Ian Roy is
the author of four books, including his most recent collection of stories, Meticulous, Sad, and Lonely.
Q: How long have you been in Ottawa,
and what first brought you here?
I was born in Ottawa, but grew up in
Quebec. The first time I actually lived in Ottawa was during university, but shortly
after graduating, I moved to Nova Scotia. A couple years later, my first son
was born and I moved back to Ottawa. That was 21 years ago.
Q:
How did you first get involved in writing, and subsequently, the writing
community here?
I started writing and publishing
poems and stories in my early twenties. Curious about what the other side of that
equation looked like, I became an associate editor at Arc Poetry Magazine—where,
I learned later, I had a reputation as being someone who said ‘no’ a lot. While
at Arc, I had the pleasure of meeting one of my favourite Ottawa authors, Rita
Donovan. I already knew Rita’s husband, John Buschek, who would go on to start
BuschekBooks (who would go on to publish a few of my books). Working at Arc and
working with BuschekBooks is what first got me involved in the writing
community here. From there, I went on to teach workshops, sit on juries, attend
readings, buy local books, etc., etc.
Q:
How did being in such a community of writers shift your thinking about writing,
if at all?
I’m
not sure that being in such a community shifted my thinking about writing, but
it did help shape it. Ultimately, it made being a writer and publishing books
feel (and become) possible.
Q:
What do you see happening here that you don’t see anywhere else? What does
Ottawa provide, or allow?
Being a smaller city allows for people
to get to know one another a little better—or to at least be familiar with one
another’s work in a way that might not be as likely to happen in a bigger city.
It makes it more accessible, too. I mean, I regularly see a Governor General Award-winning
author at my local health food store and I sometimes get served beer by one of
Canada’s greatest living poets… That’s something I love about this city.
What does it provide or allow? It
allows someone like me, who doesn’t leave the house much and doesn’t publish
very often, to still be considered part of this community and be asked to
answer these questions. And I like that.
Q: Have any of your projects
responded directly to your engagements here? How have the city and its
community, if at all, changed the way you approached your work?
I spent my formative years living in
Quebec. If anything, I respond more to that world in my work—sometimes subtly,
sometimes more overtly. The book I’m working on now is partially set here in
Ottawa. Sort of. So perhaps I can better answer this question once that book is
done.
Q: What are you working on now?
I’m
working on a novel for children. It’s about a boy who could fly. Half of it
takes place here, and half of it takes place in Iceland, where I’ve been lucky
enough to spend some time working on the book during the last few years.
(Nothing like being away from home to get a fresh perspective on home!) The
book is almost finished. Once it’s done, I’ll get back to writing stories for
adults again. Probably.
