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Indie Reading Room: Peter Dubé
Montreal-based poet and surrealist Peter Dubé is this week’s Indie Reading Room author with his newest The Headless Man (Anvil Press), a gothic, picaresque prose poem, laced with horror and humour, that concerns itself with queer challenges to identity and sexual boundaries. Scroll down for our Q&A with Peter where he tells us about the intriguing impetus behind his book (there’s a secret society involved), his inspirations, politics in his work, and more. Then, head over to the ALU Instagram for Peter’s reading from his book. Bonus: get 20% off The Headless Man right here on All Lit Up with promo code READINGROOM until October 15!
If we are talking specifically about Canadian literature, I will say that I read Atwood’s The Testaments (finally!) and found it compelling. It’s a powerful, and credible, follow up to The Handmaid’s Tale while being wonderfully specific too. I was enthralled by Atwood’s subtle characterizations, particularly her ability to handle moral nuance and the problematic choices one is obliged to make in difficult situations.
Also Canadian, I’d like to draw attention to a marvellous recent collection of poetry: Beatriz Hausner’s Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart. It’s sophisticated in conception and precise in language, and richly allusive, referencing history, mythology and the literary canons with skill and a light hand, all while weaving a thread of sexiness throughout. A remarkable book!
If we open the conversation up beyond Canada’s borders, Edmund White’s latest novel A Saint from Texas is a joy. The balancing of two narrative voices is superbly handled. The investigation of life led deliberately, as a kind of project, neglecting neither the rewards nor the dangers of such a choice, is both thought-provoking and a balm in a contemporary world so utterly out of control as to make meaningful choice seems nearly impossible. Equally wonderful, White’s eye for the telling detail is in full effect here!ALU: What has been your most unlikely source of inspiration?PD: What a tough question! I tend to find inspiration everywhere: in books and pictures, in long walks with no destination in mind, mere idle wandering, and in my relationships, of course. But none of those is “unlikely,” I think. So the answer to your question is, to be completely frank: a particularly naughty gay club in Paris in which I had some remarkable experiences and to which I have a special attachment.ALU: If you were to write a memoir, what would the title be?PD: In a curious coincidence, I have, in fact, recently begun to think about the possibility of a memoir, though I have no concrete plans for it yet. So my speculation here won’t be binding!
That aside, because of the kind of life I’ve led (happily!) any eventual title would have to be close to the emotional and philosophical content of this: “Why, yes: I’d be delighted!”
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Peter Dubé is the author, co-author, or editor of eleven books, including the novels Hovering World and The City’s Gates, the short fiction collection At the Bottom of the Sky, the novella Subtle Bodies (a finalist for the Shirley Jackson Award), and Conjure: a Book of Spells, a collection of prose poems that was shortlisted for the A. M. Klein Prize. His most recent work is the short fiction collection Beginning with the Mirror. Peter lives in Montreal.* * *
Get The Headless Man for 20% off on All Lit Up until October 15th with the Indie Reading Room promo code READINGROOM. Find Peter in the ALU Indie Reading Room on Instagram, and stay tuned every Thursday until November 12th for more author readings and Q&As!Tagged: