Women Asking Women: in Conversation with Margaret Macpherson for All Lit Up

It was lovely to be asked to participate in a Q&A with Margaret Macpherson about her book, Tilting Towards Joy, and mine, Apples on a Windowsill. Especially since my book has been out for quite a while now. As I say in the convo, I’ve always expected that I would be selling my books one by one, winning over one heart, one reader at a time.

I was blown away by Margaret’s book, so this was doubly gratifying. Read the conversation in full here.

An excerpt:

MARGARET MACPHERSON: I’m very curious about the way your work(s) taps into the metaphysical world, the realm that travels beside us or surrounds us, but is often evasive because we humans are just too busy to see. Could you speak to your writing process as a way into that realm and what you think you impart in these essays?

SHAWNA LEMAY: This is the heart of writing for me. I’m acutely aware that we exist in multiple registers and the constant register is that we’re all in some form of heaven. But because of conditions, we might also be in hell, we might be in a thousand possible realms. And you’d like to say to people, choose your version of heaven!, but we all know that life is so much harder than that. And it’s probably going to get harder. In my longtime day job at the library, I’m privileged to talk to people who are going through difficult times. I’m always humbled when I talk to someone who shares some bright spot in their day, something they’d seen or experienced, and I think if they can do that, then I have no excuse.

There are all sorts of ways to get to the transcendent, to experience radiance. I’m a secular person, so my path to this other realm has been nature, poetry, art. And I think we all have access to it in our everyday lives. You don’t have to go on expensive trips or spend money to get there. The beyond is right here, maybe on your kitchen table when the light swings in at a certain time of day. That’s what I want people to know—you deserve transcendence.

MARGARET: This question is harder, I think. Given the current climate of insta-best sellers and diminishing returns for the small presses, with authors shouldering more and more of the marketing and promotional tasks, what do you see for the future of your work? You have a base of readers and people (including me) who are excited by your vision and its quiet execution, but how will you grow readership in a prize culture that often ignores or trivializes the meditative, the still small voice?

SHAWNA: Margaret, I feel like you’re in my head with these questions. I was just thinking about how I’m probably about as popular as I’ll ever be. As someone who has been on social media since the beginning and who avidly follows the latest in book publishing, I can see what it would take to maybe be more well-known. But I’m not interested in those things. And I guess those books that I most love are often the lesser known, the unsung, the quirky beautiful weird ones. That’s not bad company to be in. Of course, it doesn’t pay the bills. So, we’re always going to be giving something up to write or create something outside the mainstream. We’re always going to have to struggle to some extent. I have to be okay with that. Very few writers these days can operate without at least a part-time job. Why should I be any different?

It’s not that I wouldn’t like a greater readership. I’ve always hoped that the right book finds the right reader. So, I do try and put myself out there because I owe it to my work to give it a chance. I think I’ve always sold my books one by one, winning over one heart at a time. They’re not for everyone but what book is?

JASNA's Unexpectedly Austen Tribute

I’m beyond delighted to be included in JASNA's “Unexpectedly Austen” tribute.

“Throughout 2025, the 250th anniversary of the year Austen was born, we’ll be sharing tributes to and reflections on Austen and her work by well-known members of the public.”

Jane Austen has given me so much. A quotation from one of her novels or letters will pop into my head at least once a day.

As well, it's unlikely that I will ever again be part of the same feature as luminaries such as Taylor Swift, Andrew Davies, Margaret Drabble, Ian McEwan, Azar Nafisi, and Taylor Jenkins Reid. My piece is included in the July instalment, but please read them all!

My contribution:

Amanda Earl Writes a Beautiful Review of Apples on a Windowsill

This review of Apples on a Windowsill would have been immensely gratifying to read at any time, but particularly so over a year after a book has come out. Amanda Earl is an icon in the Canadian literary scene. She herself is a persistent encourager, lover of experimental writing, and longtime fellow blogger. She doesn’t just review the work, but she takes us with her in the experience of reading. I’ve never had my work looked at in quite this way and I’m so grateful!

The link to the full text on The Temz Review is here. Because I’ve wanted to experiment with Canva I made a few quotation thingies below, too.

 
 
 
 

The Salve Many of Us Seek...

I’m very grateful for this review in Galleries West Magazine of Apples on a Windowsill, more than a year after the book has come out. Perhaps it’s all the more gratifying because of this timing. Will the words written at one point in time still hold meaning years later? We can’t know when we’re writing.

With thanks to the writer of the review, Agnieszka Matejko. We all know that reviewing, too, is a labour of love and I’m deeply thankful.

From the review:

“In the face of uncertainty, photographing still-lifes became her refuge and a revelation—a way to unearth the hidden splendour of daily life amidst disaster.”

“Gazing at Lemay’s untitled series of photographs and reading this book feels almost prophetic. Things haven’t changed; in fact, the world seems even scarier and more fragile. But, as Lemay points out, amidst the chaos, there is an oasis of calm: a beam of light shining through the curtains, the texture of bread on an old cutting board, or the scent of muddy soil in the spring air. Poetry is always there for us. “

“She has convinced me that the poetry of everyday objects — a steaming mug of tea backlit by the morning sun or the gleam of dirty dishes on a kitchen table — may be the very salve many of us seek.”

For more information on Apples on a Windowsill, click here.

Why I Wrote This Book

Along with writers Saad T. Farooqi, Jamie Kitts, and sophie anne edwards, I’m part of a Mirimichi Reader feature series titled “Why I Wrote This Book.”

Part of my essay from the piece is this:

“In an essay titled, “The Practice of Still Life,” I say “The subject of a still life is never the subject. The subject is light, or time. The subject is our mortality.” And that really hit hard a few years back. But the thing is, with a still life we can rearrange things, we can add and subtract, reconfigure. We can try again and again. So the reason I wrote this book is that I think still life provides a useful way of thinking about how we can live. We can keep pushing things into the light so they might lead us to see differently, so that we can be transformed by our seeing, so that we might remember to live beautifully and inventively while we are still alive.”

Another recent small mention for my blog, Transactions with Beauty, is at University Affairs. Always grateful to be linked.

 

Recent Events in Edmonton

When I wrote “In Lieu of Flowers,” a piece in my book of poem-essays The Flower Can Always Be Changing, I would not have predicted all the places it would travel. I’m pleased that it acts as a point of consolation at a time of grieving for so many. I’m grateful to Dr. Rob Curtis for inviting me to hear “Mass at Journey’s End” being performed at Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Edmonton on November 23.

I will be signing copies of my books at Audreys Books on Monday, December 16th, 2024. I’ll be there about 11am! If you know of anyone who’d love a signed copy of Apples on a Windowsill or other works, I’d love to see you there. If you can’t make it, call Audreys or message them and I’m sure they can arrange to get one to you!

There will be other local authors around all that week at Audreys so you’ll be sure to find some cool gifts.