The BC Book Prize finalists were announced this week and I was delighted to see several of my own personal favorites were on the short list for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize. The short-list includes:

Heather Burt's Adam's Peak
Mary Novik's Conceit
Shaena Lambert's Radiance
Claire Mulligan's The Reckoning of Boston Jim
David Chariandy's Soucouyant

I had the opportunity to talk to two of the authors on that list about their nominations.

Andrea MacPherson's second poetry collection, 'Away', has just been released.

Here's a taste of the collection, used with Andrea's permission:

blue salt

At eleven, my mother swam
in an outdoor pool in Arbroath.
She had come for grieving, but instead
found tight bands of blue held above her head,
broom surrounding the water.

They stayed in a caravan, avoiding
the sea port where her mother had
grown up, where her grandmother
had died while they were hovering
over the Atlantic. Landing, her mother cried,
sagging against their broken suitcases,
and my mother held her arm. Felt sorrow
most in the soft skin there.

They spent days in Broughty Ferry, listening
to the cry of gulls, and peering in store windows;
or Carnoustie where they ate at tiny fish shops
where my mother learned the texture of gills.

Her mother left with only a rose-gold
wedding band, a few porcelain figurines:
dogs, women in fancy dress, lambs.
And my mother took with her the memory
of water, smoked fish on her tongue.


MacPherson's novel Beyond the Blue has also just been released in paperback. Last fall Andrea joined me on my forum "Gail's kitchen." Here's an excerpt from our conversation, where Andrea describes how Beyond the Blue came together:

Gail: Beth Powning, author of The Hatbox Letters, says of this novel that “Andrea MacPherson writes with compassion and honesty of women working in the jute factories of Dundee during WWI, who toil beneath ‘the foolish secrets of women.’ This beautiful novel, written in lyrical, strong prose, is a compelling, clear-eyed account of what constitutes hope and bravery, not only in the lives of mill workers, but in any life distorted by false memories and illusory dreams.” I agree: Beyond the Blue is a wonderful novel. Andrea, in order to give our readers a sense of this novel, can you tell us a little about why you chose this subject matter?

Andrea: The subject matter. It had been speaking to me for years, whispering in my ear. My grandmother was from Dundee - she came to Canada as a war bride - and she talked about the city and the mills. Her mother had worked at Bowbridge Jute Mill, and had died from a respiratory disease associated with the work. So, I heard the stories from a young age and was always intrigued by them. There was something about the city, and about the hopelessness of mill work that really spoke to me...

Family stories were definitely the starting point for the novel. There was a lot of listening in the beginning. I had the great opportunity to go back to Dundee again, this time solely for research, while I was writing the novel. I spent ten days there, wandering the city, learning the back roads and side alleys. It brought everything to life again for me, seeing the city that way and being completely immersed in the research. I visited churches and jute mill museums and newsagent stands; all the places I imagined my characters were going. Then, when I got home and back to writing, I realized I had missed things - and isn't this always the case?!? So, I went at the research from a more academic stand point. I couldn't stand in those places anymore, so I got books and emailed relatives and asked more and more questions. I knew I wanted to tell the story of these people, and I knew what their story was. But I also knew that to get it right, I had to wade around in research. I needed to understand them and the constraints put upon them at that time.

*****

For more of our conversation, visit our forum Gail's Kitchen.

For more on Andrea and this novel, visit: http://www.randomhouse.ca/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780679314233&view=excerpt


Andrea is doing a number of events to celebrate the release of her books. To check these out, visit her website at: http://www.andreamacpherson.com/