Check out one of our Artist Interview from last year featuring the fabulous writer Lindsay Glauser-Kwan:
We met with Lindsay at her home studio in Yaletown. Lindsay is a writer of many different genres, including poetry, short stories, and non-fiction. Originally from Vancouver Island, Lindsay has lived in Vancouver for the past 14 years and has worked primarily in the fashion industry for local companies. Over the past 4 years, Lindsay has begun to take writing more seriously – last year she enrolled in the Writer’s Studio at SFU in the narrative non-fiction stream and she feels like the experience really solidified her desire to be a professional writer. Lindsay is a past editor and contributor for the Vancouver Book Club and is currently an active member of Pandora’s Collective. She can be seen regularly on stage reading her poems or hosting the stage while other poets are reading at local literary events. She is currently working on a memoir manuscript, and also recently began teaching a creative writing class for kids.
You can find out more about Lindsay's work on her website and follow her on Twitter.
One of the things Lindsay likes most about being a writer is that she has the freedom to work anywhere, not just at her desk!
Our Q&A with Lindsay:
Do you remember the first time you created something?
I remember always creating things – instead of playing with toys I did crafts, drew, or wrote stories. I used to send my family members the stories I wrote, and I remember my mom asking me if I wanted to be a writer when I grew up. I said 'no!'
What are you working on right now?I'm working on my memoir manuscript which is about my childhood and blues music – my father was a blues musician. I'm also working on a series of poems about my great great grandparents who were the lone survivors of a tornado that hit their town in the early 1900s. After they were hit, they were out in the open all night waiting for someone to find them in the vast prairie. I'm fascinated by my great-great-grandmother and have so many questions about how she managed the homestead after her husband died. I'm doing some more research and hope to find out more about her life.
The process of writing a memoir is different than if I'm writing something fictional, I find it takes a lot more out of me. With this series of poems, for example, I am creating a story by making assumptions based on the few facts, photos, and documents I have about them. With a memoir, I'm trying to get to the truth of what I remember, and it involves a lot of mining my own experiences and doing a lot of free writing after looking at pictures and things from my childhood.
What do you like the most about working as a writer? And what are some of the challenges of working in the arts?
I think what I like most is that you can write anywhere, and you don't really need anything more than a pencil and a paper. I do most of my writing by hand before moving onto the computer, it is nice to be able step away from everything and just write.
Some of the challenges are that it is so labour intensive! There is so much work involved with writing but on the other hand that is what I like about it. It can take years to write something and you can get deeply involved.
What moves you as a writer?
At the moment, it is definitely music. My husband and I go to a lot of live shows and I find myself always wanting to write afterwards - probably because I'm writing so much about music as well. I'm also inspired by artwork – I do a lot of writing to art through events like the Word Whip in the gallery space at the JCC.
Do you think about the relationship between writer and reader when creating?
Absolutely. How someone is interpreting your words and whether you have given enough context or enough information about a character to give a sense of them is such a vital part of the writing process. I'm in a writers group where we read each others work and give feedback. At first it made me anxious because I wrote so much on my own but I slowly just started taking the risk to do it. I think you get so much out of sharing your work with other people and having them relate what you wrote to their own experiences. I also try to do readings as often as possible and they make me think about how words come across and how people will hear them. Writing so much about blues music has also helped for reading aloud, as I try to write rhythmically with repetition so that it has a musical flow to it.
In your view, what are some ways that writers can impact their communities?
I think that writers are able to talk about and bring to the forefront difficult subjects, like mental illness or identity issues for example. Through literature you can really relate to people on a level that is more personal. I like to read authors from all different backgrounds because I always learn something or relate to their experience in some way.
How do you participate as a writer in your community?
Four years ago I didn't have any sense of community and I would go to events alone. But I started to meet people and they were really welcoming. I've become quite active in Pandora's Collective, a non-profit that promotes literacy and celebrates written expression. They do a lot of readings and events around the city, like the art Word Whips at the JCC and the Twisted Poets Literary Salon twice a month, as well as outreach in schools. The Writer's Studio at SFU also has a great community – they have monthly readings as well and people end up forming their own groups through it. I also blog for the Roundhouse Community Centre and the team is great, we share lots of resources about writing for the web and for social media.
I've recently started teaching creative writing for kids at the West Van Community Centre. I've only done one session so far but I knew right away that I want to keep doing outreach and projects with young people.
Finally, another project I'm involved with is the Vancouver Pop-Up Poets. We write poems on the spot based on a prompt given to us by random passer-bys - we perform the poem then give the written copy to the person. I've been collecting interviews of peoples experiences with us. The next pop-up will be part of A Day of Art and Community in Mount Pleasant put on by Dude Chilling Art Collective and Broadway East Art Walk, July 12th from 11AM-1PM.
At Papergirl, we are all about the art of giving art. What is the greatest gift you have ever received?
I think that the best gifts I have received have always been handmade or ones that I know took a lot of care and time. One time my husband showed up at my work with a tiffin of curies he made, and I appreciated it so much because I knew he was thinking about me and spending time to make them. I also really appreciate being given art – a couple of years ago my brother gave me a Native carving made by his co-worker's grandfather. It was my first piece of First Nations artwork and I love it.
Tell us about the piece you have donated to Papergirl Vancouver.I donated a poem about a blues musician called Blue Collar Blues. I did it in the style of a broadsheet, with the poem and then a line drawing of a harmonica.
To wrap up the interview, if you could be a bike what kind of bike would you be?
I would be my vintage purple Peugot bike. My husband picked it up at a garage sale 10 years ago for really cheap - he found out that the owner rode it across Canada and was only selling it because he was too old to keep riding. I just love it!