Craig Davidson: Don’t Wait For The Muse
Craig Davidson’s reading list
6 books mentioned in this interview
- Unbury Carol · Josh Malerman
- Red Fern Grows · Wilson Rawls
- Cutter and Bone · Newton Thornburg
- Greener Pastures · Michael Wehunt
- Night · Elie WieselRecommended 5 times
- IT · Stephen KingRecommended 8 times
Books by Craig Davidson: Rust and Bone, The Fighter, Cataract City
Craig Davidson is a Canadian author of short stories and novels, who has published work under both his own name and the pen names Patrick Lestewka and Nick Cutter. His first short story collection, Rust and Bone, was later published in September 2005 by Penguin Books Canada, and was a finalist for the 2006 Danuta Gleed Literary Award. Stories in Rust and Bone have also been adapted into a play by Australian playwright Caleb Lewis and a film by French director Jacques Audiard. Craig Davidson also released a novel in 2007 named The Fighter. During the course of his research of the novel, Davidson went on a 16-week steroid cycle. To promote the release of the novel, Craig Davidson participated in a fully sanctioned boxing match against Toronto poet Michael Knox at Florida Jack’s Boxing Gym. Craig Davidson’s 2013 novel Cataract City was named as a shortlisted nominee for the 2013 Scotiabank Giller Prize. In addition to his literary fiction, Craig Davidson has also published several works of horror literature using the pseudonyms Patrick Lestewka and Nick Cutter. Please enjoy my interview with Craig Davidson.
When someone asks you ‘what do you do for a living?’ – How do you respond?
Depends on what I’m currently doing at the time. When I was a librarian, that’s what I said I did. When I drove a school bus, ditto. During those periods when I’ve made a living at writing, I’ll say that.
What are you reading at the moment?
Unbury Carol by Josh Malerman, his latest. Excellent, as I suspected.
When you think about your childhood, what book comes to mind?
Can you remember the first story you ever wrote?
I think it was some war story in Grade 4. ‘When Death Knocks’ or something like that.
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Basketball player, probably, though those dreams were dashed when I realized I couldn’t jump over a sheet of foolscap and had very little athletic potential.
What do you think your school-aged self would think of the present day you?
An abject failure and a travesty of a human being, almost certainly.
If you could wrap up a single book and gift it to yourself as you left education – which book would it be and why?
I don’t think so, no. There’s no one book that’s been everything about all things to me or that much of a touchstone. Authors, sure, but not a specific book.
Does your reading have routine? Is there a particular time or place that you like to read?
Whenever I can get it in there, basically. Usually at night after my son’s in bed.
Can you talk us through your writing process, from the first spark of an idea, to having your first completed draft?
Ah, that’s different for every book. It’s a long process, in most cases, but certainly, there has to be enough energy in that initial spark—or that spark has to attract other sparks, to germinate enough electricity to make the thing seem feasible—to make you want to carry through with it.
Which book has had the biggest impact on your career so far? How did it impact it?
Again, can’t say there’s been one specifically. Like most writers, I read a ton. I’d say one that bushwhacked me in terms of how great it was and how I just kind of stumbled across it, was Cutter and Bone by Newton Thornburg. Great, great book by a writer who, I think, should have been better known and loved that he may have ended up being. We all know a writer like that, though. Some of us may end up a writer like that.
What two pieces of advice would you give a young aspiring writer?
Don’t wait for the muse to anoint you with an idea. Go out and make it happen.
Do you prefer fiction or non-fiction?
I like both. No preference.
Do you think reading is important?
Yes, certainly.
What’s the best book you’ve read in the last 6 months?
Do you prefer real books or digital books?
Real books. The smell of paper.
Name a book that you feel everyone would benefit from reading and explain why.
Again, I don’t know that I have one. I recently read Night by Elie Wiesel. I mean, can everyone benefit? Maybe. With today’s climate politically, maybe. Depends if they’re open to what it’s saying.
What is the book that you feel has had the single biggest impact on your life? What impact did it have?
Maybe IT by Stephen King. It was just the most immersive thing I’d ever read until then, an assessment that still stands today, and there was a mounting terror in me as I got towards the end, knowing it was soon going to be done.
What books or subject matter do you plan on reading in the next year?
Whatever crosses the ole transom and seems interesting. I don’t have a definite need or something I’m really aching to read, subject-wise.
If you’d like to learn more about Craig Davidson, you can find him on his website and Twitter.
Image credit: Kevin Kelly
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