Meet the Citizen’s newest columnist

The Canton Citizen is pleased to announce the debut of “Outside the Whale,” a bold new column by Tanya Willow that seeks to challenge conventional thinking with a mix of social satire and political commentary. As general manager for Canton Community Television, Willow has been an observer of Canton politics for over 25 years. She has also played women’s ice hockey in Canton since 1972.

A graduate of Curry College, Willow holds a master’s degree in non-profit/government management from UMass Boston. She has no religious affiliation, is “terrified” of war, and describes herself as an “unapologetic feminist.” She currently resides in Norton with her husband and two children, ages 16 and 11.

The title of the column is a take on George Orwell’s 1940 essay “Inside the Whale,” which uses the biblical story of Jonah and the whale as a metaphor for modern writers and their fate as passive observers of a crumbling world.

As Willow explains it, “writers of the future will have no choice but to be confined within the security of Jonah’s big fish” — shielded from the larger forces like conformity, political correctness, and war. Orwell, she points out, believes that writers have no other alternative. “Ocean’s too big,” she says. “Too powerful. We are helpless against the elements.”

“So ‘Outside the Whale’ is taking on the elements even though it’s futile,” says Willow. “It’s fun to write about things taking place outside the security of the whale anyway.”

Click here to read Tanya Willow’s debut column.

Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=7534

Posted by Canton Citizen on Aug 24 2011. Filed under Featured Content. Both comments and pings are currently closed.