Spring, Issue 96, Out Now

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10 Pages a Day

At the beginning of this year, I (probably like many) toyed with the thought of a New Year’s resolution, one focused on personal improvement. Specifically, I wanted to shed the four kilos I put on during the holidays. Instagram decided the content I was most interested in was 75 Hard, a new-to-me fitness routine, or as the creator Andy Frisella says, a “transformative mental toughness program.” For 75 consecutive days, #75hard participants must do the following every day: follow a diet of their choosing, no alcohol; complete two 45-minute workouts, one of which must be outdoors; take a progress picture; drink four litres of water; read 10 pages of a nonfiction book, audiobooks not included.

I never did take on 75 Hard, but I have been reading 10 pages (at a minimum) a day. I enjoy reading, although I was never a voracious reader. But over time, reading gave way to the awful habit of lying in bed with my laptop on my belly propped up against my knees and watching too many movies and series via the various streaming services. (The White Lotus, I must still watch.) I’m not certain how Frisella came up with the 10 pages count, but no matter, the key is habit and consistency.

My current read is Haruki Murakami’s Novelist as a Vocation. I find comfort in knowing there are others who “sit cloistered in their rooms, intently fiddling with words, batting around one possibility after another … scratch their heads an entire day to improve the quality of a single line by a tiny bit.” For me, Murakami is a master storyteller, and this novel a charmingly idiosyncratic look at writing and creativity (and not just for those who call writing their profession).

Every piece of writing begins with a blank page—be it a computer screen, a sheet fed into a typewriter, or a notebook. The words one strings together and the individual writing those words are the key. As Murakami points out, “Though everyone is using a piano with the same eighty-eight keys, the sound varies to an amazing degree depending on who’s playing.”

This spring edition of NUVO, Issue 96, is a collective of players, some whose bylines are recurring, others new. It’s a group of domestic and international talent showcased, an ensemble of voices that en masse project the NUVO expression, one tilted toward the promise of discovery.

The promise of spring appears in February when the dark winter days give way to spring vibes. For Théodore Pellerin, cover talent for this Issue 96, “I know it’s spring when my mom calls me and says, ‘Théodore, it really does feel like spring today.’ ” Pellerin was photographed in Paris—in anything-goes attire—exploring a city awakening from the slumber of winter.

The stack of books-to-read by my bed is at an all-time low: only We the Parasites and Into Shadow, Rebecca Peng’s recommendations in the books column Just Our Type. Have a suggestion? Drop me a line.

Keep an eye on NUVOmagazine.com over the coming weeks for stories from the spring edition of NUVO, Issue 96. Click here to receive a copy of your own.