From the big city to the Kootenays
Famed B.C. poet describes his 30-year journey from urban to rural life — challenges and all
Author Tom Wayman's new memoir is both a how-to and a how-not-to story.
In 1989, Wayman packed up his Vancouver life and headed to the West Kootenay region in search of a fresh start and a fresh perspective on a relationship. Now, 30-plus years later, Wayman says: “I don't think I'm much more squared away now as I was then. But I've had a good time, though.”
Part memoir and part guidebook project, The Road to Appledore or How I Went Back to the Land Without Ever Having Lived There in the First Place was inspired by not just his big move to Winlaw, but the increase in recent years of others packing up and pulling out of cities in search of a simpler — or at least a perceived simpler — life.
“There is a whole movement now for city people moving to the country, especially from B.C.'s Lower Mainland where they can sell their house and come out here and buy land, buy a house and still have a bag of gold,” said Wayman, the 2022 recipient of the George Woodcock Award for Lifetime Achievement in the literary arts. “But their expectations in coming here are it is going to be sort of city life with more scenery and, of course, it is not. It's a different culture here. People tend to recognize that and adapt to it, or they leave again.”
Wayman is one who adapted and has been able to build a life on his 10 acres (four hectares) east of the Slocan River. Despite what seems like endless issues, from trying to get water to removing snow and everything else in between, Wayman is still in love with the place.
“I think the driving force, in terms of writing the book was that I wanted to show an affection for a place,” said Wayman over the phone from his home. “An awful lot of what goes on in the media and the arts kind of undermines people's affection for where they live and what goes on where they live.
“Whereas, to me, it's still quite marvellous. Not just the physical beauty of the landscape, but also the kinds of civilization — if you can call it that — that we build here on this continent. For all its drawbacks and challenges, it's still a tremendous accomplishment, so I wanted to try and celebrate that.”
Wayman outlines the challenges of building a new life in how-to detail. While he's espousing the bountiful benefits of the area, he is pointing out the bumps that cover the rural life road.
“It's great. It's a wonderful place to live. But there are challenges here that are different from the challenges in the city,” said Wayman. “Maybe your car gets broken into in the city, but here you could wake up with an elk standing in the middle of your garden. What do you do?
“I don't want to discourage people from coming here, but it's not an effortless paradise. That is sometimes the attitude people have coming here.”
For Wayman, the prose/memoir style of writing was new to him. With a long career mostly writing poetry, the award-winning author and former teacher had never really put himself front-and-centre.
“With poetry, I'm confident. I know what I'm doing,” said Wayman, who has penned more than 20 poetry collections. “With prose, I am never confident I know what I'm doing. It makes it more enjoyable because it's more of a challenge. Not to insult poetry.”
A deeply detailed book that leaves no well undug or pile of firewood unstacked, The Road to Appledore is, at its heart, a love letter to rural life and making big choices.
“I hope (readers) take away an affection for the land we live in. For the province and what it can provide to people. And I hope they take away just a little better understanding of the differences between contemporary rural life and contemporary urban life. They are not the same thing. There's lots of overlap. And sometimes I can give the illusion that it is just the same but with more scenery in the country, but it's not. It leads to a different mindset, ultimately.”
Wayman will be back in the big city May 23 at the Vancouver Library's main branch for Tom Wayman and Fraser Union: The Music Our Stories Make.
The event is a combination of music and readings from Wayman, including poetry from his new collection How Can You Live Here, which also looks at life in the rural West Kootenays.