Of Earthly and River Things
Author,
writer and avid sportsman, Wayne Curtis is one of Atlantic Canada’s finest and
most prolific writers. In his latest work, Of
Earthly and River Things: An Angler's Memoir, Curtis voyages back through
the tributaries of his past, throwing a pastoral net over the backwaters of his
childhood to ensnare the sepia-tinged moments of love, loss, and life lessons
gleaned through his rise to maturity on the waterways of New Brunswick.
Recently he spoke with AE about the new book.
What inspired you to put
this book together?
I
wrote this book because I felt an obligation to do it for the river people, in
the river people's voice and from their point of view. As someone who comes
from a family that has been living on the river for two centuries - and because
I write - I wanted to record the events and feelings for posterity.
Did the work come
together quickly or did you really need to work at it?
Once
I started the book and was on my way, things just fell into place, commencing with
the small boy to the old man in chronological order. Still it was a couple of
years in the making.
What was the most
challenging aspect of the process?
The
most challenging was trying to tell it in words but also in the natural symbols
(which is a language higher than words) the different moods of the river
people, how the landscape and the river-scape controls our lives and how we
feel about foreign ownership and the loss of the river community - now reduced
to cottage country - as it used to be.
What was the most
rewarding part of the experience?
To
have the river people read it and say that I had written just what they felt
and thank me for doing it.
What did you learn
during the process?
I
learned that the river people have a spirit that we share in the same way that
mountain people or prairie people have a common spirit. We are all held
together by our love for a river that flows through our veins. River people are like a cult in that regard.
How did you feel when
the book was completed?
I
felt that I had done justice to the river people, although I only scratched the
surface.
What has the response
been like so far from those that have read it?
So
far the reviews have been excellent and the river people - who are my readers
and my principle concern because I wrote it in their voice - have praised the
book and a testament to the river way of life.
What's next on your
creative agenda?
I'm
working on a novel (set elsewhere) and I have a collection of Christmas stories
I'm hoping to get published soon.
What made you want to be
a writer?
I
have always wanted to be a writer. Since school days in the fifties I have been
a writer of stories. When I was in elementary school I wrote stories and sent
them to my mentor Sinclair Ross, a great writer from Saskatchewan. He would say
"You have the idea but you have to learn to cut a hundred words."
What do your family and
friends think of your vocation?
My
family is supportive and my friends, who are mostly writers - Alistair Macleod,
David Adams Richards, Sheree Fitch, Harry Thurston and others have been
supportive since day one. Mr. Ross has been dead for years.
What makes a good book?
Honesty
and heart; I try to move the reader to tears of sadness and or joy.
What are your thoughts
on Canadian literature today?
I
have to say that I haven't been reading it, save for the above mentioned
writers, I've been reading Russian, French and Latin American writers.
Do you have any advice
for aspiring writers?
Write
from your own experiences and from your own heart. That's the only way to find uniqueness and we
must be unique, use our own brush stroke to be success artists. Individualism
is seldom found in the classroom or on a computer screen, you have to live the experience
to describe it with feelings.
