An Interview with Suzette Mayr

The Sleeping Car Porter by Suzette Mayr
Coach House Books
224 pages

I am thrilled and extremely honoured to be interviewing Calgary’s Suzette Mayr for The Giller Book Club. Mayr is the winner of this year’s Scotiabank Giller Prize for her bewitching novel The Sleeping Car Porter (Coach House). Set in the 1920’s, it’s the story of Baxter, a Black, gay, bookish porter employed by CN Rail. Baxter hopes the tips he makes on his backbreaking duties will earn him enough to return to dentistry school. That’s if he’s not fired first for a mindless infraction incurred by the wrath of some cruel or ridiculous passenger. If that’s not stressful enough, Baxter, who works in a company of men, must camouflage his sexual orientation, even as he longs for a meaningful relationship.

Mayr has published several novels including Monoceros longlisted for the Giller prize in 2011. That book’s title encapsulates her fascination with individuals who are unique or outsiders- a perspective into which she has special insight as a Black, bi-racial lesbian. Mayr has also published two books of poetry. I consider her a poetic novelist because of her preoccupation with language and form. The Sleeping Car Porter, for example, takes the very definite form of a train schedule – specifically Baxter’s sleepless four-day run between Montreal and Vancouver. In terms of poetic fiction, Mayr may be atypical in favouring specific language over ambiguous. At the same time, she chooses words that encourage us to experience her characters through sensation and movement–ie: through our bodies, as well as our minds. Consequently, an uncommon intimacy springs up between the protagonist and the readers who can say with satisfaction, “We feel you, Baxter! We feel you!“

That’s a little of what I’ve been thinking about in preparation for my interview with Suzette Mayr. Do join us online Wednesday, January 11 at 7:00 pm.