Novelist Alistair MacLeod reads at York

By Cathy Carlyle

Alistair MacLeod taking questions from an enthusiastic audience at York University,

When Canadian writer Alistair MacLeod heard that he was one of six finalists for the world's richest book prize, the father of six phoned one of his married sons and said that if he won he might just buy a new cat. His son retorted that maybe he could just fix up the old one. Raising a large family on the salary of an English professor meant that the MacLeods didn't buy much new.

This anecdote regaled to his York University audience also underlines the type of person Alistair MacLeod is - unassuming but utterly confident of his values and principles. His first novel, No Great Mischief, a best-seller which was one of The New York Times Notable Books of 2000, has been nominated for the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award worth $172,000 Cdn. The winner will be announced on May 14 at Dublin Castle, Ireland.

MacLeod was at York University in March as the 10th guest in the Canadian Writers in Person series of public readings for
2000-2001. He read an excerpt from his novel: a multi-generational story of a Scottish immigrant family who travels from Cape Breton to Saskatchewan working in Canada's mines.

No Great Mischief, already translated into many languages, was just bought by a Japanese publisher. "At first glance one might ask what Cape Breton or Ontario have to do with Japan, but then what does Anne of Green Gables have to do with Japan," asked MacLeod. "People find within certain works of literature something that touches them or stirs them and they respond to it. That's what I tell my students. If you do it well enough, it will go all over the world."

Born in North Battleford, Sask., MacLeod moved back to the family farm in Cape Breton when he was 10. He worked as a miner and logger to finance his education. After getting his PhD from the University of Notre Dame, Indiana in 1968, he taught at Indiana University and then moved to the University of Windsor in 1969 where he was a professor of English and creative writing until his recent retirement. He returns to Cape Breton each summer to write.

Until his novel was published in 1999, his literary output consisted of two collections of short stories, The Lost Salt Gift of Blood (1976) and As Birds Bring Forth the Sun (1986). His most recent book Island: The Complete Stories presents 16 stories in chronological order to allow readers to follow his progress as a writer. No Great Mischief has won two Canadian Bookseller Awards and Ontario's Trillium Award. It missed out on a Governor-General's Award because of an oversight by the publisher on the application.

MacLeod told about the loss of his original title, No Great Mischief If They Fall, which he had settled on 12 years before publication. The expression came from a letter English General James Wolfe wrote about the Scottish soldiers enlisted in his army to attack the French stronghold at Quebec. "They are hardy, intrepid, accustomed to a rough country and no great mischief if they fall." This heartless sentiment spoken three centuries ago resounded with MacLeod. However by the time he was ready to publish, another writer, coincidentally also named MacLeod (John), had brought out a book with his original title. So his publisher suggested that he just go with the first three words. MacLeod observed no one seems to notice the difference.

MacLeod writes out each sentence of his books in long hand and then rewrites it until it is right. He reads it out loud because he wants it to have a type of rhythm, to tell a story. That writing system and until recently a full course load as a university professor has meant that his literary output is slow. But he does not mind. "All my stories deal with ideas. My approach is, if I have this idea, I am going to make it as good as I can possibly make it and then we will see what happens. That's what I do."

Alistair MacLeod will be at the Sydney Literary Festival in Australia on the day the winner is announced. If he captures the IMPAC prize, he will travel to Dublin Castle on June 16 to collect his cheque. Maybe he will just get his old cat a hip replacement.