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Read the Provinces: Seyward Goodhand
In today’s Read the Provinces, we chat with Winnipeg-based author Seyward Goodhand about her debut short story collection Even That Wildest Hope (Invisible Publishing)—a quirky and inventive collection that takes you on an unnerving but satisfying journey to antique and futuristic places—what it was like growing up in rural Hastings County (“Lord of the Flies-y”), how Winnipeg mirrors her feelings, and who some of her favourite Manitoba-based authors are. Read on for our short interview and get an excerpt from her short story collection.Photo credit: Matthew Sawatzy
INTERVIEW WITH SEYWARD GOODHAND
All Lit Up: Tell us about your short story collection Even That Wildest Hope and how it came to be.Galatrae are beloved by culture. There is a popular series of picture books starring a quiet but bold family of galatrae, there are teddy galatrae, wall stencils of galatrae, and other paraphernalia. In clement seasons, galatrae will live close to humans, in the woodpiles outside of cottages. They adore the scent of warm spices; if you desire a sighting, make satchels filled with cloves and leave them about your garden. You may train a galatrax to take nuts from your hand.
Galatrax has a gamy taste. The meat is not as lean as chicken or bison, but only healthy nutrients saturate the blubber. Because the fat is nutritional, your body wishes to discard it. Remember: toxic fat is, in a classically tragic paradox, the hardest to lose. Your body is very attached to its pollutants. Even if you ate an infinite number of galatrae, your body, after digesting only the amount necessary to sustain life, will void the excess. Gorge all day: pounds will depart, muscles swell, veins protrude. Galatrax is one of the miraculous superfoods of our age. Unfortunately, in order for the galatrax’s beneficial properties to be actuated, it must be eaten raw, while living.
You sedate the galatrax first, of course, with a natural ginger compound. But if you’re really serious, you may purchase a large glass hibernator to put in your kitchen, garage, or basement. The hibernator is a transparent cube with a sophisticated ventilation system on one side that lowers the temperature and oxygen content of the interior, while misting it with a steady stream of hydrogen sulphide. Do not keep more than fourteen galatrae in the hibernator at one time—enough for a week. Expect the area to smell vaguely of rotten eggs.~~~~~The weightlifter does not want to think of herself as a person who devours two galatrae a day. She would, of course, prefer not to. She is as fond of galatrae as anybody else. But she doesn’t indulge like this all the time. It is her pre-competition diet, which lasts only a month, and all the other weightlifters are eating galatrae, too. To abstain from galatrax is to lose. There is no need for citrus, vegetables, or water. Galatrax is completely sufficient on its own. And if she is regular and systematic—if she eats on a schedule rather than waiting to feel ready—it is much easier. First the workout, then the refuelling. * * *Seyward Goodhand grew up in Hastings County and the North York suburb of Newmarket. Her work has been short-listed for the McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize and a National Magazine Award and long-listed for the CBC Short Story Prize. Her award winning stories have appeared in Found Press, Riddle Fence, Cosmonauts Avenue, subTerrain, PRISM international, Grain, and Dragnet. She is a PhD student in English at the University of Toronto, and lives Winnipeg where she is a sessional instructor of academic writing. Even That Wildest Hope (Invisible Publishing) is her debut collection of short stories.* * * Purchase a copy of Even That Wildest Hope for 15% OFF until January 31, and stay tuned for more Read the Provinces featured authors all month long here on All Lit Up. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram with the hashtag #ALUreadtheprovinces.