Saleema Nawaz's Blog, page 8

looking forward

So today is the day I start thinking about the fall. I've updated the "Events" tab above, but  here's everything in handy list form, which right now is making me equal parts nervous and excited. It's almost time to start thinking about what to read, what to say, and ironing dresses. If you live in Guelph, Toronto, Kingston, Victoria, or Vancouver, I really hope you'll come say hi!







SEPTEMBER








Eden Mills Writers' Festival








Readings at the Mill



Sun. Sept. 15 12:30 p.m.



with Grace o'Connell and Iain Reid







Toronto Public Library








Author reading: Saleema Nawaz on  Bone and Bread



Fri. Sept. 27 2 p.m.



Deer Park program room







Kingston WritersFest








"Writing through Race"



Sat. Sept. 28 1:30 p.m.



with Wayne Grady



Moderated by Barbara Bell










OCTOBER




Victoria Writers Festival




Sat. Oct. 19 7:30 p.m.

with Angie Abdou, Annabel Lyon, Sara Peters, and Jay Ruzesky.

Hosted by Lee Henderson



The Vancouver Writers Fest




"All in the Family"

Fri. Oct. 25 10-11:30 a.m. 

with Dede Crane, Andrew Kaufman, and Mary Swan

Hosted by Angie Abdou




"Corner Stories"

Sat. Oct. 26 2 p.m.

with Anthony De Sa, Wayne Johnston, and Maria Semple

Hosted by Aislinn Hunter




"Celebrating 25 Years of Journey"

Sun. Oct. 27 1:30 p.m.

with Theodora Armstrong, Douglas Glover, and Shaena Lambert

Hosted by Timothy Taylor

the summer that was

Well, the new school year began unpromisingly this morning with me smashing the coffee carafe in the sink. (Sadly, the coordination required to fill the coffee carafe without smashing 100% dependent upon the consumption of coffee yet-to-be-brewed.)



Maybe I haven't yet let go of the summer that was. Maybe tomorrow.






 wildflowers






 special rocks








 country fair








 bliss at the petting zoo





 tea at the ladies' auxiliary





  the lake




Thinking about the next three months can start...tomorrow.

last day of August

I’m not sure what it is... writing an email or a blog post feels inordinately difficult these days.






The summer has felt a little too quiet and inward, a little
bit like I’ve been spinning my wheels on the writing front. I started working
on a story that wasn’t working, then kept working it to try and finish a draft,
convinced throughout that it wasn’t working…but that maybe I could go back and
fix it?  And sometimes it does happen
that things you aren’t sure about turn out later to be okay.  But not so in this case.





But the setting was beautiful, even if the writing was not.






        
    























Since I've been back in the city, though, things have been better. Old works-in-progress have been looked at, and I've taken heart from how much I like them. I've also been trying less hard to make the summer about work...and make it more about summer, with reasonable success. And there's still a couple of days left...

cover girl, take two

Photo by Terry Byrnes

 
I'm really thrilled to be featured on the cover on the latest issue of the Montreal Review of Books! You can read the full profile and review here. I'm so grateful for the prominent coverage of the book, as well as for the thoughtful review and interesting chat with fellow writer Ami Sands Brodoff. Not all interviews are created equal, and it is always a pleasure to speak with someone who is a careful reader...and who isn't afraid to ask real questions.

A writer to watch!

It made my Canada Day to be named one of CBC Books' 2013 Writers to Watch!  Along with a lot of writers whose books are in my TBR pile.



You can click through the full list here. 



For another amazing list, check out Amanda Leduc's Up-and-Comers on her (lovely!) blog . This is a update on a group of writers she profiled a year ago...although if you are a writer be warned: it may make you feel insecure and unproductive or (better yet) inspired to to work harder.



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I started this post over three weeks ago now. Travel and vacation has kept me away from the internet a little more than I'd like. 



To celebrate our anniversary, D and I went on a weekend trip to Franconia Notch State Park, where we saw bears (in the backyard of our B&B!), hiked a gorge, had some amazing pizza (jalapeno-cream-cheese-stuffed crust....YUM), backed some plastic duckies in the town Lions' Club annual duck race fundraiser, caught the 4th of July "Home Day" parade, swam in the lake, visited Frost Place on Frost Day, and fulfilled a long-time yearning (er, of mine) to go to a drive-in movie, something I haven't done in almost twenty years. I am going to suggest you peruse the snack bar menu of the Northern Nights Drive-In because it is American thing of beauty. We took full advantage with chocolate milkshakes, cheeseburgers, chicken fingers...and even a meatball sub. When in New Hampshire... 






Pickup trucks are de rigeur at the drive-in






Small town drive-in





The Frost Place, one of Robert Frost's former homes






Walking the trails behind the Frost Place




Hilarious scrambling at the end of the duck race



We topped it off with an amazing meal at Manoir Hovey in North Hatley on way home. It was the kind of meal I can barely describe because it was so delicious and delightfully detailed on the menu.  Fine dining menus are a complex conceptual/literary/culinary art form, don't you think? Basically (in a prosaic, incomplete summary that does little justice to the meal), I had asparagus soup, halibut, cheese risotto, a bunch of amazing chanterelles (pilfered from D), and notably, as a pre-dessert, some apple-tarragon sorbet. Notable not only for the delicate and (at least to me) surprising combination of flavours, but also just for the concept of a pre-dessert, which strikes me as a useful one that might have almost as much mileage in it as second breakfast.  



A week after our return, we came back out to the country for a working vacation which has included lots of swimming (initially, during the heat wave), reading, writing, and napping. Just a few days left, but I hope to try and squeeze in the time to finish a second story...

chalk paint and summer storms

This blog has been quiet of late, due partially to a (very) little bit of writing (hurray!) and idea-hatching and a vow to spend a little more time relaxing and being social.  Also, I've had two four-day weekends in a row, both of which I spent mostly away from the computer.  




I've lost track of most of what I was going to write about here, although one notable standout was almost getting hit by lightning last weekend.  We were out on our back porch, moving a painting project out of the way of a sudden impending downpour, and lightning struck the transformer on the closest pole to our apartment...less than 10 meters away.  It was like a bomb going off: a huge flash, sparks, smoke, and it felt like everything was shaking.  My husband's ears were still ringing hours later.  (He was closer.)  We lost power, but we went to a movie, and by the time we came back, it had been restored.  It was also a real neighbourhood occurance, as everyone milled around once the rain let up a bit and the scariest part of the storm had passed, to say, "Did you see that??"  




The painting project in question has also taken up a fair bit of time.  Here is a "Before" picture:






 A photo of our bargain hutch from the Kijiji listing ($80!)




A few weekends ago, we went on a quest to Pointe Claire to buy this special chalk paint that doesn't require any stripping or sanding before application.  (Just a coat of wax afterwards.)  I'm really happy with how it worked out...I only wish I had bought more paint because there are so many things I'd like to update!




We started with something small...a random wooden star decoration that I've had forever:










 The paint and the star.

(Also, if you look in the top right of the photo, you can see the

 I Heart Cheese graffiti tagger has struck in our alleyway. I much 

prefer "I Heart Cheese" to fellow tagger "Cobra Cock".)





Random blue star ready to be deployed.




Then on to something bigger...We started the hutch last weekend and finished it up last night.  The weather (perpetual intermittent rain) has made things difficult!  My husband did more of the painting, but we both did the waxing and the buffing.






D.fixing the cabinet door closing mechanism.




Finding enough room to paint on the deck was a bit of a jigsaw among the few remaining bins and boxes of smoky things we're still hoping to clean.










 I probably wasted too much of the purple accent paint inside the drawers. 




It turned out not to suit the spot we'd planned to put it, but we found an even better spot on the other side of the room.






Finished hutch!  I'm really happy with how it turned out.

(Though it needs to be levelled off to compensate for 

our sloping floor, and we still need to replace a pane 

of glass. I'd like to change the lower knobs eventually, too.)

We have a few more budget pieces we're hoping to paint, if the weather and our patience cooperates.  It's almost unbelievable that it's already July and it feels like the summer has barely started. 



On a non-chalk-paint front, some nice things have been happening with the book lately, too, but I think that will be a separate post...

Winnipeg moments

I feel like there’s more to write about than this Winnipeg trip, but what I want to write about is less of any actual thing and more about that expectant, spring-y feeling of possibility that seems to be in the air right now…in spite of Montreal’s continuing iffy weather.  Maybe I just feel that way because I’ve come to the end of a long string of public writerly responsibilities (which are really wonderful to have, but which weigh on me heavily), and I feel like I might be able to get back to some happy medium of actual writing and seeing friends, neither of which seems to have happened very much in weeks and weeks.  In other words: hurray!  It truly does feel like school is out, and me with it.  Maybe that’s really all there is to say about it, so… done!

This past weekend, I went to Winnipeg to give a reading at McNally Robinson as part of the Thin Air Winnipeg International Writers’ Festival. I view this trip as a landmark in that it is probably the first trip in my entire life where I did not overly stress out about packing for it in advance.  (Yes, it’s only a weekend trip, but that hasn’t stopped me from insane packing stress in the past.)  I spent almost no time packing and my suitcase was even really light (especially for me)….until this happened:








A fundraising book sale for the Thin Air festival...can't beat those prices!









My friend K enabling me.  Her hubby A. carried their adorable baby 

while my books got wheeled over to the hotel.

I know my husband and I need to go through and prune our collection…and I know we just paid a back-breaking sum to clean the ones we have, but I couldn’t help myself.  This was actually the restrained pile because as I was browsing I noticed a bunch of books (mostly CanLit) that I’ve purchased over the years and STILL haven’t read.  With my selections this time I tried to take into consideration a) what I will actually read  and b) what is not likely to be available at the university library (hence the inclusion of more than a few mysteries/thrillers/YA books).  Unfortunately, I was so excited about my purchases that I actually managed a faux-pas of plugging the used book sale while at the bookstore for my reading (doh!!)  But in my experience, book lovers aren't deterred from buying new books by the prospect of buying used books at some point later, so I hope no harm was done.

Thanks to some very accommodating friends, I was able to pre-schedule seven separate hang-outs over the course of the weekend, along with the planned bookstore reading. I saw new babies, new houses, and shared a cup of bacon.  I had the most delicious homemade brunch in St-Boniface, a wonderful salad at Prairie Ink, and gin and tonics in Wolseley.  I dished with poets, fiction writers, graphic novelists, and above all, loved all the low-key hanging out and catching up with friends. I miss you, Winnipeggers!  So nice to see you all. The reading itself went well, I think, and at least was not entirely populated by people I know.  Most importantly, there were people there (never a guarantee!).  Thank you so much to everyone who showed up!!









Check out this amazing display!!! McNally Robinson is the best.







Me and the indefatigable G.M.B. Chomichuk, just before the reading.






Before the reading, I had a nice dinner and chat with fellow Banff alumnus and brilliant novelist (and reviewer, as previously blogged here) Joan Thomas, whom I'm sorry I didn't get a picture with because she was looking lovely and so summery.  On the other hand, it gives me an excuse to post this photo instead, from a few years back, that I don't think I ever blogged:






Hanging out in the Rideau Hall bathrooms

 at the Governor General's Literary Awards (2009?) 




The few parts I’ve been reading from Bone and Bread at different events didn’t seem to be quite long enough for the time I needed to fill, so I decided to read a section that I haven't read aloud in ages.

I last read it at the QWF mentorship reading many moons ago, and I remember hearing my voices high, tight, and probably near-hysterical sounding.  Definitely my worst reading ever.   For some reason,
the section felt so strange and raw and interior, and I could sense it
wasn’t connecting with anyone in the audience.  I think it’s possible the readings or some selections of them were going to be broadcast on the radio, but I’m sure they wouldn’t have used mine.                     


So I
was happy I decided (at the very last minute…while standing at the podium!)
to read that part and kind of own it, for lack of a better term.  It might not have been the most brilliant delivery in the world, but it wasn't awful, which was the previous baseline.  I don’t think the passage
has changed at all (if so, only very slightly) in the intervening years,
but I’ve changed, and the way I was able to read it in front of an
audience has changed, and that makes me really happy.  



The next three photos below all courtesy of my friend Greg Chomichuk (you can follow him on Instagram here):








 Me in conversation with the lovely Charlene Diehl, 

the warm heart at the centre of Thin Air







 Signing stock at McNally Robinson


After the reading, I went out with some friends, most of whom used to be part of a writing group I was in that grew out of a class with Dennis Cooley at the University of Manitoba.  At least four people from our class have now published books (some more than one), and I expect that list to grow in years to come. 














Writers group alumni! (Can Lit quiz: can you spot the 

experimental Canadian poet and critic?)


All in all, it was the perfect trip (including being bumped up to first class on the way in!!) except for a small hiccup in calling a cab to pick me up from the Neighbourhood Bookstore and Cafe, which was so neighbourhoody it didn't appear to have a street address! The guy who was working asked me to check my receipt and then ran outside to look, to no avail. And apparently if you only provide an intersection, the taxi company doesn't actually dispatch you a cab...although they don't tell you that until you call back fifteen minutes later after being eaten alive by mosquitos and getting anxious about missing your flight.  








Even the employee couldn't figure out where it was.






A la prochaine, Winnipeg!

The Walrus Summer Reading Issue

Have you gotten your copy of the new issue of the Walrus yet?



I’d already noted the gorgeous cover when people were tweeting about it online. (I've never outgrown my childhood love of infinite regress pictures either...or whatever they're called.)  And I was excited to find out who the six promising new Canadian writers were.






One of my remarkable husband’s remarkable poems is in here.



Well, it turns out I already know one of them --- my husband!  Exciting new Canadian writer Derek Webster. You might say I'm not the most objective reader in this case, but I think his poetry is amazing.

Get the new issue of the Walrus and check it out!

Epic Sunday and other randomness

On Sunday morning I had a photo shoot with Terry Byrnes, which felt like a rite of passage for a Quebec writer.  (If you're not familiar with his work, you can read a little about it here.) It was so nice to meet him at last, and I’m very curious to see the results!

On Sunday afternoon, we officially moved over to our new apartment (i.e. slept over there), even though things are in shambles and we’re still missing a lot of important everyday items (curtains, coffee maker...). But I'm ecstatic, anyway. 
 

Then, on Sunday night, I had such a fun talk with a book club in Toronto.  Sadly, the connection wasn’t good enough to sustain a Skype chat (though we got a brief glimpse of each other!), so we chatted on the phone.  Thanks so much to those generous readers for inviting me in!  I loved hearing their smart insights into the novel, as well as other books their club has enjoyed over the years (note to self: read Colum McCann).  If only the snacks could have beamed through the phone, too...

I view this as major progress, by the way, that a day with two such semi-public-writer engagements didn’t totally undermine half of my week with anxiety leading up to either one.

In other bookish news, I also recently recorded an excerpt of Bone & Bread for Cityline, which you can listen to on their website here.  It’s about five minutes of me reading from the first chapter.   

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Last night I went to my first sewing class (led by the costume designer in my knitting group, mentioned before here).  I was more than a little afraid that I would be the worst one in the class (flashbacks of grade seven and grade eight home ec class!) and attending has done very little to allay those fears.  But I’m trying to hold on to some shred of misplaced confidence after sewing all those wedding banners last summer.  It is a little unfortunate, however, that accurate tracing and cutting in a straight line are among my two worst skills.





 Tracing my skirt-to-be



Other randomness:





Some pink corduroy pants I keep trying to get rid of somehow keep coming back into my life.  They’ve been given a leg up by the fire (they were in a bag in the car, and therefore smoke-free) and the unseasonably cold weather. Someone send me the strength to just stop wearing them.



I’ve been sleeping on a makeshift pillow composed of a pillowcase, a blanket, two sweatshirts, a zip-up fleece, and a towel.  I’ve finally smooshed it into exactly the right shape to be able to procrastinate on pillow purchasing for another week.



I’m desperate to sit down and read something, but these days are so busy it’s impossible to justify.  Even my lunch hour has its own list of errands.



I’ve been dreaming prolifically at our new apartment.  I’ve had more vivid dreams in the past four nights than I’ve had in as many months.

Bone & Bread is a Cityline Book Club pick!

I was really thrilled to find out that Bone & Bread is the latest Cityline Book Club pick! It's a six-week online book club, which is a relatively new feature on the show's website.  The first book they picked was Will Ferguson's Giller-winner 419, and it seemed to generate lots of interesting discussion.  You can win a copy of Bone & Bread by commenting here with your last great read.  



Speaking of book clubs, I'm Skyping in to my first book club on Sunday night and I'm nervous but excited. I really hope it turns out to be light and fun and interesting rather than awkward and intrusive.  I've never succesfully managed to be a member of a book club myself (as soon as I "have" to read something, I suddenly don't want to), but I can imagine that having the person who wrote the book turn up in one's midst could prove to be uncomfortable...as though you suddenly have to ask an insightful question, or pretend you actually liked it when you didn't, or say, actually read it all the way to the end instead of blowing it off to see the latest Star Trek movie (which, incidentally, was pretty enjoyable).  



But I think it will be fun.



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The unpacking, cleaning, and other wrangling of our possessions continues, albeit it at a slower pace that I would prefer.  There's just so much.  And even if they are things we decide to get rid of, we (I?) still feel the need to clean them first.



The de-smokified books still smell a little bit smoky, a bit musty, with a sweeter overlay of some sort of cleaning product (or ozone? does that smell?).  Basically, they smell a lot like library books now, which I think is okay.  I like the smell of library books. 






  Some unpacked but totally disorganized books.




Looking at that wall of books makes me feel like we've made a lot of progress until I turn around and see all the packed boxes of books that are still remaining:






 Boxes of books




In other news, my choir is doing a benefit concert for Head and Hands on June 9th, so there are a ton of upcoming rehearsals, which is wonderful except for all the unpacking it means I won't be doing.  






 

And in just a couple of weeks, I am heading to Winnipeg for an event at McNally Robinson with the lovely Charlene Diehl!  Winnipeg, can we hang out??