Brown & Dickson

Vanessa Brown & Jason Dickson

Vanessa Brown (photograph by Rob Nelson)

A freelance writer, editor and local historian, Vanessa Brown is the author of The Grand Old Lady: A History of Hotel London and London: 150 Cultural Moments (written with Jason) which was published by Biblioasis in 2017. She is also a murderino, and wants to remind you to stay sexy and don't get murdered! Her latest book, The Forest City Killer, was recently published by ECW Press.

Jason Dickson holding "Michael Bidner: Raw" published by McIntosh Gallery, 2019

Jason Dickson has been a used and antiquarian bookseller for the last twenty years. His book London: 150 Cultural Moments (written with Vanessa) was published by Biblioasis in 2017. Michael Bidner: Raw, about Canadian artist Michael Bidner, was published by the McIntosh Gallery in 2019. Three of his other books (spooky literary ghost stories) were published by Book*hug. A new selection of poetry about demons, birds and banks will be published by Baseline Press this Spring.

We are antiquarian booksellers and writers working from our little bookshop in London, Ontario. The texts we love are bizarre and charming: local history, true crime, the occult, fine literature, artist's books, erotica, counterculture, and Canadian art.

Brown & Dickson ONLINE SHOP

EDITORIAL TEAM

ONLINE FOUNDER
Tariq Hassan Gordon

COFOUNDERS & CURATORIAL ADVISORS
Jamelie Hassan & Ron Benner

ADVISORY CIRCLE
Samer Abdelnour, Marnie Fleming, Wyn Geleynse, Fern Helfand, S F Ho, Lorraine Klaasen, Judith Rodger, Ruth Skinner, Mary Lou and Dan Smoke, and Lucas Stenning

COORDINATING EDITORS
Tariq Hassan Gordon & Olivia Mossuto

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Blessy Augustine, Anahí González, Ira Kazi, Shelley Kopp, Ashar Mobeen & Michelle Wilson.

VIRTUAL TOUR
Andreas Buchwaldt

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OUR STORY

Artists Jamelie Hassan and Ron Benner and jazz musician Eric Stach founded the Embassy Cultural House (1983-1990) located in the restaurant portion of the Embassy Hotel at 732 Dundas Street in East London. In 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Embassy Cultural House was re-envisioned as a virtual artist-run space and website.

The Embassy Cultural House gratefully acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council and the London Arts Council through the City of London's Community Arts Investment Program.

The Embassy Cultural House is thankful for the mentorship program established by Western University's Visual Arts department and the continued support of the students and Faculty of Arts & Humanities.

Our Partners

E M B A S S Y C U L T U R A L H O U S E . C A

The Embassy Cultural House (ECH) is located on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabek, Haudenosaunee, Lūnaapéewak, and Chonnonton peoples, at the forks of Deshkan Ziibi (Antler River), an area subject to the Dish with One Spoon Covenant Wampum and other treaties, colonized as London, Ontario. The ECH strives to create meaningful relationships between the Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island and our contributors. The ECH honours the stewardship of the many Indigenous peoples who have resided on these lands since time immemorial.