Lisa Whittington-Hill is an instructor in our Publishing—Book, Magazine and Electronic program. With her extensive industry background, including a range of written pieces spanning several popular online publications, being the Publisher of This Magazine, and two published books, Lisa is a skilled professional who brings a wealth of knowledge and insight into the classroom.
Since she began teaching in 2017, Lisa has taught several courses and has since become a full-time faculty member at Centennial, something she notes she is so excited to be a part of. “I feel really blessed to be able to teach and to teach about something I love,” she adds.
In our Q&A below, Lisa shares an overview of her journey in publishing, a look into her writing process, advice to students, and more. She also details her books The Go-Go's Beauty and the Beat and Girls, Interrupted: How Pop Culture Is Failing Women, Lisa's most recent book featuring a collection of essays that delve into pop culture's treatment of women in the spotlight.
Q: What do you enjoy most about teaching in the Publishing program, and are there some standout features that you think help prepare students for their careers?
I really enjoy the students. They are what I like best about teaching in the program and at Centennial. I really like helping students gain the knowledge and practical skills they need for careers in the publishing industry and also getting them excited about all the possibilities that exist for magazines right now. The publishing industry is constantly evolving, and I love sharing that with students.
I think one of the standout things about Centennial’s Publishing program is that students have the opportunity to study both books and magazines. They also get to put what they learn in the classroom into practice with field placements in the industry, which help them build experience and connections.
One of the best features of the magazine side of the program is On the Danforth, which the students publish. They get real hands-on experience putting together a magazine from start to finish and work on all aspects of it, from advertising to editorial to design and marketing. It's such a great experience for students, and I love witnessing their excitement when they see the magazine in print for the first time.
Q: Do you have any advice for prospective students considering this program?
Do it; it’s a great program! I always tell students in the program to keep an open mind when choosing books or magazines. You don’t need to pick one or the other right away, and luckily for students, our program offers both, which means that students get a well-rounded publishing education and experience and knowledge in both areas.
Q: What ignited your interest in writing? Did you explore other industries prior?
I started my first magazine when I was seven. It was called Pets and covered all my neighbourhood's dogs, cats, and hamsters. Sadly, it only lasted one issue and had a very small readership (my Mom).
I was always interested in magazines and writing from an early age. I studied journalism in university, which gave me experience in publishing and writing. As part of my studies, I did a placement at an alternative weekly newspaper in Edmonton, which got me interested in arts and culture writing and independent publishing.
I didn’t explore any other industries. I knew early on that I wanted a career in magazines or newspapers and have been lucky enough to be able to do that.
Q: What led you to write your book, Girls, Interrupted? Was it something you wanted to do for a while? What was that first moment that motivated you to write it?
I had written a couple of magazine pieces about gender bias in pop culture, and it was a topic that I really wanted to keep exploring. I wrote a piece for an American outlet called Longreads about gender bias in celebrity memoir coverage, and an editor at Vehicule Press read it and approached me about working on an essay collection, which eventually became Girls, Interrupted.
I was excited about the opportunity and the chance to explore more deeply how pop culture is failing women. Some of the essays in the collection were previously published in magazines like The Walrus, Catapult, and Longreads, and some are new pieces. Sadly, there was no shortage of material on the topic. While writing the book, each day seemed to provide new examples of how women were being mistreated by the media.
Q: Can you describe your writing process a bit? What kind of preparation was required to begin?
Some pieces were written years ago but updated and polished for the book. I spent about a year working on new pieces. There was a lot of time researching, which included everything from weeks spent reading old copies of US Weekly from the 2000s to hours logged watching documentaries about female musicians. It was really fun research to do, but also depressing to see how little progress has been made over the years in how pop culture treats women.
I tended to work on one essay at a time and there were some I wanted to write that didn’t make it into the book. I read a lot of essay collections before writing so I could look at what worked with collections, what I liked, and what I could use as inspiration when writing Girls, Interrupted.
Q: What's one word that you think describes this book? And why?
Timely. There’s been a rise in memoirs, podcasts, and documentaries that revisit the legacies of women wronged by pop culture. As a result, I think people are under the assumption that representation of women in the media has improved. That’s definitely not the case. There is still so much misogyny and misunderstanding. That’s what I wanted to explore with the book.
Girls, Interrupted was published the same week as Britney Spears’s memoir, which was great timing. It was a good week to be the writer of a book that talks about things like how badly the media treated Britney.
Q: What inspired your other book, The Go-Go's Beauty and the Beat? Did you find any elements that helped prepare you for publishing Girls, Interrupted?
The book about Beauty and the Beat is part of Bloomsbury's 33 1/3 music series. Each book in the series is devoted to a particular album. It’s interesting to see what albums writers choose and what direction they take their books. They have open calls for proposals, and I submitted one in 2021, and it was selected. I chose Beauty and the Beat because it is an album that changed my life when I first heard it at the age of eleven. The Go-Go’s are an all-female band that wrote their own music and played their own instruments which was inspirational for me. I also wanted to write about a female musician or all-female band because they are underrepresented in the series.
The book was published in September 2023, a month before Girls, Interrupted was released. I was working on both simultaneously, and the subject matter overlapped. In the Beauty and the Beat book, I focus a lot on the sexism and misogyny the band experienced. It definitely ties in with some of the material in Girls, Interrupted.
Q: Do you have any tips for fellow writers to stay motivated or overcome writer's block?
I try to find a writing schedule and process that works for me and not worry too much if that looks different than what other writers are doing. When I first started writing the books, I tried to write for an hour every day because it seemed like that was what other writers were doing. I kept seeing posts on social media with daily word count goals, and I really tried that. It didn’t work for me, and I felt a bit like a failure because it didn’t. Finally, I stopped putting pressure on myself and developed my own routine.
I write best in spurts and was lucky enough to be able to have chunks of time on the weekends or after work that I could devote to writing. So, I would say find a system that works for you and don’t feel bad if that looks different than the writers you follow on Instagram.
Writer’s block happens. I tried not to make myself feel bad if there were days I didn’t write when I was supposed to or wrote words that weren’t necessarily for the book just so I could write something to try and unblock. Sometimes, just getting some words out helps with writer’s block, even if they aren’t really great words or sentences. Just start writing, even if it’s just to type something on the screen and get your mind working.
Q: What's your biggest piece of advice to someone interested in writing and publishing a book?
Be patient and don’t give up. Writing and publishing can take time. I had previously submitted a proposal to a 33 1/3 open call for a different album. It didn’t get selected, but I went back and looked at what worked and didn’t with the proposal and used that experience to develop the new one for the Beauty and the Beat book.
Also, be kind and be gracious. Support other writers when you can. Go to their events, share their tweets about their books, and congratulate them on their successes. The writing and publishing community is so supportive, but it’s also competitive. Be a writer who amplifies others and their work.
Find out more about Lisa’s books here:
· The Go-Go's Beauty and the Beat
· Girls, Interrupted: How Pop Culture Is Failing Women
Article by: Alexandra Few
Check out and subscribe to our Storyteller newsletter and Storyteller In-Depth Podcast for more great stories from the School of Communications, Media, Arts and Design.