Quill and Quire

Industry news

« Back to
Quillblog

The case of the purloined cigar box

Toronto author Camilla Gibb’s contribution to Descant magazine’s upcoming September 29th fundraiser has gone missing.

In keeping with this year’s Cuban theme, Descant asked a few celebrated authors to decorate cigar boxes for a silent auction. Gibb decorated hers with images from a guidebook that she used while travelling in Ethiopia and photos from her journey. Inside, she placed a copy of her novel Sweetness in the Belly, which was set in Ethiopia. On August 17, rushing to leave for Edmonton, Gibb hand-delivered the decorated box in a manila envelope to the doorstep of Descant employee Mary Newbury’s home on Major Street in Toronto. Unfortunately, when Newbury arrived home shortly after, it had vanished without a trace.

“It’s of no material worth, really, but making it was this intimate act,” Gibb says of her artwork. “It isn’t something I felt I could re-create. I felt really disheartened.” She added, “The only scenario I could imagine was that some kid had found it and thought it was pretty.”

And thus, Quillblog embarks on a new beat of investigative work. If anyone has any clues as to the whereabouts of Gibb’s cigar box, you can contact our anonymous tip line or call Q&Q. We’re painting our name on the glass of the office door and donning fedoras and trench coats now.

Related links:
Click here for more information Descant‘s homepage

By

September 15th, 2006

12:00 am

Category: Industry news