Polar Vortex

A novel, Book*Hug Press, Canada, 2020

 

I am resigned to the fact that I must write. Often, after the last book has been written, the canvas is blank, waiting. A sentence will land, but with no follow up. An image will float by, catch my attention, but before I can understand it, it’s gone. Even so, these fleeting out-of-the-ordinary blips nag at me. The effort to follow these up with something pertinent, anything, for a good while goes nowhere. 

But I’ve come to trust that these bits and pieces are marinating in the same brain, and therefore with time will pull together with meaning. Eventually, something does take hold, and a real enquiry begins.

In the case of this new story, my canvas at the time blank, I was asked by a friend to write his true-life love story, a rather creative love affair between him, a married man, and a married woman in another country, conducted clandestinely entirely by email and phone conversations. They’d met only once in real life, but then conducted this lengthy affair, and it was, believe it or not, torrid. I needed to write, and I was fascinated enough, and agreed.

Now, what on earth does that have to do with Polar Vortex you ask! Well, my friend’s story was sweet, tender and interesting, but not the kind of subject that I am normally interested in. Perhaps it was the Ontario weather on that particular day, or the side of the bed I awoke on—but quite suddenly, several chapters into my friend’s story, I could not control the perverse urge to take that same man and turn him into a kind of stalker, and have his interest-object there on the ground with him, dealing with his persistence, and her own connivances. I’d never written anything like that before, and found myself absorbed by the manipulations, contrivances, secrecies and lies that all involved were engaging in. What had seemed sweet, became menacing.

And I, a fan of Elena Ferrante and Rachel Cusk saw the psychologies at play and wanted to explore them and the consequences of devious behavior and the inevitable clashes.

Setting Polar Vortex in the wintery bucolic Southern Ontario countryside added another layer of interest for me as a writer- stories about immigrants of colour in North America tend to be set in the bustling crowded cities, where people settle in communities. I wanted the beauty and the isolation of the icy landscape—the coldness of place, land and community-- to be a mirror. More personally, having grown up in Trinidad, I have always been drawn to lush tropical landscapes—not city landscapes—and I wanted to use this novel’s opportunity to get closer to, to gain an understanding of, the land in which I live-- the Ontario small town, countryside—but I also wanted to write—in order to understand-- a season that, even after forty years of living in Canada, still baffles me. 

I love it when I am surprised by the push and pull, the directions I’m taken, and the unexpected outcome of my own story. Whenever I begin with a known idea, I am quickly bored. When I let go and let the story unfold in it’s own logic, I am without fail delightfully surprised. At some pint I see what the story is, and then I take control and make it more of what it had always wanted to be. 

Image of Polar Vortex cover to be added soon!

 

*
*
*

Meantime, scroll down to see more of Shani's books.

Moving Forward Sideways Like a Crab
A novel, Doubleday, Canada, 2014
Longlisted for the Scotia Bank Giller Prize,
shortlisted for the Lambda Award

Starred Review:

http://www.quillandquire.com/review/moving-forward-sideways-like-a-crab/

Valmiki’s Daughter
A novel, House of Anansi Press, Canada, 2008
Longlisted for the Scotia Bank Giller Prize
He Drown She in the Sea
 
A novel, McClelland and Stewart Publishers,
Canada, 2005
 
Longlisted for the Dublin IMPAC Award
The Predicament of Or
Poetry, Raincoast/Polestar Publishers, Canada, 2002
Cereus Blooms at Night
A novel, Press Gang Publishers, Canada, 1996
 
Shortlisted for the Giller Prize, The Chapters First Novel Award, The Ethel Wilson Book Prize, the James Tiptree Jr. Award and longlisted for the Man Booker Prize.
Out on Main Street
short story collection,
Press Gang Publishers, Canada, 1992.
  • @shanimootoo

Slot Gacor: Kombinasi Kesenangan dan Keberuntungan

Link Slot menawarkan kombinasi sempurna antara kesenangan visual dan peluang keberuntungan yang menarik. Dengan tema menarik, fitur bonus kreatif, dan peluang untuk memenangkan hadiah besar, slot ini berhasil memberikan pengalaman bermain yang menghibur sekaligus mendebarkan bagi setiap pemain.

RTP slot gacor jadi solusi paling ideal buat kamu yang pengen hasil nyata dari permainan slot online. Dengan RTP slot tertinggi, kamu punya peluang besar buat menang tanpa harus ngandelin faktor keberuntungan doang. Main slot online dengan RTP tinggi bikin kamu lebih tenang, karena setiap putaran terasa lebih menjanjikan. Sensasi bermain di slot RTP tertinggi itu seru banget, apalagi kalau kamu udah paham cara mainnya. Bukan cuma cuan yang didapet, tapi juga pengalaman bermain yang jauh lebih memuaskan. Jadi, jangan heran kalau banyak pemain berburu game-game dengan RTP slot gacor biar bisa dapet hasil maksimal.

Salah satu keunggulan situs slot min depo 5rb adalah aksesibilitasnya untuk semua kalangan. Dengan modal kecil, Anda sudah bisa menikmati berbagai permainan slot berkualitas. Situs slot min depo 5rb menjadi solusi tepat untuk bermain dengan budget terbatas.

Pembaruan Menarik yang Membuat Mahjong Ways 2 Menjadi Pilihan Utama Para Penggemar Permainan Slot

Berbagai pembaruan menarik menjadikan versi ini sangat diminati oleh para penggemar permainan slot. Mahjong Ways 2 dikenal sebagai salah satu permainan yang menghadirkan sensasi bermain luar biasa, terutama dengan fitur multiplier yang terus meningkat.

Tidak hanya menawarkan hiburan, Toto Slot juga menjadi peluang bagi pemain untuk mendapatkan keuntungan nyata. Dengan kombinasi strategi yang tepat dan pemilihan permainan yang sesuai, pemain bisa memaksimalkan hasil taruhan. Oleh karena itu, penting untuk selalu memperhatikan RTP sebelum bermain.

Bagi pemula, memahami sistem taruhan dalam Toto Macau bisa menjadi langkah awal yang penting. Mengetahui cara memasang angka dengan benar serta memahami jenis taruhan yang tersedia dapat membantu meningkatkan peluang menang. Dengan sedikit latihan dan strategi yang baik, siapa pun bisa memiliki kesempatan meraih hadiah menarik.

Slot777 Pilihan Tepat untuk Keseruan dan Hadiah Besar

Jika Anda mencari permainan slot yang memberikan keseruan tanpa henti, Slot777 adalah pilihan yang tepat. Permainan ini tidak hanya menawarkan keseruan dalam setiap putaran, tetapi juga memberikan hadiah besar yang bisa mengubah nasib pemain. Fitur bonus yang ada memberikan kesempatan untuk meningkatkan peluang kemenangan dengan lebih mudah.

Banyaknya Pilihan Pasaran untuk Maksimalkan Kemenangan

Salah satu fitur unggulan dari Situs Toto adalah banyaknya pilihan pasaran yang bisa dipilih oleh pemain. Dari pasaran lokal hingga internasional, situs ini memberikan banyak opsi untuk memaksimalkan kemenangan Anda. Semua transaksi dilakukan dengan aman dan diproses secara cepat.

Related Links:

Togel178

Pedetogel

Sabatoto

Togel279

Togel158

Colok178

Novaslot88

Lain-Lain

Partner Links