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CBC
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Books by past CBC Poetry Prize winners and finalists being published in 2025
Being a finalist for the CBC Poetry Prize can jumpstart your literary career. Need proof? Here are books that were written by former CBC Poetry Prize winners and finalists that are being published this year. The 2025 CBC Poetry Prize is open for submissions until June 1, 2025 at 4:59 p.m. ET. You can submit an original, unpublished poem or collection of poems. The submission will be judged as a whole and must be a maximum of 600 words (including titles). The winner will receive $6,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts, a two-week writing residency at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity and will have their work published on CBC Books. Four finalists will each receive $1,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts and have their work published on CBC Books. Compulsory Figures by John Barton The collection Compulsory Figures reflects on John Baron's childhood in Alberta, his coming of age as a gay man during the AIDS crisis and all the people and things that shape us. Through lyrical poetry, it also explores the depths of grief after the poet's loss of one of his sisters in 2015. Barton was the editor of The Malahat Review from 2004 to 2018. He is a three-time winner of the Archibald Lampman Award and his collection Lost Family: A Memoir was nominated for the 2021 Derek Walcott Prize for Poetry. He was the city of Victoria poet laureate from 2019 to 2022. Barton won second place of the CBC Poetry Prize in 2002 for In the House of the Present and Assymetries. The poems in No One Knows Us There shows two portraits of early womanhood. The first, a devoted granddaughter responding to needs in hospital hallways, the second, the same woman ten years older, looking at her younger self with compassion and hopes for healing. Jessica Bebenek is a queer interdisciplinary poet, bookmaker and educator living between Tiohtià:ke (Montreal) and an off-grid shack on unceded Anishinaabeg territory. Bebenek's writing has been nominated for the Journey Prize, twice nominated for the Pushcart Prize, and in 2021 she was a finalist for the Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers in Poetry. Bebenek was longlisted for the 2024 CBC Poetry Prize. She was recently announced as a reader for the 2025 CBC Poetry Prize. In Born, a pregnant high school teacher is trapped in a classroom during a lockdown caused by a troubled student with a knife, while relying on her students for support as she unexpectedly goes into labour. The novel explores the complexities of the school system, motherhood and the student-teacher relationship. When you can read it: June 17, 2025. Heather Birrell is the author of the Gerald Lampert award-winning poetry collection Float and Scurry, and two story collections, Mad Hope and I know you are but what am I? She has also won the Journey Prize and been shortlisted for both the Western and National Magazine Awards. Her work has appeared in numerous Canadian literary journals. She lives in Toronto. In 2022, Birrell was longlisted for the CBC Poetry Prize. The Longest Night by Lauren Carter In The Longest Night Ash Hayes is locked out of her family home in Minnesota on a cold December night. Looking for shelter, she heads to her neighbours whom she's never met. The next morning she discovers that their house is completely void of modern technology and all its windows are blocked. Ash will have to figure a way to alter her past in order to reconnect with her future. When you can read it: Sept. 1, 2025. Lauren Carter writes, teaches writing and mentors other writers. She is the author of four books of fiction, including This Has Nothing to Do with You, which won the 2020 Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction. She has also received the John Hirsch Award for Most Promising Manitoba Writer. Her short story Rhubarb won the Prairie Fire Fiction Award. Her debut novel, Swarm, was longlisted for Canada Reads 2014. She is based in Winnipeg. In 2017, Carter made the CBC Poetry Prize longlist for Lie Down Within the Night. It was her second time on a CBC Poetry Prize longlist. Before that, she'd made the 2013 CBC Poetry Prize longlist for Migration (1851-1882). She was also longlisted for the CBC Short Story Prize in 2015 for River's Edge. Kingdom of the Clock by Daniel Cowper Kingdom of the Clock is a novel in verse that explores the lives of the inhabitants of a coastal city during a single day. The cast of characters include an aging stock promoter, an artist, an elderly chess player and a homeless man, among others. Each citizen facing different experiences throughout that same day. Daniel Cowper is based on Bowen Island, B.C. He studied medieval literature, philosophy and law in Vancouver, Manhattan and Toronto. His poems have appeared in various literary journals, including Arc, Vallum, Freefall, Prairie Fire and Contemporary Verse 2. His first chapbook The God of Doors was the co-winner of Frog Hollow Press' 2016 chapbook contest. Cowper longlisted for the 2017 CBC Poetry Prize for Earth on the Ocean's Back. SCAR/CITY by Daniela Elza The poems in SCAR/CITY are inspired by the tireless work in communities to protect and grow homes that are affordable and provide security of tenure. They interrogate a system that has allowed homes to be mined for profit. When you can read it: July 22, 2025. Daniela Elza is a Vancouver-based poet. Her previous collections are the broken boat and slow erosions. In 2024, she received the Colleen Thibaudeau Award for Outstanding Contribution to Poetry. Her debut prose collection Is This an Illness or an Accident? is also be published in 2025. Elza was on the 2024 CBC Poetry Prize longlist for scar/city I. Is This an Illness or an Accident? by Daniela Elza Is This an Illness or an Accident? is a memoir inspired by having to answer the question "But where are you really from?" Elza explores the ideas of belonging, identity and the question of home. It also incorporates the concept of the world citizen, pushing back against the rise of nationalism. Daniela Elza is a Vancouver-based poet. Her previous collections are the broken boat and slow erosions. In 2024, she received the Colleen Thibaudeau Award for Outstanding Contribution to Poetry. Her poetry collection SCAR/CITY is also be published in 2025. Elza was on the 2024 CBC Poetry Prize longlist for scar/city I. Shadow Price by Farah Ghafoor Shadow Price borrows its title from the finance term — "the estimated price of a good or service for which no market price exists." It's a poetry collection that explores what holds value in a capitalistic world. Farah Ghafoor is a poet whose work has appeared in The Walrus, Prism International, Room, Ninth Letter and Hobart. Her poems have been taught at Iowa State University and have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Best New Poets and Best of the Net. She won the E.J. Pratt Medal and Prize in Poetry. Born in New York and raised in New Brunswick and Ontario, she currently works as a financial analyst in Toronto. Ghafoor was longlisted for the CBC Poetry Prize in 2022. Keener Sounds: A Suite by Roger Greenwald The poet, when young, listened to a violinist practicing and wondered: "Could words as well be made to say the wordless?" Keener Sounds: A Suite is a sequence of contemporary sonnets in which music, as both subject and inspiration, accompanies explorations of love, grief, time and memory. Greenwald attended The City College of New York and the Poetry Project workshop at St. Mark's Church In-the-Bowery, then completed graduate degrees at the University of Toronto. He has published three earlier books of poems: Connecting Flight, Slow Mountain Train and The Half-Life. He won the 2018 Gwendolyn MacEwen Poetry Award from Exile Magazine. Greenwald won the CBC Poetry Prize in 1994 and First Prize in the CBC Literary Award for Travel Literature in 2003. Beaver Hills Forever by Conor Kerr Beaver Hills Forever is a genre-bending novella with poetic verses that looks at the intertwined lives of four characters — each one of them representing one of the paths available to Metis people on the Prairies. They all share their inner dreams, hardships and even their delusions of grandeur. When you can read it: Sept. 9, 2025. Kerr is a Métis/Ukrainian writer who has lived in a number of prairie towns and cities, including Saskatoon. He now lives in Edmonton and teaches creative writing at the University of Alberta. A 2022 CBC Books writer to watch, his previous works include the poetry collection Old Gods and the novel Avenue of Champions, which was longlisted for the 2022 Scotiabank Giller Prize, and won the ReLit award the same year. His most recent book Prairie Edge was shortlisted both for the 2024 Giller Prize and for the 2024 Atwood Gibson fiction prize. Best Canadian series 2025 edited by Anita Lahey The Best Canadian anthologies are a yearly endeavour shepherded by series editor Anita Lahey. Every year, a featured guest editor is selected for each of the three categories: stories, essays and poetry. In 2025, the guest editor for fiction was Steven W. Beattie, Emily Urquhart edited the nonfiction category and Aislinn Hunter served as the editor of the poetry collection. Anita Lahey is an Ottawa writer. Her books include Spinning Side Kick, Out to Dry in Cape Breton, The Mystery Shopping Cart and The Last Goldfish, which was a finalist for the Ottawa Book Award. She has been the series editor of the Best Canadian yearly anthologies since 2018. Lahey was on the CBC Poetry Prize longlists in 2009 for Men and in 2010 for The Foe. i cut my tongue on a broken country by Kyo Lee Through the poet's reflections on growing up queer and Korean Canadian, i cut my tongue on a broken country poignantly details her coming-of-age that's marked with beauty, pain and a quest for love. Kyo Lee is a queer high school student from Waterloo, Ont. Her work is featured in PRISM International, Nimrod, The Forge Literary Magazine and This Magazine, among others. Lee is the youngest winner of the CBC Poetry Prize, for her poem lotus flower blooming into breasts, and the youngest finalist for the RBC Bronwen Wallace Award. Alice loves to play and get up to no good with her friend Mrs. Nobody. However, after Alice pushes back on her idea because she didn't want to play a game they'd already played, Mrs. Nobody disappears. Alice has to spend a lonely night without her friend and figure out what to say when Mrs. Nobody reappears the next day. Mrs. Nobody is for ages 3-6. Y. S. Lee's fiction includes the YA mystery series The Agency, which was translated into six languages. Her poems have appeared in publications such as Event, Room, Rattle and the Literary Review of Canada. Her poem Saturday morning, East Pender Street was longlisted for the 2021 CBC Poetry Prize. She lives in Kingston, Ont. Lee was a finalist for the 2022 CBC Nonfiction Prize for her piece Tek Tek. Elegy for Opportunity by Natalie Lim Natalie Lim is a Chinese-Canadian poet based in Vancouver. Her work has been featured in Arc Poetry Magazine and Best Canadian Poetry 2020, among others. She is the author of the chapbook arrhythmia and has won the Room magazine's 2020 Emerging Writer Award. Cut Side Down by Jessi MacEachern Cut Side Down is a collection of poems that explores the themes of autobiography, desire, invention, landscape and memory. The poems also feature the important places of the Jessi MacEachern's life — P.E.I. and Montreal. The poems touch on the fantasy genre for even better storytelling. MacEachern is a poet from P.E.I., who now lives in Montreal where she teaches English literature. Her writing has appeared in journals and anthologies across Canada. Her previous poetry collection was A Number of Stunning Attacks. MacEachern was on the longlist for the 2018 CBC Poetry Prize. The Northern by Jacob McArthur Mooney In the summer of 1952, three men are hired by an upstart Mormon baseball card company in Western Ontario. Their two weeks in the Northern League will have them living in an ever-growing chaos. The Northern depicts a world shaped by the trauma of World War II and those left behind by it. The book is a character study on grief, adolescence, and family. Jacob McArthur Mooney's previous collections have been shortlisted for the Trillium Book Award in Poetry and the Dylan Thomas Prize. Originally from Nova Scotia, he now lives in Toronto. His fourth book was titled Frank's Wing. Mooney was on the longlist for the CBC Poetry Prize in 2014 for a poetry collection titled Bindled Back: Three Travel Poems. From a lovelorn journalist entering a diabolical pact to a tourist attempting to stay sober, Dead Writers is a collection of short stories exploring what the ever-changing concept of "bargain" means, and the heavy price that comes with corrupting your soul. Regina-raised Cassidy McFadzean is a past finalist for the CBC Poetry Prize and The Walrus Poetry Prize. Her previous works include the poetry books Drolleries, Crying Dress and Hacker Packer, which won two Saskatchewan Book Awards. She also wrote a crown of sonnets called Third State of Being. She currently lives in Toronto. McFadzean was a finalist for the CBC Poetry Prize in 2013. We, the Kindling by Otoniya J. Okot Bitek In We, the Kindling, three women who, as children, survived the horrors of war in Uganda continue to experience the trauma of their past, even when they've started families of their own. Otoniya J. Okot Bitek, a poet, fiction writer and scholar born in Kenya to Ugandan parents, currently lives in Kingston, Ont. Her first collection of poetry, 100 Days, won the 2017 IndieFab Book of the Year Award for poetry and the 2017 Glenna Lushei Prize for African Poetry. Her second poetry collection, A is for Acholi, won the 2023 Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize. She was also longlisted for the 2018 CBC Poetry Prize. We, the Kindling is her debut novel. Planet Earth: Stories by Nicholas Ruddock Planet Earth is a collection of short stories and novellas that explores themes of love and passion with a specific awareness of humans' carelessness in burning up the world in fresh and unexpected ways. The provocative and contemplative stories are humorous, quick-witted, paradoxically positive with a fondness for humans and their failings. When you can read it: Nov. 4, 2025. Nicholas Ruddock is a physician and writer who has worked in Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec, Yukon and Ontario. He has had novels, short stories, poetry published since 2002 in Canada, U.K., Ireland and Germany. He is the author of the 2021 novel Last Hummingbird of West Chile. Ruddock has been a finalist for each of the CBC Literary Prizes. He made the 2016 CBC Poetry Prize longlist for Storm as well as the 2016 CBC Nonfiction Prize longlist for The Hummingbirds. Most recently, Ruddock was shortlisted for the 2023 CBC Short Story Prize for his story Marriage. Goalie by Ben von Jagow From rookie to retirement, the collection of poems in Goalie vividly captures the highs, lows and everything in-between of a hockey career — exploring the glorious moments of ambitious pursuit and the vulnerable times of facing set-backs.
CBC
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Canada brings living experiment to the Venice Architecture Biennale
A job as a gallery attendant is rarely, if ever, a high-stakes occupation. But at the Venice Architecture Biennale, the folks working the Canada Pavilion have been tasked with an unusual set of responsibilities. In the most literal of terms, it's partly up to them to keep the show alive. The exhibition is called Picoplanktonics, and it centres on living artworks — 3D printed structures which have been infused with microorganisms. The show offers a vision of a radically sustainable future, one where homes, office towers — perhaps entire cities — could be constructed in collaboration with nature. Inside the pavilion, a pair of trunk-like columns spring from a shallow salt-water pool, mimicking the tall bagalaro trees that are a famous integrated feature of the building's design, and at the entrance, nine smaller specimens have been stacked in climate-controlled tanks. On the way out, visitors will encounter a functioning lab and even more of these 3D "bioprints," left to the elements in the outdoor courtyard. All of the works installed for the show are expected to grow and change between now and November, when the international exhibition of contemporary architecture closes. Perhaps they'll even die and crumble. But all the while, the gallery attendants will serve as devoted caretakers. They'll adjust the light, temperature, humidity and pH levels — tending to the structures' needs as best they can. Michelle Chawla is the director and CEO of the Canada Council for the Arts and she was in Venice Saturday for the show's inauguration. The feeling inside the Canada Pavilion is surreal, she says. The air is humid and you can hear the flow of water. The lattice-like architectural forms — mostly green with a pinkish undertone — are beautiful in a strange, science fiction sort of way. "It felt like … you were projecting yourself into the future, what a future city could look like in a hundred years," says Chawla. And that vision wouldn't be complete without the presence of the gallery attendants who are busily working on the floor. "The concept is, in the future, if we use these organisms as part of our built materials — our buildings — the people living in those buildings have to look after them because they're living organisms," says Chawla. It's a powerful notion, she says. Lots of people will say they care about the environment, but what does that look like in action? At the Canada Pavilion, you just have to look to the gallery attendants to understand. They might be right there in front of you, hard at work — not simply maintaining the built environment, but actively nurturing its growth. Canadian biodesigner Andrea Shin Ling will be working alongside the caretakers while she's visiting Venice. Ling is the leader of Living Room Collective, the group of architects, scientists, artists and educators who were commissioned to bring Picoplanktonics to the biennale, and she arrived in the city last month to install the exhibition. The exhibition highlights research Ling has developed at the Institute of Technology & Architecture and the Advanced Engineering with Living Materials (ALIVE) initiative at ETH Zurich. And the prototype material which is being showcased in Venice contains live cyanobacteria: Synechococcus PCC 7002, a species of blue-green algae, or picoplankton, which is found in the ocean. The creatures are capable of something called dual carbon sequestration, says Ling. Through photosynthesis, they metabolize carbon dioxide, thus reducing greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, and the largest of the living sculptures appearing in the exhibition is capable of capturing the same amount of carbon as a 20-year-old pine tree (up to 18 kg of CO2 a year, according to the project's website). The picoplankton selected for the project is an ideal collaborator for more than one reason, however. It's also capable of a process called biocementation. When it takes in CO2, it produces carbonate minerals — stuff which strengthens the structures Ling has 3D printed in her lab. Four years ago, when Ling began her research at ETH Zurich, her first bioprints were "at Petri dish scale." The forms appearing at the biennial are unprecedented in size, she explains; the biggest is 3.3 metres tall. And the entire exhibition doubles an experiment, says Ling. Over the next few months, she and her team will be paying close attention to everything on site, as live data is sent back to their lab. "Some of the structures will thrive, and some of them will fall apart," she says. "It is a changing exhibit." "The colour of the structures is a very quick and easy way for us to assess the health," Ling explains. If the cyanobacteria populations are thriving, the sculptures will develop a rich green colour — "like a dark emerald," she says. Pink and yellow are warning signs. If those hues appear, the little guys are ailing. Ling is more than OK with that outcome, however. To live is to die, and much of her research is interested in the nature of decomposition. "Decay is regenerative," says Ling. "Out of rot, you get new growth." And one of the ideas she's raising through the exhibition is the notion that architects can learn from biological processes. What if we could co-operate or collaborate with the environment when we make something new? Could it lead to something esthetically intriguing — like the structures appearing at the pavilion? Could that approach help us repair damage that's already been done to the planet? "We're trying to gain insights on how to work with these materials at such a large scale," says Ling, and beyond testing the viability of the bioprints, she and her colleagues are also curious about the audience response to the exhibition. "If you were to actually integrate a living material into a building, what does it mean for the occupant when part of your building always has to be wet or humid?" That said, the environment inside the Canada Pavilion sounds reasonably comfortable for visitors. The bioprints are expected to thrive in conditions similar to the natural climate in Venice, says Ling, and though the building has been adapted for the exhibition's needs, the temperature inside is being kept at 21 degrees Celsius, with 75 to 80 per cent relative humidity. "We're designing something [where] the bacteria can grow, but also that humans can occupy," says Ling. "It doesn't feel like a sauna or a steam bath." In a real-world scenario, Ling imagines similar bioprints could be used to rid the air of excess CO2. They might take the form of architectural cladding, she says, and she and her collaborators in Switzerland are developing a "slightly different material system" to that end. "We're hoping that this type of research can spread and go to other institutions so that more people are working on this," she says. "We just really hope that people are inspired by the project and really start to look at architecture, at the possibility of using biological systems in architecture more seriously," says Ling. "[It's] something that could actually be a reality in the future with enough investment and commitment."
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
His uncle gave him his first camera. Decades later, he has received a prestigious award
The work of a renowned New Brunswick artist has been honoured with a prestigious Governor General's Award from the Canada Council for the Arts. Thaddeus Holownia of Jolicure, a small community near Sackville, received a 2025 award for artistic achievement, the first New Brunswick artist to win under this category for a body of work, the Canada Council confirmed. "It's always amazing when you work hard at what you love to do, and then someone out of the far away place comes along and says, 'we're accrediting you with an incredible honour in recognition of that,'" said Holownia, who is known for his spectacular photos, particularly of the natural world. "It's not something that I think any artist really works towards ... we're very, very lucky in this country that the arts are held in high regard." His work has been exhibited in Canada, the United States, Mexico and Germany and he's collaborated on several books. Holownia says smartphones have made it easier for him to take visual notes and transfer digital photographs for exhibitions but he still enjoys using film. (Canada Council for the Arts) Holownia was born in 1949 and came to Canada five years later. He credits his interest in photography to his uncle, who gave him a 35-millimetre Tower camera in 1969. He took the camera with him to the University of Windsor and thought it made a perfect match for his personality. "If I did not have that camera around my neck people would ask me if I wasn't feeling well that day," he laughed. Holownia has an interest in the process of time and is passionate about observing the world, nature and architecture, he said. He said smartphones have made it easier for him to take visual notes and transfer digital photographs for exhibitions. An image from Holownia's series Jolicure Pond, which is among the artwork submitted to the Canada Council for the Arts. (Thaddeus Holownia) However, he still prefers the multi-step physical process involved behind operating a film camera, whenever he is out taking photographs, he said. "The physicality of photography is a very different kind of a place to operate from." Holownia was a professor in the department of fine arts for 41 years at Mount Allison University. | 'A contemplative reflection on the environment and its evolution over time': He said he learned a lot from the students he taught and called it "one of the greatest blessings," to be able to dedicate more four decades to teaching his craft. "I think one of the richest professions that anyone can ever have is working with young people and helping them find their voice," he said. Joanne Larocque-Poirier of the Canada Council for the Arts said the award gives artists national recognition and also helps raise their profile internationally, which can lead to new collaborations and exhibition opportunities. Starling is an image from the exhibition 'of a feather, in memory of Gay Hansen.' (Thaddeus Holownia) Larocque-Poirier said the award's entire adjudication process is performed by esteemed peers in the field of visual and media arts. "So it's very validating for an individual." The winning artist receives a bronze medallion along with a $25,000 prize, she said.
CBC
10-03-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
His uncle gave him his first camera. Decades later, he has received a prestigious award
The work of a renowned New Brunswick artist has been honoured with a prestigious Governor General's Award from the Canada Council for the Arts. Thaddeus Holownia of Jolicure, a small community near Sackville, received a 2025 award for artistic achievement, the first New Brunswick artist to win under this category for a body of work, the Canada Council confirmed. "It's always amazing when you work hard at what you love to do, and then someone out of the far away place comes along and says, 'we're accrediting you with an incredible honour in recognition of that,'" said Holownia, who is known for his spectacular photos, particularly of the natural world. "It's not something that I think any artist really works towards ... we're very, very lucky in this country that the arts are held in high regard." His work has been exhibited in Canada, the United States, Mexico and Germany and he's collaborated on several books. Holownia was born in 1949 and came to Canada five years later. He credits his interest in photography to his uncle, who gave him a 35-millimetre Tower camera in 1969. He took the camera with him to the University of Windsor and thought it made a perfect match for his personality. "If I did not have that camera around my neck people would ask me if I wasn't feeling well that day," he laughed. Holownia has an interest in the process of time and is passionate about observing the world, nature and architecture, he said. He said smartphones have made it easier for him to take visual notes and transfer digital photographs for exhibitions. However, he still prefers the multi-step physical process involved behind operating a film camera, whenever he is out taking photographs, he said. "The physicality of photography is a very different kind of a place to operate from." Holownia was a professor in the department of fine arts for 41 years at Mount Allison University. He said he learned a lot from the students he taught and called it "one of the greatest blessings," to be able to dedicate more four decades to teaching his craft. "I think one of the richest professions that anyone can ever have is working with young people and helping them find their voice," he said. Joanne Larocque-Poirier of the Canada Council for the Arts said the award gives artists national recognition and also helps raise their profile internationally, which can lead to new collaborations and exhibition opportunities. Larocque-Poirier said the award's entire adjudication process is performed by esteemed peers in the field of visual and media arts. "So it's very validating for an individual."
CBC
05-03-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
In the Caribbean, secret lives come at a cost
Social Sharing H. Nigel Thomas' latest novel, A Different Hurricane, is set on the lush Caribbean island of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. It's about two young men, Gordon and Allen, who become secret lovers until society forces them apart. After returning home from studying in Canada, Gordon's wife's journal threatens to expose his affair — putting his and Allen's lives in danger — and they must do everything in their power to keep it under wraps. "Gordon had no illusions about what he was going back to," said Thomas on Bookends with Mattea Roach. "He had already seen the persecution that openly gay men endured, but for Gordon it was more important to be a parent, to father his daughter than his own sexuality." The story in A Different Hurricane is partly drawn from Thomas' own experiences as a gay man who left Saint Vincent for Montreal when he was just 21. Now, Thomas is the author of 13 books that span the genres of fiction, poetry and literary criticism. He has won many awards, including the Canada Council for the Arts Molson Prize in 2022, the Jackie Robinson Professional of the Year Award, the l'Université Laval's Hommage aux créateurs Award and the Black Theatre Workshop's Martin Luther King Jr. Achievement Award. He joined Mattea Roach to reflect on the type of story he wanted to tell with A Different Hurricane and how his life experiences shape his fiction. Mattea Roach: What sort of a queer story were you trying to tell in A Different Hurricane? H. Nigel Thomas: This story comes out of issues that have been roiling in my conscious and subconscious for many, many years. Certainly since AIDS struck us back in the 1980s, for example, you're dealing with queers who were masquerading as heterosexuals. I can think of two particular cases in which these men infected their wives with AIDS and it was only when their wives were infected that they actually discovered that their husbands were gay. That situation actually is replicated in A Different Hurricane. I almost went down that route. - H. Nigel Thomas There's also a personal dimension. I almost went down that route. Just before coming to Canada, I was engaged to be married to a woman and I certainly was in the closet, had no intentions of coming out of it. It leaves me wondering, had I gone down that path, what would my life have been? So there are many, many issues that my imagination engaged with to create A Different Hurricane. MR: You've been in Montreal science 1968. What was it that tipped the scales for you that you were going to move here and make your life in Montreal? HNT: Homosexuality was certainly not on the list, really. I wanted a university education and I come from a very relatively poor background, financially speaking, so there was no possibility of my coming here as a paid student. I emigrated from Saint Vincent primarily to go to university, and when I came I did think I would return to the Caribbean. In fact, at one point I did apply for a job in Jamaica. I laugh today as I think about that. But I came here and discovered that I wasn't obliged to wear the mask of heterosexuality, and it gave me an opportunity, of course, to get out of my engagement and to have somewhat of a gay life, even though I did not make it a public issue until later. In fact, the publication of my first novel sort of set the way or laid the foundation for me to come out of the closet. That novel was published in 93 and I made a public declaration in 94 in, of all places, the press in my home islands Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. MR: What was it about releasing a novel that set the stage for you to feel like you wanted to make some sort of public acknowledgement or declaration in that way? HNT: My novel was the very first Caribbean novel with an identifiable queer character. The Caribbean readership, however small it was, wasn't prepared for that. Not even the Black community here was prepared for that and so the question came up quite often. What am I going to say if I'm confronted with this question: "Nigel Thomas, you've created a character who is very much up in arms about his sexuality. Are you yourself gay?" Could I possibly then say no? So I had to just simply state the truth. I had to just simply state the truth. - H. Nigel Thomas I had been advised by friends who had read the novel to remove the gay content, but I felt it should be there and probably, subconsciously, I was telling myself it's time to come out of the closet. MR: Nigel, A Different Hurricane plays with timelines and takes advantage of this framing device where we're actually reading journal notes at one point that come from this character Maureen, who's Gordon's recently deceased wife. Can you tell me a bit about Maureen and what sort of a situation she was in writing this journal that we get to read? HNT: Well, she has just retired. An early retirement, premature, because she was diagnosed with full-blown AIDS. It's also the occasion that she discovers that her husband is gay. She needs to make sense of what has happened to her. Initially, she thought she was writing a memoir, but it turns out in the end to be a journal. She was an English teacher for high school, so she possesses the skills to explore via language what has indeed happened to her. That journal is very important insofar as it is responsible for much of the novel's content. Let me put it that way. MR: There's a real moral complexity I feel at play with a lot of your characters. I'm wondering if you can talk maybe a bit about how you sort of crafted that complexity? HNT: It's holding up the mirror to nature. To seek perfection in human beings is to set out on a fool's path. Even so, some of the characters are better than others, let me put it that way. I suppose you can take a character like Maureen's mother, who is admirable in terms of how she manages to raise Maureen on her own and so on and so forth. Her own journey is quite a difficult one. To seek perfection in human beings is to set out on a fool's path. - H. Nigel Thomas On the other hand, she's virulently homophobic, and Gordon's sister, with whom he's very, very close, she too is homophobic. I think the reason for it is that if you live in an environment where homophobia is a vital or an important part of the matrix, it's impossible to escape it. These are people who are conditioned to interpret reality in terms of biblical texts. And so, for example, they would simply say, "I don't agree with homosexuality because it's written in the Bible. And I'd be damned if I believe anything else." That's the environment that shapes these people and I'm not sure you can do very much about it, even in those islands where gay sex is no longer criminalized. That's just on paper.
