5 Questions w/ Emma Richler

Literary talent and skill flows through the Richler family faster than Duddy Kravitz on roller skates. Check out this quick back and forth I had recently with award-winning author Emma Richler. It shall soon be incorporated into the Weinryb Family Library's upcoming Richler exhibit. Dates and hours will be posted soon and will be by appointment only. Alan will provide more details in the coming weeks. (This and other content were previously published in The Varsity.)

What has the book tour been like so far?

It’s sort of continually exhausting, although everyone though is very gentle and looks after me and makes sure everything’s alright…This is the most unnatural part of the job – having to talk about yourself – which most authors don’t like doing! I can’t say it’s fun, but on the other hand it’s not unpleasant.

Do you have an audience in mind when you sit down to write?

No. I think that would be enormously inhibiting. I think it would be awful. When I sit down to write, there’s nothing. It’s just me and it and the world being played out in my head.

Any other goals now that you have successfully tackled writing?

Umm, be a formula one racer? No. Um, I’d like a dog. I’m planning on getting a dog very soon.

What’s the best place to do an interview?

One of the places I find not good is home. Because all your things are around. You feel slightly more exposed than you need to be. You can have an interview walking – just not at home and not in a bar.

How do you feel about the prospect of the Canadian literary world wanting to adopt you as one of their own?

Well, I’d be actually delighted to be adopted. I don’t feel any one whole thing or another. I know I have a bit of an accent. I was born in London – actually spent two thirds of my life in London and it feels more like home than anywhere else. I’d love to be embraced by Canada as fully as they wish to embrace me. I also think it’s very healthy for a writer not to feel too ingrained in any one culture, any one place. It’s very good for the imagination, it’s very good to feel slightly rootless. It allows you to explore with more detachment.