Photo by Jenny Fisher
The Trent Writer’s Reading Series wrapped up its season at Scott House at Traill College last Wednesday with two local writers, Michelle Berry and Jonathan Bennett. Being old friends, Bennett credits Berry with convincing him to come to Peterborough.
The community braved the snow and cold weather to fill Scott House for the occasion, which saw both writers reading.
Berry started the evening with a reading from Interference, her latest novel, which started as a series of short stories. While the book was eventually turned into a novel, each of the stories was written in such a way to stand-alone.
The novel follows the lives of a suburban area based somewhat on Peterborough, and the characters therein, as a series of crimes plunges the community into an air of menace that hangs throughout the writing in the characters’ isolation and disconnect.
Though there’s a linear narrative, keeping track of the ensemble of characters’ various intertwining sub-plots proved a challenge in and of itself, requiring Berry to use a whiteboard and “no less than 17 different coloured pens”.
Bennett, born in Vancouver, raised in Sydney, Australia and now living just out of town in Keene, is the author of six books, and read from his latest, Colonial Hotel.
Much like Berry’s work, Colonial Hotel didn’t begin in novel form. According to Bennett it began as a long poem, and after reaching 70-80 pages, he sent it out to two of his writer friends.
According to Bennett, both wrote back to him with the same response: “This is the weirdest outline for a novel that I’ve ever read.” Which he took in stride, inspiring him to transform it into a lyrical work of prose fiction.
Colonial Hotel, set in a fictional, unnamed developing country, retells the ancient Greek story of Helen and Paris, working for an NGO at the outbreak of civil war, “She is obsessed with the work,” Bennett says, “and he is obsessed with her”.
Bennett read from three sections, including one from the character Oenone, written as an oral retelling which Bennett claimed was drawn from multiple sources as a means of keeping it authentic without implying any one in particular, as to keep the country its own and keep the allegorical style of story free of the baggage of real history.
Unfortunately with two writers on the bill, there wasn’t much time for questions. However, both writers spoke of the importance of understanding rhythm and cadence, and their importance for differentiating their characters’ voices.
As the final installment of the fall season, it was a great way to wrap up the year in the coziness of Scott House on a cold night.