Telling you that I was excited to hear Emily St. John Mandel’s talk at the WORD Christchurch Festival on Saturday would be a great understatement. Having read (or listened) to all of her work, sometimes twice, it is fair to say I am a major fan and have been eagerly anticipating her talk since I first saw the WORD programme. I was not disappointed.
This event was part of The Faraway Near series that showcased some incredible authors from their homes all around the world, with streamed interviews for Christchurch audiences. Luckily for us, Canadian author Mandel was one of the many authors speaking at the WORD festival this year. She was joined by host Rachael King to talk about her latest novel, Sea of Tranquillity, breaking out in the publishing industry, writing a genre-bending novel, writing during a pandemic, and the power of imagination.
The mood was really set for the event, with mood lighting, drinks and nibbles available, and quirky tables set with records as place mats and throw-back VHS tapes and Rubik’s cubes at the centre. As King said in her introduction, it would be more a dinner-party vibe than a theatre show. Mandel talked about it feeling slightly surreal, with a disembodied head at the head of the table (beamed in on a screen from her home in New York), but was very happy to be able to talk to us even if she wasn’t here in person.
On why she thought it took until her fourth novel, Station Eleven, to break out and reach a bigger audience
There is an element of luck, Mandel noted. Not to misinterpret her, she believes in her work, but there are trends in publishing, like everywhere else, which can have an effect on what is published at different times. There are difficulties, she continued, in getting books out for small publishing houses, that don’t have the same marketing influence. (Her first three books were published with a smaller press). She took a gamble and changed to a larger publishing house for Station Eleven, and it paid off.
On what Sea of Tranquillity is about
“It’s a strange book!”
It spans over 500 years, and it is about pandemics, the nature of reality (she mentioned here she knows how pretentious this sounds, but it’s true!), colonialism, travel, life in space, and displacement more broadly. And, of course, it’s a time-travel detective novel as well!
Mandel proceeded to read an excerpt from the novel. Due to a “mishap” where books were recently removed from the room she was in, Mandel read from a Word file on her computer! She warned that the excerpt may not actually be a replica of the final printed version of the book. She had a soothing voice, and I couldn’t help but think she would be an ideal narrator for the audiobook version of her novel.
On choosing certain details when writing about the future
It doesn’t vary that much from writing about the present. She strips away anything extraneous, and prefers to avoid going into the details like of how something works (like time-travel). Later she explained that if she were to write a novel set in 2022, she would not explain how a car works. With this logic, she did not want to write about how time-travel would work in 2401. Of course, she said this is just the way she chose to write her novel; it can be done differently. The most important thing is to include details that are relatable to the reader. This is also important for historical fiction. Thinking to yourself: ‘What was it like to be them?’ For example, a time-travel novel where the character is in the future, but they still miss their family.
On Station Eleven, and having to imagine what a world where a pandemic wipes out most of the world’s population
Mandel explained that she wanted to write about a post-technological world, moving past the use of electricity and back to candle light. It’s about getting from Point A to Point B. She chose a collapse in society through a pandemic!
On if she is optimistic or pessimistic on the future
Both!
On society seemingly being drawn to post-apocalyptic literature in the last 15 years
We have always been drawn to this idea of some kind or another, we have always thought that the world is ending.
“The world is always ending, and a new world is always evolving around us.”
On writing auto-fiction
There was a period of time when she partook in 127 events in 14 countries over 14 months, while being pregnant for part of it.
While 99% of interactions with people at these events are wonderful, that 1% that isn’t adds up over 127 events. She started writing down the weird interactions while she was on tour, almost as a writing exercise. Then the pandemic hit in 2020, where there was a lot of death. It was a very dark atmosphere in the US for a long period of time. Mandel started writing the novel as a way to cope with the situation, an escapist project.
On writing a time-travel novel
“It was a reckless moment!”
On writing about colonialism
Mandel wanted to write about her ancestor’s experience, so she was able to incorporate it into her latest novel. She mentioned these young men being shipped across the colonies, simultaneously having this incredibly privileged experience but also utterly unprepared and profoundly ill-suited for the situation.
Recommendations
- Time travel movie Looper
- Solaris (directed by Steven Soderbergh)
- Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. Sea of Tranquility is a homage to its formal symmetrical structure.
- Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky. A stunning little novel about the Nazi invasion of Paris.
- Dan Chaon
The talk concluded with questions from the audience. This event was an incredible experience, with a brilliant host and an incredible writer. Thank you WORD Christchurch for this amazing event!
Teresa
Fendalton
Photos from Emily St John Mandel at the Faraway Near
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