Dear Diary

Most journals are about our own little problems. But Toronto actress Mia Kirshner travelled to four desperate parts of the world to bring back the tales of the most vulnerable people, Gayle MacDonald writes

For the past seven years, Toronto actress Mia Kirshner has been obsessed with self-financing and publishing her debut book, I Live Here, a harrowing tribute to the overlooked victims of war, corrupt governments and crippling disease.

“I worked on the book - all the time,” says Kirshner, a gorgeous, dark-haired slip of a thing who started acting as an extra in low-budget television and saw her career take off after nailing roles in Love & Human Remains and Exotica.

“I drove my friends and family insane because they said it’s all I talked about. I know it’s true, and I’m sure, very annoying to be around. But it literally has been an odyssey, an obsession for me. Because once I saw how many people have sacrificed so much … well, I became obsessed,” she says with a smile.

Kirshner says all this while in town last week to present her so-called paper documentary at the International Festival of Authors. The 33-year-old explains that she became fixated with the idea of the four-part book - which took the actress and many collaborators to some of the most ravaged places in Chechnya, Myanmar, Juarez, Mexico, and Malawi - after 9/11.
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Mia on Causecast.org

Please visit Causecast.org to read Mia’s blog entries with even more information about ‘I Live Here’ including photos, trailers and also the new I Live Here Foundation that she has set up in order to help fund creative writing programs in the areas she and her partners have visited. If you would like to donate to the foundation, you can do so through Causecast.org or through the official I Live Here website.

Thank you to Ryan at causecast.org for making this post possible.

Please be advised that the below trailers for the book contain some disturbing images and should be viewed with caution.
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Mia article in Glamour - September 2008

There is a 2 page article in the September 2008 issue of Glamour magazine (Penelope Cruz on the cover) about Mia and her work on her book I Live Here. I picked it up yesterday and it’s a really great, though rather short, read and includes photos and artwork from the book. I will have scans available as soon as I can, though it may be a little while as I am having some issues with my scanner and I’m getting ready to move in a couple of weeks.

Thanks to Johanna for the heads up on this.

A little update

Sorry for the lack of updates lately. My personal life is super hectic right now and I’ve recently had to deal with some computer issues as well.

I updated the video archive earlier today with videos from Mia’s appearance in  “Road to Avonlea” as well as some clips from “The L Word” Seasons 4 and 5 and ‘Miss Conception’. Look for even more new clips to be added soon.