Martin
West was born in Victoria and spent his youth working and living
in the Canadian west. He has been published in magazines across the nation,
twice in the Journey Prize Anthology as well as Best Canadian Stories. His
first collection, Cretacea was published in 2016 and received the gold IPPY award.
His novel Long Ride Yellow arrived in the fall of 2017 from Anvil Press.
1 - How did your first book change your life? How
does your most recent work compare to your previous? How does it feel
different?
My hand writing
changed. Throughout all of my unpublished and professional life, I printed back
hand. Probably some sort of neurosis. After the first book came out, I started
writing forehand like everyone else. It really is a lot easier. As far as later
works is concerned, they have gotten longer. Could be a good thing, might be
bad.
2 - How did you come to fiction first, as
opposed to, say, poetry or non-fiction?
Fiction came to me.
My grade school disciplinary record shows as much. I had been banished to the
back row with a classmate who ate erasers and the box arrived. Don’t do this.
Do not open that box, a voice said to me. No such luck.
3 - How long does it take to start any particular
writing project? Does your writing initially come quickly, or is it a slow
process? Do first drafts appear looking close to their final shape, or does
your work come out of copious notes?
Decades. Eons. All of
the past. Anything that has hurt for years. Then finally the story erupts, the
first draft spews out and I spend the next fifty months cleaning the mess up
off the floor.
4 - Where does work of prose usually begin for you?
Are you an author of short pieces that end up combining into a larger project,
or are you working on a "book" from the very beginning?
In conflict. In the paradox
of eroticism, patriotism and pantheism-- or whatever the human place in the
cosmos is now called. If our passions are controllable, then they’re not worth having.
Everything begins there.
5 - Are public readings part of or counter to your
creative process? Are you the sort of writer who enjoys doing readings?
The last time I did a
reading my publisher suggested beta-blockers, so that pretty much sums up the
situation.
6 - Do you have any theoretical concerns behind
your writing? What kinds of questions are you trying to answer with your work?
What do you even think the current questions are?
Gravity. Mass. Angle
of attack and self-censorship. Getting the reader from one page to the last
without them realizing they are as perturbed as the author.
7 – What do you see the current role of the writer
being in larger culture? Does s/he even have one? What do you think the role of
the writer should be?
To write great
novels. The novel itself defines the known from unknown, the living from the
dead. Anything else is a distraction, a weakness and probably a lie.
8 - Do you find the process of working with an
outside editor difficult or essential (or both)?
I’ve always got along
very well with my outside editors. It’s the inside editor I have an issue with.
9 - What is the best piece of advice you've heard
(not necessarily given to you directly)?
Don’t. Try something
else. Run away. Get a day job. The armed forces are apparently hiring. But
nobody listens to that. Tell the truth. There’s nothing but the truth. You’ll
be a fool, but in the end the truth is all the writer has.
10 - How easy has it been for you to move between
genres (short stories to the novel)? What do you see as the appeal?
Part of the Canadian
condition is the right of passage through short stories so many of us were
conscripted through that route to get novels published. Moi aussi.
11 - What kind of writing routine do you tend to
keep, or do you even have one? How does a typical day (for you) begin?
The first draft is
like showing up for parade: plan large chunks of time off. Get up sober. Go to
the office first thing. Dress for the occasion. Know always there is someone on
the other side of the desk listening to every word and perfectly willing to
call you a liar. Write all day. Repeat.
12&14 - When your writing gets stalled, where
do you turn or return for (for lack of a better word) inspiration? (David W.
McFadden once said that books come from books, but are there any other forms
that influence your work, whether nature, music, science or visual art?)
White frost on black
trees. Women in latex. Liquor. The issue of Schrödinger's cat and modernist
painting.
If the story isn’t coming out like a
rocket ship, then do something else. There’s no point staring at a blank page.
13 - What fragrance reminds you of home?
Cedar.
15 - What other writers or writings are important
for your work, or simply your life outside of your work?
Given my vintage, I
grew up with intense dislike for the PC curriculum in Canadian lit classes and
was lured towards the deviant crowd instead.
16 - What would you like to do that you haven't yet
done?
Own my own boat. Cure
insomnia. Give up guilt.
17 & 18-
What made you write, as opposed to doing something
else? If you could pick any other occupation to attempt, what would it be? Or,
alternately, what do you think you would have ended up doing had you not been a
writer?
Probably a failed
intelligence officer. The writer writes because he has too. There is no choice.
To not write would lead to insanity, suicide or both. Fortunately, along the
way I’ve had good jobs which aren’t usually associated with the writing life.
The strategy paid off. Without those experiences I would never have written
anything worthwhile. As ugly, duplicitous and derelict as the human condition
may be, living in the beast’s gut is the only way to see its face.
19 - What was the last great book you read? What
was the last great film?
Dirt cheap and desperate.
86’ed. Dan Fante.
20 - What are you currently working on?
1981 Recession Vancouver. B&E artistry. Professional
domination in halcyon days. Folks who believe their parents are insects. Pretty
standard fare for this strange nation.
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