Continuing our series of Kingston WritersFest interviews, Open Book talks today with Cynthia Holz, the author of Benevolence (Knopf Canada).
Kingston WritersFest is one of Ontario's most popular literary events, drawing guest authors from around the world as well as from the dynamic and well-established Kingston literary community.
Visit Open Book: Ontario throughout the month for more interviews with KWF authors!
Open Book:
Have you been to or lived in Kingston before? If so, what are some of your favourite spots? If not, what are you most looking forward to about visiting?
Cynthia Holz:
We have a cottage on Dog Lake, a half hour north of Kingston, and spend a lot of time there. I know Kingston well and all of my favorite spots involve food. I like shopping at Bearance’s Grocery (Livingston Ave, south of Union), Old Farm Fine Foods (Barrie St. and Clergy St. West), Tara Natural Foods (Princess, south of Wellington), Bulk Barn (Division St.) and Pan Chancho Bakery (Princess, south of King St. East). For a casual lunch I like The Sleepless Goat or Windmills Café, both on Princess St., or Cambodian Village on King Street East.
OB:
Tell us about what you’ll be reading at this year’s festival.
CH:
I’ll be reading from my latest novel, Benevolence, which is about the troubled marriage of two doctors, Ben and Renata, and the life-changing friendship each develops with a client. I’m going to read from a chapter in which Ben interviews Arthur, an altruistic would-be kidney donor, and maybe also read a scene involving Ben’s mother Molly, about whom the Globe and Mail said, "…we may have in Molly the only fictional portrayal of a 73-year-old woman who is, stop the presses, permitted a sexual appetite."
OB:
What are some of your favourite memories from past readings, from this event or others?
CH:
I once read at Kingston’s Modern Fuel Gallery, where an art installation of insect sculptures arranged on the floor was happening at the same time. I still smile to recall having to step among a roomful of oversized plaster cicadas as I gingerly made my way to the podium. And in Hamilton this spring, just before I read at A Different Drummer/Bryan Prince Bookseller event, a man handed me some poems I wrote in the mid-70s for a poetry workshop with Joe Rosenblatt at The Three Schools in Toronto. The man had been in the class too and kept copies of my poems and gave me this gift of a glimpse of my younger self.
OB:
What’s the best advice about public readings you have ever received?
CH:
The audience wants to be entertained, so read something dramatic or funny, with lots of dialogue.
OB:
Tell us about one or two of the best Canadian books you’ve read recently.
CH:
I really enjoyed Lorna Goodison’s collection of short stories, By Love Possessed. Set in Jamaica, the stories vibrate with the characters’ hopes and hardships. I especially admire Goodison’s depiction of the strength, dignity and vulnerability of various women as they throw themselves into life and love, for better or worse. Another winner is Alexi Zentner’s novel, Touch, which tells a poetic and moving story of the founding of a northern BC town in the 1800’s. I loved reading about the bitter cold, icy rivers and snow-covered forests of Sawgamet as I turned the book’s pages in sweltering Ontario summer heat.
OB:
What are you most looking forward to about this year’s Kingston WritersFest?
CH:
Chatting with writers I haven’t seen in a long time and spotting friends and neighbors in the audience.
Cynthia Holz is the author of four previous novels and one collection of short fiction, all of which have been widely acclaimed. She was born and raised in New York City and has lived in Toronto since moving here as a journalist in 1976, an occupation she set aside soon thereafter in favour of writing fiction.
For more information about Benevolence please visit the Knopf website.
Buy this book at your local independent bookstore or online at Chapters/Indigo or Amazon.
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