Six Questions interview #143 : Charlotte Esme Frank

Charlotte Esme Frank is a student, musician and writer currently living in Tiohtià:ke/Montréal, where she writes, sings, does some editing work and is currently completing a PhD in English Literature at Mcgill University. The focus of Charlotte’s research at the moment is the poet Elizabeth Bishop; she hopes to explore, through Bishop’s work, ideas she is interested in for her own writing which often explores themes of belonging, place, mourning and liminality. She completed her Bachelor’s degree in the Humanities at Carleton University, Ottawa, and holds an MA in English Literature and Creative Writing from Concordia University.

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

I grew up in Ottawa, and completed my Bachelor’s at Carleton University in the Humanities. I moved around within the city quite a bit, and am grateful I got to see and experience Ottawa’s different neighbourhoods before moving to Montreal to do my MA in English Literature and Creative Writing. While I feel at home in Montreal, and can see myself settling here, I appreciate having Ottawa only a few hours away to go back to every now and then. I find it quite peaceful, especially where my parents live near the canal.

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

While I was in Ottawa, I was more involved with the musical community than the writing one. I’m a singer and songwriter, and collaborated with a few different Ottawa musicians and musical groups, performing at various local venues like Pressed and Bar Robo back when it was still in Chinatown. It’s really only been since moving to Montreal that I’ve tried my hand more seriously at writing short fiction and poetry in addition to songs.   

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? 

I think being surrounded by supportive and curious groups of musicians and writers in various cities at various points in time is what has kept me making things throughout the years. That Ottawa has a variety of accessible and encouraging venues where young poets and musicians can share their work is such a gift to young artists.

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

I was always struck by how encouraging and supportive the artists I encountered in Ottawa were towards each other. In larger cities, I get the sense there is more competition, and less of a sense of community.

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? 

I think the people I encountered in Ottawa set the bar (and set it high) for the ways in which artists can come together and support each other. Since leaving Ottawa, I’ve found myself continually on the lookout for communities of artists, and writing and musical groups, in which people treat each other with respect and honesty.  

Q: What are you working on now?

I only have a couple of projects on the go at the moment. Since graduating from Concordia, I’ve been trying to rework the poems I submitted as a part of my thesis into something that feels slightly more finished. I’ve been writing about temporary spaces, and the way it feels to be in and remember them. More interestingly, though, I’m currently working with seven other poets on a collaborative chapbook. The process has been playful and exciting and I’m so grateful to be on a team with such genuinely wonderful poets and people.   

Six Questions interview #142 : Leah Schnurr

Leah Schnurr lives in Ottawa, where she writes very slowly. Her poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in The Windsor Review, CAROUSEL, MockingHeart Review, The Pinch, and SWWIM. She is an active member of the Canty Collective of Writerly Women, and she tweets sporadically like the introvert she is at @LeahSchnurr.

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

I first moved from Toronto to Ottawa in the early 2000’s when I went to Carleton for my degree in journalism, and after several years away for work, I moved back in 2014.

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

I’ve been writing poetry in some form or another since I was in my teens, and slowly over the years, with many fits and starts, I’ve realized it really is the form that most sustains me. While I originally moved to Ottawa for work, it has been wonderful to discover how vibrant the writing community is here. I was, unfortunately, just beginning to scratch the surface when the pandemic hit, but being able to attend things like the Tree Reading Series and VerseFest virtually these last couple years has kept that community feeling going for me.

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

I think it can be easy to forget how important community is when you’re sitting at home trying to wrangle a poem, or any piece of art, into shape. Watching someone read their work (in-person or otherwise) is so inspiring and energizing to me, and doubly so when that person is in my own city. When I’m feeling dull or foggy about my own work, I try to remember to engage a little more, whether by checking out a reading or picking up something by a local writer. It always lifts me up, a sort of borrowing of creative courage.

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

For the size of the city, the number of events, readings, and workshops that happen in Ottawa is astounding. And I think there’s something really fortifying about the fact that Ottawa tends to fly under the radar unless you live here. I like places (and people) that just do their own thing regardless of whether anyone notices.

Personally, Ottawa has provided a sort of mental space I haven’t found in other cities. I’ve had some of the most fruitful writing periods of my life while living here, and I think Ottawa as a place is deeply imbued in my work, even if I’m not writing about it directly.

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?

When I go to writing events in the city, it is clear to me just how many people live here that are also writers on top of their day jobs. And I don’t mean that in a “side hustle” sort of concept, I mean that Ottawa can allow you to have a sustainable writing practice, or even a career, that doesn’t have to pay the bills. I find a lot of inspiration in the idea that there are a lot of people here that are quietly, steadily putting out great art, and I hope I can be one of those people.

Q: What are you working on now?

Right now, I’m working on learning how to write while parenting, which is to say I have a one-year-old and am trying to come to terms with a “writing day” now being whatever 15 minutes I can squeeze in. I have a set of drafts I am tending to that might turn out to be a series of linked poems, but so far they are closely guarding their secrets.

Six Questions interview #141 : Gordon G. Bowman

Gordon G. Bowman has lived in Ottawa, Ontario for thirty years. He raised two daughters here and now lives with his wife, two dogs, and cat. He is a physics grad, a software developer, and a lifelong fan of science fiction and fantasy. In 2013, he released his first book The Scooter Diaries, a tribute to his parents’ crazy adventure in 1960. He recently released his first novel, Fractured—the first book in the YA crossover urban fantasy/sci-fi series, Telepath.

 

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

 

I was eighteen years old, studying Physics at the University of Waterloo, and came to Ottawa in January 1989 for my first 4-month co-op work term. I stayed with my older brother, sleeping on his couch in his little bachelor apartment on York Street in the ByWard Market. I remember that I could look out the window and see the Chez 106 DJ working in the building across the street. Most of my other work terms were in Ottawa, so when I graduated in 1993, I came here to again to sleep on my brother’s couch while looking for a job. Jobs were scarce in my field, so I flew out to Vancouver where they were supposed to be more plentiful and while there, landed a job back here in Ottawa. I’ve been here ever since.

 

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

 

I always loved reading science fiction as a kid and wanted to be a novelist someday. During my university years and afterwards, I collected books on how to write a novel and would dutifully write story outlines and plot points and character profiles . . . and never actually wrote any novels. It wasn’t until I read Stephen King’s book On Writing, in which he said that the only thing that ever worked for him was to just sit down and start writing, that I tried just that.

 

In 2005, my oldest daughter was seven and had read all the Harry Potters novels. I wanted to write a YA novel that she and her younger sister would like, where the main character was a girl. So, I started writing it in my spare time. I wasn’t persistent, though, so chapters were written sporadically over the years. I eventually stopped writing it altogether and spent a few years creating a book called The Scooter Diaries, based on an old manuscript my late father had written shortly after his scooter adventure with my mother down in South America in 1960. I joined the Ottawa Independent Writers Facebook group and once attended an actual meetup of writers for drinks at a pub. I think, though, that I felt like an imposter—not a real writer like them—so I never went to more.

 

A few years ago, I had a few months off between jobs. For the first time ever, I could spend every day doing anything I wanted to do. I chose to write all day, every day, and finish off my YA novel. I discovered that I’m never happier than when I’m writing. Since releasing it recently, I started a new routine of waking up at 5am every day to give myself at least an hour or two to write.

 

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

 

In hindsight, I wish I hadn’t been such a loner and had instead participated more in Ottawa’s writing community. Maybe it would have inspired me to write every day. Maybe I would have learned more about the craft and about the business side of things. Maybe I would have made some writer friends. In the past few months, though, I’ve gotten to know some Ottawa authors on Twitter and I’m getting a feel for what I’ve missed out on. Hopefully, I can make up for lost time.

 

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

 

I’ve always loved Ottawa for its diversity and multiculturalism. People tend to think of Ottawa as being a sleepy political town—but being the National Capital, people come from all over to live here, which makes the city a dynamic, interesting place to live. It has lots of big-city festivals but a small-town feel. I love its Ottawa International Writers Festival, its book fairs, and independent bookstores. I am just now learning of its close-knit writing community and I really do hope to become a part of it.

 

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? 

 

My debut novel Fractured, the first book in the Telepath series, begins in the Byward Market during the Canada Day celebrations. I like it when Canadian authors set their books in Canada, and I knew from the start I wanted to do likewise.

 

Q: What are you working on now? 

 

In addition to trying to figure out how to promote my debut novel, I am hard at work on the next book in the Telepath series. The first book might have taken 17 years, but I hope to have its sequel out within a year.