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Read All Over celebrates the bookworm in all of us, showcasing readers in Vancouver and the books they love most. |
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| Esmeralda Cabral writes creative non-fiction and has recently discovered poetry. She completed The Writer’s Studio at SFU in 2010 and she is currently working as the mentor apprentice for narrative non-fiction, with Brian Payton. Esmeralda’s work has been published by The Globe and Mail and Red Claw Press and two of her stories have aired on CBC Radio. She was a participant in the Disquiet Literary Program in Lisbon, Portugal this past July and has returned with a notebook full of story ideas. She loves to paddle and hike and tell stories around the campfire. She’s taking this year "off" to work on a manuscript and ponder what to do next year. |
What are you currently reading?
The Moon, Come to Earth [Dispatches from Lisbon] by Philip Graham. This is a marvelous book of essays about a family who spends a one-year sabbatical in Lisbon. It's a literary travelogue and a memoir but it's also much more than that. It's a collection of thoughtful, revealing essays about one family's adaptation to a new culture and the crisis that develops as the young daughter makes a transition into adolescence in a foreign place. There are stories about the intricacies of Portuguese culture but also about parenting and family and love. Graham is insightful and sometimes also very funny. He's such an unabashed Lusophile that it's hard not to be infused with his enthusiasm for the Portuguese culture. I love Lisbon anyway but if I didn't, this book would make me want to go there.
What books have changed your life?
The Doctor Dolittle series. I read it in grade four and it really turned me into a reader. Before that, I didn't read much. We'd immigrated from Portugal and we didn't bring any books with us (our two crates of “stuff” got lost at sea) and my parents didn't speak English so they couldn't read to me. Once I learned to read in English in grade 2, I knew that I liked reading but it wasn't until Dr. Doolitle that I became a voracious reader. It's been hard to stop me since.
The one book you always recommend is…?
This changes over time but my current recommendation is Everything Was Goodbye by Gurjinder Basran. I love this book! It's a coming of age story of an Indo-Canadian girl growing up in BC, but in many ways it is the story of every immigrant young woman who is caught in the middle of the traditions of the 'old country' and the new ways of Canada. I think it's brilliant.
How do you like your books served up best? Audio books, graphic novels, used paperbacks, library loaner, e-reader?
I love the feel and the smell of paper so I'm still stuck on actual books. I borrow some but mostly I buy them. It's a weakness. And then I can't get rid of them. But I will have to do something soon as I live in a small house with very little storage space and the shelves are pretty full right now....
What is the most cherished item in your library?
My Poems for Mum, a selection of original poetry by my daughter, compiled especially for me!
Where is your favourite place to crack open a book in Vancouver?
I always carry a book or magazine and I read wherever I can steal a few minutes. Favourite places would be the beach or wherever I can hear the waves - that combines my two favourite things - books and the ocean; my hammock, because it's outside and it's so relaxing; and in bed, first thing in the morning, because that feels very decadent.
What’s next on your reading list?
I visited Lisbon this past summer and I loaded up on Portuguese literature - some of the books I bought are classics that I never got around to reading before and others are by contemporary Portuguese authors. I couldn't carry them all with me so I mailed a 6-kg package of books home. It was cheap and the books actually arrived before I did. I'm going to start with The Crime of Father Amaro by Eça de Queirós. It's in Portuguese so it will take me a little longer, but I can't wait to delve into it.
Your life story is published tomorrow. What’s the title?
Hmm, I'm terrible with titles but today it feels like it would be My Aching Bones.
Esmeralda Cabral is a guest artist this month at the The Writer's Studio Reading Series - you can see her read her work on October 4, 2012, 8-10 pm, at the Cottage Bistro, 4470 Main St (at E 29th).
