Secrets of the finalists for the Giller Prize
Before Monday’s live announcement, hopefuls up for Canada’s biggest book prize reveal details from their work and the reality of their tour
It’s the event that Canadian book lovers wait for every year: the awarding of the Scotiabank Giller Prize and its massive $100,000 payday for the winner. It’s the kind of prize that can change a writer’s life. Here, ahead of the 26th annual edition of the show, the Star’s Deborah Dundas spoke to the finalists and found out some of their thoughts and a few of their secrets leading into the big night.
DAVID BEZMOZGIS
Nominated for:
His short-story collection “Immigrant City”
From: Toronto Publisher:
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
This is Bezmozgis’ third time being nominated; he was a finalist in 2014 for “The Betrayers” and in 2011 f or “The Free World.” The Star’s reviewer said the latest book showed that “his skills at creating perfect (and perfectly unsettling) worlds-within-worlds remain unparalleled.”
You’ve been, with the other writers, on a cross-country tour and to New York. What have the best and worst things been about that tour?
I think the best thing was actually all the writers spending time together. There was a real sense of collegiality and friendship. We also did two stops at local high schools, one in Ottawa and one in Winnipeg, speaking to high school students who expressed an interest in writing. I think as somebody who as a high school student had an interest in writing but didn’t really understand how books got made or what authors did or how any of it worked, thinking that we could do that (for) students and open the world to them a little bit, I found really valuable.
Are there any secret things in the novel that you put in to keep yourself amused?
There’s probably a lot of them, actually. Because some of these stories ... are derived from my own life, I drop all sorts of little things that are amusing to me or significant to me. In the first story the only name I don’t change is the name of my uncle, whose name is Alex, and whose greatest fears, I think at a certain point in his life, were identity theft and getting a bad deal. I hope, for the reader they ground the stories in detail ... but for me it’s also a time capsule for the future, to myself or to my family. People will be able to look back and see some aspects of the way we lived right now and who we were.
MEGAN GAIL COLES
Nominated for:
Her novel “Small Game Hunting at the Local Coward Gun Club”
From: Newfoundland
Publisher:
House of Anansi Press
This is Coles’ first Giller nomination. The Star’s reviewer said she “does conjure a remarkably hard and unforgiving world, where appetite along with an imbalance of power and outlooks create heartache, chronic pain and fleeting escapes.”
How would winning make a difference to you?
My trajectory as a writer, and for many emerging writers, especially individuals who write challenging political work, has been somewhat underfunded. It’s harder to secure financial resources when you’re talking about creating work that is not innately commercial or broad in nature. It would allow me the space to continue working ... but it also makes up for the years when I made far less than was necessary to sustain myself. I don’t know if this is the case for everyone but a lot of us in mid-career or emerging are playing a game of catch-up constantly. And so you kind of pay down the debt you accumulated during the creation phase. It makes you viable.
Are there any secret things in the novel that you put in to keep yourself amused?
When we were in the editorial process my editor, who is from Ontario, asked a number of times for me to clarify points. I understand what her inclination was but I was reluctant and ultimately I refused or chose to be steadfast because my primary audience was Newfoundlanders. That’s not to say that everyone else is not my audience, but I write for my place. When I say “skin boot” they know exactly what boot I’m talking about. And that makes them feel as if I made this thing for them. And the mainland reader or the reader in the U.K., the reader outside of that culture of origin can just Google it.
MICHAEL CRUMMEY
Nominated for: His novel “The Innocents”
From: Newfoundland
Publisher: Doubleday Canada He was a Giller finalist for “River Thieves” in 2001. The Star’s reviewer said this latest novel “never reads as excessive; its beauty is restrained, weighted and often heartbreaking.”
Michael Crummey was unavailable to talk to us in the week leading up to the prize because of an unexpected death in the family.
ALIX OHLIN
Nominated for:
Her novel “Dual Citizens”
From: Montreal and Victoria, B.C.
Publisher:
House of Anansi
She was a finalist for “Inside” in 2012. Of the main character Lark, the Star’s reviewer said, “under Ohlin’s unerring guidance she’s filled with remarkable observations.”
How did you find out about making the shortlist?
It was eight in the morning here and I was busy getting my son ready to go to school. My husband was actually the one paying attention to the announcement. He came downstairs to let me and our son know that “Dual Citizens” was on the list. And our son was like, “That’s great but I really need my Pokemon cards so we can get to school in time for me to trade them.” He didn’t care at all. It was a good way to keep me grounded in the moment.
Are there any secret things in the novel that you put in to keep yourself amused?
I think almost all of the novel is like that. My book has a lot of films in it; it’s like little valentines that I wrote to movies that have meant a lot to me. There’s one scene, and I won’t say which one, that includes a remark that was once made to me by a very obnoxious person. I put it in as a way of catharsizing myself and I put it into the scene and made it a bit comic and wrote it out of my life and into the book.
STEVEN PRICE
Nominated for:
His novel “Lampedusa”
From: Victoria Publisher: McClelland & Stewart
His 2016 book “By Gaslight” was also longlisted, but this is his first time as a finalist. The Star’s reviewer said “Price’s fictional reimagining of Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa’s life is powerful and vital.”
There’s been a lot said about prize culture and how it shapes work in this country. What role do prizes play, do you think?
I do think we have this strange prize culture in Canada where the publicity that surrounds a book is often tied to whether it lands — or fails to land — on a prize list. I think that’s more of a problem with other aspects of a healthy literary culture I think that are struggling. It would be wonderful if we had a much fuller reviewing culture. We do have some wonderful things in Canada that are not replicated elsewhere like our festival season ... you end up with this really vibrant critical mass of literary events and readers getting out and encountering new books. It’s marvellous.
There are so many exquisite novels and books of short stories and collections of novels that, because they don’t show up on a prize list, they sort of slip out of the conversation and disappear. It’s such a shame. And it feels very unjust.
Are there any secret things in the novel that you put in to keep yourself amused?
Yes! In every novel my best friend, who I’ve known for decades, and who lives here, I put his name in a different context as an amusing aside. Maybe I’ll leave (his name) unspoken. But he finds it amusing to find himself.
IAN WILLIAMS
Nominated for: His novel “Reproduction”
From: Brampton and British Columbia
Publisher: Random House Canada Williams has previously been shortlisted for the Griffin prize for his poetry; this is his debut novel, and the Star’s reviewer found that at its best, it “serves as a literary representation of the various intersections of culture, race, and gender in contemporary Canada, it is a mirror with graffiti/social commentary
both humourous and powerful scrawled all over it.”
What’s been the best and worst thing about the cross-country tour?
The best thing has been the other writers. It’s also great to see different cities in Canada come out and be excited about books, to go to Winnipeg and Vancouver or Toronto, and see just how books connect the whole country. The worst thing has been managing my regular work commitments. I’m teaching a big survey class of 170 students (at UBC); it’s an intro to poetry class and this might be the only poetry class they take (at university) — they’re biology students and engineering students and psych students and so forth. So I want to
really make sure they love poetry by the time they leave university.
Are there any secret things in the novel that you put in to keep yourself amused?
Where is Felicia from? That’s the question. Nobody can really deduce it. But I love books that have a bit of mystery at their heart. I finished reading a book yesterday, “My Year of Rest and Relaxation.” Even when you step away from the book you feel there’s so much that you don’t know about the writer. How’s she going to go on into the world? What is going to happen next? .