Getting Lit with Linda - The Canadian Literature Podcast

In this episode, Linda converses with Jenny Haysom (2.48) about her novel Keep (published by Anansi). Featuring three main characters, the narrative is driven by the conflict that emerges when Harriet, an elderly poet, is diagnosed with the onset of dementia and must face selling her house -- and the two home stagers, Eleanor and Jacob, tasked with emptying it of its contents. Both Eleanor and Jacob are drawn into Harriet's world and the questions around what we keep, what we throw away, and what we value and why. It becomes clear why Haysom refers to this Victorian-esque novel as "a ghost story without ghosts."

The discussion also turns toward Haysom's literary debut as a poet and her collection Dividing the Wayside (4.15, published by Palimpsest Press) and the difference between writing poetry and writing novels (4.32).

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A bilingual episode/un épisode bilingue. Linda opens with her delight about having won the Women in Podcasting Awards in Education - she effusively thanks her listeners!

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What kinds of books haunt us and why? In this episode, Linda considers Eden Robinson's Monkey Beach and Jessica Johns' Bad Cree, but ultimately picks a book that thoroughly haunted her - Michel Jean's Qimmik (published by Libre Expression, not yet translated into English). Author of Kukum (House of Anansi) and editor of Amun:A Gathering of Indigenous Voices, Jean addresses one of the legacies of a colonial past not frequently addressed. Set in Nunavik, the novel traverses two time periods--that are connected in ways that are completely unexpected and deeply moving.

Quels types de livres nous hantent et pourquoi ? Dans cet épisode, Linda choisit un livre qui l'a profondément hantée : Qimmik de Michel Jean (publié par Libre Expression, pas encore traduit en anglais). Auteur de Kukum (House of Anansi) et rédacteur en chef d'Amun:A Gathering of Indigenous Voices, Michel Jean aborde l'un des héritages d'un passé colonial qui n'est pas souvent traité. Situé au Nunavik, le roman traverse deux périodes qui sont reliées de façon tout à fait inattendue et profondément émouvante.

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Linda opens with a word of thanks to her listeners who voted--because she is now a Finalist for the Women in Podcasting Awards.

This episode features an interview, which was live at Word on the Street in Toronto, with the writer of Mi'kmaq and settler descent, who published a novel, The Berry Pickers and, most recently, her short story collection, Waiting for the Long Night Moon (both published by published by Random House). It is a joyful and animated conversation, with an audience that was warm and supportive.

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Linda speaks with Corinna Chong about her novel, Bad Land, published by Arsenal Pulp Press and long-listed for the Giller Prize. Chong, originally from Calgary, lives in Kelowna, B.C. where she teaches English and fine arts at Okanagan College. She published her first novel, Belinda's Rings, in 2013.

In her opening remarks, Linda explains why she sees the protagonist and main narrator, Regina, as … well, kind of “brat.” She's a fascinating, messy, and lovable character who has buried her life--and the secrets around that life--in the home in which she and her brother, Ricky, were raised ... until he shows up with his daughter, Jez, with a new secret of their own. The tensions that are produced open wide the secrets by the novel's end, revealing both the beauty and violence that have haunted Regina for years.

 Other sources of discussion or references include:

• Henry James’ What Maisie Knew (14.45)
• Aristotle (16:10)
• Nabokov, Lolita (18.30)
• Sinclair Ross, As For Me and My House (18.30; 19:30)
• Unreliable narrators (18:50)
• the geode (and archeology (25:25)

And a final reminder! Please vote for us in the Women's Podcasting Awards! Only a few days left!

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