Getting Lit with Linda

Kasia Van Schaik speaks about the monstrous women for whom she would like to see monuments built, even building them herself in the very book she has written, Women Among Monuments (Dundurn). Women have been characterised as monstrous when they deviate from scripted roles based on gender; when they decide to defy convention; whey they eschew serving as muses to artists. In view of Women’s History Month (1:12), this episode is so relevant, so timely: Van Schaik and Linda discuss Virgina Woolf, Gertrude Stein, Georgia O’Keefe—and Anne Carson, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature just a few days after the episode was recorded.
*** Special guest appearance by Fifi, Van Schaik’s cat.

If you carry around the cultural baggage Linda does, when you hear the name Mister Rogers, you’ll immediately conjure up the image of that nice, congenial television personality, who developed a children’s program that lasted for over thirty years. If you’re thinking of that Mr. Rogers as part of this episode, you’re somewhat off the mark: This episode features playwright, Michael Healey, and his play about the Telecom titan Ted Rogers, and his son, Edward who struggled to claim control over the family business (insert: shades of the hit television series, Succession). Rogers vs. Rogers (Playwrights Canada Press) is his new political comedy adapted from the bestselling exposé Rogers v. Rogers: The Battle for Control of Canada's Telecom Empire by Alexandra Posadzki. The play is currently being staged at Great Canadian Theatre Company in Ottawa.

In this episode, Linda speaks about Shani Mootoo's Starry Starry Night (Book*hug Press), an auto-fictional work that confirms Mootoo’s exceptional talent, in its sophisticated narration and vivid delineation of scenes from a childhood in Trinidad. Mootoo traces the early life of Anju, roughly based on Mootoo’s own childhood, the heart-rending contours of that life – but, as she ruminated in their interview together, she approached those painful experiences with a sense of dispassionate observation and compassion, for herself and for others, documenting upon what is unfurling at every moment. And then she concludes, “It was all a gift.” Linda takes a moment in her introduction to reflect on the loss of her beloved cat, Pinky, and confirms - it was indeed all a gift, including this very special interview with Shani Mootoo.

In this discussion between Linda and the magnificent Eastern Townships of Quebec writer, Louise Penny, they are initially joined by her dogs, Muggins and Charlie (see our social media feed!). And, of course, the conversation was greatly enriched by her dogs’ vocal contributions. After a short and lively exchange with them, Louise and Linda turn to her most recent novels The Grey Wolf and The Black Wolf, which just came out in paperback in August, and The Last Mandarin (Macmillan; her second collaboration, this time with journalist Melissa Fung), which just came out in hardcover.

Penny really needs almost no introduction - but she is the author of the best-selling mystery series that features Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec and has published over 20 novels, which have been translated into over 23 languages, sold millions of copies worldwide, and repeatedly reached number 1 on the New York Times Best Seller list. In this episode, she and Linda discuss questions of democracy, rights, daily acts of kindness, decency, and love, and who really is the villain.