Cover of "Modern Whore" by Andrea Werhun and Nicole Bazuin, 2023 Heritage Toronto Book Award nominee. Cover designed by Nicole Bazuin and Lisa Jager.
Modern Whore
Authors: Andrea Werhun and Nicole Bazuin
Publisher: Strange Light, Penguin Random House Canada
A striking memoir by Andrea Werhun and Nicole Bazuin documents Andrea’s sex work career in lush photography and powerful words. A natural performer, she revelled in the opportunity to invent Mary Ann, her escort counterpart, and introduce her to men all over the city. She works, she learns, she writes it all down, and then, as per a signed document she handed to her Catholic mother in her early twenties, she quits. To become a stripper.
Andrea and Nicole revisit the idea of the modern whore, with the enhanced perspective of Andrea’s experience at the strip club. But Andrea doesn’t shy away from the serious side of sex work, either, exploring the risks sex workers take, and the rights our culture is constantly taking away from them.
This series of stories and portraits investigate the many ways we imagine—and mistake—the modern whore.
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Modern Whore
About the Authors:
Andrea Werhun is a Toronto writer, performer, and sex worker advocate. Her and Bazuin’s short film Last Night at the Strip Club premiered on CBC last year. She’s also written for publications including Playboy, Hazlitt, and more.
Nicole Bazuin is a Toronto film director and interdisciplinary artist. Nicole directed an award-winning short film adaptation of the book, titled Modern Whore (Official Selection, SXSW 2020). She created and directed the comedy art show This Art Works! (CBC), and the climate change documentary series Climate Talks With Kids (Bell TV). Nicole’s media artworks have been exhibited in the Art Gallery of Ontario and commissioned by festivals such as Nuit Blanche and Luminato. Nicole is the filmmaker behind the short documentary Last Night at the Strip Club, which looks at Andrea Werhun’s experience with working before and during the COVID-19 lockdown.
