Pre-pre-view: press conference doings

pre-pre-view: press conference essentials

The item of witty black clothing. This shirt, as worn by poet and translator Charles Leblanc, also speaks to living in a kinda-sorta bilingual province.

Apt, as Charles was at the presser to talk about the THIN AIR French events. Apt, as THIN AIR is one of two venues where the usually distinct French and English literary communities co-mingle (the other being the Manitoba Book Awards).

(This pic is sort of cheating, as I posted an image of Charles wearing the shirt in the hospitality suite last year. But, but...it is still compelling shirt. Which is why he wore it again and why I photographed it again.)

The books. Unlike sequins and feathers, books are weighty buggers & have a presence aside from their role as a square-shaped container for words.

These, of course, were meant to be a representative sample of books whose authors would be appearing at the festival. But they were really only books that McNally's currently has of authors that will be appearing at the festival, because some of those books aren't out yet.

And, given that McNally's likes their displays to be pretty, there was probably a few display-type-decisions that had more to do with contrast-y colours than literary heft.

(Here's a game for you. How many of the books in the pic can you pic-out?)

The free nibblies. Though I twittered that I was disdaining the mini-muffins (bah! mini-muffins!), there were other things on offer at this presser.

Small candied cinnamon buns. Squares that were actually triangles. Five carafes of hot beverages.

I made Michael Van Rooy, there as a representative author/giant, eat slowly for me. It was worth attending the presser just to boss him around.

Line of Inquiry: Pasha Malla

Pasha Malla has had multiple stories nominated for the Pushcart and Journey prizes, and has contributed to McSweeney’s, The Globe and Mail, Esquire, The Walrus, and CBC Radio’s Definitely Not the Opera.

His debut collection of short fiction, The Withdrawal Method (Anansi), has already generated critical attention. The Vancouver Sun calls his work “splendidly creative.” Matrix magazine calls it “disturbingly credible” and praises him for confronting “complex, irresolvable moral problems.”

Pasha Malla was born in St John’s NL, grew up in London ON, and until recently lived in Toronto.

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1) As a writer (i.e. someone whose artistic practice is predicated on time spent alone) how do you approach performance? What do you get out of it?

I have to say that I'd much rather just chat with people than read at them from my book. The best thing about festivals and readings is the chance to engage with folks -
whether they like my writing or not. A guy at a reading I did in June got up and attacked me for "writing about nothing" and I thought that was great. Now we email and I'm learning a lot from him - he's a Dachau survivor and war orphan, a really fascinating, inspiring guy. I wouldn't have had the opportunity to meet someone like that hiding in my apartment with my laptop.

2) What do you want people to know about The Withdrawal Method?

Well, it's been compared to stuff by Haruki Murakami, Barbara Gowdy, Neil Smith, Alice Munro, George Saunders, Jim Shepard, David Foster Wallace, and Rick Moody. So I guess if you like those writers, have a look at my book.

3) Will this your first time in Winnipeg? What have you heard?

Yep, first time. I've heard great things. A good friend of mine has lived all over the country and he's settled down in Winnipeg - he says it's his favourite place in Canada. I'm excited to visit. I'm coming early to spend some time exploring the city.

4) What are you reading right now? What are you writing right now?

I just read two books by Jean-Philippe Toussaint, Monsieur and Television, and they both blew my mind. Dalkey Archive is reissuing his first two novels (in English translations) in November and I can't wait. I'm also reading Brenda Shaughnessy's excellent new collection of poetry, Human Dark with Sugar, and, slowly, The Brothers Karamazov; my bedtime reading right now is Gang Leader for a Day, by Sudhir Venkatesh, a sociologist who spent a lot of time with gangs and crack dealers on the southside of Chicago. Next up: Elfriede Jelinek's The Piano Teacher and Voices from the Storm, a collection of first-person essays by Hurricane Katrina survivors.

I'm writing two novels (one is YA), a bunch of freelance stuff, and, in fits and starts, a humour book about Spider Solitaire with my friend Kevin. And emails! Always, always, lots of emails.

5) Tell me what it feels like to have your first book out in the world.

Good. Weird, also. I wrote so many of those stories 5 and 6 years ago it's hard to think of them as my own at this point. Ultimately, I'm proud of the book, but I guess part of the thing about being a writer is that you're always onto the next thing. And that's exciting. I've got a lot of energy for the things I'm working on now, and for projects beyond these ones, and hopefully that'll continue for a long time.

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Pasha Malla will be appearing at THIN AIR, Winnipeg International Writers Festival:

September 24 - Afternoon Book Chat, with Rebecca Rosenblum.
September 24 - Mainstage, with David Bergen, Nicole Markotic, Daria Salamon.