True stories of a writing life

Queen’s alumnus Michael Crummey returns to his old trodding ground as a guest at this year’s Kingston WritersFest

Queen’s alumnus Michael Crummey draws inspiration from his hometown of Buchans
Image supplied by: Supplied
Queen’s alumnus Michael Crummey draws inspiration from his hometown of Buchans

For a storyteller, Newfoundland-based author and Queen’s alumnus Michael Crummey is pretty satisfied with the truth.

“I’m actually a Queen’s dropout,” he confessed with a good-natured laugh a few minutes into our phone interview.

“I did a one-year Masters here, then my first year of a PhD,” he said. “But I realized that a PhD in English literature is not the place to be if you want to be a writer.”

Since his Queen’s days in the late 1980s, Crummey has pursued the writing life, producing published collections of poetry, short stories and non-fiction as well as three novels.

“Afterwards, I swore I’d never come back to the campus,” Crummey said, adding that he ended up living in Kingston for several years after his Masters working with the Public Interest Service Group, a volunteer organization for social and environmental justice issues. “Kingston was my home for almost 14 years and I loved it there,” he said.

Crummey has since settled down in Newfoundland, but Kingston hasn’t seen the last of him. He’s back in town this week as a guest speaker at the Kingston WritersFest, an annual event that’s been rejuvenated this year with an expanded program and a lineup of more than 25 celebrated Canadian authors.

This Thursday, Crummey will be part of a panel discussion on the new male hero in literature alongside fellow authors Joseph Boyden and Mark Sinnett. Crummey will also lead a smaller Master Class.

“It’s called ‘Writing the Fabulous,’” he explained. “We’re looking at how and why writers use fabulous or otherworldly things in their writing.”

When asked what inspires his own work, Crummey is quick to credit his home province.

“Living back in Newfoundland has changed my view of the place, and my sense of how I belong. It’s definitely had a huge influence on how I write. Even while I was away in Kingston, 95 per cent of what I wrote was about this place.”

Crummey got an early start to his writing career, although he made sure to keep it a secret.

“I started writing during my undergrad,” he said. “But mostly I was a closet writer. I didn’t tell anyone I was at it.”

It wasn’t long before Crummey’s talent was discovered—he had his first book of poetry published by age 30. His debut novel, River Thieves, was shortlisted for the 2001 Giller Prize while his second, The Wreckage, was a Canadian bestseller.

“It’s really a question of plugging away at it—I went from job to job, looking for enough to live on while still leaving time to write,” he said.

Now Crummey writes full time, although this fall he’s taking a break from the traditional rhythm of his work.

“At the moment I’m in between books—it’s kind of odd. It sounds blissful, but without the book to anchor my days I feel a bit lost.”

Crummey said he plans to spend time touring for his new novel Galore, a multigenerational story set in Newfoundland about the relationship between two fictional families—one Irish Catholic, one English Protestant.

“It’s unlike anything I’ve ever written before,” he said. “It was a chance to write about the folklore of Newfoundland, the crazy outlandish stories collected in its history. It has a lot to do with the cultural DNA of the place—what makes us who we are.”

When he’s not writing, Crummey keeps busy by spending time with his family and fueling his penchant for running.

“I’m supposed to run my first marathon on Sunday,” he said. “Because the writing life is so sedentary and cerebral, running has been a big relief to be able to get up and move around.”

When asked what advice he’d give to aspiring writers, Crummey returns to his flair for giving the straight-up truth.

“There are very few really tangible rewards at any point in a writer’s life,” he said. “But gird up your loins and keep plugging. The other thing is to read. Read, read, read and read some more.”

The panel discussion “Lives of Boys and Men” takes place Thursday, Sept. 24 at 8:30 p.m. at the Holiday Inn downtown. Admission to on-stage Kingston WritersFest events is free to Queen’s students with a valid student card.

All final editorial decisions are made by the Editor(s)-in-Chief and/or the Managing Editor. Authors should not be contacted, targeted, or harassed under any circumstances. If you have any grievances with this article, please direct your comments to journal_editors@ams.queensu.ca.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Skip to content