Our Active Listening series continues with Letters to Amelia, Lindsay Zier-Vogel’s critically-acclaimed debut novel which combines the contemporary story of a newly single woman who finds herself unexpectedly pregnant with a passionate epistolary love affair between iconic American aviator and feminist icon Amelia Earhart and Gene Vidal. “Letters to Amelia is a gorgeous, big-hearted debut that will make you feel like you are flying, and Zier-Vogel is a writer whose career is about to soar,” writes author Amy Jones. In a review for the Toronto Star, Nancy Wigston applauds Letters to Amelia for the way it brings Earhart’s “brave, soaring spirit” to life.
We asked Lindsay to create an official Letters to Amelia playlist—which you can find below and listen to on Spotify—and to share her thoughts about it with readers:
“This playlist is full of flight and flying, and finding your own way. It’s about the loneliness of breakups, and finding one’s own feet. Neko Case’s ‘Lady Pilot,’ Sarah Harmer’s ‘Lodestar,’ and Joni Mitchell’s Amelia’ all feel really close to Amelia Earhart (and I feel like Amelia would love and respect all three artists). (Confession: I listened to the Department of Eagles’ ‘In Ear Park’ soundtrack on loop for years while writing Letters to Amelia. I listened to it so often that if I ever hear it out of context—at the grocery store, or anywhere out in the world—I feel instantly like I should be writing.”
Enjoy the playlist!
PS) If you prefer to listen while reading the book, which we highly recommend, Letters to Amelia is available to order from our online shop, or from your local independent bookstore.
Lady Pilot by Neko Case
Not in Kansas by The National
Learning to Fly by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Lodestar by Sarah Harmer
Amelia by Joni Mitchell
Go Your Own Way by Fleetwood Mac
I Need My Girl by The National
Emerald Isle by Whitehorse
Day I Die by The National
Breathing Underwater by Metric
In Ear Park by Department of Eagles
Lonely Lonely by Feist
Oh My My by Jill Barber
Gone, Gone, Gone by Joel Plaskett
The Lone Wolf by Kathleen Edwards
Many by Neko Case
Big Bird In A Small Cage by Patrick Watson
Lindsay Zier-Vogel is a Toronto-based writer, arts educator and the creator of the internationally acclaimed Love Lettering Project. After studying contemporary dance, she received her MA in Creative Writing from the University of Toronto. Her writing has been widely published in Canada and the U.K. Since 2001, she has been teaching creative writing workshops in schools and communities. Her hand-bound books are housed in the permanent collection at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library in Toronto. As the creator of the Love Lettering Project, Lindsay has asked people all over the world to write love letters to their communities and hide them for strangers to find, spreading place-based love. Lindsay also writes children’s books. Because of The Love Lettering Project, CBC Radio has deemed Lindsay a “national treasure.” Letters to Amelia is her first book.
