An interview with Paul Vasey
What makes The Last Labour of the Heart unique?
This is a novel, but it was inspired the death and the life of my Godmother. During the final years of her life, spent in a nursing home, we talked a lot about her life and times and these conversations became the backbone of the novel.
Is fiction the genre of choice for you? Why not poetry, or a book of short stories?
I had thought of writing a memoir, but wanted the freedom to take liberties with her story, so fiction was the natural choice.
Is this kind of work more marketable today?
This work would certainly appeal to a wide readership: most particularly middle-aged people who are faced with the illness and death of their parents.
In this book, do you blur the lines between fiction and truth? Is some of this autobiographical? Do you take liberties with it?
As mentioned above, much of this books rests on the foundation of fact. But throughout the book, I take many liberties with my Godmother’s story, and my own. Some of the book is factual, all of it is true.
Is this a departure for you, or a continuation of ideas you set a long
time ago ?
This book is a major departure for me; a much more intimate work than any I’ve attempted thus far.
Do you have any mentors? Influences in your life as a writer?
I spent a lot of time with W.O. Mitchell when he was writer in residence at the University of Windsor. I would say that Bill influenced my writing, from a purely story-telling perspective. I have attended a couple of Alistair MacLeod’s writing workshops while in university and have been greatly influenced by his ability to turn language into music. Other influences would have to include Wendell Berry, Bernard Malamud, Margaret Laurence and Don Coles - among many others.
What kind of advice would you give a young writer today in Canada?
Write every day. Without fail.
Never a day without a line.
