Interview

Episode 396 – Waubgeshig Rice on Community, Publishing, and The Creative Journey

Mark Leslie Lefebvre

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Mark interviews Waubgeshig Rice, an author and journalist from Wasauksing First Nation, and the author of four books, most notably the bestselling novels Moon of the Crusted Snow and Moon of the Turning Leaves.

Prior to the interview, Mark shares comments, a personal update and word about this episode’s sponsor.

This episode is sponsored by Superstars Writing Seminars: Teaching you the business of being a writer which takes place Feb 6 through 9, 2025 in Colorado Springs, CO.

Use code: MARK1592 to get $100 off your registration.

In their conversation Mark and Waubgeshig talk about:

  • Waub’s interest in high school with English classes but still feeling like there was no strong connection and that not many of the books and stories being taught in Ontario in the 1990s were all that relatable
  • Being shown books by indigenous authors via his Auntie that weren’t being studied in school — books by authors such as Richard Wagamese, Lee Maracle, Louise Erdrich — and how that blew his world wide open and included thoughts such as maybe he could do that himself some day
  • The Grade 12 Writing Course taught by Tom Bennett at Parry Sound High School that helped Waubgeshig in shaping stories
  • Being side-tracked from creative writing by studying and beginning a career in journalism
  • The benefit of getting to know writers and artists in the Toronto area in the early 2000s
  • Applying for his first writing grant from Canada Council for the Arts in 2004
  • Waub’s first book, Midnight Sweat Lodge, a connected short story collection
  • How things really changed when Waubgeshig’s Moon of the Crusted Snow first came out in 2018
  • Leaving full time journalism employment at CBC to become a full-time writer in 2020
  • The Northeast Blackout of 2003 and how his experiences being back home at Wasauksing First Nation near Parry Sound when it was all going down is what inspired Waubgeshig in writing Moon of the Crusted Snow
  • Coming to the realization that home was the best place to be if this were actually a world-ending electricity blackout
  • The stereotypes and mythologies about what life on a reservation is, and how, during that dark moment, it was a reminder of the resources and the beauty that place could actually be
  • Expressing the heartfelt spirit of community that has withstood a lot of violence historically, and how that helps a group of people survive this latest major crisis
  • Deciding to set the story in a location that a little further removed from Southern Ontario than where Waubgeshig actually grew up
  • Waub’s approach in writing the sequel and wanting it to take place several years after the events in the first novel and how that came to happen
  • How the second novel explores the way the people of the community are able to live more autonomously on the land as Anishinaabe people
  • The interesting publishing path that Waubgeshig’s first novel took in landing at ECW Press
  • Working with acquiring editor Susan Renouf and how great an experience that was and the wonderful suggestions she made to improve the raw manuscript
  • The speculative fiction elements of a post-apocalyptic novel and Waub feeling so accepted in the SF/F community
  • How the success of Moon of the Crusted Snow led Waub to getting agent representation by Denise Bukowski
  • The path that led to Penguin Random House offering the contract for the sequel Moon of the Turning Leaves
  • The new project that Waub is working on now
  • Advice that Waub would offer to other writers
  • And more…

After the interview Mark reflects on several different things he was thinking about during and after the conversation.

Links of Interest:

Waubgeshig Rice is an author and journalist from Wasauksing First Nation.

He’s written four books, most notably the bestselling novels Moon of the Crusted Snow, and Moon of the Turning Leaves.

He graduated from the journalism program at Toronto Metropolitan University in 2002, and spent most of his journalism career with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as a video journalist and radio host.

He left CBC in 2020 to focus on his literary career.

In addition to his writing endeavours, Waubgeshig is an eclectic public speaker, delivering keynote addresses and workshops, engaging in interviews, and contributing to various panels at literary festivals and conferences.

He speaks on creative writing and oral storytelling, contemporary Anishinaabe culture and matters, Indigenous representation in arts and media, and more.

He lives in Sudbury, Ontario with his wife and three sons.

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Published by Mark Leslie Lefebvre

Writer, editor and bookseller who haunts Southern Ontario. Craft beer enthusiast. Author of thrillers and horror novels such as A CANADIAN WEREWOLF IN NEW YORK, EVASION and I, DEATH. Also writes a series of stand-alone non-fiction titles exploring ghosts and the paranormal which include HAUNTED HAMILTON, SPOOKY SUDBURY, CREEPY CAPITAL, TOMES OF TERROR, HAUNTED HOSPITALS, and MACABRE MONTREAL. Editor of the anthologies CAMPUS CHILLS, TESSERACTS SIXTEEN, FICTION RIVER: EDITOR'S CHOICE and FICTION RIVER: FEEL THE FEAR.

2 thoughts on “Episode 396 – Waubgeshig Rice on Community, Publishing, and The Creative Journey”

  1. Pingback: Episode 397 – In It For The Creativity and Compassion with Ron Vitale – Stark Reflections

  2. I may comment more later, but I had an initial thought I wanted to share before it evaporated (ADHD).

    I’m relating to what you said about being intimidated by interviewing the writers you look up to. It reminded me of something I saw on YouTube recently. I’m not going to try to track it down, but it was a short clip of Jennifer Lawrence being interviewed some place like the Emmy Awards, those red carpet clips outside. In the middle of the interview, she stopped, looked over her shoulder, and said, “Oh my god, that’s Brad Pitt.” She fanned herself and fangirled a little. Later in the clip she engaged in similar bouts of awe and shyness and “I can’t believe I’m this close.” The videographer had added text that said, “Jennifer doesn’t realize she is famous too.”

    I have been fortunate to have several people I look up to on my own podcast—you among them! I admit to having felt intimidated when I interviewed you! I worked years ago in radio, and I learned to contain the fanboying and to function effectively despite the intimidation, as I know you do, but that sense of, “Oh, wow, I’m getting to talk with X!” doesn’t go away.

    Almost inevitably, you find the truly great people to be truly humble, regular people, often astounded by their own success. Back in the 1970s I worked briefly as a security guard at the Grand Ole Opry’s new venue, and I saw that many of the stars would change clothes and help the crew strike the set after a show (though a small minority insisted on star treatment, considering such manual labor beneath them).

    Thank you for your own graciousness and the work you do to support writers in living their very weird lives. Specifically, thank you for being a great host and a great guest!

    Reply

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