Sheree-Lee Olson is an editor for the Globe and Mail and an author of fiction and poetry. Today, Project Bookmark Canada will unveil a plaque for Olson's novel Sailor Girl in Port Colborne at Lock 8 on the Welland Canal as part of Ontario: Read It Here.
Before the unveiling, Sheree-Lee answered some questions posed by the Ontario: Read It Here team.
When did you write Sailor Girl? How long did it take?
Way too long. It actually took 25 years – longer than Odysseus took to get back to his wife. I started it in my 20s, put it away till my 40s, finished it in my early 50s. Of course by then the story had completely changed.
What inspired it?
The indelible experience of spending two years of my life on enormous Great Lakes freighters – two years spread over seven summers -- while I financed a couple of university degrees.
What does Port Colborne mean to you?
It means Lock 8 to me, the southernmost point of the Welland Canal, gateway to the Upper Lakes and beautiful skies and wild weather.
Why did you choose it for this story?
It’s an important signpost – arriving at Port Colborne from the Upper Lakes meant you had the next 12 or 24 hours in the Welland Canal while the boat negotiated the eight locks – there might be a letter waiting at the Marine Post Office, there might be a chance to get off the boat and buy shampoo. Or rum.
What is your favourite place to write in Ontario?
Cobourg – not to be confused with Port Colbourne -- is a former port town on Lake Ontario where I used to take my kids every summer to stay at an old motel called The Breakers on the Lake. I did some of my best writing there, in earshot of the waves. Even though I only ever had a week or so. The sound of the water was helpful.
What is your favourite place to read in Ontario?
For reading to an audience, the Roselawn Author Series in Port Colbourne was awesome. They treated me like a rock star, which will probably never happen again. But probably once is enough.
Other than your own, what story or poem do you most closely associate with a place in this province?
Voyageurs, a historical novel by Margaret Elphinstone, was a revelation. The French voyageurs were the original Great Lakes sailors, and they could paddle forever, without eating or stopping. They had really developed shoulders, apparently.
Is there a book/poem that you feel really defines Ontario for you?
Okay, this is corny but I still love "Land of the Silver Birch" – which I learned when I went camping with my Brownie troop somewhere near Kingston. I also ate five hotdogs in one night on that trip.
What were your greatest challenges in writing this story?
Fitting it around all the other stuff – full-time job, kids, house repairs, a relationship.
How does ship life compare to working at a national newspaper? Are there any similarities?
Weirdly, yes, there are similarities. When I’m on deadline and screw something up I feel like I’m back in the galley with the chief cook yelling at me about the toast I just burned. And we’re talking 25 years later. I’ve clearly developed my own internal chief cook.
Post new comment