In Episode 39, I’m chatting with Whitney French about her novel in verse, Syncopation, a science fiction novel about two women searching for meaning and purpose in a catastrophic world where memory is currency.
We talk about the musicality of Syncopation, how a random Tumblr post birthed the idea of the book, and what characters can teach us about ourselves. I ask Whitney to don her writing coach cap to share some strategies for achieving writing goals and overcoming popular writing challenges, and we go back in time to find out about Whitney’s Tree Sessions, a writing program she held under trees for writers who wanted to embrace nature while creating art.
This was such a fun conversation, and I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.
Show highlights
- Tree sessions
- How to structure a novel in verse
- How a Tumblr post became a novel
- What characters teach us about ourselves
- Intersections of migration
- Common challenges among writers
- Strategies to help writers
- About Hush Harbour Press
“We have this one bright short life that we have to live, and if you are compelled to make art, you will find the time to do it.”
Whitney French
Syncopation is out now from Wolsak and Wynn Publishers.
Got any thoughts on this episode, or want to suggest authors you’d like to see on the show? Send me a note here.
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About Whitney French
Whitney French (she/her) is a writer, educator and publisher. She is a certified arts educator and an Assistant Professor in Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia. Whitney French is also the co-founder and publisher of Hush Harbour, the only Black queer feminist press in Canada.
About Syncopation
In the aftermath of a Memory War, society is fragmented into strange new cultures, castes and coalitions. Set against a backdrop of retrofitted food garages, microchip-sorting factories and hyperloop terminals, Whitney French brings us a dazzling novel in verse where memory is the highest currency and love, like all revolutions, is dangerous, unruly and singed with hope.
O and Z are two young women searching for purpose in a world where a decades-long earthquake reverberates through the Earth’s crust, and the population scrambles to hide from deadly acid rain. Descended from space pirates, O is drawn to the sky, while Z is earthbound, a skilled forager with connections to the black market. The two become travel companions and lovers until, torn between choosing their values or each other, a fateful decision must be made at the el Corazón space station.
In this speculative and intoxicating novel, French offers readers an intricate future-world that resonates so powerfully with our own, as it explores a people gripped in the war-torn politics of migration, memory-keeping, labour and survival.
Guest’s links
Buy Syncopation: https://bookstore.wolsakandwynn.ca/products/syncopation
Visit the Hush Harbour website: https://www.hushharbour.com/
Host’s links
Book a one-on-one with Lola: https://wordcaps.com/coaching/
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