by
Janelle Curry
The theme of the night, “Who
Am I Now?”, was captured through a variety of texts, by several talented
authors. André Alexis, Doretta Lau, David Alexander Robertson, Martha Baillie,
and David Bergen each read excerpts from their books that reflected this theme
in different ways.
Alexis’
excerpt from Pastoral featured a
pastor who had quite the shock seeing a man walk on water and speak in tongues.
Lau’s
short story was entitled “God Damn, How Real is This?”, and flowed from the
premise of the future selves of people texting their present selves, often with
warnings that didn’t quite yet make sense.
Robertson’s
reading from The Evolution of Alice
followed a woman, Alice, who was grieving for her deceased daughter Grace,
seeing her child in every part of her home.
Baillie
read from her novel The Search for
Heinrich Schlögel, which is narrated by an archivist who is attempting to
piece together Heinrich’s life history.
Bergen
read an excerpt from his novel Leaving
Tomorrow, which followed a romantic, Arthur, stuck in a brawling country
town in Alberta.
All
very different, each of these authors brought a new perspective and a new style
of writing to the theme. Between authors Charlene Diehl, director of Thin Air,
mused about the Self. She remarked that we often have a tendency to consider
others as fixed entities, even while we recognize ourselves as constantly
changing beings. Even the question, “who am I now?”, suggests that we know we
can change, and do so quite often, but we still seek to identify and title
ourselves at every turning point. It’s often seen as a bad thing to think of
yourself too much, but really we all do it and it’s part of our nature.
Attempts at self-definition motivate us and do a lot of good, in the end. But as
a room filled with people who appreciate literature, I’m sure we could all
relate to the desire to overcome this habit by connecting with others in meaningful
ways, even when they’re just characters from a book.
Stories
provide a window into the mind of another; not just the characters portrayed,
but even the author can be discernible between the lines. Seeing these very
talented authors speak their words on stage added a layer of intimacy to the readings,
similar to the experience you have when meeting a close friend’s parents or
family for the first time. The author creates the character, nurtures her,
shapes her, and can even be surprised by her. Readers connect with these
characters to different degrees, in different ways, and can often even see
things that the author did not intend. These mysterious elements of a character
that spring up in a line of dialogue or during a description, but only to those
who are primed to see it, are what make a character so real: even their parents
don’t fully know who they are.
Each
of the readings tonight reflected a different role or perspective that affects
self-definition. Redefining oneself after the death of a child, or after
contact with your future self has made you wonder if you’re secretly a
misogynist. Interpreting a man walking on plastic cylinders in a pond as
satanic, or being mistaken for many different people by many different
strangers. Believing you’re surrounded by idiots because all they want to do is
fight, while you prefer to read.
These
all suggest how dependent our identity is on our relationships with other
people. It’s kind of a beautiful irony, that we’re so self-centered and yet
define ourselves by our interactions with others.
Well,
might as well interact with one (or all) of the books that were read from
tonight, to take your mind off of yourself for once. Geez.
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