Meet Anne Simpson: Dalhousie’s new writer-in-residence

Worldly poet and novelist to help hone students' creative writing

Anne Simpson will be Dalhousie University's next writer-in-residence come January. (Photo: Bruce Bottomley)

Anne Simpson has written a bad poem, but she doesn't know why it's bad yet. She brings it to Bronwen Wallace's home in Kingston, Ont.

Wallace hosts a writing workshop in her home. Wallace and the 10 workshop attendees politely acknowledge Simpson's poem but don't offer much criticism.

Simpson brings a different poem to Wallace's workshop another week. This time, Wallace and the group give her poem thorough constructive criticism.

Simpson realizes that Wallace had politely skirted around the first poem's overly extravagant prose to talk about the other writers' more promising work. Simpson sees Wallace's scrutiny as a blessing now that she has produced something worthy of Wallace's attention. This happened more than 20 years ago.

Simpson says she saw Wallace as "a really wonderful mentor figure." Simpson says she remembers what it feels like being younger, inexperienced and wanting to write.

"When I'm working with students I think of people who are important to me and how much of a difference that makes."

Simpson will be Dalhousie University's writer-in-residence from January to the end of March. She will be the second person to have had the job at Dalhousie.

Simpson will host a short fiction workshop and a poetry workshop. Both workshops are informal and will meet every other week.

Simpson is no stranger to Dalhousie. She was artist-in-residence for the university's medical humanities program in 2004.

Simpson's writing has taken her around Canada. She was writer-in-residence at the University of Prince Edward Island for about two weeks this September and at the University of New Brunswick in 2002-03.

She worked as writer-in-residence at a Saskatoon public library for nine months. She also helped establish the writing centre at St. Francis Xavier University where she is former director. She lives in Antigonish married with two children.

Simpson says she's very comfortable working with students one-on-one in a university setting.

"I really love seeing people come with their writing and then seeing how it can be strengthened," she says.

"People who are open to that process of working are usually the talented ones who really want to move ahead. That can be very exciting."

A former student's testimonial

Sheri Benning met Simpson while completing a MA in creative writing at UNB when Simpson was writer-in-residence. Simpson became co-supervisor for Benning's thesis.

Benning says working with Simpson was a valuable experience to her development as a writer.

"She's a generous editor, very approachable, a careful listener," says Benning in an email.

"She is also sensitive. She carefully tailors her editorial critiques so as not to overwhelm beginning writers."

Benning has published two books of poetry - Thin Moon Psalm (2007) and Earth After Rain (2001). She says Simpson worked with her mostly on poetry.

"More so than anyone else, she really got me to consider poetry's visual aspect," she says.

"How does meaning shift if the poem looks different on the page? How can line breaks and page breaks be used to heighten particular aspects of the poem?"

A landscape of people

Simpson worked as a volunteer English teacher in Nigeria for CUSO-VSO - a Canadian volunteer program that places skilled workers in underdeveloped countries - more than 20 years before she became a celebrated poet and novelist.

Simpson says Nigeria has "an amazing personality" as a country.

She says she sees Nigeria as a "landscape of people."

"There's so many different layers to (Nigeria's personality) because there's just so many millions of people," she says.

"You're always in touch with other people. You're always aware of how many other people there are."

She says Canadians aren't as extroverted as the people she remembers meeting in Nigeria.

"I'm Canadian and I love this country, but there's a reticence about us," she says.

"I think we're not an easy people to get to know."

Despite the liveliness of its people, Simpson says she remembers the pace of life in Nigeria being languid compared to Canada.

"I remember having to wait for almost everything," says Simpson.

Simpson says she remembers thinking there was enough time for a creative person to write a novel while in Nigeria. But, she says she didn't know how to write a novel at that time.

More than 20 years later she is writing a novel based in Nigeria. The novel's working title is Speechless.

She says the novel's plot will be focused on the story of Amina Lawal, a woman who was sentenced to be stoned to death for adultery in 2002 under sharia law before eventually being exonerated.

Simpson says this is a case she must look into as a fiction writer.

"I remember thinking ‘what about the man? Why are they not stoning the man?'"

Simpson has published two other novels set in North America - Canterbury Beach (2001) and Falling (2008). She has also published three books of poetry and two books of essays on poetry. Her latest book of poetry - Is - will come out March 29, 2011.

She says she has always felt a need to write about her experience in Nigeria but the time never felt appropriate.

"Often it takes a very long time for an experience to settle in you."

Lessons from Dal's previous writer-in-residence

Carol Bruneau was Dalhousie's first writer-in-residence. She stayed from January to the end of March 2009.

She says remembers her experience fondly.

"I was overwhelmed by how many creative people there are at Dal," she says.

"It was a very intense time of seeing work from all kinds of people, but a lot got done."

Bruneau says working with students gave her lots of access into other their lives and imaginations.

"Fiction comes from a very personal place and so it's interesting when someone opens that up to you," she says.

"It's an honour to have access to that. It's a part of intimacy that's really interesting and also commands a lot of respect."

Simpson says she's looking forward to her new job at Dalhousie. She says it's really nice to be able to help talented student writers reach the next level.

"You mentor a little bit, but you can see that they're just going to go ahead in a really terrific way."

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