Richard Wagamese 2015 Matt Cohen Award speech

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“You know sometimes you wake up in the morning, at 4 o‘clock in the middle of winter, and in that pure and unfiltered darkness you make your way into the living room and you light a candle. And you sit there for a while and you think about what it is that you‘re about to do, and you ask for as much guidance and strength from The Creator as possible. And you return the gift one more time. And you ask for that gift to be directed, so that in some small way, maybe in some small measure, someone, somewhere might find the calm and the assurance that you're seeking to bring to that page.
And then you start the long walk down the hallway to the place where you‘ll sit for hours, alone and in solitude, and hope that the stories that live inside the curl of your knuckles can be coaxed outward one more time. And you sit there and you breathe and you hope and you dream and you close your eyes, and you feel the essence of that gift radiating inside you. And you put your fingers on that keyboard and watch while they emerge out upon the screen.
And you wait for that time when you know that that perfect sentence has just occurred. And there‘s a gladdening in your spirit when that happens, and you seek to write another one, just like it, to follow it across the page. And in my experience, that‘s the nature of a writer‘s life. That immaculate sense of solitude, when there‘s just you and the language and the air and the universe and that gift that The Creator downloaded you with free-of-charge.... "
-Richard Wagamese, Winner of the Matt Cohen Award: In Celebration of a Writing Life, Nov 3 2015, Toronto
Read the citation bit.ly/1DETbGY

Пікірлер: 10

@heidi.a.thomson 2 жыл бұрын

Beautiful Soul. Beautiful human. Beautiful man.

@nataliagonzalez6142 3 жыл бұрын

We are so lucky to have access to his stories, what a brilliant human.

@coffeebean_ 5 жыл бұрын

I've just come across your literature, Richard. I began with Indian Horse and the next day I purchased your two other works. I love the way you wrote. I'm blessed to have come across your literature though I feel too late as I would've loved to meet you! May you rest in peace!