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Meet the author of the wonderful Brontë: The World Without, Jordi Mand!

Describe yourself in one sentence.
People are more important to me than anything else. 

What’s something unique about you or something that you like to do?
I used to be a competitive dancer when I was a kid. And my favourite kind of dance, hands down, was tap. It still is. I still tap and I still love it. 

What are some of your favourite plays?
That is very long and eclectic list but some of my favourites are: Shape Of A Girl (Joan MacLeod), Born Ready (Joseph Jomo Pierre), Gas Girls (Donna-Michelle St. Bernard), East Of Berlin (Hannah Moscovitch), I, Claudia (Kristen Thomson), "Master Harold"...and the Boys (Athol Fugard), August: Osage County (Tracy Letts), Blackbird (David Harrower), Noises Off (Michael Frayn), and The Winter's Tale (Shakespeare).

What’s something you’ve discovered during the pandemic?
I love food and I love TV shows about food. During the pandemic I discovered Top Chef. My sister-in-law had been recommending that I watch it for years. It took a global pandemic but I finally sat down to watch it and I was immediately hooked. Good thing there are 17 seasons of it because I flew through all of them (hey, it was a rough couple of months!).

What are you reading these days?
Well, further to my answer above I’m reading a book called Work Clean by Dan Charnas. It looks at the concept of mise en place, which is used by chefs all over the world, and articulates how the same principles can be applied to one’s life and one’s work. I’m a real process nerd. I read as much as I can on various ways of working (from athletes to doctors to artists from other time periods). I’m constantly looking at how I can refine my own process. So far, this book is really incredible. It’s the first time I’ve encountered something that shows how to steal various practices from the culinary world and make them work for you.  

What’s something that makes you laugh?
So many things! My daughter’s smile. My husband’s jokes. Recalling old stories with friends. Certain TV shows, movies, and plays. Sometimes laughing really hard makes me laugh even more. I try to laugh at myself as often as possible. Given everything that’s been going on in the world it feels more important than ever to be able to laugh at ourselves.

Learn more about Jordi:
Jordi Mand is a Toronto-based writer for theatre, TV, and film. Her plays include Between the Sheets, Caught, This Will Be Excellent, and Brontë: The World Without. Her work has been produced nationally and internationally and has been published by Playwrights Canada Press. She is a graduate of the Bell Media Prime TV Program at the Canadian Film Centre and the National Theatre School of Canada. Jordi is a writer on the fourth season of the hit CTV crime drama Cardinal and on the upcoming film adaptation of Harriet Alida Lye’s thriller The Honey Farm.