Cassie: What does the Ottawa literary scene mean to you, and what do you think you mean to it?rob: It's a difficult thing to get a proper perspective on one's own meaning. Still, I grew up in a farming community, and see elements of approaching the literary community in the same way. As Ondaatje paraphrased Spicer, the poems can no longer live alone than we can. The Ottawa community is one that keeps me sane and motivated. I feel truly lucky to live in such a varied, rich and supportive community that includes Amanda and Charles Earl and their Bywords.ca (and AngelHousePress and experiment-o), Monty Reid, Stephen Brockwell, Sandra Ridley, Gwendolyn Guth, Christine McNair and her cartywheel, Cameron Anstee and his Apt. 9 Press, David O'Meara and his Plan 99 Reading Series, Michael Blouin, the ottawa international writers festival, Ben Ladouceur, Karen Massey, Anne Le Dressay, Max Middle and his AB Series, Rod Pederson and The TREE Reading Series, Shane Rhodes, Marilyn Irwin, Elizabeth Hay, William Hawkins, Elisabeth Harvor, Pearl Pirie, The Dusty Owl Reading Series, John Metcalf, the late John Lavery and John Newlove, etcetera. There's a hell of a lot of worthy activity in this little town.
Much of my activity as an editor/publisher/events organizer over the past twenty years has been attempts to encourage, helping various individuals develop and continue; there are all sorts of examples of such running through above/ground press, The Factory Reading Series, ottawater and Chaudiere Books.
Cassie: What/who motivated you to start writing, and what/who continues to motivate you?
rob: For some time now, the motivation has been the work itself. I remember a quote from jwcurry, something he said a few years ago, that his main goal was to “remain interested.” It sounds simple, but it can sometimes be the hardest and most important part of any artist continuing to produce work.
My first poem was produced in grade two, for a pretty blonde girl in my class. I suppose, in certain ways, the motivations haven't changed much. I hear she's now married with three children, and living in Lethbridge, Alberta.
Cassie: You're an industrious writer. You usually publish several works a year, more than most writers. Can you explain your model for publishing?
rob: I don't really have any specific model, but early models included George Bowering, Margaret Atwood, bpNichol and John Newlove. I simply write, navigating and exploring as best I can..
Cassie: What is your most powerful memory?
rob: Various memories exist of being very small on the farm, including toddler memories. Escaping the front verandah, for example, easing myself through the slats on the side to go around the baby gate and down the steps. My mother had a number of stories of where she finally found me, after each escape. Who wants to be trapped on a verandah when there's so much open space, on such a nice day?
A few years ago, my mother and I had a conversation about some memories I had of us visiting her mother's cabin on a lake, somewhere. Apparently this shocked my mother, since the cabin (somewhere in the Gatineau Hills) was sold before I was two-and-a-half. Yet, memories remain.
Cassie: You have two new books coming out, A (short) history of l. (BuschekBooks, 2011) and grief notes: (BlazeVOX [books], 2011). Tell us about them. What are the unique traits of these collections and how are they different from previous collections?
rob: A (short) history of l., a collection of love poems, was originally composed as a sequel to wild horses. There is a lyrical tightness, a tautness, to the lines I'm quite pleased with; lines you could bounce a quarter off. There's a third in the trilogy, “wooden hearts,” that I'm still working to find a home for. grief notes: is a long poem that works much of the same subject matter and takes a far darker turn.
Cassie: What are you currently working on?
rob: I'm currently working to complete a novel, a collection of short stories and a poetry collection, as well as a number of other literary projects, some of which go back years. “The Last Good Year” is a creative non-fiction memoir I've been working on for over a year, since my mother died, and wouldn't mind finishing at some point, although it could be another year at least.
Of course, too, I'm working on the eighth issue of the Ottawa poetry pdf annual, ottawater, to release online in January, various above/ground press chapbooks by Fenn Stewart, Shannon Maguire, Camille Martin, Ken Norris, derek beaulieu and kemeny babineau, and the fall 2011 edition of the ottawa small press book fair, happening November 5. Just last night, as well, we had another meeting for the second edition of our annual poetry festival, VERSeFest, scheduled for the beginning of March.
The “wild horses” trilogy is long behind me. With the massive move recently, there are a number of projects that I simply haven't picked up again for months, but am hoping to return to, soon. The current poetry manuscript, tentatively titled “A halt, which is empty,” is a sequence of sequences, turning brevity around local history and this new apartment (and relatively new relationship) I am co-habitating.
Cassie: How do you think you have changed as a writer since the publication of your first book?
rob: That's a pretty good question. I think I'm far less in a hurry than I once was. I certainly have far more confidence, and take both success and failure far less personally (although still a little). I would like to think that after originally managing and mangling some basic forms, I've gone off in a bunch of interesting directions with some of it. I have tried to make each publication unique, attempting something different with the writing, something that hadn't previously seen.
I am trying to write the books I'd like to read, the ones I don't already see.
Cassie: You started a blog in 2003 – what can you tell us about its importance to you and the Canadian literary scene?
rob: I'm always amazed at the amount of traffic I receive on the site, and the responses I get from readers all over the world. I originally started such after writing a column for four-and-a-half years for our local weekly, The Ottawa X-Press. There was something compelling about reviewing three titles a week for so long, especially once I realized that I was often not only the first review for a particular title, but the only. It quickly felt as though it was necessary work, and something I wanted to continue, once the paper decided to go another way. I didn't want to spend 80% of my work on a review trying to place it in a journal or newspaper, only to have it appear months, or in some instances, years later. I wanted a review to be the news that was news, so to speak, and the blog allows for that. There is so much work that never gets discussed, or is discussed foolishly, without proper thought or consideration, and often with far too much agenda on the part of the reviewer.
It's a strange feeling to realize I've reviewed every title by a particular author, or that (as a couple of writers have told me), I'm the only review that “gets” their book. It's a huge compliment. I understand the mechanics of writing far better through my years of reviewing (a practice that has since developed into longer essays). It feeds directly into my own practice as an ongoing education into structure, form and the line. Why wouldn't any author clamour for the same?
I wonder why so few bother to review, and with venues for reviews disappearing over the past twenty years, I have no interest in being the only reviewer left. Unrelated to the fact that my own books rarely seem to get discussed.
Cassie: Wild Horses was written during your time as a writer in residence at the University of Alberta. What about your time in Alberta (or at U of A) influenced this collection and What did your time in Alberta teach you?
rob: My time in Alberta taught me that I didn't have to be the be-all and end-all for various Ottawa activities. I was allowed to do other things. My time in Alberta also forced me to re-think a number of paths I'd been following for some time, personally and professionally, a number of which I've changed, a number I've tweaked, and various I've returned to, with a better comprehension of what I'm doing and exactly why.
Cassie: What advice would you give any young writers/small press editors?
rob: It's pretty basic—read as much as possible, write as much as possible. Allow yourself to be ruthless as a self-editor, but only once the first draft has emerged. Send everywhere, but only after much research. It's foolish to send 200-page novel manuscripts to publishers who only produce 20-page poetry chapbooks (for example). Treat your reader, and potential editors/publishers of your work with respect.
Read the works of your contemporaries. Trade, if you can. Go to readings, including but not exlusively, open mikes. Know that if you are truly interested in writing, you should be interested in writing by folk who aren't you. And if you won't support others' works, why should they support yours? I've seen too many over the years appear and fade, despite some interesting work, through realizing their self-serving attitudes aren't effective.
And write reviews, dammit. It's a great way to learn about the craft (and for struggling authors to receive free books), but essential to begin with questions such as “what is the author doing, and how well are they doing it?” as opposed to “do I like this?” Opinion isn't critique; it is only opinion.
Cassie: What is the biggest struggle that you come across with your writing?
rob: Time, money. Comprehension. Keeping away from replicating my own work or other's. Sheer faith in the entire process.
Cassie: What thought(s) can you leave us with?
rob: Not sure. These days I'm thinking about fiction, including new novels by Helen Oyeyemi and Dany Laferrière, and about short short poems through works by Sarah Mangold, Pearl Pirie and Rusty Morrison.
I'm also, currently, ruminating on a line by British novelist Helen Oyeyemi, from an article she wrote for The Guardian: “What can I tell you about the behaviour of cities?”
***
Cassie Leigh is a writer and co-founder/co-editor of the soon to be unveiled Irregular Artifact Press. Cassie's short fiction has been published in lapse and looking for trees. She is the two-time winner of the Eleanor Abram Prize for Fiction (2010 & 2011). Cassie was also co-writer for the short film "Apollo Boy" which won People's Choice at the Render This Film Festival.
rob mclennan:
Born in Ottawa, Canada’s glorious capital city, rob mclennan currently lives in Ottawa. The author of more than twenty trade books of poetry, fiction and non-fiction, his most recent titles are the poetry collections A (short) history of l. (BuschekBooks, 2011), grief notes: (BlazeVOX [books], 2011), Glengarry (Talonbooks, 2011), kate street (Moira, 2011) and 52 flowers (or, a perth edge) (Obvious Epiphanies, 2010), and a second novel, missing persons (2009). An editor and publisher, he runs above/ground press, Chaudiere Books (with Jennifer Mulligan), The Garneau Review (ottwater.com/garneaurevie
1 comments:
Reading this interview has brought me somewhat up to date on some of rob's activities. I left Ottawa two years ago and now live in Brockville. I must say that I miss all my friends there and the Ottawa writing scene. The writing communities across Canada have gained much from rob's leadership, his support and encouragement of writers and his publications. In the future rob will receive recognition in may forms from governments, organizations and institutions representing the people.
Post a Comment