He Makes The Ordinary Explosive: An Overview of and Interview with Michael Winter

 

When I say George Orwell, you think of well-crafted moral tales, and when I say J.K Rowling, you picture that Potter kid working his magic. Most writers seem to find a niche in the literary world and stay there. They hunker down, like a tree in soil, and get better and better at what they do, or grow stale. Michael Winter is more like that Pink Flamingo that migrated to Newfoundland three summers ago, just for the sake of it. He has two well-praised books of short fiction (Creaking in Their Skins & One Last Good Look), a journal a clef that won the Winterset Award (This All Happened), A  historical fiction novel that won the Drummer General’s Award (The Big Why), and his most recent novel, The Architects Are Here, soars through just about every genre available. More impressive than the breadth of his work is how he manages to invigorate whatever genre he is working with. He renders a new subgenre of it, just for himself. 

In my mind, the two main things all these books share are his unmistakable diction and his keen attention to detail. Superman can fly, Billie Holiday can sing, and Michael Winter can capture life in a way that makes the ordinary feel explosive. He articulates things in such a distinctive, fresh, and readable way, that you cannot put the book down, even when he is just talking about every day life. It never gets dull because of his lingual wizardry, and, well, because he’ll throw it the odd explosion, car wreck, or attempted murder just to catch you off guard. He is a man you read for the sheer joy of his off-kilter sentences, and because every now and then there is the odd aphorism poignant enough to live by.  

And then there is that recurrent, beloved protagonist Gabriel English. Winter slips in and out of his character enough that readers are left wondering which parts of the story are real and which are fictitious. The result of this blur of fact and fiction, from what I can tell, is that readers feel more invested in their writer. This from the heart-and-guts quality might explain why his books produce devout fans more akin to rockstars than writers. I know one girl who keeps This All Happened on her fireplace, laid there like the treasure it is.  

The man makes stale fresh, ordinary explosive, and, as in my case, writers of his readers. I was lucky enough to pick through that ethereal brain recently, with the following questions. Enjoy. 

How does one go from being an aspiring author to a published writer? Do you have any advice? 

Buy stamps and envelopes, read the little magazines and see what they like, write some sentences that you feel really nail how you see the world, get some friends who write, get some friends who are interesting that you can use as raw material. If you like a book, try to take it apart and see why you like it. How does your favourite writer construct a paragraph, an opening, how does s/he use dialogue and tense structure. Copy it. Be derivative. That’s how musicians and painters begin the craft, but writers are expected to be “original” from the get-go. Unlikely. 

Which piece of yours are you the most satisfied with in hindsight? 

I like this sentence I wrote recently: He was crossing the street and his arms started to bark. 

What do you see as your strength(s) and weakness(es) as a writer? 

I’m good with dialogue, because I write down a lot of overheard dialogue. I find physical action hard to write. I’m learning how to use active verbs. 

What is your biggest fear as a writer? 

Being boring, that’s my greatest fear in writing. 

Name one or two of your favorite books.  

I like Xavier de Maistre’s “Voyage Around My Room” and the poetry anthology “Emergency Kit” edited by Shapcott and Sweeney. 

Whose new works do you anticipate the most? 

I’m really looking forward to the novels by Mark Ferguson and D.J. Eastwood. 

For you, what makes for a good book? 

I want a voice, a way of looking at the world that is new. Someone who likes turning language around, using words that dont normally hang out together. 

Who/what is your biggest influence? 

I think it’s important not to have an answer to that. 

Which comment or critique of your writing have you least agreed with? 

I recall a headline for the novel “this all happened”. it occurred in the vancouver sun. it said “who cares?” I guess I have to disagree with that. 

What is your favorite and least favorite part of the writing process? 

I like taking notes in my little notebooks. I use bank deposit books to write in because theyre cheap and ugly and you can carry one in any pocket. I like writing a paragraph on the computer, devoting myself to making the scene come alive. I like editing after a manuscript is very much done. I dont like the bit in between, the long slog of making up a 300 page story for the first time. 

What is your most memorable moment from your writing career? 

It’s very moving to talk to a class of writing students or English students and meeting a guy who is 26 and has read your work and is trying to write a book himself and you can tell he’s really delighted to meet you. That’s pretty sweet. 

Tell us an idiosyncrasy or some defining feature of yours. 

As soon as I decide I love white then I’m persuading myself that black is really my favourite. 

What is taking up too much of your time lately? 

I spend too much time waiting for the CD to start playing when I press the power button. Stereos worked faster in the 80s.