12 or 20 (second series) questions with Deborah Ellis

Deborah Ellis is the author of many books of fiction and non-fiction for young people, often on the topic of war and what it does to children.  Her latest book is a collection of short stories called Go.  She lives in Simcoe, Ontario, with her wife and their dog.

How did your first book change your life? I had written many unpublishable books before Looking for X was accepted and published.  It gave me the sense that maybe I could learn how to do this mysterious thing.  Also at that time, an adult non-fiction book I'd done came out - Women of the Afghan War - which was interviews with Afghan women in the refugee camps and elsewhere.  

How did you come to fiction first? Fiction was always what I wanted to write. It is what I love to read.  When I was a kid, a friend of my parents was friends with the great Jean Little. I received Jean's books as Christmas presents and was blown away that someone actually knew her, that she was a real person.

How long does it take to start any particular writing project? I usually start with a question - what would it be like to be this person in this situation.  My beginnings take much longer these days.  It takes more time for me to figure out what the story is and how to get into it.  And I go through many, many drafts.

Where does a work of prose usually begin for you? Usually with a question, as I said above. Sometimes with a news story or something I've read or heard in passing.

Are public readings part of or counter to your creative process? When I was doing school talks, it was wonderful to meet with children who read and loved my books or who read and hated my books - as long as they were reading and formed opinions! I wouldn't say that public readings are part of the creative process, but they are part of the job, if I'm lucky enough to be invited.

Do you have any theoretical concerns behind your writing?  I'm usually trying to figure out why we continue to behave badly when we know all too well what the result will be, as well as what will it take for us to just be kind to each other.

What do you see as the current role of the writer in the larger culture? I think it is the same as it has always been, to both hold up a mirror and to put forward possibilities. When we write for children, we also need to give them a sense that they have the power to get out of or at least survive a bad situation.

Do you find the process of working with an editor difficult or essential? Absolutely essential. I have been lucky - most of my books were edited by Shelley Tanaka, an incredibly talented woman who is not shy about saying the work is bad and needs to be done again!

What is the best piece of advice you've heard? That people will survive when you don't do what they want you to do.

How easy is it for you to move between genres, fiction to non-fiction? Easy. It's all stories.

What kind of writing routine do you tend to keep? Typical day? All days start with a long walk with our dog, then coffee with my wife then getting down to work.  Up and down with chores and other things.  

When your writing gets stalled, where do you turn for inspiration? Usually activity - cleaning the house, walking the dog, stuff like that.  Sometimes browsing the library.  

What fragrance reminds you of home? Lilac - I used to build forts in the lilac trees in the scrubland behind our house when I was a kid.

David W. McFadden once said that books come from books. Are there other forms that influence your work? Books absolutely come from books - also from life, from memory, from art, from theatre, from the sky.

What other writers or writings are important for your work or simply your life outside your work?  I like to read books about new ideas or ways of looking at things I've never thought about before. We are lucky that more books are available in translation now, so we get to read voices from around the world.

What would you like to do that you haven't yet done? Travel more, learn more, have more conversations.

If you could pick any other occupation, what would it be? I would like to travel with a carnival. Or maybe be a funeral director.

What made you write, as opposed to doing something else? Writing was always it. There wasn't anything else.

What was the last great book you read? Upward Bound by Woody Brown - it takes place inside an adult day program.  Incredible.

What are you currently working on? A couple of young adult pieces and a couple of adult pieces. Time will tell if they are any good.

12 or 20 (second series) questions;

12 or 20 (second series) questions with Pamela Porter

Born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Pamela Porter immigrated to Canada in 1994, where she joined workshops with Patrick Lane and Lorna Crozier. Patrick Lane called her "a poet to be grateful for." Her work has earned many accolades, including the inaugural Gwendolyn MacEwan Poetry Prize, the Malahat Review's 50th Anniversary Poetry Prize, the Our Times Poetry Award for political poetry,  the FreeFall Magazine Poetry Award, the Prism International Grand Prize in Poetry, the Vallum Magazine Poem of the Year Award, as well as the Raymond Souster and Pat Lowther Award shortlists. Her novel in verse, The Crazy Man, won the Governor General's Award, the Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children Award, the TD Canadian Children's Literature Award and other prizes. Both The Crazy Man and her later novel, I'll Be Watching, are required reading in schools and colleges across Canada and the U.S. Pamela lives on a farm near Sidney, B.C., with her family and a menagerie of rescued horses, dogs and cats.

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 first book completely changed my life. I was born in the US and studied poetry and prose writing  in undergraduate school at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. I even changed universities in order to be able to take the poetry writing class; I managed to do that during Christmas break one year. After undergraduate school, I was accepted to the University of Montana in order to take Richard Hugo's workshops in Missoula. But after graduation, I was on my own. I was born and grew up in the US and only came to Canada because my father in-law was in his nineties and wanted to retire from the business of growing wheat and other crops on the prairie land in Saskatchewan and Alberta, and my husband, and the only male son in the family, was the only one who might have any interest at all in Canadian farming. At the time, we lived in Montana, on the east side of the Rockies in a very fertile valley; as well, a river cascaded down river right beside our house and flowed into a lovely spot where beavers made their dams and even chewed down a few thin trees on our land to make their homes. We had very young children at the time and were happy where we lived. The only drawback as I saw it was that we would need to move to Canada in order for Rob to take on the farm business. Rob, my husband, told me of my father in-law's request, and asked that we think about the idea of moving to Canada.
My earliest experience of Canada took place when world's fairs were popular at the time and I goaded my family to drive us to San Antonio where there was going to be an abbreviated world's fair. When we arrived to the fair, I continued to nudge my family to visit the Canadian pavilion where, upon entry, cold air was blown at you on arrival and it was really dark inside, though the many photographs of Canada's beauty were spread along the walls. That about summed up what I knew about Canada. I was ten. Nonetheless, Rob and I thought seriously of moving north.

We had a Metis friend named Georgia who was looking for work and we were overwhelmed with the babies. We hired Georgia to help us with cooking and cleaning, and in return, she told us about her childhood.

Georgia lived in northwest Montana with her grandparents on a ranch and the family lived a hardscrabble life of poverty. A number of dams had been built on the east side of the Rockies, dams that were built by the Works Progress Administration in the 1930's, and all the dams were built from wood. One year while Georgia was still living with her grandparents, a storm came up and overwhelmed the area with rain. Well, all those dams burst at the same time. There was discrimination from the officials brought the flooded folks to rescue centers, who were tasked with separating the white folks from the First Nations. And slowly, the rebuilding.

That was my first attempt to write a novel. Of course, it needed to be a book my children could hear me read to them, and later, read to themselves.

I'd had rejection after rejection for so many years, I didn't know if this story, Sky, would be just another rejection. But an editor at Groundwood Books in Toronto, wrote back to me and said that the story had promise, but "it needs work," they said. I said that I was willing to do the work. How to start? We'll help you, they said. So I worked on Sky, the book, for weeks. The editors sent me more work. I did the work. One day I got a call from Groundwood Books to say that they were pleased with my edits and the board had decided to publish the book.

I held myself together enough to be able to thank the person on the other end of the phone; I hung up, sat down in a chair, and sobbed. I counted up how many years I had been working to create something that would be published rather than rejected. I counted that I had been working 25 years to see one of my stories published as a novel for young readers.

Once Sky was accepted for publication, I went to work on a book in free verse poetry, about a girl in Saskatchewan who suffers a catastrophic farming accident which alters her life, and how she works to recover from her life-long disability. As I thought about what I wanted to write, characters would come to me, as though each one sat beside me one by one and introduced themselves. I felt the presence of a large man sitting beside me, and quietly, I asked the presence his name. He said his name was Angus. That began the story The Crazy Man, over which I spent a year writing, and which later won the Governor General's Award for literature for young people. I still get cards and letters from readers about The Crazy Man and how some people say they keep the book on their bedside table and read from it their favourite parts.

I was having lunch with Patrick Lane some years ago, and he mentioned that it was as though the characters came across a kind of bridge in order to present themselves as part of the story. I said I had had a similar experience.

I wrote another book in free verse about WWII, titled I'll Be Watching which is read by students in high schools when teaching the second world war.

I came to fiction first because I wanted to tell Georgia's story. I came to poetry as a novel because I discovered from talking with students in schools that boys in particular will read a book in which there is a lot of white space on the page and often boys find reading such a book to be a relief and one they can enjoy rather that be overwhelmed by pages and pages filled with words. I have to say though, that for me, poetry really does come first for me.

As a child, I loved listening to to rhyming poetry, and as I grew up I looked for more books of poetry that would inspire me to write. I'm also a pianist, so music, and the music of words are important to me. The lyric for me is important, particularly in poetry. My father once gifted my mother with the Complete Poems of Robert Frost. One day when I was about 15, I finally drew up the courage to stand on a chair and take down that book, and I'd sit on the floor of my bedroom and read Frost's poems. I'd memorize many of them as I walked to school, though once I got to "Out, Out--" well, I didn't know what to do with that one, though over the years I realized what poetry can be in its many iterations.

How long does it take to start a writing project? Well, it depends on whether I see a novel in free verse or a poem of 15-30 lines. Sometimes the poem of 30 lines is more difficult because one may "worry the poem to death" when the poem is as good as it's going to get. Recently I uncovered the start of a poem and decided it just needed a little more attention. Sometimes first drafts appear fairly finished, though others may take much more time to come upon what the poet is working toward -- it is music that is needed, or some deft editing?

2 - How did you come to fiction first, as opposed to, say, poetry or non-fiction?
I came to fiction first when I wrote Sky, because I wanted to show readers, especially young readers the rough lives Georgia's family experienced in the flood: the discrimination, the poverty, so that young readers will have a glimpse into another person's poverty and struggle.

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?
It really depends on how much material you want to include in your writing project, whether prose is best -- and it can be a prose poem if that seems to be the way your brain is working, or it can open up to a story or a novel in prose. If the prose is working well, keep going. Some writers will present a piece of prose and then include a poem if it seems appropriate.

4 - Where does a poem or work of fiction 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?
Usually I want to start with a poem or several, or a whole book of poems. Two people in my life have passed fairly recently, so I have been writing poems about them and about their lives. That's not to say that one can't include prose poems or prose in conjunction with poetry, as long as there is a balance in the project.

5 - Are public readings part of or counter to your creative process? Are you the sort of writer who enjoys doing readings?
I do enjoy doing readings, because if I may say so, I'm a very good reader to an audience. I was fortunate in middle school in that I had an excellent speech teacher, who taught us how to create space when speaking, and how to provide emphasis when needed and to speak in a way that allows listeners to take in everything you want to say.  I'm forever trying to get a speaker to learn how to use a microphone properly so that the audience will be able to understand all that is said.

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?
Yes, I want readers/listeners to hear clearly what a poem or paragraph or haiku is about, and how can the listener/reader best understand the poem or prose piece? In that manner, we need to speak clearly and naturally so that the information being delivered is clear.

The questions I want to answer in my work are those that are of significant importance: how should we live so that others can live fully as well? How can we write in a way that helps others to see the critical questions which we as a society need to answer? How can we be awake to those questions so that we can begin to live toward the answers? There is so much destruction and pain and poverty in many parts of the world -- how can we begin to discover the answers?

7 – What do you see the current role of the writer being in larger culture? Do they even have one? What do you think the role of the writer should be?
I believe the role of the writer is to ask the questions which the society at large needs to confront.

8 - Do you find the process of working with an outside editor difficult or essential (or both)?
Both.

9 - What is the best piece of advice you've heard (not necessarily given to you directly)?
Let another person whom you trust look through your work and give suggestions if needed.

10 - How easy has it been for you to move between genres (poetry to novels)? What do you see as the appeal?
I tend to stick with poetry though recently I've been writing prose poems which is a kind of hybrid. One doesn't get the music of the lines as much as lined poetry, but it holds onto the visual elements, I think.

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?
Well, I have a writing group who keep me going and asking questions of the poems, or prose, which is always interesting.

12 - When your writing gets stalled, where do you turn or return for (for lack of a better word) inspiration?
I look for books of poetry or of prose poems for inspiration.

13 - What fragrance reminds you of home?
The pinon scent of New Mexico, where I was born.

14 - 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?
Visual art influences me, particularly Van Gogh.

15 - What other writers or writings are important for your work, or simply your life outside of your work?
Music, whether written or sung or played on instruments.

16 - What would you like to do that you haven't yet done?
A book of poems with paintings: whose, I'm not sure.

17 - 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 teacher, though having to grade papers would be the end of me, I think.

18 - What made you write, as opposed to doing something else?
I wanted music in my life, and colour, and art.

19 - What was the last great book you read? What was the last great film?
Esi Edugyan's Washington Black.

20 - What are you currently working on?
a collection of prose poems.

12 or 20 (second series) questions;

12 or 20 (second series) questions with Shannon Bramer

Shannon Bramer writes poems, plays and short fiction. She is the author of Climbing Shadows: Poems for Children, illustrated by Cindy Derby, and several poetry collections for adults, winning the Hamilton and Region Arts Council Book Award for her first book, suitcases and other poems. Shannon’s plays include Chloe’s Tiny Heart Is Closed (for children) and The Hungriest Woman in the World. In 2020 Book*hug press published TRAPSONGS, a collection of Shannon’s plays. Robot, Unicorn, Queen, illustrated by Irene Luxbacher, is out this month with Groundwood Books. She lives with her family (and two beautiful old cats) in Toronto, Ontario.

4 - Where does a poem 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?

It's a little bit of both at this stage; poems always start with a word or a line or a voice stuck in my head, but once a few have arrived I usually notice something tying all the little pieces together and an idea for a book happens.

5 - Are public readings part of or counter to your creative process? Are you the sort of writer who enjoys doing readings?

I love giving readings; I am always exceedingly nervous about the before and after (small talk and socializing!) because I am on the shy side, but something happens when I occupy my work and have an audience--it's electrifying and so much fun. Readings always help me refine poems as well. I often read to test audiences (the kids I work with!) and learn where things work rhythmically, emotionally and also where things land (or don't!) in terms of the humour in my poems.  

8 - Do you find the process of working with an outside editor difficult or essential (or both)?

Editors are amazing and essential. Editors are attentive to details, they ask important questions, they push you to see your work from different angles. I have also found that having an editor helps a writer unpack and articulate why they might make certain choices. I've been blessed with incredible editors over the years: Alana Wilcox, Jen LoveGrove, Nan Froman and last but not least, David Derry, my husband--who is one of the best writers and toughest editors out there!

9 - What is the best piece of advice you've heard (not necessarily given to you directly)?

Travel--you have to travel, Shannon. My Nana Bramer always said that. And I think she's right; and I've tried to do that both on and off the page.

10 - How easy has it been for you to move between genres (general poetry to poetry for kids)? What do you see as the appeal?

I think having children and working with children means that I am immersed in a world of language and conversation and observations that I am always internalizing. I love kids as much as I love poetry. I love listening to them, I am dazzled by their ideas, sensitivities, bravery, humour--so I love trying to make them laugh, feel, and think with poems. I want to help them see themselves, how beautiful they are, how funny, how much they teach the adults. They are not always easy to impress, so writing poems for them is a delightful and thrilling challenge.

13 - What fragrance reminds you of your childhood?

Cigarette smoke! My mama is a long-time smoker of many cigarettes.

14 - 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?

All of the above for me! I get a little obsessed with something--a variety of mushroom, or a painting, or a song or an artist--and I will pour my heart into finding out as much as I can about it/them. The obsessions often lead to poetry.

15 - What other writers or writings are important for your work, or simply your life outside of your work?

There are so many writers that have been important to me over the years; I have a few close friends who are writers and I am so grateful for the ways they inspire me and also cheer me on when I need it. My husband, Dave, is the most important, to be honest. He knows when I'm not working enough on my writing I can get very down; he pushes me through those slumpy phases.

16 - What would you like to do that you haven't yet done?

Practise mandolin consistently and learn how to play more than one song!

18 - What made you write, as opposed to doing something else?

I love writing and I have needed writing my whole life. Like most writers I have always done other things alongside writing. I am a mother of three, I work in a nursery school, I teach poetry, I've been a lunchroom supervisor and a bookseller. I am also a passionate cook; cooking is a kind of poetry for me and when I'm cooking I become hyper-focused in the same way that I do when I'm writing poetry.

19 - What was the last great book you read? What was the last great film?

The Vegan Chinese Kitchen by Hannah Che. The recipes are as beautiful as the stories and photography in the book. The first one to come to mind is Little Orphans, written by Newfoundland playwright and filmmaker, Emily Bridger and directed by Ruth Lawrence. It's a love letter to St.John's, and explores what it means to show up, as mother, as a friend. It's an austere but tender film that broke my heart.

20 - What are you currently working on?

I'm working on the edits for a new book of poetry for young audiences, forthcoming in 2025. It's called Nightmare Jones and I am so excited about it because it will be for slightly older kids. There's scorpions and monsters and lots of spiders in this book. All the best things.

12 or 20 (second series) questions;