Drew Hayden Taylor, novelist, playwright and frequent contributor to NOW Magazine, is shocked that he made the Governor General’s fiction shortlist for his novel Motorcycles & Sweetgrass (Random House).
“It’s rare that something light-hearted and fun gets nominated for anything. It’s the famous battle cry of the Academy Awards – the more dark and depressing, the more awards it’ll win,” he says of his spot on the list alongside Emma Donoghue (Room) Kathleen Winter (Annabel), Deanne Warren (Cool Water) and Sandra Birdsell (Waiting For Joe).
He sounds positively breathless as he’s talking to me. Turns out, he’s working out on his Elliptical Cross Trainer and not speechless because of his good fortune. But he does say the whole thing leaves him aghast.
“I’m the only XY chromosome on the list,” he allows, “and one of my co-nominees (Donoghue) was shortlisted for the Booker and another (Winter) is on the two other lists, so I’m not making high odds in Vegas – or Casino Rama.
Taylor was in Portland, Oregon, when the shortlists were announced, and was having problems with his cell phone. He noticed he had a weirdly high number of calls but couldn’t get access to his account and in the airport, couldn’t get online. Once he found out he was on the list, he realized why his message box was filling up.
This isn’t the first time he’s been noticed by the Governor General Awards committee. His play In A World Created By A Drunken God was on the short list for best published play in 2006.
“It’s been an interesting transition to go from theatre to novels,” he says, still huffing and puffing away. “I’ve been out there pitching my plays but I haven’t had a play produced in Toronto since 1997.
“I think most theatre companies are more interested in stories about the dysfunctional Indian. I like to celebrate the positive aspects of our culture. Given a choice between making somebody laugh, making somebody cry or making somebody angry, I will always choose making somebody laugh.”
