Anyone know?

It (kind of unfortunately) smells like chicken broth, peanut butter, and bean sprouts.

This story grew from a poem I wrote, though looking at the poem now it seems I cut all but two images. You can read “Apiculture” in the forthcoming edition of the Malahat Review, but for now here’s the poem.

Water – hosed at a wasp nest – Speaks

Shot through clear air
I grip pulp,

pull, rip,
toss sentries
tear entries,
renovate.

I tunnel
grey hive,
tremolo graves –
cadence.

Joy in expansion,
cohesion; my stretched skin
pools, sweetens in
honeyed catacombs.

Swollen, heavy,
I sog paper,
onion off layers
to adhere to, to blur into,

many: I damp the fur
of a thousand furious vibratos

UPDATE: The reading was great fun! Bob MacDonald, Rhonda Ganz, and many many Deans.

Translation: BC student loan paid in full.

This week the student was excited to bring me flowers and a card. I feel great.

A number of my students are playing J.S.Bach’s Inventions, so I cleared off the harpsichord of notes for the novel and more than a few glasses/mugs/plants. It’s just a kit, but more apartment friendly then a piano (as is the tiny pump organ beside it) and I’ve developed a weird affection for it.

I also dragged out “Darwin’s Bastards” collection by Zsuzsi Gartner because Sheila Heti has a story in it and she’s reading and being interviewed by Lee Henderson tomorrow. (Check it out here: Open Space) And yes, that is an overgrowen pitcher plant behind the book.

There are comprehensive (uncomfortable) reviews already out there, so I won’t go on, but reading “The Flame Alphabet” got me thinking of all the really great books I’ve read lately.

Here (in the order they came to me) are a few:

1. The Sisters Brothers ~ Patrick deWitt

A Western that doesn’t go where you expect it. Dark, funny, and surreal. A book that inspires writing (read: I wish I wrote this)

2. Breath ~ Tim Winton

I’ve admired Tim Winton’s prose since discovering his short stories “The Turning”, and while his stories seem well-knit I haven’t always loved the structure to his novels. This one, though, was fab: a lesson in retrospective.

3. The Golden Mean ~ Annabel Lyon

A novel about Aristotle, this book convinced me to try first person point of view (thank-you, Annabel.)

4. Civilwarland in Bad Decline ~ George Saunders

Bleak, funny, heartful; classic Saunders plus ghosts.

In other news, I’ve just finished editing my novella. It doesn’t have a home yet, but because it’s just under 20,000 words I’m hoping I’ll be able to convince some journal or other to adopt it. If not, it probably won’t be seen until I put together a collection of short/long stories. The title is currently under review, but here’s a hint about the subject matter:

And here’s the interview with Will Johnson…

Last year, Victoria writer Erin Fisher won first place in PRISM international’s fiction contest for her story “Bridges”. This year, Fisher repeated that success by taking the top spot in The Malahat Review’s fiction contest. PRISM caught up with Erin recently, to discuss her recent successes and her plans for the future.

PRISM: Your piece “Apiculture” just won The Malahat Review’s Open Season Awards. Congratulations! You’re having quite the year–how does it feel?

ERIN FISHER: Pretty great. It doesn’t change any of the work that must be done, but it provides a boost to energy.

P: Tell us about “Apiculture”. What was your process while writing it, and what were you hoping to accomplish with this story?

EF: “Apiculture” underwent many, many rewrites. I wanted a child narrator who was being built by the events that occur in the story, as well as the depth that is added by the retrospective, but I didn’t want the future time/place/situation of the narrator mattering. I knew the layers and plot of the story before I started writing, but it took a lot of tinkering to get it working properly.

P: Your writing is very experimental/edgy. Why do you feel drawn to non-traditional styles of story-telling?

EF: I’m not sure. I enjoy reading all types of stories, and have tried a less ornamental style of writing, but it came off wrong. Every story (so far) has had a different way of forming in rough draft, but in the end each one comes down to me and it and scissors and a lot of floorspace. Being flexible with structure allows the story’s form to help solve problems. On content: it can be more fun to get to the core of the piece through a little weirdness.

P: Both your prize-winning stories have a strong theme of childhood in them. Is this a coincidence, or is this a theme that you’re interested in continuing to explore?

EF: I’m interested in child narrators because they are in the process of becoming people, and (like I said above) instead of having a wealth of experience behind them, children are being built by the events that occur in the story. Although I have a few drafts of stories without kids, I think that (with or without intent) there will be some aspect of childhood in most of my pieces.

P: You also published a story in Granta this year. Can you tell us a little bit about it?

EF: Sure. Granta published my piece “Suite in Dark Matter” last November. It was published online alongside issue 117 Horror, which (after the shock of acceptance) surprised/amused me. The story is structured after a baroque keyboard suite, and the main character is a pianist who, while digging through compost at night, discovers an angel. In writing this piece I tried to work the rococo style of a traditional suite into the writing. The choice in using the suite structure came down to the content (lapsed pianist) and the POV switch at the end.

P: How long have you been a writer? When did you start submitting your work to literary journals?

EF: I became attached to writing about five years ago. I went to UVic intending to further study composition (music) and took “Form and Structure of Short Fiction” to compare structural styles. After that, I just kept writing.

P: Who are some Canadian authors you admire?

EF: Annabel Lyon, of course Alice Munro, Miriam Toews, William Gibson’s “Burning Chrome”, and too many more. I just finished reading “The Sisters Brothers” by Patrick deWitt–this is one of those books I wish I wrote.

P: I understand you’re currently trying to get into an MFA program for Creative Writing. What else is on the horizon for your writing career? And what are you currently working on?

EF: I’ve been teaching at the Victoria Conservatory of Music for the last six years, and will be continuing on there. I’m planning on doing an MFA either distance or in Victoria, but besides that–just keep writing. In the works: I’ve just finished a novella, and have started the early map of a novel.

The judge this year was Padma Viswanathan. Her comments can be found here: (here)

Thumbs Up!

Eve will Also be giving a masterclass to students of the Victoria Conservatory of Music’s Collegium on Thursday January 26th in Wood Hall. After hearing her on the cbc radio’s Studio Q I’m looking forward to seeing her advise and perform.