A letter from David Bergen

Last week we received the following letter from Winnipeg author and local favourite David Bergen, giving us some insight into his writing and about his new novel, Leaving Tomorrow.

" I don't set out to write 'prairie' novels, though my upbringing in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta has certainly influenced my sensibilities. Leaving Tomorrow started out with stories a friend told me of growing up in southern Alberta (stories of horses and bulls and brothers). Last spring I went up to High River and drove the back roads, looking at ranches and talking to folks, hearing the vernacular, taking notes in my head and scribbling down the words later. Little things I saw fell into my brain, like how cows bunch together in a storm and turn their rumps against the wind and rain.

I grew up reading Zane Grey, aware that I was reading pulp but loving it. I wanted to be a cowboy until a horse nearly bit my finger off when he mistook it for a carrot. And so I went back to books. With this novel I wanted to capture the longing a young boy has when he is stuck on the prairies and he knows that there is life elsewhere, a life of books and conversation and ideas, only he doesn't know how to get to that other life.

I have no interest in getting sentimental about the prairies and animals and the wide-open spaces. Though I cannot deny that the sparseness of my own writing comes from the sparseness of my place. No lush, bucolic language, but rather a hard sensuality that runs beneath things. There is an inevitability to my settings. I didn't choose to be raised here in Manitoba, but I did choose to stay. I like to see this as being faithful to the place I come from.

I am very pleased to be launching Leaving Tomorrow at McNally Robinson, not only a prairie bookstore, and one of the finest bookstores in Canada. See you at the end of September. "

As Mr. Bergen writes, he will indeed be launching Leaving Tomorrow in our Winnipeg Prairie Ink on Tuesday, September 30th, at 8:00 pm! The event is free and open to any one who would like to attend. We simply encourage you to contact the restaurant ahead of time to reserve a table.

Meanwhile, Leaving Tomorrow is available now in hardcover! Find it in our Prairie Writers section, or grab a copy at the launch on the 30th.