THUNDER BAY - When Michael Christie set out to work on his latest novel, Greenwood, he had no idea the ecological themes would resonate so much with what is happening today or how much it would speak to readers in his home town.
“Thunder Bay is full of readers and the subject of this book of forests and nature seems to be connecting with folks here, so that’s great,” Christie said.
Christie was in Thunder Bay on Sunday for question and answer session and book signing at Chapters.
He said it was nice to be back in his hometown and even in the bookstore where he used to shop for books about writing.
Now living in British Columbia, Christie’s latest novel, Greenwood, published just last week, is already generating praise from critics and has been long-listed for the Scotiabank Giller Prize.
“My thoughts were, uh oh, Margaret Atwood is also listed for the Giller prize. I’m joking,” he said. “It’s just excitement. It’s such an honour. It’s great.”
But this isn’t new territory for Christie, with his previous two novels, If I Fall, I Die and The Beggars Garden having also been long-listed for the prestigious literary award.
Greenwood takes readers to a world suffering an ecological collapse where the few forests that remain are sites for eco-tourism. Jake Greenwood, a scientist and tour guide, takes refuge on Greenwood Island, where she begins to unlock the secrets of her family’s past.
Alternating between a future wrought with disaster and a rich past, Christie said Greenwood is one of his most ambitious works yet.
“Particularly it’s about Canada in the sense that it’s one Canadian family with its relationship with the natural world throughout generations,” he said.
“It took a lot of research. I read over 120 books to do research. I went to the B.C. archives, the national archives in Ottawa. It was a ton of hard work and research. It was four years of toil.”
But when he first started working on Greenwood four years ago, Christie said he didn’t know how much it would resonate with what is taking place today and the growing demands for action on climate change.
“It’s a funny thing when you publish a book. There is no way of predicting what the zeitgeist will be four years down the road,” he said. “It’s something that is increasingly in people’s minds with the whole environmental activism that’s going on now, which is really exciting. It’s been cool to ride that wave with this book and see people’s interest with eco-related themes.”
While the specific actions taking place today was not on Christie’s mind when starting to write the book, how the world is changing is something he has thought about for a long time, especially as a father.
“It’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot,” he said. “I have two young kids and I’ve been reading them books about animals that may not exist in 20 years. It’s on my mind and I think that’s how it found its way into my work.”
Christie will be spending the next month on a cross-Canada book tour and then travel to the United States. When the tour is over he is looking forward to getting back to work on his next novel.
“I do have ideas, but they are sort of on ice right now while I’m busy with the tour,” he said. “I’m looking forward to getting back to my desk and dig into my next project.”
The Giller Prize short-list will be announced on Monday.
