eorge Bowering is the author of about a billion books, including poetry, fiction, history, everything in between, sometimes all at once. his efforts have earned him a reputation as being one of canada's best writers, as well as having a couple of governor general's awards tucked under his belt. he currently lives in vancouver, b.c., and works at simon fraser university.
cancon
history is the basis for many of your stories- what is it about history that fascinates you so?
George Bowering
I majored in history in high school and at UBC, lethargic as hell, with no intentions in that direction. But when we got to remaking poetry in the early sixties we soon found that something like history was mixed up with something like the place we were in, & the latter was a big concern, seeming necessary to a beginning of saying anything in poetry. Trouble was, we had never heard anything about our place's history in any school, even if we majored in history. So we started, back in Tish for instance, to dig into history. I dont know why I started writing historical stuff later. But I remember that when I moved to southwest Ontario I felt removed from the land there, so I went for my past, and that soon got to be a dead end, I mean a bunch of lyrics and self. So I found a copy of Menzies' journal in the UWO library, and away I went. Made a long poem. Then made a novel from the materials. Since then just about everything I have written has been set in a past time, or a rumination on history. There is so much of it--I need another couple lifetimes to root around in all that interesting stuff.
cancon
is history one of the greatest forms of fiction?
George Bowering
Oh, that's an old one. And obviously true. But it is so damned interesting. Not just the way people write it, which is always the first thing you get to, but the people you find back there.
cancon
throughout your career you've used experimentation in various ways- what is the role of experimentation for you?
George Bowering
One of the best things ever asked or said about that is Gertrude Stein's "If you can do it why do it." One thing I like to remind people is that most experiments fail; you have to be ready for that. Throw that stuff out. Keep thinking of what you're doing as an investigation, not a jewel to put in front of some loved one or editor.
cancon
you write a lot about other writers. at first i thought it was about de-mything writers, then i thought it was about you trying to better understand yourself by analyzing others. what is it really about?
George Bowering
Well, there are so many other writers who do interesting stuff that you dont do; thank goodness. I have always even liked to promote the other writers I dig, as much as myself. I think that we are doing stuff, and I sure as hell cant do a lot of things other writers can do. I steal stuff from time to time, of course. But I listen to, say, Fred Wah's adamant tracking of the feeling and thinking process, the minicules inside words, and I have to listen to that. He can do it.
cancon
in The Rain Barrel you write, "He felt as if he could not really describe to her the way in which writing a poem is like paring an apple. If you can do it all in one continuous motion it will be very satisfactory." what is writing prose like for you?
George Bowering
Like? I cant think of anything that is like writing prose. But I do know that I feel the way that a fisherman feels, maybe, when there's something on the line. It can be wonderful to feel something is about to come visible, and when it does, it moves so nicely. I like the move.
cancon
word association:
history: sentences
baseball: swift
poets: bell-ringers
silence: enough
canada: dry grass
book: thumbs
science: father
happiness: carbohydrates
cancon
if you had a time machine where/when would you go to?
George Bowering
I would go to Paris and watch the pages of Ulysses coming off the press.
cancon
when you started writing did you think it would lead you anywhere?
George Bowering
When I started writing I wanted mainly to be a sports writer who committed poetry from time to time. So I was writing baseball and basketball for the Oliver Chronicle (a weekly) and the Penticton Herald (a daily), and getting paid by the inch of copy. I would cut the stories out and measure them and send them in, and get paid. I wish I still had that copy, sometimes. So I thought writing might get me to the ballpark.
cancon
i recall talking to profs years ago about new books and they weren't too interested- have the literati become more apathetic about new writing?
George Bowering
Most profs, who get paid because of literature, dont like to read new
books. Anywhere in Canada, you will be lucky to see more than 2 profs at a poetry reading, usually only 1, sometimes the one who organized it. Very few professors will spend a dollar on Canadian literature, for instance.
cancon
do you feel has there been a drop in the quality of new writing?
George Bowering
Probably not. In most eras, 94% of new writing is not worth spending time on. That figure probably applies now.
cancon
i recall seeing you read a few years ago for a PEN related event, and was shocked that while someone was presenting material about the murder and persecution of writers around the world a lot of people were chatting away. do we take our political & creative freedoms for granted?
George Bowering
Sure, we do. Too many people have the same attitude toward human suffering other than their own that professors have about new poetry books. You do get more and more persuaded of this. Once when I was really young I thought that maybe one day if I set a good example, the majority of automobile drivers would start driving safely and courteously. No chance. I think that regarding human suffering around the world, things have changed. In the 60s it was a subject that was talked about among young people. I dont think it is any more. Now they talk about how they want a new car.
cancon
what pisses you off most about the government?
George Bowering
That it is so chintzy about spending money on Canadian culture and yet
throws millions of dollars at businessmen.
cancon
you write about horse riding and other outdoors activities- do you find it hard to "get in touch" with nature living in vancouver?
George Bowering
Well, I really do miss the country, especially the country in the interior of B.C. But if I was really serious i would do something about it. But the odd tree overhead and the odd bird in your yard dont really cut it, no.
cancon
what is one thing everyone should try (anything at all) at least once?
George Bowering
A train trip across the country.
cancon
is there something you always secretly wished someone would ask you?
George Bowering
There was. But then at last she asked me.
note: in april 2003 we had another chance to interview George Bowering.
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