What day is it? I’m only a day or two in, but I’ve begun to lose track. From J.R. Carpenter’s p a u s e. (2026), a book composed during their pandemic-era time as writer-in-residence at the University of Alberta:
how easily. days become jumbled.
writing into. tomorrow. referringto the day after. which is today.
Might the library be open. It isn’t on Tuesdays. Is today Tuesday?
This fall’s incoming writer-in-residence: journalist, podcaster and non-fiction writer Jana Pruden. I don’t know her work at all, so make my way during mealtime to ask her some questions. She’s the former crime bureau chief of the Edmonton Journal, among other rather impressive credentials. “Believer in facts, truth, journalism” her social media tag-line reads. When I ask of her work, the way she describes her narrative approach to non-fiction is reminiscent to that of Edmonton-based non-fiction writer Myrna Kostash. The great Myrna Kostash, of course, is one of those in the 1970s (alongside others such as Brian Fawcett) who helped shape the term “creative non-fiction” with their work, in which the author is part of, and not separate from, the non-fiction narrative being told. Read Kostash’s classic All of Baba’s Children, a debut originally published back in 1977, and still in print, writing on three generations of Ukrainians in Canada, from her grandmother down to her then-youthful self.
One might say this narrative approach to non-fiction, finding the story in pure facts, is the other side of the coin to what is now termed “metafiction,” or utilizing facts as a base from which to then fictionalize. To bend, as it were. Think of Sheila Heti, Michael Winter. Think of Elizabeth Smart, By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept (1945). It is interesting, this addition of a non-fiction writer to the writer-in-residence position, although one that Kostash herself held as well at the university (along with multiple other residencies over the years), during the 2002-03 academic year. One does not always require facts to get to the truth of the story, it is true, but Kostash and Pruden, certainly, use only facts—incredibly well-researched and assembled—and an adherence to storytelling.
Pruden speaks of wrapping facts across narrative, and of working a non-fiction work around her late uncle, assembling interviews and archival research into a narrative around family story. I’m curious about her work, as she has clearly a sharp mind, patiently absorbing all that surrounds her.
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Some in our group have discovered that Victoria-based poet and spoken word performer January Rogers is here this week as well, attending a residency for Indigenous storytellers. She had been writer-in-residence at University of Alberta across the 2018-19 academic year, a decade beyond my tenure, so the coincidence is quite nice. Fred Wah introduces us, and there’s talk of putting her on the reading bill for our Friday night reading. I hope that works out. A number of our group clearly know her, and know her well. Are very pleased to see her.
Joshua Whitehead reminds me of the scheduled outing this week in town, for karaoke. I wonder how many of our group might attend.
I just wanted to add that JR Carpenter’s name reproduces the middle span of novelist William Gaddis’ bibliography. Between The Recognitions and A Frolic of His Own were JR and CARPENTER’s Gothic.
Any other people who can claim the same rare distinction? There’s gotta be a Dick (Richard?) Pierre out there (Melville).