Once you’ve seen writer and storyteller Richard Van Camp perform, you’ll never forget him. He knows how to make you listen and keep you wanting to hear what he says. His writing is just as compelling. He is the author of two children’s books with the Cree artist, George Littlechild, A Man Called Raven and What's the Most Beautiful Thing You Know About Horses? (Children's Book Press), a novel called The Lesser Blessed (Douglas & McIntyre) and two short story collections, Angel Wing Splash Pattern (Kegedonce Press) and The Moon of Letting Go (Enfield & Wizenty).
Van Camp is a member of the Dogrib (Tlicho) Nation from Fort Smith, Northwest Territories, Canada. He teaches Crea
tive Writing for Aboriginal Students at the University of British Columbia and is CBC Radio Writer in Residence on the North by Northwest radio program. Intrigued by his energy and his talent, Arctica sent a few questions his way.
Nadine: Why do you write?
Richard: I wake up with a roaring head every morning directing me to my computer with magnificent stories filled with complex characters facing real problems or with a clear picture of how a story ends. My job is to show up and give the stories that are hunting me down the dignity they deserve. As well, now that I have three collections out and a novel, I deeply wonder about these characters who've chosen me. How is Gerald doing with his lusty ways? Have Larry and Torchy found peace in their older years? How did Bear and Rob do in Japan when they got there to return the Sword of Antlers? How are Celestine and her son years after meeting The Devil? Did Jed and Verna ever marry? Did the letter in "My Fifth Step" ever find her? Did we undo the warning in "On the Wings of This Prayer"? Did the Caribou People come for Susan and take her up on her offer in "Devotion"? I could go on and on, and I will—with my stories.
Nadine: Do you consciously try to embed a moral in your stories, or is it something that just naturally emerges from the characters interacting and the plot developing?
Richard: I don't try and go into a story with a moral. In fact, the literature I love to read most is completely without apology. My comic books with the Healthy Aboriginal Network are issue related (gang prevention with Path of the Warrior and sexual health with Kiss Me Deadly) but our motto is "story first, issue second." My three main characters, Torchy, Larry and Bear, I call my gladiators because they're often going against something that has or is wounding me personally. Grant from "Dogrib Midnight Runners" in The Moon of Letting Go and in Love Song is "Godless..." is my “Ambassador of Hope for the Tribe of Man.” I really enjoy sharing time with him. He's the me that never left Fort Smith [Northwest Territories].
Nadine: People who have never been to the Canadian North tend to have a cliché in mind, as we all do with places that we've never travelled to. Do you think your writing helps break down some of these stereotypes? If so, how?
Richard: I do. I love to write about real northerners with real lives and dreams living now, walking in both worlds—the traditional and the contemporary. I write about northern lust, northern joy, northern romance and the second generation of residential school survivors. I love the family dynamics I write about (i.e., Gerald's in "Love Walked In" in The Moon of Letting Go is a very cool family) and I love the friendships I capture, as well. I'm so excited with the new book to show my readers more chapters in the lives of my characters!
Nadine: In what I've read in your work there seems to be a lot of young lust and sex. Do you ever have to draw-back when writing about this or is that something you don't even think about?
Richard: I can't stand young adult literature that's safe or sterile. Was anyone's young life ever safe or clean? I hope not! I write about sensuality and sexuality and have a lot of fun doing so. I'm currently tidying up a story called "On the Keemooch" for the new collection. The first draft was so raunchy and wild I think it would turn off a lot of readers and I want to surprise the readers and myself and Gerald (the main character from "Love Walked In") with what he actually sees happening between his enemy and the woman he wants that is so, so sensual it disarms him for the rest of his life. Now that's sexy!
Nadine: What do you think you would write about if you grew up in downtown Toronto?
Richard: I was so lucky to grow up in the 80s. You'll notice I write about pop culture and Aboriginal culture together. When I read the fight scene in "Love Walked In", I always get laughs and surprise when I mention mullets and Dog the Bounty Hunter. It makes people who've never grown up in the North realize we share the same inheritance in so many ways growing up in media culture. My wish is to share the things I love most about the north in my writing with people from all over the world—either through my writing or my storytelling.
Find out more about Richard Van Camp at RichardVanCamp.org. Watch for the screen adaptation of his novel, The Lesser Blessed and the release this fall of his short story collection Godless but Loyal to Heaven (Enfield & Wizenty).
