From April 7-11 I enjoyed readings, concerts, videos, plays, wine and cheese tastings all at the Morrin Centre in the Old City of Quebec. It was all part of the ImagiNation Writers' Series.
On Wednesday I heard Karolyn Smardz-Frost and Lawrence Hill read from their novels about fugitive slaves and their relationship to Canada. Smardz-Frost, by trade an archeologist, explained how her book, I've Got a Home in Glory Land: A Lost Tale of the Underground Railroad
, came into being. She never set out to be a writer, but found stumbled upon a story that had to be told. In 1985 she was leading school students in an archeological dig in Toronto. To facilitate the day (bathrooms, cafeteria, etc...nearby) she focussed on schoolyards that may have an interesting past. She found that the oldest school in Toronto had been owned by a Mr. Thorton Blackburn in the 1830s. On the census he was listed as "coloured," leading her to suspect he had been a fugitive slave. Her research confirmed her suspicions and led her to the miraculous story of the Blackburns' escape from slavery in Kentucky. In fact, the schoolyard had housed the last stop along the Underground Railroad, as Thorton and his wife Lucie aided escaped slaves to integrate into Canadian society. Read a summary of their lives here.
Then Lawrence Hill read from his novel, The Book of Negroes, which won the 2009 edition of Canada Reads. It recounts the true tale of fugitive slaves who fought for the British during the Revolutionary War. Even though the British were defeated, they kept their promise to these ex-slaves to take them out of the United States. Most of these families moved to Nova Scotia. They remained there several years, but many felt badly received by the Nova Scotians, so the British government agreed to send those that met certain requirements back to Africa. So Africans that had been born in Africa, captured, sent to the Americas, became slaves, escaped from slavery, fought in the Revolutionary War, were then relocated to Nova Scotia, finally returned to their native continent! What a story! And it's true! I loved hearing Hill read from his novel. He became the old woman that was speaking. I could see her before me.
On Thursday I heard Neil Bissoondath, a creative writing professor from Université Laval, speak about his writing process. For him, writing is character-driven, not plot-driven. He has a flash about a character and starts writing not knowing what will occur throughout the pages. While writing the first page, the second page is still a mystery. He advised us to trust the characters to unveil themselves.
Last, I attended Alistair MacLeod’s presentation of his novel No Great Mischief: A Novel
, for which he received the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1999. Because the novel is based on several narrative levels of history, as well as the immediate story, MacLeod explained the historical background so that the audience would better understand the passages he read. It was very interesting to hear about the Highland Scots, their involvement in battles for Scottish independence from Britain, their immigration to Eastern Canada and their participation in the Battle of the Plaines d’Abraham. Throughout the narrative MacLeod refers to music, especially as an integral part of Gaelic culture. One of the highlights of the evening was to hear Gaelic songs performed by artists. The similarity between French-Canadian airs and Gaelic airs could be heard, a comparison that is made in the novel to show that there are many resemblances between the two seemingly disparate cultures.
The three evenings that I attended the writers’ series were enriching. I understood No Great Mischief to a much deeper degree and Alistair MacLeod’s presentation has given me the desire to read the entire novel. I am also looking forward to reading Karolyn Smardz-Frost’s and Lawrence Hill’s novels during the summer. Although I may not seek out Neil Bissoondath’s novels or short stories, his advice to aspiring writers will continue to guide my creative writing process. I am already looking forward to next year’s writing series and wish that I could have attended all of the events this year.
For Jay Gatsby of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby and the persona of Alicia Keys's song "Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down," New York City represents the fulfillment of the American Dream. For Gatsby's companion, however, the Midwesterner Nick Carraway, New York City causes anxiety. For instance, Keys notes that "[t]here's nothing you can't do / Now you're in New York" while Carraway anxiously remarks that "[a]nything can happen now that we've slid over this bridge" from Long Island to New York City, "anything at all." Carraway refers to the Queensboro Bridge which crosses the East River connecting Long Island to the borough of Manhattan whereas Keys mentions the Brooklyn Bridge which also spans the East River although connecting the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Hence, Keys's persona is leaving Manhattan, while Carraway is entering it. The fact that Carraway is leaving the relative comfort of quiet, middle-class, mostly white, Long Island by crossing the bridge, readers see the city through his lens of wonder, especially as he recounts his astonishment at seeing a limousine with three Black youths driven by a White chauffeur. Such a cultural race reversal would be far from common only a few miles away on Long Island. For Keys however her starting place is Harlem, a Manhattan neighbourhood renowned for its slums, high crime rates and poverty levels. Therefore, the Brooklyn Bridge, leading to a comparatively safer part of the city, thus indicates a "going up" of the social ladder for her, while for Carraway the Queensboro Bridge leads to an area of diminished social standing, as revealed by his racially insensitive references to "the tragic eyes and short upper lips of southeastern Europe," "three modish negroes, two bucks and a girl," and Meyer Wolfsheim, a "flat-nosed Jew" with "tiny eyes."
On the same trip to the city that Nick Carraway recounts, Gatsby seems to agree with the persona of "Empire State of Mind" that the American Dream can be realized in New York City "by any means." First, he avoids a traffic ticket by flaunting the Christmas card that the police commissioner sends him. The police officer goes beyond not giving him a traffic violation by excusing himself for having stopped Gatsby and promising that he will be sure not to do it again. This action reminds Carraway once again that Gatsby is not "just some nobody"; he has social connections which place him above the law. Second, Gatsby meets with his associate Meyer Wolfsheim, a gambler and a bootlegger. Both Gatsby and he are wealthy men that have built their riches on illegal activities. Like Gatsby's outdoing the traffic ticket which he rightfully deserved, Wolfsheim has outsmarted the legal forces that have evidence that he fixed the World Series of 1919 for his own financial benefit. He has yet to be punished for his crime and openly profits from his illegal earnings. Gatsby reasons that Wolfsheim did nothing other than seize "the opportunity" that capitalist America afforded him.
New York City is this mythical land of opportunities where, in Key's words, "dreams are made." The rags-to-riches mentality is clearly stated in her song: "Some will sleep tonight with a hunger for more than an empty fridge." Presumably the "hunger" pertains to "seeing [their] face in lights [...] down on Broadway." Additionally, the persona has a "pocketful of dreams," implying that her pockets are empty, yet she is confident of future riches and fame. Gatsby also embodies this ideal. He moves east to Long Island and works in the city to make enough money to win his socially-superior former love, Daisy Buchanan. He contacts Daisy through his friend Nick Carraway when he feels that he has recreated himself to the extent that she will now accept him. He has a fine home, a Rolls-Royce, eight servants, and moves in chic social circles. He is even acquaintanced with the movie moguls that make the "movie scenes" to which Keys refers. Perhaps he does not "[see] his face in lights" per say, but his reputation and fame draw crowds to his parties every weekend. Nick reflects that Gatsby must have felt that "his dream [was] so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it." This desire for refashioning is echoed in Keys's lyrics "[t]hese streets will make you feel brand new." Yet his efforts prove to be futile as Daisy ultimately decides to stay in her marriage. Nick suggests that Gatsby regrets having "paid a high price for living too long with a single dream," that of wooing Daisy Buchanan.
The myth of New York City as the place where "[t]here's nothing you can't do," leads to a feeling of invincibility. When Tom Buchanan heads towards the city to see his mistress, Myrtle, he does not consider that his wife Daisy may leave him because of his affair. He enjoys both the loyal wife, as well as the illicit lover. Yet his belief in his own invincibility is only an illusion; the novel ends tragically as Daisy hits Myrtle with Gatsby's car, killing her. Myrtle's husband then kills Gatsby in revenge, thinking he was at fault, and then he commits suicide. Gatsby, the man who had surrounded himself with socialites, has few mourners at his funeral; not even Wolfensheim makes the effort to attend and Daisy does not even send a card or flowers. At his funeral, readers learn that his father had great hopes for his son. He commemorates Gatsby as a potentially "great man" if he had lived longer, having "a big future before him," and one who could have "helped build up the country." Mr. Gatz, as well as Jay Gatsby, and Tom and Daisy Buchanan believed their American Dream would be realized through another person. For Mr. Gatz, achievement would have come through his son's successes. For Gatsby, it would have been fulfilled in a relationship with Daisy. Likewise, Daisy married Tom in hopes of attaining her dream "of love, of money." And for Tom, he desired the independence of sexual relationships with women, such as Myrtle. For each, their American Dream becomes "the dead dream." Ironically, the unravelling of their individual dreams starts in the heart of New York City at the Plaza Hotel. It is here that Daisy definitively refuses Gatsby's proposition that she leave Tom because she has learned of Gatsby's illegal dealings with Wolfsheim. On the way home from the city, the tragic accident will occur and then the subsequent murder-suicide, demolishing each dream. Leaving the city, Carraway drives "on toward death" crossing over "the dark bridge."
Listen and Watch Alicia Keys sing the song here:
