20th Anniversary Spotlight: Shani Mootoo

Our 20th-anniversary celebrations continue with another Author Spotlight interview. Today, we’re shining a light on the legendary Shani Mootoo. We’ve had the great honour of publishing three books by Shani, including the acclaimed poetry collections Oh Witness Dey! and Cane / Fire, as well as the Giller nominated novel Polar Vortex. Shani is such a wonderful author to work with, and also so multi-talented (make sure to check out her visual art). Hazel and Jay have many fond memories of visiting Shani at her home in Prince Edward County, enjoying yummy snacks and good chats.

In our Q&A with Shani, she shares what it means to be part of the Book*hug author family and highlights two titles by fellow Book*hug authors Sandra Ridley and Céline Huyghebaert that have left a lasting impression on her! Happy reading! 

B*: What does being part of the Book*hug Press author family mean to you? Please share an anecdote, reflection, or backstory about your publishing experience?

SM: When you say to someone that Book*hug is your publisher, the response always includes high praise about the press. Book*hug is known for having a unique vision, and for consistently putting out beautiful, and brave, books. What the public might not know about is the minute-by-minute, word-by-word attentiveness paid by the two principal people behind the Press, to every aspect, from the initial reading of a prospective work all the way through to finding the right editors and, nearing the end, the missed this and thats, those tiny details that only a keen eye will catch, and ultimately, the book design. I’ve had the experience in the past of being shown a design and asked for my feedback. If I had comments and requests, there would invariably be reasons why my comments and ideas couldn’t be taken up. But here, with Book*hug, one has to be careful not to overdo it with one’s wishes, because the publishers really try to fulfill them. The author and the book are really treated as if they are valuable family members, and must be taken care of, as such. 

B*: Can you share another title or two from the Book*hug Press catalogue that has left a lasting impression on you as a reader? Tell us about a book that has been a touchstone for you, one that you found meaningful, interesting, or simply loved.

SM: Two books stand out for me. One is Céline Huyghebaert’s Remnants and the other is Vixen by Sandra Ridley.

The process of searching, through stories, anecdotes, wishes, for what might be there and for what isn’t there and mightn’t ever be found, isn’t hidden in Celine’s Huyghebaert’s book. From that point of view it is a blatantly honest search, and from a writing point of view it is a brave, creative exploration. I learned a lot about writing from this book.

There isn’t a single unnecessary word in Sandra Ridley’s new poetry book Vixen. It’s tight, and crystal clear. Which makes the violence of life and love palpable. What is life, what is love? Beauty, fear, trust , mistrust, love, too—all these emotions at once—and Sandra’s brilliance pulls these together to elicit a breathlessness in the reading that I, as a writer, admire.