12 or 20 (second series) questions with Rajinderpal S. Pal
Rajinderpal S. Pal is acritically acclaimed writer and stage performer. He is the author of twocollections of award-winning poetry, pappaji wrote poetry in a language i cannot read and pulse. Born in India and raised in Great Britain,Pal has lived in many cities across North America and now resides in Toronto. HoweverFar Away is his first novel.
1 - Howdid your first book change your life? How does your most recent work compare toyour previous? How does it feel different?
My firstbook, pappaji wrote poetry in a language i cannot read, was released in1998 by TSAR. The attention that this poetry collection received completelyexceeded my expectations. As well as winning the Writers Guild of Alberta awardfor Best First Book, the publication received a couple of mentions in the Globeand Mail and allowed me to do readings across the country. I have been workingon a New, Unpublished and Selected collection, working title The LesserShame. I really wish I knew then, at the time of writing my earlier poems, whatI know now about craft and structure. Writing and editing my debut novel, HoweverFar Away, I have gained a discipline and rigour which has previously eludedme. In some ways, I am covering similar ground to what I covered in my twopublished poetry collections (themes of family and tradition, love andcommitment) but the novel feels very different in terms of scope and reach.
2 - Howdid you come to poetry first, as opposed to, say, fiction or non-fiction?
Myfather was a published and much-admired poet, and poetry readings were aregular occurrence in my childhood home. He wrote in Punjabi and Urdu, bothlanguages that I do not read or write. My father was only in my life for ashort time before he died of a heart attack. I was ten at the time. In my latetwenties I was desperate to understand my father: his life as a soldier, aheadmaster, a poet, what led him to move our family across continents, why hewrote, and what he wrote. Poetry seemed to be the natural medium to examinethis man and try to understand my relationship to him.
3 - Howlong does it take to start any particular writing project? Does your writinginitially come quickly, or is it a slow process? Do first drafts appear lookingclose to their final shape, or does your work come out of copious notes?
I’llspeak to my novel, However Far Away. In June 2005 I was sitting on abench in Kitsilano Park. It was a beautiful sunny day, the beach, the ocean,the North Shore Mountains in full view. As I sat and surveyed all the activityaround me a determined looking South Asian man, approximately my age, ran pastme. I immediately began to wonder what this man might be running from orrunning toward. That afternoon, at the dining table of my basement apartment Iwrote seven pages of prose; an opening scene for what I imagined would be anovella. At that time, I was primarily a poet. I was not one for spontaneouswriting. For the next twelve years, immersed in my career in healthcare salesand marketing, I wrote very little. Occasionally, I would open the Word filefor Settle (the working title for However Far Away) and write aline, a paragraph or a scene but there was no substantial progress. In late2018 I was retired out of my career and had to admit I had run out of excusesto not tackle this larger project. I completed dozens of drafts before it was evensubmitted to House of Anansi Press. The finer edits, however, were onlycompleted once they had agreed to publish the book. The final shape only becameclear after my editor and I had reduced the manuscript from 130,000 words to90,000 words.
4 -Where does a poem or work of fiction usually begin for you? Are you an authorof short pieces that end up combining into a larger project, or are you workingon a "book" from the very beginning?
Forpoetry I write individual pieces without a larger project in mind. For fictionI always had a larger project in mind, though just how large the project becameis a surprise.
5 - Arepublic readings part of or counter to your creative process? Are you the sortof writer who enjoys doing readings?
Publicreadings are critical to the creative process for both poetry and fiction.Perhaps that is from growing up in a house where poetry was frequently read outloud. For me, both poetry and fiction have to work on the page and when spokenout loud.
6 - Doyou have any theoretical concerns behind your writing? What kinds of questionsare you trying to answer with your work? What do you even think the currentquestions are?
I writefiction for the same reasons that I write poetry—as a way to understand, tocome to terms with, to uncover a nugget of truth, to seek (or, dare I say,create) beauty and meaning, and perhaps enlighten myself.
7 – Whatdo you see the current role of the writer being in larger culture? Do they evenhave one? What do you think the role of the writer should be?
Ibelieve that there will always be a thirst for storytelling and meaning, that therumours of the death of poetry and fiction are much exaggerated. For sure newtechnologies like AI will have some impact but we will continue to create andsearch for meaning through literature, whether through a concrete poem, aghazal, or a long work of fiction.
8 - Doyou find the process of working with an outside editor difficult or essential(or both)?
Essential.I wish I had worked more closely with an editor for my two books of poetry.
9 - Whatis the best piece of advice you've heard (not necessarily given to youdirectly)?
Before Ipublished my first book, Nicole Markotic said to me, “You need an editor whocould tell you to remove your favourite line in a poem in progress and you willconsider it.” Those are not Nicole’s exact words, but the sentiment has stayedwith me for over twenty-five years. The word “consider” is the most criticalword in that advice; you do not have to eliminate that line but you shouldquestion what purpose it might be serving in the poem and whether it isnecessary. The final decision is always yours.
10 - Howeasy has it been for you to move between genres (poetry to fiction)? What doyou see as the appeal?
Ifwriting a poem is the bull’s eye, then writing a novel is the entire bull, itslineage, its character, and what it ate today. You need to choose the formbased on what it is that you are trying to understand, to come to terms with,or uncover.
11 -What kind of writing routine do you tend to keep, or do you even have one? Howdoes a typical day (for you) begin?
Duringthe most intense periods of writing However Far Away I had a strictdaily schedule; three hours of writing each morning, two hours of writing andone hour of editing each afternoon. Most days I exceeded the scheduled numberof hours, but it was okay if there was an occasional day when I failed. I tookevenings off since I am a social being and needed the nourishment that goodconversation provided. I am looking forward to the time that my next projectwill require me to get back to a similar routine.
12 -When your writing gets stalled, where do you turn or return for (for lack of abetter word) inspiration?
There isa list of books, films and music albums that always inspire me to create. Thatlist continues to shift and grow. It’s a long list, but some of the writersthat I turn to are Michael Ondaatje, Robert Hass, Jorie Graham, Hanif Kureishiand, more recently, Sally Rooney and Anna Burns. I would occasionally revisitthe film The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, especially for the twoscenes that I consider to be the most emotionally wrought ever put on film. Ifnothing else works a bit of travel and long exploratory walks seem to help.
13 -What fragrance reminds you of home?
AnIndian spice mix tempering in a pan.
14 -David W. McFadden once said that books come from books, but are there any otherforms that influence your work, whether nature, music, science or visual art?
All ofthe above. I am as influenced and inspired to create art by film, theatre,contemporary dance, and music, as I am by books. If I am writing, I need to beactively engaged in other arts. I will carry a small notebook with meeverywhere I go and often write lines that will later make their way into apoem or a work of fiction. These lines might be inspired by anything from awork of art to psithurism to a beautiful horizon to overheard conversation.
15 -What other writers or writings are important for your work, or simply your lifeoutside of your work?
If abook really strikes me, I will read it multiple times. There were a few booksthat were constant companions during the most productive periods of writing HoweverFar Away: The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes, Milkman byAnna Burns, Intimacy by Hanif Kureishi, All About Love byBell Hooks.
16 -What would you like to do that you haven't yet done?
I havean idea to create and produce a performance piece for stage incorporatingpoetry, music and film; something that could be performed at Fringe festivalsas well as at literary festivals.
17 - Ifyou could pick any other occupation to attempt, what would it be? Or,alternately, what do you think you would have ended up doing had you not been awriter?
I had a thirty-yearcareer in sales and marketing in the healthcare industry. When I was retiredout of that career in 2018, I was able to fully focus on completing HoweverFar Away. In the future, I would like to facilitate creative writing workshops—poetryand fiction—but have no desire to be a full-time instructor. Other than that, Ijust want to create and stay healthy.
18 -What made you write, as opposed to doing something else?
Standingbeside an upstairs banister listening to emotional and powerful recitalsfloating up from the gathering of poets in the downstairs front-room.
19 -What was the last great book you read? What was the last great film?
Book: Soldiers,Hunters, Not Cowboys by Aaron Tucker. Film: Past Lives written anddirected by Celine Song.
20 -What are you currently working on?
As wellas the new and selected poetry collection, I am mapping out two possible worksof fiction.
