Nora Young is the host of the CBC radio program Spark. Her new book, The Virtual Self, is a personal meditation on the phenomena of self-tracking in digital culture. Young read at IFOA this past Saturday.
First, second or third person?
First.
Nabokov had lepidopterology, Hemingway had the hunt. Do you have an extra-lingual obsession?
My bike!
Which writers do you wish were more widely read?
One of my favourite fiction writers is José Saramago. I think everyone should read him!
Which “rules on writing” do you think should be ignored?
There are rules on writing?
Beg, borrow and steal—are there any books you go to when you’re stuck?
I go back to philosophy, especially philosophy of technology: McLuhan, for instance.
The books business is changing. What elements of the game are you happy to see fall to the wayside? What gives you hope?
Well, I'm too new to the business to say what I'm happy to see pass away, but I am excited about the potential for ‘slim volume’ ebooks. In particular, I'm intrigued by the idea of turning over short, non-fiction titles more quickly, as a way to increase public dialogue about issues.
Do you think it's fair to call writing a game? (Some writers, mostly men for example, have likened it to boxing.) Or would you prefer another metaphor?
Torture chamber.
Can you give any #protips on delivering a good reading performance?
Personally, I think there should be less reading and more talking at book events. Just reading aloud from your book seems weird to me. That said, in my day gig (radio) we learn how to ‘lift words off the page,’ to make them sound like you're just talking rather than reading aloud. If that's hard to do, you can copy the text to pieces of paper, then break up your text visually. “Chunking it out” like that seems to help make reading more natural.
Do you have any personal tips for surviving a literary festival?
Well, I'm pretty shy by nature, so I tend to keep my head down and not socialize.
What's your ultimate past, present, or imaginary IFOA high point?
Meeting my literary heroes (hard to do while keeping your head down and not socializing).
What’s the strangest thing that you’ve seen happen at a literary festival or reading?
Canadians are too well-behaved for that!
Which dead writer would you most like to sit on a festival round table with, and what would you discuss?
José Saramago, since he’s one of my favourites, about history and politics.
On a scale of one to Proust, how would you rate your experience answering this questionnaire?
Ha!
