On July 23rd I launched the 12th
Joanne Kilbourn novel, The Nesting Dolls, at an event called LOVE,
Saskatchewan 2010 at Harbourfront in Toronto. To celebrate, The National
Post invited me to submit a guest column.
Here it is.
* * *
The title ‘LOVE, Saskatchewan 2010’
has the bounce and fizz appropriate to a summer celebration of Canada’s
easiest-to-draw province. That said, a phrase that juxtaposes the words
“LOVE” and “Saskatchewan” sets the teeth of our province’s writers on
edge. We know that at some point in any interview we give, we’ll be asked
“If you’re any good, why are you still in Saskatchewan?”
Saying that you live in this province
because you love it will brand you as a hopelessly hay-chewing stubble jumper
whose interview should be truncated immediately if not sooner. Here are some
answers that should buy you enough interview time to at least mention the title
of your book.
1. Saskatchewan’s
landscape is a powerful motivator. A scholarly book a few years back
suggested that in a world where the landscape is horizontal (read ‘flat’) and
human beings are vertical, we are driven to write (a) because we’re terrified
at being the tallest thing around and hence a target for the gods or (b)
because we’re thrilled at being the tallest thing around and hence clearly the
gods’ darlings.
2. Saskatchewan editors are
famous for being both excellent and kind. Like all writers, our
province’s writers embrace the cliché that editors are generals who comes down
from the hills after the battle is over to shoot the survivors. But we
know that, beginning with Caroline Heath, editor-in-chief of Grain and founder
of Fifth House, Saskatchewan has been blessed with editors who shoot only when
it is absolutely necessary and then with hearts full of sorrow for the pain
they are about to inflict. Saskatchewan writers appreciate that.
3. The logistics of life are
simpler here. When I get ‘the works’ at Holt Renfrew in Toronto – a
luxury I am able to afford only because my daughter’s friend, Michael, a
cutting-edge stylist at Holts (hair pun #1) never forgets that his roots are in
Stockholm, Saskatchewan (hair pun#2)–I dedicate the entire morning to choosing
an outfit that’s Holts-worthy, figuring out the subway route to Holts from
wherever I’m staying and afterwards finding a place to have lunch that’s worthy
of my hair. Here in Regina, it takes 10 minutes for me to brush my
teeth, pull on my jeans and walk to Chantal, the stylist at Head to Toe.
With an early appointment, I can leave looking as good as I’m going to ever
going to look in time to hear my oldest grand-daughter play her clarinet solo
at the spring recital, pick up some groceries and still have time to walk the
dogs and work on a chapter before lunch.
4. Necessity truly is the mother of
invention. Whatever you’ve heard about Saskatchewan winters is true, but
multiply the horror factor of 10. When you’re heading into the
second month of minus 40 temperatures and the wheels on your car are square and
the streets are either (a) impassable because of snow or (b) impassable because
of sheer ice, it’s wise to retreat to the basement and curl up with a warm
computer. You’re not missing anything. Your friends haven’t been good
company since Halloween and it’s too cold to have an affair. Stick with
your manuscript.
5. In a province whose
population is slightly over 1,000,000 the concept of 6 degrees of separation is
ludicrous. In Saskatchewan 2 degrees of separation is the norm. Everybody knows
everything about everyone, and ours is a story-telling culture. Research
in Saskatchewan means buying a guy a beer and listening.
6. Any province that can nurture writers as diverse and
brilliant as Lorna Crozier, Guy Vanderhaeghe, Maggie Siggins, Sandra Birdsell ,
Louise Halfe, Yann Martel, W.O. Mitchell, Sharon Butala, Robert Calder, Anthony
Bidulka, Gary Hyland, Randy Lundy, Trevor Herriott, David Carpenter, Maria
Campbell, Sinclair Ross, Robert Currie, Dianne Warren, Suzanne North, Jo
Bannantyne-Cugnet, Connie Gault, Alison Lohans and Lois Simmie has magic in its
ecosystem, and even bad writers are smart enough to know that it’s just plain
dumb to mess with magic.
Originally published in The National Post – “Afterword, Guest Editors” 2010/07/21