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Writer’s Block: Gail Sidonie Šobat
We chat with Gail Sidonie Šobat about her new book Songs From This and That Country (Great Plains Press), the teacher who first called her a writer, and which Canadian literary icon she’d like to collaborate with most.
All Lit Up: Tell us about your new book. What can readers expect?
Gail Sidonie Šobat: Songs from This and That Country is a novel set in Canada as well as Berlin, Italy, Istanbul, and former Yugoslavia, including Sarajevo. An inter-generational story that examines the reality of age-old ethnic conflicts between Serbs-Croats-Muslims, it exposes how these divisive and acrimonious relationships are recursive and filter into the lives of first- and second-generation families. As a blend of family drama, historical fact, and fairy tale, the book reflects a South Slavic immigrant experience, WWII infantry service in 1940s Italy, the Bosnian conflicts in the 1990s, and the rise of a second generation Serbo-Canadian opera singer, all of which is set in relief to a Slavic fairy tale in the time of the Ottoman Empire. As sabres currently rattle in Kosovo between Serbs and Albanians, and with the reality of the brutal war in Ukraine and the terrible human rights abuses in Gaza, this novel is a timely and pertinent reminder that if ethnic resentments continue to smoulder, crimes against humanity will continue to haunt our days.
All Lit Up: Are there any real-life experiences or people that have influenced your storytelling?
Gail Sidonie Šobat: I would say that the book is inspired by my own troubled relationship with my father and with being Serbian-Canadian. I was deeply ashamed to be in any way Serbian when the horrors of the 1990s war in that part of the world came to light. I began to think deeply about what it meant to be part of a people who committed genocide. My examination of this and inter-generational violence became the genesis of the novel.
All Lit Up: If you could spend a day with one of your characters, who would it be and why?
Gail Sidonie Šobat: If I had the chance, I’d like to hang out with Baba Roga (also known as Baba Yaga), the witch in the fairy tale segment of the novel. Who wouldn’t want to hang out with a cool and powerful witch? When I was little I wanted to be a witch (instead I became a teacher which some would argue is the same thing!), so learning a little about the craft would be excellent. Also, I’d like to travel around in the forest in her hut on its chicken legs or fly through the air with her in her mortar and pestle. That would be a great adventure!
All Lit Up: Is there one stand-out moment or experience you had that helped you realize you wanted to become a writer?
Gail Sidonie Šobat: I had a wonderful Grade 3 teacher who phoned home one night. Of course, I thought I was in trouble for something, but instead she told my mother, “Do you know that your daughter is a writer?” I had written a little story about a Prairie flower that dies the fall and comes back to life in the spring. Inadvertantly and likely through reading so many fairy tales, I’d stumbled across the archetypal pattern of death and rebirth. My teacher said that she had students in Grade 9 who didn’t write as well. Her kindness, her thoughtfulness to reach out to my family – and through them, me – changed the course of my life. Whenever I felt I was a little lost or was struggling with my self-confidence, I remembered her words: I was a writer. What a gift she gave me. I’m forever grateful. And I still have that story with the original mark comments she put on the paper.
All Lit Up: If you could collaborate with any author, living or dead, who would it be and why?
Gail Sidonie Šobat: Atwood – wouldn’t it be amazing to work with her?! I wasn’t always a fan, but gradually, over the years I grew to more and more appreciate and admire her. I think The Handmaid’s Tale is prophetic genius and that people generations from now will still be reading it. I’d like to collaborate with Margaret Atwood just to be in the room to hear her take on things, to hear her think aloud.
All Lit Up: How do you celebrate when you finish writing a book?
Gail Sidonie Šobat: Champagne! And a really good meal!
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Gail Sidonie Šobat is an award-winning writer and educator, and a Serbian-Ukrainian Canadian. She is the author of a dozen books, the creator-director of YouthWrite multidisciplinary camps for young writers, and is an educator. She has frequently been writer in residence and has presented across Canada, US, Qatar, Vietnam, Switzerland, Finland, and Turkey. She currently lives in Edmonton and on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia.
