The 'surprising' act of writing

 

 “The act of writingsurprises me all the time. A miraculous thing happens when you have an idea andyou want to convert it into words... and then you start to create a work ofart,and that's another miracle, and it remains mysterious to the writer, or tothis writer anyway.” – Janette Turner Hospital

Born in Australia on thisdate in 1942, Turner Hospital has spent most of her adult life in either Canadaor the U.S.   “All my writing, in a sense, revolves around themediation of one culture (or subculture) to another,” she said.  Best knownfor her novels, she also is an accomplished and productive short story writerand has won numerous awards in both genres.

One of Turner Hospital'smost accomplished novels is Borderline, set on the “borderline”of Canada andthe U.S. While primarily a thriller, the story also focuses on where to drawthe "borderline" between intrusions into others' lives and the responsibilityfor them.       

 Among her manyawards are Canada’s Seal Award, the CDC Literary Prize, and the AustralianNational Book Council Award.   Also a teacher of both literature andcreative writing, she has been writer-in-residence at major universities in Australia,Canada, England and the U.S. and recently has been Visiting Writer-in-Residenceat the University of South Carolina.

“The themes ofdislocation and connection are constant in my work,” she said.  “So arethe themes of moral choice and moral courage. I am always putting my charactersinto situations of acute moral dilemma . . . to find out what they will do.”