About
A specialist in the arts & popular culture, John Threlfall spent a number of years working backstage in live theatre in Vancouver before moving to Victoria in 1992 to attend the University of Victoria, where he earned a BA (double major, History/English, Honours). He was working on his Masters in History (late 19th century changes in time technology) when he was picked up as a staff writer by Monday Magazine in 1999, where he stayed until 2010 as (variously) Calendar Editor, Arts Editor, in-house theatre critic and, ultimately, Editor-in-Chief.
John also spent five seasons as the on-air "walking encyclopedia of popular culture" for CBC Radio One's Definitely Not The Opera, has worked as a freelance magazine writer and columnist for over 20 years, and has taught in UVic's acclaimed Department of Writing since 2006. His university-level courses include such diverse topics as magazine publishing, the business of writing, the history of the disc jockey, the art of music writing, and time travel in popular culture. Currently, John is the Special Projects & Communications Officer for UVic's Faculty of Fine Arts.
He was also one of six Canadian Gen-Xers featured in the NFB documentary Le Temps X, the co-host of Speed Channel's Canadian Biker Television, contributed to the original pressing of Victoria: Secrets of the City (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2000), nominated for an Association of Alternative Newsweeklies Award and has worked as a wedding DJ, film projectionist, lands claim researcher (Sto:lo Nation) and volunteer firefighter. He's been a contributor to both the Top 100 Canadian Albums & Canadian Singles books (Bob Mersereau), co-president of Intrepid Theatre's board of directors (producers of Victoria's Fringe Festival) and is a frequent guest in classrooms, media panels and community groups around Victoria.
A Leo born in the Year of the Dragon, John has also been a practicing witch for nearly 30 years and is a Black Cord Priest with 13th House Mystery School, one of Victoria's oldest and largest covens.
Among his hundreds of published interviews are the likes of musicians Bruce Cockburn, Pat Benatar, Ani DiFranco, Neil Finn, Billy Bragg and members of The Temptations, The Tragically Hip, The Rheostatics and The Proclaimers; authors Thomas King, Neil Gaiman, Ronald Wright, Shakti Gawain, Lisa Moore, Starhawk and Spider Robinson; filmmakers David Cronenberg, Guillermo del Toro, Ron Mann, Paul Gross, Alan Rudolph and Anne Wheeler; and personalities like Canadian astronaut Robert Thirsk, Vinyl Cafe storyteller Stuart McLean, Titanic explorer Tom Zaller, iconic Canadian DJ Red Robinson, comedian Ryan Stiles and Jesus Christ Superstar superstar Ted Neeley.
Lifetime highlights include three years at Burning Man (1999-2001), riding a motorcycle solo across Canada (Mile Zero to Mile Zero, and back) and four seasons as the stage manager & technical director of Barkerville's famed Theatre Royal. It was in nearby Wells where he first met his wife—Victoria artist and witch Beth (Fenske) Threlfall—with whom he has shared his life since 1998. Together they have two dangerously charming children.
