Lucky Bruce on WSHU Public Radio

Last but not least! Tune in for a lovely little feature on Bruce Jay Friedman that aired last week on WSHU out of Connecticut: "Friedman tempers hot remarks with humor (often hilarious), and affection for friends and foes alike ... refreshingly candid ... never mere dish."

(Two Thousand and) Eleven Days in Review

Well this morning the Bibliomanse flings wide its gates once again--or, rather, we're now open for business after a whole week off. A week! How is it so much can happen in 11 days? Review-wise, Ray Robertson was featured on That Shakespearean Rag ("The Three Stooges or Voltaire," Dec. 22), and interview-wise, David Hickey talks to Elan Paulson on The Rusty Toque (Dec. 23); Biblioasis furthered its global blog invasion with appearances on The Story Prize Blog by Cathy Stonehouse (Dec. 29) and Alexander MacLeod (Dec. 31); and last but not least, our authors continued to be highlighted in best-of lists both at home and abroad. The Irish Times recommended Light Lifting for readers in 2012, and Clark Blaise's The Meagre Tarmac was tenderly mentioned by Philip Marchand (National Post), Ian McGillis (Montreal Gazette), and Quentin Mills-Fenn (Uptown) in their years-in-review. ("You know it's going to be a stellar year for fiction when Clark Blaise publishes something," QMF writes: damn straight it was!) Amanda Jernigan's Groundwork appeared (officially) on NPR's best 100 Poetry Books of 2011, with a paragraph praising her "daunting formal skill," "emotional intensity," and "light, perfecting touch"; and last (but certainly not least), our very own Laura Boudreau came in fourth (fourth!) in the National Post's Readers' Choices survey. That makes her the second Biblioasis author to have beat out Ondaatje's The Cat's Table in recent weeks. (Suitable Precautions may also be topping the import lists in Switzerland, but that's another story.)

So! That was the break. Keep tuned for more news, and an annum faustum to you all!

A Pinch of One More Thing

Just when you thought Thirsty was waterblogged, we find ourselves trudging back to the well. Something about drinking salty ink? Congrats to Ms. Rosenblum for making the top 10 books of Canadian short fiction for 2011, & thanks to Chad Pelley for the shoutout. (It's worth visiting the site for the picture of Zsuzsi Gartner alone, who looks not unliked the winged Nike of the CBC. Yowsers.)

... and to conclude today's Blog Binge ...

Just a quick note to say that the Who Killed CanLit? issue of CNQ is now not only on the newsstands, but up and running online. Check out notesandqueries.ca for select features, select online-only features, new fiction from Nathan Whitlock, and new poetry from Nyla Matuk, and more!

Quillcast Clark Blaise

I'm sure many of you have seen this already, thanks to the its appearance on the Walrus Blog and of course thanks to Quill & Quire, but in case you haven't, take a listen. This interview with Catherine Bush was recorded in October of this year, when Clark was in Toronto for IFOA and the Writers' Trust Awards. It's called "Clark Blaise and the Writing Life," but really it's just about Life full stop, and It. Is. Great. Why--gasp--is writing a short story harder than writing a novel? How does the son of an Amoskeag Mills bobbin boy end up studying with Bernard Malamud? And what, most tantalizingly, is our very own master storyteller and border-crosser planning next? If you don't already know, find out now.

Well we always kinda assumed we had the best darn poets around ...

But now we know it's really true, because NPR and the Boston Globe say so. Congratulations to Amanda Jernigan, whose Groundwork will appear shortly on NPR's top 100 poetry books for the year, and again to Marsha Pomerantz, whose Illustrated Edge made the Boston Globe's Best Poetry Books of 2011.

If you'd like to learn a little more about Amanda and Groundwork--and if you weren't lucky enough to catch part of her east coast odyssey this fall--well, this past week she recorded a truly epic podcast for Indi 101.5's Art Waves, and it's almost as good as hearing her in person.

Short Fiction Gets Tangential

Sounds like a limbo move or a calculus maneuver, but no: it's Laura Boudreau, live from The Story Prize Blog. Our dynamic cosmopolite talks about Singer, Carver, travelers, and what (if anything) holds a collection of short fiction together. Take a look!

Two More for the Poets

Good morning, folks. As Christmas rolls down toward the two-tongued sea here by the Bibliomanse (or rather, as piffling amounts of snow continue to melt into Lake St. Clair), it seems that our minds are turning to two very important seasonal things: poetry, and cake. On December 18th, Marsha Pomerantz was the Poetry Daily Poet with the title poem of The Illustrated Edge. Since December 18th is exactly one week before Christmas, and since one of her "edges" is a table with "drips and crumbs and bellies pressed up close," I figure I can segue rather neatly to the unexpected theme of 2011: CAKE. The year of cake closed with one final slice this Saturday at the London Children's Museum, where David Hickey read to a captivated crew of children and parents. What happens when you combine cake, gum, balloons, and poetry? See for yourselves. More pictures shortly. Also keep an eye out on the London Free Press, who did (bless 'em!) give us a shout-out before the launch, and an interview during.

Claire Tacon on CFRU 93.3

Hey, all! This morning Dan Evans of The Bookshelf interviews Dan Wells and Claire Tacon on Books for Breakfast (yum, books). Take a listen! Claire Tacon in the 8 AM slot, and Dan Wells in the 9. Highlights include a nice summary of what small presses can do, and a handsome paean by Mr. Evans on the merits of good book design.

First Toronto, then New York (or: the Poets Bury Ondaatje)

For those of you keeping track of R. Rosenblum's campaign for global blog domination, you'll have seen the pickup last week in the New Yorker's Book Bench and on rumpus.net. "Oh my God, my friend is a" -- what? Here's a clue: the answer is neither "vampire" nor "kitten."

And in unrelated-but-equally-exciting news: a little birdie told us last week that Amanda Jernigan's Groundwork now ranks as the sixth-highest bestselling title at Bryan Prince, Booksellers, according to Open Book Toronto. That's one, two, three, four (count them, FOUR) rankings above Michael Ondaatje's The Cat's Table. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the poets are gaining on the Giller Prize, one devoted fan base at a time ... congrats to Amanda, and to Rebecca too. Keep on crusading.

Call for Submissions

Hey folks. Red Claw Press is putting out a new anthology, this time about sleep. (Sleep? Remember that? Anybody?) If your eyes are still open at 6 PM on a Monday, take a look. Deadline's February 1st.

Why Not? longlisted for Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction

All of us at Biblioasis are proud to announce that Ray Robertson's Why Not? Fifteen Reasons to Live was longlisted for the $25 000 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction. The prize recognizes excellence in Non-Fiction for books that combine "subtlety of thought and perception" with elegant style and mastery of the English Language. The Shortlist will be announced on January 10th 2012 and the finalist on March 5th 2012.

Congratulations to Ray and everyone who made the longlist!

Check out the longlist and read the full story here.

Day of the Dead, Redux

Well, Biblioasis is happy to boast that our authors have thus far authors participated in, arranged, slogged through, flew to, trained towards, and gloried over EIGHTY-TWO events this fall. Now (as people are doing their pre-Christmas memory dumps, perhaps?) the photos are trickling in, and they are MARVELLOUS. Yes indeed.

These from our Day-of-the-Dead launch of Love Poems at Dora Keogh, featuring the inimitable Colin Carberry, along with our new & dulcet-toned friend over at the Consulate General of Mexico, Gerardo Ochoa. Cameo appearances by poet Goran Simic and his lovely wife Lida, our genius-behind-the-translation-curtain Stephen Henighan, and Stephen's wife Lorena. (And pssst. Toronto-ites: look for this last uber-duo at the Aluna Café Monday night, where they'll be presenting Llosa's La Chunga. 1 Wiltshire Ave, 7 PM.)

That other person there? Rather shiny of forehead? Not me. Nope. No sir.

Therefore. Bibliophiles! Have more pictures from the fall? Send 'em my way. Thirsty drinks everything up. Much like a sponge ... or the poets at an open bar. (Jokes. Kidding! Love you all.)

David Hickey Chews the Fat--er--Gum?--with The Londoner

So Rebecca Rosenblum is tromping up and down the blogosphere, and now (it seems), David Hickey is midway through a London media coup. A charming little profile appeared in the Londoner today: if you want to hear David talk a bit about his reasons for writing A Very Small Something, you should absolutely take a look. Seems his nieces and nephews aren't the only ones who love the book--and if this keeps up, we'll have hit every paper in London! (Hear that, Free Press? Huh? ALL the cool kids are reviewing it.)

(As an aside, I tried to load the Really Very Adorable Photo of David Holding His Book and Looking Proud, but I was defeated by the Londoner's photo-embedding technology. Send me a note if you're reading this and know how to get around the problem ... and in the meantime, look at the page. Great shot. Great book. Heck, it's all great.)

The Other Voice

Hello, world. Good evening. Happy Wednesday. Just a quick note to say three cheers to Biblioasis author K.D. Miller, who's new book The Other Voice is just now out from Stonebunny. Doing a little pre-holiday Amazon snoop? Check it out.

Rebecca Rosenblum's Quest for World Domination

... okay, so that's a fib. She's not taking over the world. ("Everyone knows if I were given access to the red button, I'd put a kitten sticker on it," saith RR.) But she may just be taking over the blogosphere: yesterday she provided the 41st installment of the Story Prize blog, where she described (oh woe to all of us who have been there) the experience of a salvaging a Bad Story. And elsewhere in Toronto? Blogs are still coming out fast and furious on the Afterword. Yesterday she talked (gulp) about editors--"Scourge of the Earth or Cheap Psychotherapists?"--and today? It's anybody's guess. (Okay, granted I'm not guessing because I read it last night, but the rest of you will have to guess because I'll get in trouble if I tell you.)

Last but not least! For all you Laura Boudreau fans, knoweth that a Certain Story Prize blog abovementioned might, just might, be featuring a Certain Story Writer of the initials LB some time soon ... so keep yer ears to the ground.

Hey, there's a Shreddie on the floor! Rebecca Rosenblum Guest Edits the Afterword

Great news, folks: all this week our very own Rebecca Rosenblum will be guest editing The National Post's Afterword. Curious as to why she's more interested in stray Shreddies than the movements of the stars? Here's a taste:

For me, exploration is writing and reading and also being alive. I use the details I know to explore people and situations I don’t understand. I access them in the micro details, the laundry emergencies and poorly chosen lunches and unhappy kittens in our laps. And it is out of these details that the larger issues construct themselves…or we construct them.

Rest of the blog post is on the Post site, and more will come. Read them! Eat them! They're grrrreat. (Okay, yes, that's Frosted Flakes, but whatever.)

Dad of Divas on A Very Small Something

This weekend parenting blog host Dad of Divas took a look at A Very Small Something, and here's what he called it:

"A beautiful tale ... This author has put together a wonderful book that both children and parents will alike will enjoy and the illustrations within the book are also ones that will just jump off the page! I highly recommend this to all!"

So there we go. It's a book fit for divas, darlings, dads, dumbledorfs--everybody. And (along with a few gum balls, maybe?) what a beautiful Christmas present ...

The Telegraph-Journal Raves About Suitable Precautions

from today's Telegraph-Journal:

This review was originally going to be a survey of some of this fall's debut Canadian short fiction
collections. But Laura Boudreau's Suitable Precautions was so superior it would have been a disservice
to her fine collection to have it share the spotlight.
I first read Boudreau, who was born and raised in
Toronto and lives in London, England, in the The
Journey Prize Stories 22. Her story, Dead Dad Game,
with its non sequitur twists left me wanting more. And
Suitable Precautions delivers.

Like her precocious, deviant tween girl Lauren in the
Poses, Boudreau is definitely someone who doesn't
know when to quit. She is best when at a ramble speed,
with words and thoughts spewing until the narrative
leads you someplace quite different from where you
began. And the wayBoudreau does it, these twists
don't feel like forced tricks - they come on like the slow
boil a frog feels sitting in the pot.

For the full review, please go here.

Learning to Celebrate Life: Ray Robertson makes Globe Top 100, reviewed in The Gazette

Well, the Globe's Best 100 book list came out on Friday, and we're proud to announce that both Ray Robertson's Why Not? and Clark Blaise's The Meagre Tarmac ranked among them. What else? Ian McGillis of the Montreal Gazette gave Ray's book a thoughtful going-over, comparing it to Sarah Bakewell's NBCC Award-winning How to Live, and describing the part Ray's book plays in the "mini revival" of "the humanist essay with practical application."

Here's a taste:

"The book as a whole is ... heartfelt, funny, rigorous, practical without ever being preachy. Robertson has the born essayist's way with an aphorism ('There's no age more conformist than youth'), and his catholic range is contagious: when he pulls in Lord Byron and Jimmie Rodgers as back-to-back sources, he not only evinces no strain, he makes you think of a romantic poet and a yodelling country singer as natural soul brothers. Two of the longest quotes in the book appear close together: One is from Baudelaire, the other a mock-news piece on teenage masturbation from the The Onion, and by the time we reach them, Robertson has us thinking of them as equally worthy sources of wisdom."

For the rest of the review, check out the Gazette online.

And hey! If you're anywhere near Burlington tomorrow, you should check Ray out as he reads for the Book and Author Series.

LaSalle Park Pavilion,

50 North Shore Blvd.,

9:30 AM.

What's blue and white and read all over?

The books section of this week's Western News, that's what. If you're in London-town and have a chance to pick up UWO's news mag, be sure to flip to their new "Read All Over" book supplement, as spearheaded by Jason Winders. The supp. features a lovely write-up of David Hickey, plus shout-outs to all those wonderful Western peers who helped make the video trailer for A Very Small Something.

If you haven't seen the trailer yet, it's now up on www.averysmallsomething.com. And if you're near the Children's Museum on Saturday Dec. 17th, be sure to keep your eyes peeled for David, who will be (among other things!) organizing a bubble gum scavenger hunt and a craft session for local kiddles.

Rosenblum: Short Story Specialist.

In advance of tonight's event at McNally Robinson, The Winnipeg Free Press interviewed Rebecca Rosenblum, calling her a "Short Story Specialist". What does Rebecca want you to know about The Big Dream?

"That it exists? Um, that it’s a book about people who work, who have jobs and lives and fall in love and get sick and eat sandwiches and care about each other, but sometimes not enough or not in the right ways."

Check out the rest of the interview here!

If you are in Winnipeg be sure to join Rebecca and Ray Robertson at McNally Robinson tonight at 7:00pm!

After-Dinner Games for the After-Dinner Man

Hey, Toronto! Looking for something to take the edge off your shovel? The starch out of your shirtcollar? Come on out to Type Books, this Thursday, for a little Wage Slave Recreation. Details below.

After-Dinner Games for the After-Dinner Man

What, pray tell, is the After-Dinner Man? Let us consult the Glossary. “In the early 17th century,” say our Authors, “a man who returned to his place of work after dinner was to be pitied; either the after-dinner man was overly devoted to labor, or else he had too much of it.” Sound familiar? Yes indeed: quoting once more from our text, “we are all after-dinner men and and women, now.” So to provide, as is their goal eternally, some small portion of pleasure to their loyal Readers as they depart from (or perhaps return to) their places of employ, Mssrs. Kingwell, Glenn, and Seth have decided to throw a PARTY. Yes, my friends, a small gathering, a respite from labour, and the chance to fête the Glossary with GAMES and MERRIMENT. We dearly hope you can join us.

WHAT: An After-Dinner Party for the After-Dinner Man: The Toronto Launch of The Wage Slave's Glossary
WHO: Hosted by Mark Kingwell and Seth
WHERE: Type Books, 883 Queen West
WHEN: Thursday Nov. 17, 6-8 PM
CONTACT: Tara Murphy, 519 968 2206, tmurphy@biblioasis.com

Admission is free; however, because of the nature of the event, we ask that you RSVP to Tara at tmurphy@biblioasis.com.

Laura Boudreau and Rebecca Rosenblum reviewed in the Toronto Star

Sarah Murdoch, at the Toronto Star, gave a quick shout out to Laura Boudreau's Suitable Precautions saying: "Suitable Precautions (Biblioasis; 182 pages; $19.95) is a debut collection of 13 stories by Laura Boudreau, a Toronto writer who lives in London, England. The writing is accomplished, she has a good ear for dialogue and there is a dark thread of unease winding through these urban and angsty stories. The press material trumpets that "We're Not in CanLit Any More" and it's true: No gazing thoughtfully at wheat fields sullies Boudreau's prose."

Look out for a forthcoming review of Suitable Precautions in Geist.

The Toronto Star also wrote a short review of Rebecca Rosenblum's The Big Dream:

"What a fine idea to write a short-story collection situated in the petri dish where so many of us spend our days: the workplace. The Big Dream (Biblioasis; 196 pages; $19.95) is set at Dream Inc., a lifestyle-magazine publisher, and Rebecca Rosenblum's 13 stories deal with the backbiting, flirtation, rivalries, schemes and friendships that define every corporate culture. This is the Toronto writer's second collection, Her first, Once, in 2008, won the Metcalf-Rooke Award for Fiction, and was praised by reviewers."

Bruce Jay Friedman: Jaunty and Energetic

Adding their voices to the numerous good reviews for Lucky Bruce, The Washington Independent Review of Books says that "Friedman's writing is jaunty and energetic, the journalist at play." See what else they have to say here.

Laura Wells over at The East Hampton Star also reviewed Lucky Bruce, calling it "a true testament to decades of hard work, of perseverance ... in true Don Quixote fashion, Friedman is fascinated by everything going on around him."Check out the rest of Wells' review.

Keep an eye on NY1 tomorrow for an interview with Bruce Jay Friedman on The New York Times Close Up that aired over the weekend.

Rebecca Rosenblum: Master of Minutia (and a Hard Right Hook?)

We are proud to report that Biblioboxer Rebecca Rosenblum slugged it out with Dani Couture last night at The Literary Death Match, Toronto. Live from the blow-by-blow: "Round 2: Rebecca Rosenblum (Maclean’s “CanLit Rookie of the Year”), and ReLit award-winner Dani Couture. Couture, suffering from bronchitis, led-off and had the packed crowd on the edge of their collective seats with her excerpt from her novel Alaoma. Rosenblum struck back with a fantastic selection from her book The Big Dream."

What did the judges say? Find out on the Death Match Site, and thanks to Julie Wilson & Todd Zuniga for all their organizing, refereeing, blood-mopping, etc.

The Big Dream has also been receiving the love (not war!) from our friends in the media. Check out Mark Paterson's review at The Rover, where he says: "Rosenblum is an entertaining master of minutia, she has a prodigious ability to take ordinary details and restyle or adorn them in just the slightest way, transforming the mundane into the eccentric. The stories in The Big Dream come alive with orange-juice stained pillows, Zellers jeans, and jam sandwiches ... The Big Dream thoroughly succeeds ... Rebecca Rosenblum is a gifted chronicler of our time."

Salty Ink also praises "Rosenblum as an original, dialogue-strong stylist among Canadian short story writers," and the site features an extensive Q&A on Rebecca's own rose-coloured view of the world, writing, music, what have you. Get the full scoop here.

Last but certainly not least: the National Post's review calls The Big Dream a "clever, penetrating collection" that showcases her "shrewd, razor-sharp, yet deeply compassionate" style. If you haven't checked out The Big Dream yet, it's available online and in better bookstores everywhere.

Amanda Jernigan & David Hickey at Type, Tonight!

Hello, Toronto. Missing IFOA? The hustle? The crush? The hospitality suite? Yep. Me too. Every day should be IFOA. And though we at the Bibliomanse don't have the budget for complimentary single malt, we can afford some pretty great poesy, and we're giving it to you as a post-IFOA present. Come hear Amanda Jernigan and David Hickey at Type (wonderful Type!) tonight at 6.

Want to know more about Open Air Bindery? Check out the review that just came out in the Western News, where they say that "Hickey’s poetry is not only light on its feet, but rich in substance." (Get it? Feet?)

Ray Robertson on Tapestry

Ray Robertson appeared on CBC's Tapestry today on a program on Reasons to Live to discuss Why Not?. It's an exceptional interview, which you can listen to here.

An article in the University of Toronto newspaper also sheds some light on Why Not?:

At most, you’ll find a kindred spirit in this book; at least, you’ll add a few shiny new quotations to your collection. A University of Toronto grad (and a former editor-in-chief of the newspaper), Robertson read his share of Kant and Hume. He found a large part of the heavily analytic philosophy program to be “not enough about what life is really about”, and turned his talents to writing. It came to be that “novels were a sort of philosophy co-op program” for him.

Why Not is, in a sense, a practical application of philosophy, but that’s not to say he made any sacrifices stylistically. Straightforward and never shy, the reader feels welcome and respected as Robertson plays the role of earnest life professor. He remains true to his literary tone in real life. “All the writers I like have voices. Language and the way they sound was always important to me,” Robertson said. “I think of myself as a sort of highbrow lowbrow. My needs are simple, but with that comes an honesty.”

Perhaps surprisingly, one of the fifteen reasons is the antithesis of life. “I didn’t realize until about three quarters of the way through the book there was going to be a chapter called Death. That kind of snuck up on me, but it seemed appropriate, because no matter how wonderful things are you’re still going to die.” It’s that sort of off-the-cuff realism that makes Why Not an entertaining and insightful read.

You can read the rest here.

Photo by Marty Gervais, taken this past weekend at Bookfest Windsor.

Day of the Dead at Dora Keogh

On this year's Dia de Muertos, Biblioasis and the Consulate General of Mexico are proud to launch the seventh volume of our International Translation Series: Love Poems, by Jaime Sabines. Regarded as one of the major poets of the twentieth century, with admirers known to overflow auditoriums and to whisper raptly along at his readings, Sabines attained a status in Mexico that few poets achieve in life. His Love Poems are now available for the first time as a collection in English. Join Irish-Canadian poet Colin Carberry as we celebrate his spectacular new translation.

Admission is FREE. The event will be in English and Spanish.

"Clark Blaise Maps the Indo-American Experience"

The following interview ran in The National Post this morning. Thanks to Jason Rehel. Keep your fingers crossed for Clark tonight at the Writers' Trust Gala, where the winner of this year's fiction prize will be announced.

* * *

Clark Blaise is a border-crosser.

In life, Blaise moved between Fargo, N.D., where he was born to Canadian parents, Montreal, Iowa City, Toronto, Calcutta, Delhi and San Francisco, among other cities. In his literary output, Blaise flits across even more divides, between generations and races, regional boundaries within nation states — even the boundary between corporeal solidity and spiritual boundlessness. So it’s no surprise that Margaret Atwood’s blurb on his latest book, The Meagre Tarmac (Biblioasis, $19.95), calls Blaise a “master border-crosser.”

“Borders themselves are very close to the short-story form,” Blaise says in an interview in Toronto during the recent International Festival of Authors. “They compress, they keep things within a tight structure. And I think maybe I am more comfortable in the short story form than the novel. In the short story, the boundaries are pretty well defined and you have to stay within them. And I enjoy that compression, where everything counts, every act has a consequence. And the consequences of any action in a short story are manifest, especially if you’re a sensitive reader.”

The Meagre Tarmac is a collection of 11 stories, some grouped, as the first three are, into mini-narratives — all concerning the sutures and broken seams of Indo-American families who’ve immigrated to the United States in the 1970s in search of prosperity amid burgeoning technological innovation in northern California. There’s the patriarch who, because of personal shame related to a sexual dalliance before his wife and son arrived in the U.S., is tearing apart his family 16 years later by insisting on a move back to India. It’s a story told arrestingly from the father’s, mother’s and most jarringly by a 13-year-old daughter, Pramila’s perspectives.

“It used to be called among Indian immigrants ‘12 and out.’ When your daughter reaches 12, if you don’t take her back to India, you’ve lost her,” Blaise says. “But those people who didn’t go back, their children are doing what North American children do; they break away from their family, they don’t want to go back and live with their parents and they don’t want to have their parents come to live with them. But that’s the way it is in India. That’s the overriding arc of this book — that they prospered here, but they can’t stay.”

Later in the book, another male household head recounts spending his $250,000 dot-com bonus saving an uncle back in Calcutta, losing his immediate family back in the U.S. in the process. We revisit him six years later in the very next story, wandering and lonely, after recognizing his own folly during a sojourn in Tuscany.

Finally, the collection closes with a successful executive who’s played the North American game successfully, accumulated vast wealth and a network of friends and acquaintances, even embracing the ephemera of American cultural life, only to give it all up while yearning for “Old Calcutta.”

“These people are missing one thing in life, and that is that India could prepare them for success in America, but it could not prepare them for happiness in America, personal satisfactions, sexual gratification, marriage,” Blaise says. “Those were all to be given by parents. Arranged, and maybe love would follow, maybe it wouldn’t. All the men are, in some way, failed as fathers, husbands, lovers. They are all looking for something.”

Blaise, 71, resides now in San Francisco with his wife, writer Bharati Mukherjee, a tenured faculty member at Berkeley. They’ve been married since 1964, and have two sons. Until the recent California budget crisis, Blaise was himself teaching at Berkeley as an adjunct professor in creative writing, after a distinguished academic career that included an eight-year stint as director of the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa. Named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2009 for his contributions to writing and scholarship, and for founding Concordia University’s creative writing program in the late 1960s, Blaise is now widely considered to be one of the foremost practitioners of the short-story form. With The Meagre Tarmac, which is shortlisted for the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize, due to be announced in Toronto Nov. 1, even he, while being quite modest about it, feels he’s reached a new level.

“In this book, I had in my life for the first time the experience of being a director. It was like having actors milling around the wings waiting for their cue to come on. Most of the times you have to methodically grind it out. ‘What would she say now? What would he do now?’ This time, they all came with a backstory.

“Of course, I also have 50 years experience with Indo-Americans and Indo-Canadians, struggling here, and not struggling, maybe even succeeding here,” he says. “And I’ve seen many happy families, but you know, as Tolstoy said, you don’t write about them.”

It’s in the interplay between events, deeds, thoughts and dialogue between family members being ripped apart by the stressors of immigration that Blaise tells a heartbreaking group of stories almost all concerned about loss, estrangement, heart ache and alienation. In the end, the master border-crosser doesn’t seek to make any political points about assimilation vs. ethno-diversity; his stories, affairs of the heart, especially as they cross thick, irreversible borders, prove to be far messier, and far more human in scope and interest.

“The dream of immigration, I suppose, is to find yourself at home in a new place. All of them [the characters in The Meagre Tarmac] find themselves successful in this new place, but it’s missing something,” he says. “They didn’t have the Archie and Veronica moments: making out in the back seat of a car, the songs, the movies, the sports. They didn’t have all the things that make North America North America.

“They didn’t have the trivia. And you can never catch up with the trivia. You can integrate the great ideas, but you can never integrate the trivia.”