Who or what is this beast?

The Substack Octopus is an ornery beast. With its weird, backwards-moving propulsive scuttle, it slowly but defiantly charts a course through the 21st century—with help from texts, photos and films from this era and previous ones.

The Substack Octopus logo was created by Ryan Cassidy.

Who or what created the Substack Octopus?

My name is Laurence Miall. I am Canadian and have spent most of the last thirty-odd years living in either Edmonton or Montreal. I published the novel Blind Spot in 2014 with NeWest Press. I am a contributor to Jacobin and Alberta Views.

I was born in Stirling, Scotland and spent most of my first fourteen years in Britain, either on the outskirts of Cardiff or surrounded by the bucolic beauty of the Cotswolds Hills. I am married with two children and I have a quite nice 9-5 life in which I go by train to an office with interesting and talented people. Most of my writing is executed between 4am and 6:30am on weekdays, hours during which I pretend my mind is at its clearest.