12 or 20 questions, second series

From September 2007 to June 2008, to correspond with my time in Edmonton as writer-in-residence at the University of Alberta, I asked some two hundred writers from North America and beyond a series of similar questions, to see what their answers might be. The result was one hundred and seventy-five responses by one hundred and seventy-five poets, fiction and non-fiction authors from Canada, The United States and England, stretched out over a period of nine or ten months, ending with my own answers to same. Being that I an engaged with a number of writers in Ottawa, I tried to interview as many of them as possible, and as many in Alberta as well, working to learn the community around me in Edmonton, during my tenure west. Much to my surprise, some of the first series of interviews have been taught in University courses, and a couple were even reprinted in a recent issue of Montreal’s Matrix magazine, thanks to editors Andy Brown and Jon Paul Fiorentino. Some have suggested there should be a book version of the series, but why, I wonder, when they’re all already online? And who would want to publish a collection of literary interviews that could run into the hundreds of pages?

This second series, created to correspond with an upcoming period of Toronto activity, is an altered version of those same questions. The goal is the same, to see the range of answers from poets, fiction and non-fiction writers, aiming for a completely different set of authors from the original series, as well as a variety of new questions to replace the original “non-sequitor” question thirteen, provided by Lainna Lane El Jabi. The original question thirteen was lifted from Ellen Degeneres, speaking to David Letterman on his Late Show in late August 2007 about being a talk-show host, and not necessarily caring about their new movie, new television program, new project; sometimes you just want to ask them, she told him, when’s the last time you ate a pear? To replace this question, Lainna has provided a series of about a dozen new questions, which will change randomly from author to author.

Thanks to Lainna for providing new questions, and to Clelia Scala and Amy Logan Holmes at Open Book Toronto, publishing some of these interviews on-line as well.

; Mark Sinnett, Kingston ON: November 27, 2009 ; Lisa Pasold, Toronto ON: November 26, 2009 ; Shannon Bramer, Toronto ON: November 12, 2009 ; Rhonda Waterfall, Vancouver BC: November 8, 2009 ; Jacob Scheier, New York NY: November 7, 2009 ; Barry Dempster, Toronto (York Region) ON: November 6, 2009 ; Lesley Yalen, Northampton MA: November 5, 2009 ; Tony Burgess, Stayner ON: November 4, 2009 ; Rosie Chard, Winnipeg MB: November 1, 2009 ; Joe Rosenblatt, Qualicum Beach, Vancouver Island BC: October 31, 2009 ; Chris Hutchinson, Kelowna BC: October 30, 2009 ; Theanna Bischoff, Toronto ON: October 28, 2009 ; Graeme Gibson, Toronto ON: October 27, 2009 ; Angela Hibbiss, Toronto ON: October 23, 2009 ; Richard Truhlar, Toronto ON: October 21, 2009 ; Natalie Zina Walschots, Toronto ON: October 20, 2009 ; Karen Connelly, Greece/Toronto ON: October 18, 2009 ; Sarah de Leeuw, Prince George BC: October 17, 2009 ; Norma Cole, San Francisco CA: October 16, 2009 ; Brian Fawcett, Toronto ON: October 14, 2009 ; Emily Schultz, Toronto ON: October 13, 2009 ; Amy Jones, Toronto ON: October 11, 2009 ; Damian Rogers, Toronto ON: October 10, 2009; Cara Benson, NY: October 9, 2009 ; Joshua Trotter, Montreal QC: October 7, 2009 ; Michael Crummey, St. John's NF: October 6, 2009 ; Stephen Rowe, St. John's NF: October 4, 2009 ; Sean Dixon, Toronto ON: October 2, 2009 ; Michael Turner, Vancouver BC: October 2, 2009 ; Andrew Faulkner, Toronto ON: October 1, 2009 ; Chris Ewart, Vancouver BC: September 28, 2009 ; Tonja Gunvaldsen Klaassen, Halifax NS: September 27, 2009 ; Alexandra Leggat, Toronto ON: September 26, 2009 ; Joyelle McSweeney, Notre Dame IN: September 24, 2009 ; Andrew Steinmetz, Ottawa ON: September 23, 2009 ; Anik See, Canada/Holland: September 22, 2009 ; Betsy Struthers, Peterborough ON: September 21, 2009 ; Pearl Pirie, Ottawa ON: September 20, 2009 ; DM Bryan, Calgary AB: September 19, 2009 ; Lea Graham, Poughkeepsie NY: September 18, 2009 ; Kemeny Babineau, Mount Pleasant ON: September 17, 2009 ; Troy Jollimore, CA: September 16, 2009 ; Arjun Basu, Montreal QC: September 15, 2009 ; Angela Szczepaniak, Toronto ON: September 14, 2009 ; Shaindel Beers, Pendleton, Oregon: September 8, 2009 ; Peter Richardson, Gatineau QC: September 7, 2009 ; Sawako Nakayasu, San Diego CA: September 6, 2009 ; Camille Martin, Toronto ON: September 5, 2009 ; Bill Brown, Ottawa ON: September 4, 2009 ; Brenda Niskala, Regina SK: September 3, 2009 ; Gillian Wigmore, Prince George BC: September 2, 2009 ; Ariel Gordon, Winnipeg MB: August 31, 2009 ; Saleema Nawaz, Montreal QC: August 30, 2009 ; Nichole McGill, Ottawa ON: August 29, 2009 ; Mike Spry, Montreal QC: August 28, 2009 ; Anselm Berrigan, New York NY: August 26, 2009 ; Jacqueline Larson, Toronto ON: August 23, 2009 ; John Kinsella, Jam Tree Gully AUS: August 21, 2009 ; Alice Zorn, Montreal QC: August 16, 2009 ; Eva Moran, Toronto ON: August 15, 2009 ; Rae Armantrout, San Diego CA: August 14, 2009 ; Michelle Berry, Toronto ON: August 12, 2009 ; Ken Sparling, Toronto ON: August 12, 2009 ; Charles Bernstein, New York NY: August 10, 2009 ; Jonathan Ball, Calgary AB: August 9, 2009 ; Christine Leclerc, Vancouver BC: August 8, 2009 ; Roland Prevost, Ottawa ON: August 7, 2009 ; Gillian Sze, Toronto ON: August 6, 2009 ; Stephen Henighan, Guelph ON: August 3, 2009 ; Marina Endicott, Edmonton AB: August 2, 2009 ; Ronna Bloom, Toronto ON: July 30, 2009 ; Annabel Lyon, New Westminster BC: July 29, 2009 ; Tess Fragoulis, Montreal QC: July 28, 2009 ; G.C. Waldrep, Louisburg PA: July 26, 2009 ; Cameron Anstee, Ottawa ON: July 24, 2009 ; Arielle Greenberg, Chicago Il: July 23, 2009 ; Craig Poile, Ottawa ON: July 20, 2009 ; Johanna Skibsrud, Montreal QC: July 19, 2009 ; Kevin Killian, San Francisco CA: July 18, 2009 ; Jake Kennedy, Kelowna BC: July 16, 2009 ; Derek McCormack, Toronto ON: July 15, 2009 ; Lisa Robertson, CA: July 13, 2009 ; Beth Bachmann, Nashville TN: July 12, 2009 ; Rebecca Rosenblum, Toronto ON: July 11, 2009 ; Louis Cabri, Windsor ON: July 10, 2009 ; Eric Baus, Denver CO: July 8, 2009 ; Jonathan Bennett, Peterborough ON: July 7, 2009 ; Mary Pinkoski, Edmonton AB: July 6, 2009 ; Marcus McCann, Ottawa ON: July 3, 2009 ; Forrest Gander, Providence RI: July 2, 2009 ; Tim Conley, St. Catharine's ON: June 30, 2009 ; Oana Avasilichioaei, Montreal QC: June 28, 2009 ; Peter Norman, Halifax NS: June 26, 2009 ; Kate Eichhorn, Brooklyn NY: June 25, 2009 ; Zachariah Wells, Vancouver BC: June 24, 2009 ; Asher Ghaffar, Toronto ON: June 22, 2009 ; Jeanette Lynes, Antigonish NS: June 20, 2009 ; Anita Dolman, Ottawa ON: June 19, 2009 ; J.R. Carpenter, Montreal QC: June 18, 2009 ; Daniel Allen Cox, Montreal QC: June 17, 2009 ; Susan Olding, Kingston ON: June 16, 2009 ; Ray Hsu, Vancouver BC: June 14, 2009 ; Karen Houle, Guelph ON: June 13, 2009 ; Matthew Tierney, Toronto ON: June 12, 2009 ; Ken McGoogan, Calgary AB: June 11, 2009 ; Sandra Ridley, Ottawa ON: June 10, 2009 ; Sharon Harris, Toronto ON: June 9, 2009; Jacob McArthur Mooney, Toronto ON: June 8, 2009 ; Antanas Sileika, Toronto ON: June 7, 2009 ; Dayle Furlong, Toronto ON: June 5, 2009 ; Carrie Olivia Adams, Chicago Il: June 4, 2009 ; Jason Dewinetz, Victoria BC: June 1, 2009;