Sandra Nicholls is an
award-winning writer who has published two books of poetry, a novel and
numerous short stories. She was short listed for the K.M.Hunter Artists Award
for Literature and the Pat Lowther Award, and won the Archibald Lampman award
for her second book of poetry, Woman of
Sticks, Woman of Stones. She has sat on numerous juries for arts grants and
once had the pleasure of being Poet-in-Residence for the Peter Gzowski Golf
Tournament for Literacy. As well as teaching both English and Creative Writing,
Sandra has studied with Jane Urquhart, Jack Hodgins, Frances Itani, Bronwen
Wallace and Mary di Michele. Sandra has also written dozens of song lyrics for
a variety of artists and composers, and her latest project was writing the
libretto for a chamber opera with puppets, which was performed to sold-out
crowds at the Music and Beyond Festival
in Ottawa during the summer of 2018 and again in 2019.
Q: How long have you been in Ottawa, and what first brought
you here?
I was born in Hamilton, and my parents moved to Ottawa when
I was three. I have basically lived here all my life, except for stints in
Antigonish, Victoria, and Montreal.
Q: How did you first get involved in writing, and
subsequently, the writing community here?
I always wanted to write, but it wasn't until I quit my
government job in Ottawa and moved out west to work on a BFA at the University
of Victoria that I started writing in earnest. I wanted to explore a failed
marriage and the death of my father through poetry, and I was guided along by a
formidable mentor, the late Robin Skelton. I remember he would come thundering
into the classroom and if we presented our poems in tremulous, tiny voices he
would bang his walking stick down on the desk and scare us out of our wits. He
taught us to take what we were doing seriously, and to have the confidence to
present our work with conviction. Plus a
lot of other stuff.
When I came back to Ottawa I had a poetry manuscript and
lots of ideas for more writing. I began going to poetry readings and helping
out with Arc magazine in the early days. I joined the League of Canadian Poets
and I also found the poetry community here to be vibrant, supportive,
welcoming, and inspiring: people like Nadine McInnis, Blaine Marchand, John
Barton, Colin Morton, Ronnie Brown, Chris Levenson. I think you must have been
around too, although I don't think we really knew each other. It was a magical
time.
Q: How did being in such a community of writers shift your
thinking about writing, if at all?
Well, to start with, it meant that you always had an
audience! Seriously, I think it helped to solidify the importance of writing in
my life; there was always someone to talk to about a problem with a poem,
someone to listen to a work-in-progress and give you honest and helpful
feedback. Writing can be a lonely business, so having such a talented and
generous group of writers around made all the difference.
Q: What do you see happening here that you don't see
anywhere else? What does Ottawa provide, or allow?
People used to think of Ottawa as a stiff, stuffy
government town, but I think it's changed. Ottawa now offers multiple
opportunities for artistic exploration, and this in turn feeds creative and
unusual projects. For example, having the Music
and Beyond Festival here made it possible to find a venue and an audience
for Sleeping Rough, a chamber opera
for puppets which was performed two summers in a row. I wrote the libretto and
my husband, composer and guitarist Roddy Ellias, wrote the music. It was a
unique project, and one that I think might not have seen the light of day
elsewhere. Ottawa also offers inspiration around every corner: dance, theatre,
galleries, music, festivals, parks and green spaces....
Q: Have any of your projects responded directly to your
engagements here? How have the city and its community, if at all, changed the
way you approached your work?
I definitely see myself as an Ottawa writer, as so much of
my artistic outlook has been shaped by the writing community here. Some of the
writers I mentioned before have become lifelong friends, and even though some
of them have left the city, I still feel their influence. I don't tend to write
about the city per se, but I am sure that its geography and climate have
influenced my writing in ways I might not even be aware of. For example, now
that I think of it, winter weather figures quite prominently in the novel I am
writing now. There is even an ice storm!
Q: What are you working on now?
I am working on a number of projects, starting with my
third novel, The Ornamental Woman,
which is about an woman who, after her husband dies, hires a man to live in the
shed at the bottom of the garden after learning about the aristocratic practice
of engaging hermits in Georgian England. The novel is a kind of literary
psychological thriller, and explores themes such as getting older, loneliness,
fear and self-doubt. I am also working on a third book of poems, Songs for Invisible Ladies, and a
collection of short stories, Aisle 16.
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