Emily St. John Mandel will participate in a Tuesday, October 23 round table discussion, The Novel as a Window on Society, and a reading Saturday, October 27.
© Miriam Berkley
IFOA: Which one of your characters—from your short stories and all three
novels—did you have the most fun creating, and why?
Mandel: I think my favourite of all my characters is Sasha from The Lola Quartet. She’s a gambling addict who tries very hard not to gamble, and I think of her as an entirely decent and stoic person. But the character who was the most fun to create would probably be Gavin, from the same book. I liked writing about a man who thinks he was born in the wrong decade and is absolutely committed to living like a character from a Raymond Chandler story even though he lives in 21st century suburbia.
IFOA: If you weren’t a writer, what would you be doing?
Mandel: I’m not at all sure. But I love travel and I’ve always been interested in politics and in international affairs, so perhaps if I weren’t a writer I’d have tried to maneuver my way into a diplomatic career of some kind.
IFOA: You are often described as a “literary noir” writer. What does this
moniker mean to you?
Mandel: I’ve always set out to write literary fiction, but with the strongest possible narrative drive, and an unexpected side effect of this is that it turns out if you write very plot-driven fiction, it pushes you over to the edge of genre and people start calling you a crime writer, or a mystery writer, or similar. I like the literary noir label, though, and think that it’s probably accurate for the three novels I’ve published. I think of noir as fiction suffused with a certain style, and perhaps a certain darkness, but I believe all of my books contain hope.
IFOA: Tell us about one book you read that changed your life.
Mandel: I don’t believe my life has ever been changed by a book, but I’ve often read books that have changed the way I see the world. Adrien Nicole LeBlanc’s Random Family was one of those; it changed the way I looked at urban poverty.
IFOA: Finish this sentence: The Internet is…
Mandel: …useful in small doses.
IFOA: Bonus question: International Festival of Authors in one word:
Mandel: Wonderful.
For more about Mandel, visit emilymandel.com or check out her IFOA listings at readings.org.
International Festival of Authors 