My guest on this episode is Sheila Murray. Sheila’s short fiction has been published in many literary journals including Descant, The Dalhousie Review, and The New Quarterly. Murray is an advocate for social justice and currently leads a grassroots, volunteer-driven initiative that engages urban residents in adapting to local climate change impacts.
Sheila’s first novel, Finding Edward, was published in 2022 by Cormorant Books. Finding Edward has been shortlisted for a Governor General’s Literary Award, longlisted for Canada Reads, and selected as the One Book One Aurora book for 2023. The novel is also finalist for the 2023 Toronto Book Award, the winner of which will be announced at a ceremony on October 10th.
Sheila and I talk about her extensive advocacy and community work, about how she says yes to every invitation to read or speak as a writer, and about how, despite the ongoing success of her first novel, she’s not getting approached by big-time agents and editors at multinational publishers—and why she’s kinda okay with that.
Sheila Murray: sheilamurray.ca
Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky. Used with permission.
Contact Nathan Whitlock at nathanwhitlock.ca/contact
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