‘All my characters come from me’
Gayle Jennings asks, What is your objective in writing something so uncomfortable and yet so intuitively true? Do you believe you might raise awareness or even change human behavior? Or do you simply hold up the mirror? David Adams Richards replies, Gayle, I am just trying to write the truth to the best of my ability. I am not trying to change the world – I couldn’t, even if I wanted to. But still, people as good as Melon, Jack Forest, Sue Van Loon and John Delano live in this world. That is a great thing. I believe that in many ways, all my books deal with subjects that reveal light (and sometimes great light) through the dark. I believe John is heroic in his stand against forces that will always try to limit kindness and compassion. The trouble for John is that he is pitted against many who display a fashionable and trained narrative of benevolence, pretending to be altruistic to their own advantage. That is a difficult monster to war against, but it is a brave fight in the end.
Debra L. Wingfield asks, Do you have a personal connection with the Rwandan genocide that made you incorporate it into this story? If so, what is it? David Adams Richards replies, Debra, I create fiction—just as Michael Ondaatje wasn’t a Sapper when he wrote The English Patient or Guy Vanderhaeghe didn’t live in the Wild West in 1870. Still, I do think we as Canadians should recognize how much of a fantasy Rwanda seemed to be for people at the UN, and how our Canadian soldiers got so little help. The bravery of ordinary men and women has always awed me. Rwanda showed the terrible limits of the theoretical, the moral bankruptcy of schooled, arm’s length compassion, and the horror of identity politics. I don’t believe any crisis shows this more clearly. I guess the fact that my character John Delano objects to it is what, in part, ruins his career. Like Churchill objecting to the Munich accord, his stance makes Delano a greater man in the end.
Laura Wanamaker asks, Your stories are often drawn from historical events in New Brunswick. In what other ways has being from New Brunswick shaped your writing? David Adams Richards replies, I am not sure, Laura –being from New Brunswick is so much a part of me I would have to say everything about New Brunswick has shaped my writing, from my son and friends having to go out west to work, to my great love of hockey, to my respect for working men and women, to my ability to see the kind brilliance of the average soul.
Sandy Brown asks, How did you settle on the names for the characters? David Adams Richards replies, To tell the truth, Sandy, the names seem to settle on the individual characters; the names just seem to fit, if the character is strong enough. I do think a character’s name signifies something about them, about who they are, or even the land they came from. A name marks something one becomes in a subtle way, or grows into. If the character is strong enough, finding the name is easy and represents him or her in a mythic way. I suppose it is all part of the instinctive process of writing the novel. I have changed a name or two over the years, but not very often.
Stacy Somerville asks, Where do you get the inspiration for your characters, especially the children? David Adams Richards replies, Stacy, all my characters come from me. That might seem strange, but all of them have a bit of me in them. Of course I grew up in an area of the world with tremendous characters in it – and I knew a cross-section of humanity, from the very wealthy to the really poor, by the time I was 8 years old. That goes for the children I create as well. I have two children myself, grown men now, and a granddaughter. I know they have and will influence me.
Don Kilpatrick asks, Will there be a further novel featuring John Delano in his earlier years? David Adams Richards replies, Yes, Don, my next two novels have John in them – but at earlier stages of his life and career.