite projects ever.
To answer your question - it started when I was going through my own personal Hardest Time - the death of my partner by suicide in 2013. It was hell. I needed something to work on and throw myself into. The community really rallied to contribute & support the project which was a beautiful thing.
It ended - because all things must. Money, full time jobs - the time & cost involved became impossible to sustain. But the experience of editing, doing layout, photos and writing for a monthly publication really shaped my approach to writing & work. It made me realize the depth of creativity and talent we have in NB & how much this community deserves to have its story - the good & the bad - told by someone who genuinely cares about it & understands it.
Do you do any creative writing, journaling, etc? Is there anything there that you would ever publish in some manner?
I keep a journal almost every day, and have since I was 15. I have stacks of notebooks under my desk at home. I will state here for the record: once I’m gone, publish everything. Everything.
What distinguishes a goth athlete from other athletes? Also, how's the running going?
I got into running around the same time that Pamela and I started Hard Times, and for a similar reason: a need for something productive I could focus my emotions and energy into. Since 2013 I’ve run a marathon and two 50k ultramarathons, and try to clock at least 35k a week (or more, if I have time.) My next race is the Mactaquac Trail Race in October.
My Twitter bio says I’m a goth athlete. I don’t run to feel alive: I run to remind myself that life is fleeting. Running is my time for solitary reflection. Maybe a little brooding, depending on the day. I also listen to The Cure a lot.
Did social media destroy the world or is there still hope?
Social media sucks up a lot of time that would be better spent on just about anything else: learning to surf, perfecting your risotto, contemplating the rain tracing lazy paths down a windowpane. But there’s always hope.
I think I already know the answer to this (you're a life long Johner) but would you recommend NB and specifically Saint John as a great place to live?
The secret is out that this is a great place to live: just look at the number of people clamoring to move here from across the country. The only solace I have is that I knew it before it was trendy.
Pretend you wake up one morning and the Internet has been destroyed. What's the first thing that you do?
Honestly: get on the phone & booking some interviews for my radio story/TV about the (miraculous?) disappearance of the internet. Then disappear for a little while - sans phone - into the weird, crazy, beautiful world waiting out there.
Thanks to Julia Wright for participating in this interview!
I love that notebook page (obviously), and Julia’s comment about writing for people who don’t necessarily want to like you!
I hope she publishes more before she’s gone. I miss her stories about quirky locals and “Hard Times”