Six Questions interview #135 : Kimberly Quiogue Andrews

Kimberly Quiogue Andrews is a poet and literary critic. She is the author of A Brief History of Fruit, winner of the Akron Prize for Poetry from the University of Akron Press, and BETWEEN, winner of the New Women’s Voices Chapbook Prize from Finishing Line Press. Her recent work in various genres appears in Poetry Northwest, Redivider, Denver Quarterly, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and elsewhere. She teaches creative writing and American literature at the University of Ottawa, and you can find her on Twitter at @kqandrews. 

Q: How long have you been in Ottawa, and what first brought you here? 

I’ve only been here a year! I came because I took a job at the University of Ottawa, as a professor in the English department. I’d never even visited Ottawa before I moved here.

Q: How did you first get involved in writing, and subsequently, the writing community here? 

I came to Ottawa because folks wanted me to “do writing” here, so that was an incredible readymade privilege. I’m still trying to find my footing in the area’s greater writing community, though – perhaps unsurprisingly, it hasn’t been the easiest job figuring out what the scene is in the middle of a pandemic. That said, I recently had the opportunity to participate in the Riverbed Reading Series, run by Ellen Chang-Richardson and nina jane drystek, and it was so great. Legit my first in-person reading since the onset of the pandemic, and it was a truly perfect welcome-back event. More below.

Q: How did being in such a community of writers shift your thinking about writing, if at all?  

So since I’ve only really got the one public event here to go on, I’m just going to comment on that. I’m not sure if it shifted my thoughts about writing per se, but it did cement for me the fact that there is, in fact, a whole big community here of younger writers in particular who are doing really interesting stuff. Does this mean I’m middle-aged now, talking in this way about the youth? Maybe. But they’re writing funny, bracing, politically astute work that is teaching me how to be more bracing and politically astute. What more could you ask for?

Q: What do you see happening here that you don’t see anywhere else? What does Ottawa provide, or allow? 

Still not sure I’m in a great position to answer this question, but what I can say about the Ottawa writing community is that it’s super generous (which is absolutely not the case with most urban writing communities, lol, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise) – I’ve gotten more books shoved into my hands and under my office door in the last 6 months than in maybe the previous 10 years! People just want you to have the work.

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 used to live in Maryland, which essentially doesn’t have winter anymore. I wrote a bunch of real winter poems this past year, for which I’m thankful.

Q: What are you working on now? 

I’m going to be very cheeky here and link to your earlier interview with me, which will give a good description! It’s a book about being sad. But then, aren’t most books of poetry? You can find pieces from it online here and here.

 

Six Questions interview #134 : Brenda Chapman

Brenda Chapman is a Canadian crime fiction author with over twenty published novels. In addition to short stories and standalones, she has written the lauded Stonechild and Rouleau police procedural series, the Anna Sweet mystery novellas, and the Jennifer Bannon mysteries for middle grade. In 2022, she released Blind Date, first in the Hunter and Tate mystery series. Her work has been shortlisted for several awards including four Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence.

Brenda studied English literature at Lakehead and Carleton universities and earned a Bachelor of Education from Queen’s University. She taught for fifteen years in the field of special education followed by a Communications career in the federal government. She currently writes full-time and makes her home in Ottawa.

Brenda belongs to the Writers Union of Canada (TWUC), Sisters in Crime, Capital Crime Writers, and Crime Writers of Canada (CWC).

Q: How long have you been in Ottawa, and what first brought you here? 

I’ve been living in Ottawa since I finished teachers’ college at Queen’s at the end of the 1970s. I’d landed a manager trainee job with Kmart St. Laurent for the summer and rented an apartment in Sandy Hill. Not long after that, I began teaching at a private school, and here I am all these years later, living in Westboro where my husband and I own a house and raised our two daughters.

Q: How did you first get involved in writing, and subsequently, the writing community here? 

I studied creative writing at Lakehead University — a full year course that focused on short stories and poetry — but never tried my hand at getting published until some twenty years later. Canadian Living published my first short story submission in 2001, but it wasn’t until 2004 that Napoleon Publishing in Toronto released my first book, a middle grade mystery titled Running Scared. This led to three more books in the Jennifer Bannon mystery series. I went on to write adult mysteries as well as short stories, including the Stonechild and Rouleau police procedural series and the Anna Sweet mysteries for adult literacy. I now have 23 books in print, mostly in the crime fiction genre.

Q: How did being in such a community of writers shift your thinking about writing, if at all?  

After Running Scared found a publisher, I joined the local Capital Crime Writers and was happy that I did. I met other Ottawa writers and readers and received so much support and made lifelong friends. CCW also has monthly meetings with guests, such as detectives, psychologists, private eyes and other experts, greatly expanding my knowledge of all things crime- and policing-related. I was fortunate to be president for two years working alongside a terrific executive. I also joined our national crime-writing organization, Crime Writers of Canada, and spent the last two years as the Director for Ottawa and Eastern Ontario. Volunteering in both these organizations has enriched my life and given me connections in the book industry that I would not have realized on my own. I encourage new writers to join writing groups, get involved, and make connections — you won’t regret it!

Q: What do you see happening here that you don’t see anywhere else? What does Ottawa provide, or allow? 

Ottawa has a close-knit writing community that offers support and opportunities for authors. We also have some wonderful independent bookshops, including Perfect Books, Books on Beechwood and Octopus Books, as well as Chapters and Coles bookstores that also like to feature local books and authors. Local festivals, book clubs and events offer unique experiences that bring together authors and readers. We are a big enough city to foster a wide-ranging writing community, but are small enough for readers to interact and to champion our authors. One small example: a local book club invited me to talk about Cold Mourning, first in my Stonechild and Rouleau series, several years ago. Since our first encounter, they’ve invited me back four or five times and we’ve also met for lunch and tea.

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? 

Ottawa and the Ottawa Valley feature prominently in many of my books. The Anna Sweet mysteries for adult literacy are set in Ottawa with P.I. Anna Sweet setting up her office in Hintonburg and crimes happening all over the city. My recent Hunter and Tate series is set in Ottawa. In fact, my protagonist Ella Tate lives in the same apartment that I did on Percy Street in the Glebe J Every person I meet has an impact on my work, whether consciously or subconsciously, so it would be difficult to say how the community has impacted on my writing, except to say that readers, booksellers and media here are on the whole generous and encouraging and help to keep me motivated. 

Q: What are you working on now? 

Blind Date was released March, 2022, and I’m currently working on book two in the Hunter and Tate mystery series. I’ve gotten through the first draft and am deep into the first edit. When Last Seen, this second in the series, will be out spring 2023.

Of note, local CHEZ 106 evening host Heather Williams narrated Blind Date (recently launched) and has signed up to narrate the second book, which will also be released spring of next year. You can find out more about all my books at www.brendachapman.ca

Six Questions interview #133 : Tanya Rakh

Tanya Rakh was born on the outskirts of time and space in a cardboard box. After extensive planet-hopping, she now lives in Ottawa, Ontario with her family. Her poetry, surrealist prose, and cross-genre amalgamations have appeared in journals including The Gasconade Review, Bywords, Literary Orphans, Fearless, and The Rye Whiskey Review. Tanya is a Best of the Net nominee and the author of two books: Hydrogen Sofi and Wildflower Hell, new editions of both available from Posthuman Poetry & Prose.

Q: How long were you in Ottawa, and what first brought you here? What took you away?

I first came to Ottawa in 2004 after graduating high school in Michigan. I needed a change, so I went on an adventure and Ottawa happened to be my destination. The city was good to me, so after taking a year off from school to explore the city, I ended up completing a BA in English and Classics at the University of Ottawa. I moved back to the US after receiving my degree, but I’m back now, and grateful to be here.

Q: How did you first get involved in writing, and subsequently, the writing community here?

I have been writing in one form or another since I was a kid, and I fell in love with poetry when I was 14 after discovering a collection of T.S. Eliot poems at my high school library. I started writing poetry when I was 16, and it’s kept me alive since. The first publication to ever accept a poem of mine was Ottawa’s Bywords, under editor and talented writer Amanda Earl, and the first open mics I attended were hosted at Café Nostalgica on the University of Ottawa campus.

Q: How did being in such a community of writers shift your thinking about writing, if at all? Have there been subsequent shifts due to where you have lived since?

In my last year at the University of Ottawa, I was fortunate enough to be part of a creative writing workshop taught by poet and professor Seymour Mayne. Our class was a small group of eleven poets, many of whom remain good friends today. It was wonderful to share poetry with this group in a focused setting, and Professor Mayne gave me very helpful advice on my work. He also taught me a lot about the intricacy of crafting verse, line flow and tone, and self-editing.

Q: What did you see happening here that you don’t see anywhere else? What did Ottawa provide, or allow?

There is a quiet, warm, creative energy here which I find inspiring. The gathering spaces and venues are great for open mics and other creative events. The atmosphere is vibrant and people are generally attentive and open to new types of work. I was very nervous to read before my first open mic performance, but the kind response I received at Café Nostalgica encouraged me.

Q: Have any of your projects responded directly to your engagements here? How had the city and its community, if at all, changed the way you approached your work?

The live poetry performances I experienced in Ottawa definitely made me want to read poems aloud more instead of only reading them off the page. This has added another dimension to both performing my own work and reading poetry by others.

Q: What are you working on now?

I am putting together a book called “ghost fractals,” a collection of wisps, fragments, and poems I’ve left in various corners over the past several years. The ghosts operate the labyrinth and show me where the stairs are hidden, so I’m taking my time and letting each piece steep into the whole. I’ve also been making a lot of sharpie spiral art and handwritten note poems (some illustrated), which I want to eventually arrange into vispo collections.