My guest on this episode is Catherine Bush. Catherine is the author of five novels, including Blaze Island, which was a Globe and Mail and Writers’ Trust of Canada Best Book of the Year, and the Hamilton Reads 2021 Selection. Her other novels include the Canada Reads longlisted Accusation; the Trillium Award shortlisted Claire's Head; the national bestselling The Rules of Engagement, which was also named a New York Times Notable Book and a L.A. Times Best Book of the Year; and Minus Time, shortlisted for the City of Toronto Book Award. Catherine’s most recent book is the story collection Skin, published by Goose Lane Editions earlier this year. The Ottawa Review of Books called Skin “a haunting and beautifully crafted collection that solidifies Catherine Bush’s reputation as a writer of immense talent.”

Catherine and I talk about the many exotic locations at which she has written, including time spent at an Italian villa with Zadie Smith as her neighbour, about writing her most recent book at a remote Ontario schoolhouse she had to break COVID protocols to get to, and about where serious literature fits within a world in which serious art of any kind is often overlooked.

Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky. Used with permission.

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