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AlexandraLeggat.blogspot.com
Alexandra
Leggat is the author of two
previous collections of short fiction, Pull Gently, Tear Here and Meet Me in the Parking Lot,
as well as a volume of poetry. A freelance writer and editor, she also
teaches creative writing classes and conducts writing workshops. She
currently lives in Toronto.
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Short
Story Collections
Animal
(Anvil Press, 2009)
reviewed
by Daniela I.
Norris
Pull
Gently, Tear Here
(Insomniac Press, 2001)
Meet
Me in the Parking Lot
(Insomniac Press, 2004)
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Interview
with Alexandra Leggat
The
Short Review:
How long did it take you to write all the stories in your collection?
Alexandra Leggat: It's
hard to say because I didn't have the luxury of working on it full
time. I wrote it when I could, in between teaching and working other
jobs, so all in all the whole thing took over a year to finish. I
usually write the individual stories quite quickly then take time to
edit them. Also, I didn't know where to send this one or what to do
with it and that decision in itself took the most time - the writing of
the storeis themselves is the quickest and easiest part!
TSR:
Did you
have a collection in mind when you were writing them?
AL: Yes,
I always have a whole in mind. What the whole will be, I don't know.
But I'm conscious of each piece being a brick in the yet-to-be
determined structure, that it will be a book. But I don't link the
stories to fit a certain theme or anything. They accidentally connect
or relate to each other in the end.
TSR:
How did
you choose which stories to include and in what order?
AL: I
used pretty much all the stories I wrote for this collection. I did
write three new ones to add to it once Brian Kaufman from Anvil
accepted it. Brian wanted this book to be as long as my previous books
and I agreed with him. I did feel the manuscript was a bit slight, so I
wrote Blue Parrot, Colt 45 and The Market in
a couple of weeks to add to the collection. And they naturally fell
into place as the last three stories. I find order dictates itself. The
stories somehow fall into their natural place. In Animal
they did, at least. The funny thing is though, when I read this book,
and I couldn't read the first three books when they were first
published, but this one I do, I read it from back to front. I wondered
if the latter stories should be at the beginning, but I realize that
the order of these stories also illustrates where I'm going with my
writing. The last few stories are in keeping with the evolution of my
work.
TSR:
What
does the word "story"
mean to you?
AL: Many
things. Essentially story means an experience, a moment, an essence of
life be it an event, a feeling, a person, place or thing. That sounds
vague but the beauty of story is it illuminates a happening, no matter
what that happening is or thing is, no matter how slight - like a world
in word. Story is a neccesity, like breath, I guess, like light.
TSR:
Do you have a reader in mind when you write stories?
AL: No.
TSR: Is
there
anything you'd like to ask someone who has read your collection,
anything at all?
AL: In the past,
I've strayed away from asking questions if I don't really
want to know the answer. However, I must admit this book is different
for me in many ways. I feel differently about it. I discovered this
when a friend of mine told me he finished it and I actually wanted to
ask him what his favourite story was. I would never have wondered that
before. Why, I don't know. But with this book, I care more for some
reason and want to know what story is someone's favourite. So that
would be my question - what was their favourite story. And then I'd
have to ask why?
My friend ended up telling me, without me having to ask though - his
favourite was Sweet Tea.
TSR:
How does it feel knowing that people are buying your book?
AL: When I know,
it feels really good, exciting, but with this one, it's
also incredibly nerve-racking. Especially if I know the person. It is
an odd experience that I feel disconnected from and too close to. It
feels strange all in all, it really does! But good - a good strange! It
would feel a hell of a lot more nerve-racking if they weren't buying it!
TSR:
What are you working on now?
AL: In my head,
there's a new thing brewing. I have the voice and the
thread, it's writing itself inside me. In my gut I think I'm going to
be writing about a life, opposed to moments in people's lives.
TSR:
What are
the three most recent short story collections you've read?
AL: Last Evenings on Earth
by Roberto Bolano - haunting style, I can almost feel his breath when
reading it, like he's literally in front of me, reading me the stories!
Stick Out Your
Tongue by Ma
Jian - although they reside in that grey area of fiction and non, they
are stories to me - He's one of my ultimate favourite writers! I have
everything he's written, that I know of anyway. The Book of Masks
by the
Korean writer Hwang Sun-won - incredible descriptions and tone and
clarity! A master of the short story. And I know you only asked for
three but I just reread:
England, My England by D.H. Lawrence - another master of the
form.
Despite the comparisons, I don't read and never read Raymond Carver!
hahaha.
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