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| Shandi Mitchell will read from her debut novel, Under This Unbroken Sky, Thursday, Oct. 28, 7 p.m. in the Special Collections Reading Room, Killam Library. |
After graduating from Dalhousie with a BA in English and Theatre, Shandi Mitchell began making short films like Tell Me, Babaās House and Gasoline Puddles. Her adventures in filmmaking netted her stellar reviews, festival showings and more awards and accolades than you can shake a stick at. But she never published a novel until 2009ās UnderĀ This Unbroken Sky ā a novel, which like her films, picked up a bevy of awards including the Commonwealth Regional Prize, Thomas Head Raddall Fiction Award, and Margaret and John Savage First Book award.
Now Ms. Mitchell is about to undertake another new experience; sheās visiting Dal for the first time since she graduated. She'll read selections from her debut novel at a reading tonight in the Special Collections Reading RoomĀ of the Killam Library.
When asked to describe her book, Ms. Mitchell first laughingly warns that āItās always sudden, trying to encapsulate your work.ā She then explains (with a coy succinctness that belies her disclaimer) āItās about pride, and hunger, and the cost of surviving.ā The novel, which follows the lives of Ukrainian immigrants to the Canadian prairies, was in part influenced by Ms. Mitchellās own background; she has Ukrainian heritage and lived in the Prairies as a child.
āThe inspiration came from a fact I discovered years ago,ā she says of the bookās inception. āI was always told then my grandfather had died of the flu in the ā30s, and the fact was he had not.ā As for the significance of the titular reference to the sky, āItās the one thing thatās not broken in this book.ā
Though UnderĀ This Unbroken Sky is her first novel, Ms. Mitchell says its composition was āexciting. I found it exhilarating. To have the freedom to create without the need of permissionā¦ I could be inside a character, and thatās very different from the experience of a filmmakerā¦ Iām hoping to start working on the next book.ā Sheās keeping the fine points of that project a secret for now. āIām superstitious. I actually donāt like talking about a work until I know what it is.ā
Sheās more comfortable talking about her new film, which is further along in development. āThat storyās actually set in Nova Scotiaā¦ in the Atlantic Ocean. Six men, two dories and the fight to get home.ā Ms. Mitchell isnāt concerned about juggling prose writing and film. āSo far Iāve been able to leapfrog.ā
'They understand the horizon'
Whether the open ocean or the lone prairie, Ms. Mitchell almost compulsively orients herself around the implications of location in her writing. āThe geography for me and the character are almost inseparable,ā she says. āItāll inform your values, your point of view.ā She says the geography of the Prairies and of the Maritimes have a lot more in common than one might think. āThereās something about an infinite horizon,ā whether itās rolling wheat fields or the endless sea. āPeople can find it quite oppressive to be in that environment. It challenges you.ā
She even asserts that in her experience, Prairie natives rarely get as seasick as their landlocked counterparts. She recounts being told by a shipās captain that āThe Prairie people come out here and theyāre okay. They understand the horizon.ā
When asked about her inspirations, Ms. Mitchell is mild. āJust ordinary people inspire meā¦ I donāt have heroes. Iām interested in the good, I guess.ā And what advice would she give to aspiring writers who might also enjoy winning various prizes and giving public readings at Dal? āRead. Write. Travel. Live.ā I point out that it is likely anyone reading this article will at least nominally be living (Dal Newsā zombie readership is down) and she clarifies. āTo live, I would define it as to be open, to go beyond your worldā¦ for me itās about listening, and observing, and receiving whatās given to you. Itās about living in the world that youāre in.ā
That belief in ālivingā informs Ms. Mitchellās work as both a writer and a filmmaker. āI donāt know if you can be fully inside yourself to be an artist. You have to be in tune with the world around youā¦ you have to find your own voice.ā
Shandi Mitchell will read from her debut novel, Under this Unbroken Sky, Thursday, Oct. 28, 7:30 p.m.Ā in the Special Collections Reading Room of the Killam Library.